Brand New Surge... not charging

[CKKMc]

Just bought the surge and I have had it connected to my laptop for 3 hours. I have switched between the three different usb ports and all are ok but not charging my surge. i tried to update it and it says battery too low. Help...

[SantiR]

@CKKMc Welcome to the Fitbit Community! Try to restart your Surge. That should help with the charging issue. Also, try to clean the contacts on the charging cable and tracker too. Make sure to take a look at the Tracker's Battery not Charging article for more details and tips. 

Hope this helps, let me know how it goes! 

[pcarsley]

I had exactly the same problem! did live chat with adviser who seemed to assume I'm a technogeek!

I downloaded windows app as per instructions only to find it will not work on laptop, which is my preferred media. was directed to get app from itunes which showed loads of third party apps but not genuine fitbit.

i eventually googled app which is in process of downloading, so I'll wait and see what happens!

overall, first impressions of th product and the instructions not great. i was expecting better and judging by many of the posts here, so was a lot of other people.

wife bought me a surge for christmas as a surprise and we're both now wishing she hadn't bothered.

[Maskitoe]

Hi there,

I received the Surge for Christmas too. It drove me nuts trying to set it up initially as it wouldnt charge or it and sync.

I downloaded the Fitbit App on my Samsung Android phone and ran it which told me that my Surge needed to be charged and needed a software update. So  I tried charging it via a known good usb port on my laptop which I left on all night but the App said the battery needed charging. So I tried two different Samsung wall chargers ( which I normally use to charge my mobile phone fine) but neither charged the Surge. In desperation I used an Apple mobile phone charger and low and behold, this charged up the Surge.

I then tried updating the software via the Fitbit App on my Windows10 laptop but found the App killed my internet connection (reported by App too)  and hence could not sync with the Surge.I tried with the usb dongle plugged into my laptop and without (using Bluetooth) but still no success.

Finally I tried running the Fitbit App on my mobile phone and success at last!

I was able to update the software and the mobile App tracks my daily activity fine though I need to learn how to use more the features.

Also I would prefer to use the Fitbit App on my Windows 10 laptop so if someone can shed some light on why it kills my WiFi connection, please let me know

[Myrtle31]

The way the app killed the wifi happened to me as well multiple times. 

[Myrtle31]

Just bought the surge tonight, it has been on the charger for 4 hours I can't get the thing to turn on to set up my new device. I have reset the surge one time and still was unable to get a response from the device. Do I just have a dud or am I doing something wrong? 

Thank you

[Maskitoe]

Hi Myrtle31,

I had exactly the same issue, eventually solved it by charging the Surge using an Apple iphone/ipad charger I had. Other chargers nor my laptop would charge the Surge. See if you can borrow one from a friend if you dont have one but you will need one long term.

Same on fitbit for not providing a charger with the device expecially as many people are reporting this "not charging" issue

[Myrtle31]

Thank you - I ended up returning it after trying multiple charges and
letting charge for 24 hours.

[waynea]

Great advice! Plugged it in to my ipad charger and using the app on my samsung phone and it worked, obviously something wrong with app for windows10. I'm really not happy with fitbit on day one, an expensive purchase should just work out of the box!

[Sailingpoodles]

Well, they don't seem to have fixed this issue.  My Surge, a gift so I can hardly send it back, has been on charge for 24 hours and rien.  With no charge it won't update of course.  Very disappointed.  It seems these days thatt everything I buy on the tech front has an issue, I mean everything, nothing works out of the box and FitBit is the same.

Any ideas?  I have tried all that I have found in the forum.

[KerrL]

I'm on my 3rd replacement and still no charge! Ridiculous!!

[Sailingpoodles]

Sent mine back. As you say, in this day and age, ridiculous that you can't
play from the box.
I am going to Garmin, my sailing watch worked first time.

[AlvaroFitbit]

Hi everyone! If your tracker isn't charging you could try cleaning the contacts with a toothpick or toothbrush and then use cotton with rubbing alcohol. After this you can always try a restart as it could also be a display issue by doing the following on your Surge:

1.- Press and hold the Home and Select buttons (left and bottom right) on your Fitbit Surge for 10 to 15 seconds, until you see the screen flash or start to dim.
2.- Let go of the buttons.
3.- After your screen turns completely off, wait 10 seconds and press the Home button to turn your Surge back on.

If the issue persist please contact our Support Team for further assistance.

Regarding the Fitbit app or software on Windows 10 you should be able to download it from the app market. On other platforms you can download the installer from our Setup page.

Let me know how it goes!

[Sailingpoodles]

Clean a brand new Surge? Why?



Anyway, given up returned and have money back, I have survived 70 years
without all this monitoring nonsense I'll survive another 10.



Complete waste of time and energy



Richard Bayle

Moderator Edit: Removed Personal Information

[Redmoonstar]

The windows 10 app doesn't work when setting up the surge, when you go to set up click on the download for pc not windows 10. Once you download it put the dongle into the USB port and plug your surge into another USB port. Open fitbit connect and set up new device. This should work. I had lots of trouble with the windows 10 app but found fitbit connect worked fine. Good luck!

[Djdurh]

I got a surge for Christmas and im having the same issues its been not charging for an hour! Why would you need to clean a brand new out of the box item? Ridiculous!! 

[SantiR]

@Djdurh Thanks for joining the Fitbit Community! That is very strange! I recommend performing a restart on your Surge. Usually, this fixes those kind of charging issues. Also, you can try doing any of these tips:

1. Clean the charging contacts (use toothpick or toothbrush with a little bit of rubbing alcohol). Dry it with cloth or tissue if you did the second option before putting it back into the charger.
2. Check the charging sources to make sure they are not faulty (USB port or plug), try different ones or a UL-certified wall charger. 
3. Reconnect the tracker to the charging cable to make sure they are properly connected.
4. Update the firmware of the tracker.

I also recommend checking these charging best practices. It is always good to know! 

Let me know how it goes! 

[Djdurh]

@SantiR thanks i did restart loads but no joy. Had to delete it from my phone and then resync it and it worked after that and although it said it wasn't charging it was I fact fully charged once it had re_synced 

[SantiR]

@Djdurh Thanks for your reply! I'm very glad to hear that you are back on track now. Thanks for sharing the workaround that worked for you, I'm sure this will work for other users as well!

I think it showed as empty because the last time it synced it had an empty battery. As it didn't synced in a while, that battery status remained as the last time it synced, empty. Then, you re charged it and synced, so the battery showed as full again!

See you around! 

[Merehunter45]

I just got my new Fitbit surge today. I plugged it in around 3:20pm and began adding it to my iPhone. However, it died or something and it's been charging ever since. Now it won't turn on it just shows an arrrow.. Help?