Fog/steam under surge screen

[Rollo1975]

On longer bike rides the screen on my surge gets foggy making it difficult to read the data. After the ride it eventually clears up. Is this common? Is there a "fix"?

[SunsetRunner]

Welcome to the Fitbit Community @Rollo1975! I must say that this is not common. However, there are some environmental conditions that your tracker resists and it shouldn't be pushed to work further than that, since that can produce the fog on the screen or any other malfunction. You can find it below or in the Surge's owner manual:

    

If you feel that you're not exceeding what I shared above, please be sure to reach out to our Support Team. I know that they're always happy to listen to your experience and provide different options for you, if needed!

Keep me updated.

[leanaMT]

Hi Rollo1975- Did you find a solution to this foggy screen issue? Mine started doing that too, only on runs, but today it's been fogged all day even with no major exercise.

[Stansam]

My Surge has been my daily companion since January 2015.  Just yesterday, my screen went foggy and I cannot scroll between screens.  Put in rice overnight, screen got better for a while but now back to foggy.  Even with improvement in screen coudl not scroll between screens.  Customer service was no help, only offered 25% off on a new device.  Feel left behind by the company after spending over $300 for apprently an 18 month shelf life.

[RobertoME · Accepted solution]

Welcome aboard to our Community @leanaMT and @Stansam. When this issue appear on the Surge the fist thing to keep in mind is the environment as @SunsetRunner mentioned before. If this is not the cause the only way to solved this is contacting our Support team as there are no other troubleshooting steps beside trying with rice to extract the moisture. However is worth to mention any replacement option will fall within the warranty period. As you mentioned @Stansam, Indeed the 25% is not too much and I know the policies can narrow many option, but I understand as well why they exist. So this discount is an alternative when all the option has been exhausted.

See you around and I'll make sure to pass your feedback.

[shipo]

The other alternative is to buy a competitive device such as the Vivoactive HR which is waterproof to five atmospheres; the 25% offered to many of us, me included, just means a year from now you're going to need to buy yet another new tracker (assuming of course we opt for another Fitbit Surge).

The thing is, I really like the Surge, and were it not for the engineering shortcomings regarding band failures and lack of resistance to water vapor, it would be my go-forward device.

[Safrican]

I got caught in a rain shower on Saturday, 2km from home. I now have the foggy screen and can't navigate on the slide screen. I have had my Surge since January 2014 and wear in constantly - this is the first time this has happened. Being a sports watch, where sweat and other factors can cause some moisture, I can't see how a water resistant device can't handle a few splashes of rain? My surge is still sitting in rice, but to no avail. 😢

[Hgmoore44]

Mine did the same thing. I've been trying to find a fix for it. Did it ever start swiping again?

[Kwisatz]

Mine just a couple weeks ago developed foggin under the screen, and none of the enviormentals have been exceeded, it's barely spring...after the foggin went away there seemd to be cracking under the screen that coincided with the fogging, now the touch screen is completely useless...

[SunsetRunner]

I just do not know what to say. This watch has never seen any running nor raining water in its life. It was just a run in a foggy day, without pressing any button! I really do not understand how this guy was able to do a thing like this:

 [link to the video erased by a moderator]

I bought my surge cause I saw this video and just wanted to be able to run outside. It is not possible!

My Surge seem to not have ANY seal at all! If I went for a ride or a run on a rainy day, it would be dead.
Since two days I'm trying to dry it with a warm air flow next to the radiator of my computer. It helped a little bit to recover but this watch is an useless indoor fitness band for me. It's gonna have problems even with sweat on a sunny day 😞

Moderator edit: Format. Word Choice.

[SunsetRunner]

Fitbit support promised to replace my Surge. Even if there are problems with a device, the FitBit support is worth the money I paid for my Surge 🙂

[YojanaFitbit]

Hi @shipo, @Kwisatz and @SunsetRunner! I'm glad to see your comments here in the Forums. Welcome @Safrican and @Hgmoore44! 

@shipo You're right about having options is a good thing, I know where you coming from but the option you got from our Team can be an opportunity to try something else. 

@Safrican and @Hgmoore44 Did your Surge respond to the workaround? Please let me know if you need more help, so I can reach our Support Team, they can check warranty options for you. 

@Kwisatz That's very strange, I've contacted already our Support Team, please wait for a follow up email with some information about your case.

@SunsetRunner Thanks for the heads up! So glad they solved the issue for you!

I'll be around! 

[SunsetRunner]

I decided to crash my old, dead Surge into pieces to find out how it let the water inside. As You can see in the Photo below, the plastic cover under a strap was broken. I'm pretty sure that I didn't brake it cause I had problems with steam from the very beginning. So if anyone of You only notice light steam under the screen, You may have the same problem. If You have no warranty, consider buying a new band replacement (available on ebay, videos "how to" on You Tube - HOWEVER be careful not to do it as they show it on videos-you can brake the cover as in my case-cut the old one into pieces, do NOT pull!) and repairing the cover with glue. If Your fitbit let in as much water as mine did, cut the band into pieces as soon as possible, dry it (I recommend in front of the fan of a laptop/PC), repair the cover, buy a new band replacement. Do it as fast as possible. After a week my touchscreen didn't work any more.

[CGreenwood]

My Surge did the same thing. It finally quit working. Customer support offered me 25% off another delicate fitness watch. No thanks; lousy compensation, lousy watch. I switching to Garmin.

[YojanaFitbit]

Hi @SunsetRunner! Wow thanks for the suggestion! @CGreenwood! Nice to have you here @CGreenwood. Sorry you feel that way, I appreciate the time you took to place your comment in the Forums in case that you need anything else, please let me know. 

If you have time please check our Discussions board where you will find other members sharing their experiences and tips for an active lifestyle.

See you around! 

[CGreenwood]

Thank you for replying. My wife just bought me a Garmin Vivoactive HR. I
don't think I'll be doing much anything with Fitbit any more. It's a shame;
a lot of my friends use your products.

Respectfully,

Moderator edit: Removed personal information

[SunsetRunner]

I actually didn't want to write here any more cause my case is closed and I'm happy with a new Surge. However as You mentioned the word "Garmin", I will answer. Every device has its pros and cons. Garmin isn't much better with devices like Forerunner 110 that You can throw into a rubbish bin as soon as the >delicate< strap fall apart. Garmin Vivofit counts steps when You swing Your child on a swing. An advanced device as G 235 is not able to recognize when You fall asleep-in other words it doesn't really record Your sleep. Fitbit devices have much better and more intelligent software: they recognize even a short nap in the afternoon while You have to tell Your Garmin when You slept. Every time my girlfriend takes off her G235 in their hand stays a small hole: heartrate recognition.
Battery? OK, but Fitbit is a nice band. G235 is a small brick.
Water? You can see on Youtube as people test Surge 40m under water. A friend of mine use to wash FitBit One in a washing mashine several times. It still works.

All in all I do not wanna say FitBit is great or better. But I would be cautious advicing anyone to buy Garmin or any other device only because You have some bad experiences. Thousands of people buy FitBit and Garmin and only a few have problems. Some of them say Fitbit is bad but the real problem is a smartphone or "Surge battery issue" where all we often need to do is to turn the bluetooth off and on again.

I recommend reading device descriptions before buying anything. Garmin doesn't suit my needs. Neither does any other device. That's why I wear FitBit. What's important is the transparency like we have on this forum where people can see what can happen.

Cheers

Moderator edit: Format

[MarkUNC]

I agree. I noticed that they are changing their specs to say that the watch is only splash resistant to limit their liability. When I bought mine it was "water resistant to 5 meters". I have never taken it into the pool or even showered in it but some how this "sports watch" has fog under the screen and won't work properly. Rather than make a product that fit their original specs, they are changing the specs to meet the sub-par product. They offered  25% discount, by why would I invest in a product that was faulty to begin with. Mine has never been dropped, it has never been abused in any way or exposed to water except for the occasional time I have had it on while washing my hands. Most of the time it sits on my dresser. 

Moderator edit: Word Choice

[Stansam]

My original post was from August 2016.  I feel I lost a dear friend when my Fitbit Surge quit working.  The Company was no help offering me a 25% discount after buying the device for over $300 just 18 months earlier.  I now have the Apple watch and am very happy with it.  Too bad this Company abandons its customers.  My Fitbit had no rain, no underwater exposure, only sweat.  I'm long gone now and only responded as I have been notified about further responses to this string.

[CGreenwood]

I am glad you are pleased with your new Surge. My watch is currently the most expensive paper weight on my desk.  I'll probably get my Garmin in, in about a month. If you are really interested in the differences, I should be able to give you a pretty good review by the end of my deployment.  If your not really interested, I'll leave this page alone. I don't want to appear disgruntled, I'm just disappointed.