Surge Battery Charge Draining

[menonh]

Hello,

I've been a loyal and proud user of Fitbit Surge since Aug 2015. Recently, Surge has become of no use to me since it drains the battery charge so fast. Even after fully charging the watch, it is found that the battery charge drains so fast and the watch completely shuts off. You would need to recharge and sync again to get the correct time. I have tried all possible options to reduce battery usage ( turned off notifications, alarms, quick view, all day sync, and does not even use it for Runs (no GPS usage). Even with these changes, battery charge is not lasting. Can someone please help? 

Moderator edit: Subject for clarity

[YojanaFitbit · Accepted solution]

I've noticed you are new around @menonh, so let me give you a warm welcome to our Community. 

This is pretty odd, thanks for trying those steps! Please put your Fitbit Surge to charge and try to restart it while it is connected. If this doesn't work, let the battery drain out completely and then try the restart again. Finally, try to reconnect it to your Fitbit Account to see if this helps. 

If any of this steps works please let me know, I'm very interested in helping out to one of our loyal users! 

[StuHunt]

I would be interested in any solution to this as my surge has suddenly started to only hold charge for 24 hours. I have emailed fit bit but my gut feeling is that after two and a half years of use my battery may have packed up.

[Jono76]

There must be something in the wind, my battery has also started draining inside 24 hours the last few days and even shut off just now after I just charged it 12 hours ago.

[Notcrazychef]

ive had my fitbit for over 2 years now and this has recently started happening to my watch drains in under 4 hours, ive tried everything that was suggested in forums and am very dissapointed, was going to trade up to a new one but i am very concerned now if i should

got to wonder with recent apple admission if something has been added to recent updates to drain the batteries , i really hope not .

[Jono76]

I haven't updated mine for weeks.. I use my wife's phone to do updates and for the app.  She hasn't even been home in the last few days since this started happening so I'm not sure that is the problem.

[StuHunt]

I wonder if the problem isn't too frequent syncing but too infrequent syncing. While investigating today I realised mine hadn't synced for ten days. My theory is that the memory was running low and the fitbit was trying and failing to sync draining the battery. Now it has completed a download it appears to be behaving itself again.

[Jono76]

Could be right Stu! I'll sync mine on saturday and see how I go.

[YojanaFitbit]

Hi everyone, nice to see you in the Community, your comments are important for us! 

Thank you for the thorough feedback for the Fitbit environment, customer service, platform and devices. Several factors affect your Surge battery, I'm sure you've done multiple things to fix the issue as you mentioned that some of you have already contacted our Support Team but you can always check this information, it might be useful to you!  

For example cleaning the contacts of your tracker regularly as they might be obstructed by microscopic dirt or debris that prevents them from making a good connection to the charger. Use a toothpick or toothbrush to clean the charging contacts; do not scrape them with anything metal because this may damage the plating and result in corrosion. 

You can also try to restart your Surge if you haven't do so. And check these tips to improve the battery life of your Surge. How are you changing your Surge? We recommend plugging your charging cable into a USB port on your computer or other low-energy device. If necessary, you can use a UL-certified USB wall charger. Don't use a USB hub or battery pack to charge, and only use the charging cable that came with your tracker.

In case that you haven't contacted out team but you already tried all these steps, let me know so I can help you with that.

Hope this helps! 

[IanG77]

I've maintained my charger and keep my charging contacts cleaned regularly.  Recently, my surge won't hold a charge past 8-10 hours, so if I wear it through the day, I need to take it off to charge during the night... thereby negating any opportunity to collect and review sleep data.  That old adage, you don't know what you got till it's gone is very prevalent to my daily routines these days I find a touch of resent to Fitbit and my Surge removing it every night to charge.

I've been considering the Ionic, however, if Fitbit products only have shelf life of 18-24 months, I will likely consider and migrate to another brand.  Perhaps it's just that the Fitbit battery has run its course our Surge watches have become obsolete?

[Ken_Davies]

My fitbit surge goes from fully charged (after charging overnight) to dead in about 4 hours.  It is just over 2 years old (Dec 2015 purchase).  This started a few weeks ago.  Prior to this, the battery seemed OK - it may have lost a little capacity, but was still perfectly usable - I would charge it whilst showering every morning, and it would happily run for 24 hours.  How long are surges designed to last?  I like the device, but I won't buy another if they only last 2 years.  Seems that quite a few people have the same problem.  Is there anyone out there who has a surge that is still functioning after 3 years?

[skmommaof2]

Mine as well has started doing this. I'e dine everything you'e done. Even charged it on the computer and a battery port. Cleaned it all. Etc. Keeps draining in a day. Frustrating 

[YojanaFitbit]

Nice to see that you're digging into the Forums @IanG77, @Ken_Davies and @skmommaof2, let me give you a warm welcome to our Community. 

@skmommaof2 Thanks for sharing your feedback. I noticed you already have a case open regarding this issue with our Support Team, but in case that you haven't try so; you can follow the steps here as it might help. 

@IanG77 and @Ken_Davies Since you're still having battery issues after checking those details, I've requested to our Support team to create a case on your behalf. You should soon receive an email from Customer Support at the email you used to register with the Community forums.

I'm leaving these tips, it might be helpful for some of you when you want to conserve battery life:

• Shut down your tracker when not in use (option for Fitbit Blaze and Surge.)
• If you use the Fitbit app, make sure All-Day Sync is turned off. All-Day Sync increases battery drain on both your tracker and mobile device. To find the setting, open the app and tap Account. At the top of the screen tap on your tracker name to see your settings, then scroll down. 
• (Android only) Turn off the Always Connected setting. Similar to All-Day Sync, it can reduce battery life.
• If you don't need heart rate data, change the Heart Rate setting to Off. When you turn it back on, use Auto. 
• Charge your tracker more often if you use music control frequently.
• If you have many silent alarms set, remove some. Each alarm you add up to the maximum of 8 reduces battery life by a small percentage. 
• Turn off Quick View. Since it causes the screen to light up when you turn your wrist towards you, turning this setting off may prolong battery life. To find the setting, open the app and tap Account. At the top of the screen tap Surge and scroll down.​

Hope this helps and let me know if you need more help! It's great to have you in the Community! 

[skmommaof2]

I tried all those things and all support told me was my warranty is up here a 25% off coupon. 


Sent from my Samsung Galaxy smartphone.

[IanG77]

Thanks for the response, albeit a disappointing and confusing response.

Just so I understand... Fitbit is telling me to use less, or turn off some
of the features of a watch I purchased specifically for those features?
Everything was working fine with the watch up until about 6-8 weeks ago.

This response is almost more troubling than the defect and raises concerns
about Fitbit brand integrity. I guess the question is... if Fitbit
products only have a 2 year shelf life... do I want to continue to spend
$200/year for a watch/fitness tracker?

Ian Gendur 

Moderator edit: Removed personal information.

[malbritton]

I'm glad I am not the only one with this issue. I have tried every suggestion in the forum to extend my battery life, but it is progressively getting worse instead of better. It has gone from losing charge every 24 hours to now losing charge every 12 hours. My Surge is 2.5 years old and I have worn it faithfully since the day it was given to me. Is there a battery replacement option? Or a trade in incentive?

[skmommaof2]

Ya mine is 2 years old as well. I don't want to spend 200+ every 2 years 


Sent from my Samsung Galaxy smartphone.

[Crazy-Fritter]

If your surge isn't fully syncing with your phone app, it can drastically shorten the battery life. 

I had that issue, my surge wasn't lasting more than a few days even turning it off every night. I noticed I couldn't change ANY settings on it through the phone app, so I removed it from my account and re-added it through my pc, and I was able to adjust everything again on my phone and pc. My surge went from lasting 2 to 3 days turning it off every night to lasting 10 days..... big difference. 

Be sure you can change ALL the settings through your phone app before you give up on your surge, if you're only getting partial syncs that could be your problem.

[Notcrazychef]

hi

I have completed every step you suggested and it does not make a blind bit of difference , seems kind of weird you stop selling something and then it starts to pack up, makes me wonder if we will see a similar statement to Apple coming out in the years

I have really loved Fitbit but I am low to spend money every 2 years on another watch, really was tempted to buy the ionic but what happens if you stop selling this one soon too.

[mtravis390]

My Surge is only 3 weeks old, and not only will it not hold a charge for more than 36 hours, but it takes over 8 hours to charge.  Why would anyone buy a Fitbit when you have to shut off every feature just to get a day and half out of the battery?