Zip battery not lasting

[Pgville]

Battery about every 4 days. Quit using it

Moderator edit: subject for clarity

[Vickymrp]

That's crazy.
Did you try turning off the continuous sync? I hope that works.
Thanks for the feedback.

[LucyAP]

Great tip @Vickymrp! Hey there @Pgville! Thanks for sharing your experience with your Fitbit Zip. In this case, I would recommend checking the metal spring inside the Zip's battery compartment. Sometimes your tracker will have battery issues when this is bent. Here is a picture of how it should look like:

Keep me posted! 🙂

[RildUp]

Got a new zip in December 2017.  Battery lasted about a month.  Since then I am on my fourth battery.  Newest install lasted less than 1 week.  Yesterday's new battery is already down to medium.  I examined the inside of the battery compartment and it looks a lot like the picture above, no obvious problem.  Vickymrp mentions turning off continuous sync.  I can't find a place to do that in the settings page.  I turned off my phone's bluetooth yesterday before battery change, so I am not sure what is going on.

[Edab]

Is your battery actually going dead or is the app just telling you it's going dead?  I've discovered that the app on my computer isn't competent, especially when it comes to telling me the strength of my battery.  I pretty much ignore what it says and just wait for it to go dead.  I'm typically getting 2-3 months from my Sony (or maybe Panasonic) batteries I'm buying through Amazon.

[RildUp]

I'd say the battery is actually going dead, since the zip fails to respond to touch and fails to record steps.  I have not tested the battery outside the zip before throwing it away.  I have noticed the zip battery indicator sometimes goes back and forth from indicating low battery and not.

I just updated firmware to 5.90, and battery level went from fine (on .com dashboard and on zip) before install to low.  I will see how long it takes to die.

[Edab]

I've had my Zip for over a year and never had problems with the battery indicator until I did the first update a few months ago.  I was sorry I updated.  I saw no improvements and began having problems with the battery indicator.  Good luck!

[RildUp]

Today's update:  Yesterday I changed the settings.  5.90 offered a switch for LiveData that didn't exist in 5.89.  I turned it off.  I also opened the battery case again to inspect.  Nothing looked bad.  However, when I put back together, it "found" some steps I had taken yesterday, but it didn't show in the count total before the battery reinstall.  Battery level now shows "High" (as you can see in pic) and no indicator on zip.

[Edab]

I wonder if you have a defective unit.  I generally sync my Zip several times per day manually and it syncs automatically as well.  I don't really have much of a battery problem.  

[RildUp]

Dashboard is back to "high".  I will post again when i get first low battery indicator on the zip.

[Gart]

I tried changing the batteries, sync settings and checking the internal components and the fit bit failed to hold a charge.... Very disappointed with product! Time to give up!  

[LucyAP]

Awesome help @Edab! Welcome to the Forums @RildUp, and @Gart! @RildUp Thanks for sharing your experience with your Fitbit Zip and for the troubleshooting steps you have performed. To disabled the All Day Sync on your app. You need to go to account, then tap the picture of your tracker and scroll down and disable this option.

@Gart I really appreciate your feedback about Fitbit Zip. Thank you for confirming that you have followed the suggestions from the post above. To further assist you, I've created a Support case on your behalf - you should receive an email from Customer Support at the email you used to register with the Community forums. Keep me posted if you have any other question.

@RildUp Thank you for sharing all the troubleshooting steps you took before posting. Please keep me posted if you need extra help. 

Catch you later! 🙂 

[RildUp]

March 7 2018, first low indicator on zip.  The low indicator went off last night, but showed up again today.  I am in the middle of a steps challenge at work, so I won't let it die.  I plan to change batteries tonight.

I am also going to remove the fitbit USB dongle on the work machine to prevent unwanted syncing.

[LucyAP]

Welcome back @RildUp! Thanks for sharing the tips and tricks that had worked for you. This can be beneficial for others experiencing a similar difficulty. 

If your Zip is acting weird, like loosing steps or requesting battery change before the expected time please make sure that you have tried the suggestion on my previous post. 

Catch you later! 😉 

[RildUp]

OK, I didn't replace the battery on the 8th.  Here is what happened over the past couple of days.

03/09/2018

No indicator on zip, dashboard says battery high.

03/10/2018

Low batt indicator on zip comes on midday, turns off in the evening

Steps reset to 0 around 11pm (not unexpected with DST going into effect 03/11/2018)

03/11/2018

No indicator on zip, some steps not recorded

03/12/2018

No indicator on zip, dashboard says battery high.

03/13/2018

Indicator on zip during part of day, dashboard says battery high.  Possible steps not recorded in evening

03/14/2018

No indicator on zip, dashboard says battery high, definitely some steps not recorded.  Zip display never blanks like it is dead.  Changed battery, examined compartment like Lucy mentioned above, no obvious problems.

I will continue to keep the USB dongle disconnected to prevent syncing all the work day.  Next update when indicator comes on/loss of steps.

[Edab]

I think you should complain to Fitbit and try to get them to replace it!

[RildUp]

This is basically my test of last resort.  If it still chews through batteries at a unsustainable rate, then I will ask for a new one.  If I don't test everything I can alter, then a new fitbit would likely have the same "problems".  I want to be reasonably sure mine is defective and a new one would be better.

[Edab]

Everything you've been posting about your Zip has made me think it's defective.  I've had my Zip for a year or more and really haven't had any problems with battery life.  Good luck!

[LucyAP]

Awesome help @Edab! 🙂 Thanks for the update @RildUp! I really appreciate all the time and effort you have invested to solve this. To further assist you, I've created a Support case on your behalf - you should receive an email from Customer Support at the email you used to register with the Community forums.

Keep me posted if you have any other question.

[RildUp]

Thanks for the CS support Lucy.  I ended up following up because, as I reported to CS below:

OK, I have become convinced that my FitBit Zip is defective.  Tuesday (3/20) syncing lost about 100 steps.  I know because I need 10,000 a day (5 days/week) to max out company sponsored rewards and I went from just over 10K on display to 9,999 on dashboard.  Wednesday (3/21) syncing was strange since steps didn’t reset overnight (display 10939) until sync performed in the morning, and sync reported 8281, battery still high according to dashboard.  Fitbit showed start-up on screen (flashed 5.90, etc) midday Wednesday and lost steps (some not recorded on device) Wednesday as well, and battery indicator started to show on device, started to be low on dashboard as well.