battery problems

[KnitsandWalks]

My Zip has had a problem with battery icon flashing.  I had one battery last nearly 11 weeks, a record, well done, thought I.  The next one only lasted a few hours.  What's wrong?  And now the icon was flashing again, on the new Duracell that I put in yesterday.  I took it out and replaced it, it was still flashing.  I waved it around, the flashing stopped, and then synced it, losing about 2k paces, and the dashboard said low battery.  I synced it again five minutes later, and the dashboard said medium battery.  Why?  

[Karingraz]

I am having the exact same issue.  Brand new battery I put in yesterday.  I am getting low battery alerts and it's constantly flashing.  I have difficulty when syncing, it takes multiple attempts.

[KnitsandWalks]

When this happened to me a year or two ago, Fitbit very kindly sent me a new Zip.  Maybe they are not meant to last for more than a year or two, and this is Fitbit's way of getting us to switch to a more expensive option.  My problem is that I don't like wearing a watch or equivalent, and the Zip goes on a chain round my neck.  

[KnitsandWalks]

Spoiler

Yesterday, I had the message that my battery was low, I should replace it.  I didn't.  Ten minutes later, the dashboard said my battery strength was medium.  Same battery.  This morning, dashboard tells me battery is full.  Same battery.  Any comments?  

[ADKzip · Accepted solution]

I have posted about this before:  The Zip battery indicator is notoriously inaccurate and routinely shows a low battery after syncing (doesn't matter what app you use); the problem seems to lie in the syncing process.  Syncing apparently sucks the power out, but the battery bounces back shortly thereafter so manually syncing is much preferable to automatic or all-day syncing.

The last two batteries I installed showed as being low on the second day (!!!!) after installation.  Yet one lasted 6 months and I expect the one that just replaced it will last 4-6 months.   I no longer panic when I get a low-battery notification and don't change my battery until the low battery icon appears steadily for 2 or more says on the Zip itself.

And don't expect Fitbit to provide a good response -- let alone a fix -- to this because I and hundreds of Zip users have tried to no avail.