The Fitbit Sense charger not working is a common problem the community has encountered quite a lot.
Chargers are not designed to have tremendously long lifetimes, but we will do our best to identify any temporal issues with the device over the course of several solutions!
To fix when a Fitbit Sense charger isn’t charging the watch, determine if the device is receiving enough power and check if all of the connections are secure.
After that, clean the charging surfaces of both the watch and charger, before resetting the watch.
Why Fitbit Sense Isn’t Charging?
One of the primary reasons why the Fitbit Sense charger won’t work is due to a fault in the connections.
There’s either something blocking the connection between your Fitbit watch and the charger, or there’s a loose USB connection or adapter cable.
Let’s summarize all of the possible causes for the issue with the Fitbit charger:
- A problem with the charging adapter/USB cable
- Unclean charging pins on the Fitbit Sense charger
- A faulty electrical outlet or with low voltage
- A hardware/software issue with the Fitbit watch
- A possible malfunction with the charging surface
- Third-party equipment is causing charger issues
How to Properly Charge Your Fitbit Sense?
Place the watch with the bottom part facing toward the charger and push it into the pins until you hear a click.
If you have a modern design of the Fitbit Sense charger, wait for the charger’s magnetism to draw the bottom of the watch.
How to Know if a Fitbit Charger is Working?
As soon as the Fitbit Sense watch is connected to power, a battery indicator icon with the remaining battery should appear on the screen.
The indicator will remain on the watch’s display until the device is disconnected from the charger.
How to Fix Fitbit Sense Charger Not Working In 7 Ways?
Tip: Test the charger using your watch after completing each of the solutions below!
1. Clean the Pins of the Charger
Dust can accumulate on the charging surface of the Fitbit Sense charger, disrupting the connection with the watch.
The most forward thing to do is to make sure there are no obstructions on the charging pins of the Sense charger that can prevent the charging.
- Use a soft cleaning cloth and some rubbing alcohol to clean the charger!
Alert: Do not reconnect the charger’s adapter before it has fully dried up!
- Cleaning the Charging Pins?
It is necessary to avoid rubbing the charger forcefully as this could damage the charging pins or push them into the plate.
Once the pins go into the plate, the Fitbit Sense charger will be unusable. Preserve the hardware of the charger and don’t put too much alcohol on the cloth!
- Clean the Surface of the Watch?
In addition to cleaning the Sense charger, you should also inspect the watch’s charging surface for any obstructions too.
Collect dust and debris on the bottom charging port of the Sense watch and then place your watch on top of the Fitbit charger’ surface.
Note: The charging surfaces of the charger and watch should make contact at all times!
2. Reconnect the Charger from Power
The next easy step to perform would be a power cycle or a hard reset. Both these methods refer to one general solution, which is an advanced type of restart.
Rebooting a device in that way means discharging all electricity from the hardware, which refreshes ALL services!
How to Power Cycle a Fitbit Charger?
- Disconnect the power adapter of the charger from the outlet.
- Unplug the Sense charger from the third-party power adapter.
- Wait for at least 40-50 seconds while the charger is unplugged.
- Lastly, reinstall the charger’s cable into the power adapter.
Note: Once the power cycle is complete, double-check if all connections are secured.
3. Remove Charging Obstructions
Placing any casings, stickers, or plates on the bottom of the Fitbit Sense watch could prevent charging.
When plugging the watch with a charger, make sure that all protective equipment or anything that could interfere with the magnetic charging surface is removed.
Tip: Keep all third-party accessories removed from the Sense watch until further notice!
4. Install the Charger in a Different Outlet
It is possible that the problem is caused by the electrical outlet, rather than the charger or its equipment.
To know for sure, you need to attempt to charge the Fitbit watch using the same charging equipment but plugged into an alternative outlet in your home.
- Only connect the Fitbit Sense charger to functional electrical outlets!
In addition, make sure that all third-party equipment is removed from the outlet and that you’re charging the Fitbit watch directly from the power source.
Using strips, dividers, extenders and any similar type of equipment could ultimately result in a charging problem with the Fitbit Sense.
Note: If the watch is charged from another outlet, seek professional help for the faulty outlet.
5. Test with a Different Adapter
To determine whether the fault is with the charging cable or not, you should use a functional power adapter with the Fitbit Sense charger.
If the device manages to charge the Fitbit watch, the problem was with the adapter, otherwise, we can easily suspect the charger itself.
- Plug a USB-compatible adapter with the Fitbit charger and test!
Using Third-Party Adapters:
Since Fitbit only supplies a charging cable for the watch, you must install and use a third-party adapter.
Use the power adapter that you have in your phone’s charging equipment for the fastest charging and efficiency.
Note: Power adapters used for phones are compatible with your Fitbit smartwatch!
6. Factory Reset the Fitbit Watch
It’s not excluded that the problem is with the Fitbit watch and not the charger.
To determine if the watch is refusing to connect with the charger due to software problems, you need to factory reset the device, which will provide you with a fresh start.
- The factory reset will erase ALL settings to their default value!
Follow these instructions to perform a factory reset on the Fitbit watch:
- Swipe towards the left from Sense’s home screen.
- Find and enter the “Settings” tab from the watch’s menu.
- Scroll vertically until you find the “About” tab next.
- In the “About” tab, press on the “Factory Reset” option.
- Follow the necessary on-screen instructions.
Important!
Even if the charger is not working, connect the Fitbit watch until the factory reset is complete and you’re back at the watch’s initial setup screen.
The factory reset must detect a connection with a charger before it begins, as this will protect the watch if there’s a power failure.
7. Check Whether the Cable is Frayed
The charging cable becomes frayed when the cable connecting with the USB 2.0 connector rips and the internal copper wires are exposed.
This could cause issues with the functionality of the charger immediately, or after you’ve used the cable for a couple more days up to a week.
How to Fix Frayed Cable?
- The best way to fix a frayed cable is to push the wire back into the connector and secure it with tape.
Make sure that you have not applied too much tape as this could disassemble the copper wires into the cable.
It must be just enough to keep the end of the cable secured into the USB port without freely falling off or becoming loose.
Alert: Touching the frayed cable while plugged into power could result in electrical shock!
Quick Recap:
Whenever the Fitbit Sense charger not working, the first step is to power cycle the unit charger as well as the Fitbit Sense watch.
The next step is to clean the surface of the charger/watch and if the issue persists, connect the charger to a different power outlet.
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Finn Wheatley holds a Master’s Degree in Computer Science from UCL, London. He helped small data science consultancy firms, helping large corporations to grow their data capabilities, deploy advanced machine learning-based analytics and troubleshoot tech-related issues. Check out more about him here.