How to Replace the Battery in a Fitbit Ionic Smartwatch
The battery in the Fitbit Ionic gets a real workout if you use and charge it constantly. After a couple of years, it might not be lasting as long as it did originally. If that is the case and you want to save some money on the repair and do it yourself, you are in the right spot!
If you would prefer to read a written repair guide, check that out below. Or if the tool cost seems prohibitive for a one time repair and you would prefer that we complete this repair for you, check out our Repair Catalog to see if we offer repair services for this device.
Are you a business? We offer wholesale discounts on our repair services if you are sending numerous units in for repair or want to send us continuing batches of devices for repair on a regular basis. Contact our support team for more info Info@JoesGE.com (This email is only for wholesale inquiries, please contact Support@JoesGE.com for other inquiries).
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Repair Difficulty: Moderate
Time to complete: 60 minutes.
The tools and parts that you will need for this repair:
- A New Replacement Battery
- Thin Pry Tool (a thin guitar pick or something else very thin can also do the trick)
- Heat Gun (A hairdryer can also do the trick)
- A T2 Screwdriver
- Some 704 RTV glue
- Rubbing alcohol and a rag
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1. Turn your watch off
Before starting this repair, make sure to power your watch down by going to "Settings" then "About". At the bottom of the page, there will be an option to shut down the watch.
2. Remove the screen
The screen is held on by some double-sided adhesive and it makes the screen easier to remove if you heat it up first using your heat gun. Heat up the edge of the display by continually moving your heat gun around the edge of the screen for 30 seconds. We usually set our heat guns to around 480 degrees Fahrenheit (250° C) ***Do not keep the heat gun in one place for more than a second otherwise you will likely damage the watch. Also, be careful when holding the watch and heating it up, the watch is metal and can get quite hot.
Insert your thin pry tool under the top edge of the display and gently pry up around the edge. ***Only insert the pry tool a small distance into the watch as there are ribbon cables that you could damage if you put it in too far.
3. Unplug the screen
Once you have the screen lifted up, you will see the antenna ribbon laying over the whole inside of the watch. Lift this up and out of the way from the bottom edge of the watch.
Now use your T2 Screwdriver to remove the two screws that hold on the metal shield which covers the ribbon cable connectors.
Unplug the antenna ribbon by gently pulling it up and away from the circuit board.
Now you will need to loosen the metal shield that you removed the screws for. Use your pry tool to carefully get under the edge of it and push it loose.
Using your thin pry tool, disconnect the two screen connectors for the circuit board. Just pry them up and away from the circuit board to remove them.
4. Remove the battery
With the screen entirely detached, you now have easy access to the other two T2 screws which you can now remove.
Remove the metal bracket that is cover the battery connector. It was held on by one of the T2 screws that you just removed.
Remove the battery connector with your small pry tool by lifting it up and away from the circuit board as you did with all of the other connectors.
Now remove the connector on the other side of the circuit board and lift it out of the way of the circuit board.
With all of the connectors detached from the circuit board, you can now lift it up by sticking your pry tool in the gap at one end to carefully lift it up. Take your time with this and make sure that all of the connectors don't get stuck on the board as you lift it up. Before fully removing the board, look at the next step.
Pull the board up and out the rest of the way using your fingers.
Remove the four T2 screws that hold the battery in.
Pry up the battery using your pry tool making sure to pry it up from the same side as shown in the picture below.
5. Reassembly
Now you can install the new battery. Make sure to align the screw holes in the metal frame perfectly with the screw holes in the watch housing. Once you have it set in place, just wiggle it around to make sure the placement is perfect, then reinstall the screws.
Slide the mainboard into place at an angle then push it all the way in and make sure that the connectors line up with the two ribbon cables that should wrap around to the top of it.
Plug the two ribbon cables in.
Put the small metal bracket onto the battery connector then insert the two T2 screws that you removed last when taking the watch apart.
Grab your screen and hold it with the ribbon cables over the circuit board like so.
Then, one at a time, push the two plugs onto their connectors on the circuit board. Take your time and make sure that the connectors are properly lined up before pushing them into place. It should not take much force to lock them into place.
You can now connect the antenna ribbon cable to its plug on the circuit board. It is the same type of plug as the two for the screen.
Now its time to put the metal shield back in its place. It needs to be under the square section of the antenna ribbon and over all 3 of the connectors for the antenna and screen.
Align the tab on the side of the cover into its place then lay the shield down and slide it around the ribbon of the antenna.
Once the shield is in place, secure it by reinserting the two T2 screws.
6. Secure the display
Start by cleaning off any old adhesive residue that is around the edge of the frame where the display will sit. We usually use a rag with some rubbing alcohol on it to remove the adhesive.
Let the alcohol dry off of the unit then put a thin line of T8000 or B7000 Glue around the entire edge of the housing where the screen will sit. Make sure that the line of glue is entirely connected around the edge of the housing to provide the best seal against water.
Lastly, hold the antenna ribbon down and lay the screen down into the housing while making sure that you do not pinch any of the ribbon cables. If some glue seeps over the edges, you can just wipe it away. Allow 30-60 minutes for the glue to dry.
