Charge 3 Disassembly

Written By: ShellingRook27

Comments: 17

Difficulty

Moderate

Steps

Time Required

No estimate

Introduction

Tools

Step 1

Remove both T3 screws
Slide off the plastic piece by lifting out and then up
Slide plastic and spring assembly off the rail

Be careful of the small spring, it can jump away!

Niels Fennema -

Mine are definitely T2 torx screws (not T3 as written here). I'm pretty sure mine is the fitibt is Charge 3. Maybe they come in different versions. The rest of the instructions, up to the battery, are the same. I only needed to change the battery.

S C -

Confirmed that mine also had T2 torx screws for all the screws (also for the internal screws). The strap connectors on both sides are the same, so don't worry if you mix them up. But to open up the Fitbit, you actually only need to remove one side (the side opposite of the logo).

Kenneth -

Step 2

Heat the glass screen with a blowdryer to soften the adhesives
Start the next step on the opposite side of the Fitbit wording below the glass. This is due to the display cables being located there
Insert a razor blade between the glass and the body
Keep going around the rim of the display until loose

For me, this step caused the back color of the display glass to be damaged (but my screen was to be replaced anyway, due to it being really dim), which looks bad if you keep your screen. Also, I looked around a bit and people seem to be using T-8000 glue/adhesive to put the display back in place (the adhesive that was there originally isn't really usable anymore after opening the whole thing up). Also, this whole step made me wonder why Fitbit would tell us we could swim with it.

Kenneth - 22/10/23

Step 3

This is how close those cables get to the edge underneath the Fitbit wording so be careful

Step 4

Lift display up gently
The battery is attached with a little bit of adhesive so lift gently
Remove battery connector

Step 5

Remove both T2 screws
Liftoff metal shield

Step 6

Remove two T2 screws
Remove T3 screw
Liftoff metal shield

Step 7

Liftoff both display connectors

The shorter ribbon cable is for the display itself, the longer one for the digitizer (the touch screen sensor).

Kenneth -

Step 8

Disconnect vibrator motor
Disconnect heartrate and charging connector
Remove altimeter

Step 9

Remove button assembly from case
Remove vibrator motor
Has a slight bit of adhesive and is magnetic to the case

Step 10

Remove motherboard
It seems as if the heart rate sensor and charging pins are molded into the case, and I was not able to remove them

Author

ShellingRook27

Member since: 21/08/19

1638 Reputation

12 comments

The tear down pictures are great, but in my Charge 3 I needed a T-1 and a T-2 driver

Julien Baldwin - 10/04/21

Same, my ifixit pro kit only had a driver for the external screws and did not come with a small enough driver to remove the screws inside the charge 3 unit. I'll need to get the smaller bit from a different kit.

Brian Hall -

Which step in the teardown guide needed the T1 driver?

ShellingRook27 -

Great job on this tear-down. Thank you, it really helped in my screen replacement.

AndyZ - 28/05/21

This tear down was very easy to follow. The heart rate monitor was also sealed in with some adhesive for me too but a little heat gun took it right off. I had suspected water leaked in and that in fact was the culprit after inspecting the connection. corrosion all around the HR monitor.

Nick Herbert -

Great teardown guide! Here is a replacement battery for the Fitbit Charge 3 for around $20 shipped if anyone is looking:

Fitbit Charge 3 Replacement Battery

It includes all the necessary installation tools and it has a one year replacement warranty!

Mike -

por favor en español

Gabriel sanchez centeno -

I followed this guide to replace the screen, it was really good. One thing to note, is that if you order a replacement screen, out of the three cables one might be ending in a different position. It is still possible to connect it, but much harder due to this.

I think it might have been the difference between my charge 3 being special edition, and the replacement screen is for the standard edition. I also think that since I replaced the screen with the standard edition one, my fitbit pay might not work anymore. So be sure to check what you order :)

Gabor -

Actually fitbit pay works. So it is just an annoyance if the cables don't fully line up.

Gabor -

If following this to put it back together, do NOT forget the thin metal part that shields the vibration motor specifically. I did at first and was going mad trying to figure out why my screen wasn't working. I checked my own pictures and realized I had left it out. Whoops!

Also, small springs go small side against the metal bracket. Don't know why, but they are tapered and this is important.

Verlie Myers -

Yeah! go for it!

ShellingRook27 -

I have an old Fitbit Charge 3 that I took apart and I got the heart rate/charging terminal board out by pushing on it from the inside and it just popped out instantly.

ThomasKGaming1 -