Flip 6 Won’t Turn ON

The top front view of the JBL Flip 6 speaker.

When your Flip 6 won’t turn on, this could be due to one or more issues. First, it might have problems beyond repair. Or the battery is dead and needs recharging. Furthermore, the battery may not charge. So in that case, it may be bad. Or the charger or AC power source might be faulty. Or perhaps, you accidently put your speaker into service mode a.k.a. secret or weird mode. So, we cover here the most common causes and easiest fixes for this problem. This assumes that all the hardware and software in the unit are okay.

Left front view of the Flip 6.

Flip 6 Won’t Turn On: Causes

The Battery is Dead

When this happens, pressing the Power button does not turn on the unit. So none of the other buttons work either. Indeed, for a bit prior to this, the battery meter flashes red. This means that the battery is about to run out of power. And if you keep playing the speaker without recharging it, then you might run it completely dead. Thus the speaker may not power up at all now.

The red light flashing.

To fix this, simply recharge the 6. Notice that almost right away after connecting the charger, that the battery meter starts blinking white. Then soon after that, pressing the Power button does indeed turn on the speaker.

The Battery Has Failed

After roughly a thousand charge cycles, the battery starts losing its ability to full y charge. And eventually, its capacity shrinks so much, that it can no longer power the speaker adequately. Thus again, you may see that the speaker won’t turn on, as the battery is constantly dead, even after charging.

So to fix this problem, replace the battery.

The Charger or Cable is Faulty

Anything that prevents the speaker from taking on a good charge can cause this won’t turn on problem. E.g. The lights won’t come on, nor will you hear the signature Flip speaker startup sounds. This could be due to a faulty charger. Indeed, if you can’t recharge the speaker, then you won’t be able to power it up.

The solution is to try a known-good charger. This should be easy since USB chargers are so available these days.

The Unit is in Service Mode

First, when in this (often called ‘weird’ or ‘secret’) mode, the speaker does not turn on without AC power. Thus, it will not run on its battery while in Service mode. Furthermore, it shuts down immediately when you disconnect the adapter.

Further, you cannot turn off the Flip 6 while it is in Service mode, unless you disconnect the charger. And then, it powers off without even pressing the Power button. So when this service mode is active, the Power button appears to not work.

Indeed, none of the buttons work in Service mode, except for the ones that end it. E.g. The speaker won’t pair with any devices. Plus, the Power button won’t switch it off either.

How You Might Have Accidently Turned On Service Mode

This is what you may have done at some point just prior to this issue showing up… To turn on this Service mode, power up the speaker first. Then press the Bluetooth and Play-Pause buttons at the same time. Hold them in until the unit shuts OFF, which usually takes ten seconds or so.

Find these buttons that we point out in the next picture. Note that you can enter this mode as long as the speaker is ON. It matters not whether you connect external power.

The -Play-Pause- and -Bluetooth- buttons.

How to Turn off Service Mode

Now you can restore proper operation by exiting this mode. But note that when this Service mode is in effect, you can’t switch it off without outside power. Why? Because when in Service mode, the Flip 6 won’t come on without outside power. And you can’t change modes without powering up the unit first. So, you need a USB-C power adapter to deactivate Service mode.

1. So, connect your speaker to external power. Next, the speaker comes on.
2. Then, with the speaker Power button glowing, press the Bluetooth and Play-Pause button combo. Hold in for around ten seconds. Then release when the unit powers off.
3. Finally, normal speaker operation returns.

Finally, at this point, the speaker should turn ON again, whether or not you connect the AC adapter.

The Flip 6 is Defective

Finally, the electronics inside the Flip 6 may have fried. The USB charging port may be defective. Or the power switch itself could have damage. In these cases, unless you have skill repairing wireless speakers, your best bet is just to get a new one.