Picture of the dark -Power- button on the JBL Boombox 2 speaker.

JBL Boombox 2 Power Button Not Working Fix

When the Power button on your JBL Boombox 2 speaker is not working, this likely means one or more things.  Either…

    1. Defective Speaker.  Your speaker is broken beyond repair. In this case, get a replacement speaker.
    2. Stale Battery. The battery inside no longer recharges due to extra old age, repeated overcharging, or heavy use. To solve this, replace the battery with one that provides 7.4 volts at 10.4 amp hours (76.96 watt-hours).
    3. Broken AC Adapter.  Your charger cable is defective. To solve this, substitute a working charger for the suspected bad one. The speaker should then power up once more. This AC adapter needs to provide 24 volts at 4.2 amps (100.8 watts).
    4. Dirty Power Button.  It’s possible that sand, dirt, corrosion, or other debris have found their way into the contacts for this button.  If so, try blowing out, brushing, and polishing these contacts to see if this corrects the button not working issue.
    5. Broken Switch Panel. The buttons panel is defective.  Replace this with a new one.  These parts are often available at eBay.
    6. The Service Mode is Active.  You accidently put your speaker into service mode a.k.a. secret or weird mode.

So, assuming that all the hardware and software in your speaker is still okay, we discuss in detail here the last possibility. Thus, we describe below how to get your JBL Boombox 2 out of service mode, and restore proper operation.





JBL Boombox 2 Service Mode Details

First, when in this (often called ‘weird’ or ‘secret’) mode, the JBL Boombox 2 does can power ON whether or not you connect an external power source such as the included AC charger adapter. This speaker does indeed run on the internal battery while in Service mode.  Furthermore, the Power button does not turn off the unit while it is running in this mode. So without exiting this mode, it will not turn off until the battery runs dead.  So when Service mode is in effect, the Power button appears to not work.

Finally, none of the buttons have any effect in Service mode, except for the ones needed to exit this mode.  E.g. The speaker won’t pair with any devices or other speakers when you press the Pairing button, and as mentioned, the Power button does not switch it off either.

How to Turn On Service Mode

This is what you may have done by accident at some point just prior to your speaker’s Power button not working… To turn on this Service mode, power up the speaker first. And then press the Bluetooth and Play-Pause buttons at the same time, until the speaker powers OFF, which usually takes ten seconds or so. You have now scheduled this mode to take effect the next time you power up the Boombox 2.

Find these buttons pointed out in the next picture. Note that you can enter this mode as long as the speaker is ON, and it doesn’t matter whether it’s connected to external power or not.

Picture of the Bluetooth and Play-Pause buttons on the JBL Boombox 2 speaker.
The Bluetooth and Play-Pause buttons on the JBL Boombox 2 speaker.

How to Fix the Power Button Not Working on the JBL Boombox 2 Speaker

Now you can restore proper operation by disabling this mode. Note that as long as there’s enough battery energy to power up the speaker, you won’t need the power adapter to switch off Service mode. But you can connect the adapter if you wish, when you’re not sure if the battery is dead or not.

    1. So, connect your speaker to AC power and turn on the speaker if it’s not ON already.  Once it is running in this mode, you won’t be able to turn it off until you leave Service mode.
    2. Then, with the speaker Power button glowing, you press and hold the Pairing and Play-Pause button combination for ten seconds or so, until the unit powers off.
    3. Then, normal speaker operation returns the next time you press the Power button to start it up.

Finally, at this point, the Power button should work again, whether or not you connect the AC adapter.

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Other Posts About the JBL Boombox 2 Bluetooth Speaker

    1. JBL Boombox 2 Specs Watts RMS
    2. Boombox 2 JBL Bluetooth Speaker Pairing Instructions
    3. JBL Boombox 2 Not Charging, How to Fix
    4. How to Turn On JBL Boombox 2 Bass Mode
    5. JBL Boombox 2 Charging Directions

References for Power Button Not Working on the JBL Boombox 2

    1. JBL Boombox 2 Splash Proof Portable Speaker Product Page at JBL.com

Revision History

    • 2023-01-26: First published.