JBL Charge 5 Speaker Won’t Turn On or Charge !

JBL Charge 5 BT speaker, front left view.

Sometimes a JBL Charge 5 speaker won’t turn ON or charge. It may not turn on unless you plug it in. Or it may not charge due to a defective charger or cord. So this likely means one or more things.

1. First, your speaker might be faulty beyond repair.
2. Or the battery no longer recharges due to age or heavy use.
3. The charger or cable is faulty.
4. Or finally, you mistakenly put it into service mode a.k.a. secret or weird mode.

So, assuming that all the hardware and software is still okay, we detail here the last possibility. Thus, we cover how to get the Charge 5 out of service mode to restore proper operation.

JBL Charge 5 Speaker Won’t Turn ON or Charge: Reasons Why

Service Mode Details for this Speaker

First, when in this (often called ‘weird’ or ‘secret’) mode, the unit does not power ON. Well, it doesn’t unless you connect an external power source. Thus, it will not run on the internal battery while in Service mode. Furthermore, when you do connect outside power, the speaker powers up without you pressing the Power button. I.e. It comes on as soon as you apply external power.

Further, you cannot turn off the Charge 5 while it is in Service mode, unless you disconnect the power cable. And then, the unit powers off without pressing the Power button. So when this service mode is active, the Power button appears to not work.

Indeed, none of the buttons seem to work in Service mode, except for the ones needed to exit service mode. Thus the 5 won’t pair with any devices or other speakers when you press the Pairing button. Plus as mentioned, the Power button does not switch it off either.

How to Activate Service Mode

This is what you may have done by accident at some point just prior to your speaker’s strange behavior starting… To turn on this Service mode, power up the 5 first. Then press the Bluetooth and Play-Pause buttons at the same time. Hold in until the unit powers OFF, which usually takes ten seconds or so.

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

Top view of the JBL Charge 5 speaker, showing the -Bluetooth- and -Play-Pause- buttons.

How to Turn OFF Service Mode

Now you can restore proper operation by disabling this mode. But note. When Service mode is in effect, then to switch it off, you must connect external power again. Why? Because when in Service mode, the JBL Flip 4 won’t come on without outside power. But you can’t change modes without powering up the unit first. Thus, you need the power adapter to make this fix.

1. So, connect your speaker to AC power and turn ON the 5.
2. Then, with the unit Power button glowing, you press and hold the Bluetooth and Play-Pause button combo. Then hold in for ten seconds or so, until the unit powers off.
3. Then, normal operation returns.

Finally, the Power button should turn this speaker on again, whether or not you connect the AC adapter.