Many JBL speakers, including the Flip 4 model, have a blinking red light when the battery drains to critical levels. In the case of this speaker, we find this lamp in the battery gauge on the speaker’s button panel. Sometimes though, this red LED lamp for long periods as you play the speaker. E.g. It begins pulsating during play and does not stop, even when you connect a charger. Thus in this post, we offer reasons that this red light blinking happens on the Flip 4. Then we give possible fixes for this common problem.
JBL Flip 4 Red Light Blinking: Reasons and Fixes
It’s normal that the battery gauge gives off a blinking red light when the battery is very low. But this lamp should turn white when you connect the speaker to a charger, and battery recharging begins.
Normally though, this gauge only shows white lights. Plus the number of glowing lamps tells you how full the battery is. It can appear as follows.
Or, once recharging finishes, all lights in this gauge go out when the speaker is OFF. See this in the next picture.
Now the blinking red lamp might not change to white when you connect the charger. If not, then several situations can cause this, and we list these below thus.
1.The Power Outlet May Not Be Live
The Problem
The AC or car adapter for the JBL Flip 4 may not deliver any power. Why? Because it is not receiving any to begin with. This can happen due to a defective AC or car circuit or circuit breaker dropping out. Blown fuses, faulty wiring, and power failure, may also cause this.
The Fix
Check that your outlet has electricity by testing it by plugging in a lamp or other device. Reset circuit breakers if OFF. And if the outlet has a light switch that controls it, then flip that switch to ON.
2. Power Supply is Not Working Well
The Problem
The JBL Flip 4 red light continues blinking. Perhaps this is because the AC or car adapter you’re using provides SOME but not ENOUGH charging current. Its output energy can fall over time. So it might not deliver the correct amount presently. Please note that this speaker requires 1 amp of charging current at 5 volts (5 watts). It will not fully recharge in the specified time with lesser values.
The Fix
The solution is to replace the adapter. So pick one that delivers at least that 5 volts at 1 amps (5 watts).
3. The Battery in the Flip 4 is Defective
The Problem
As lithium ion batteries age, they lose their ability to fully recharge. And the characteristics of the charging current they draw changes as they get older as well. Normally, as a battery recharges, it draws less and less current as it charges. But in battery failure, it may draw too much or too little amperage. Thus this can confuse the charging circuits. They might think that no charging is occurring. So, the red lamp keeps blinking.
The Fix
To fix this, replace the battery. But keep in mind that you can’t easily get to it in the Flip 4. Indeed, changing the battery means that you must teardown the speaker.
But note that doing this likely breaks the water resistant seal. Thus you may compromise speaker safety, if you get water on it.
Breaking this seal may also change the sound quality too. So get someone to replace the battery who knows how to pick the right replacement. They should also be able to restore the seal to as it was, as they reassemble the speaker. A good battery should fit well inside.
5. The Speaker Might be Defective when the JBL Flip 4 Red Light is Blinking
The Problem
Even if you have the correct power supply, the charging current may be too low or too high. This can happen when the battery management circuits inside the Flip 4 JBL speaker fail. Note that these systems read the battery status, and shut off the charging current when they deem the battery full.
But when they break, the battery might get no power at all. Thus, it never recharges. Again, in this case, the red light might never stop blinking, even with the charger attached. You may also see that the speaker doesn’t play as long before going dead. Or it might not play at all, except when you’re charging it.
The Fix
The best solution here, is simply to get a new speaker. Why? Because the circuits in this model are quite small. So unless you can replace the system board(s), just buy another speaker.