When your JBL Flip 6 speaker is not turning on, this could be due to one or more issues. First, your speaker might be broken past reparability. Or the battery is dead and needs recharging. Furthermore, if the battery won’t charge, then your charger or AC power source might be faulty. Or, 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 cover here the most common cause and easiest fixes to restore correct speaker operation.
JBL Flip 6 Not Turning On Causes
The Battery is Dead
When this happens, pressing the Power button does not turn on the speaker. So none of the other buttons work either. Indeed, you may notice for a little prior to this, that the battery meter flashed red, indicating that the battery was about to run out of power. And if you kept playing the speaker without recharging it, then you might have completely run the battery dead. Thus the speaker does not power up at all now.
To fix this, simply recharge the Flip 6. You should notice that almost immediately after connection the charger, that the battery meter starts flashing white, and soon after that, punching the Power button does indeed activate the speaker.
The Battery Has Failed
After roughly a thousand charge-discharge cycles, the battery begins losing its ability to hold a charge. And eventually, its capacity shrinks so much, that it can no longer take on enough charge to power the speaker, even for a short time, without the charger. Thus again, you may see that the JBL Flip 6 is not turning on, as the battery is constantly depleted, 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 not turning on issue. E.g. The lights won’t come on, nor will you hear the signature JBL speaker startup sounds. One cause for this includes a faulty charger. Indeed, if you can’t recharge the speaker, then you won’t be able to power it up, and thus, it won’t turn on.
The solution here is to try a different charger and / or cord that you know are both good. You can do this easily since USB chargers and cables are so readily available these days online and at electronic and larger department stores.
The Speaker is in Service Mode
First, when in this (often called ‘weird’ or ‘secret’) mode, the Flip 6 JBL speaker does not power up unless you connect a power adapter. Thus, it will not run on the internal battery while in Service mode. Furthermore, when you do apply outside power, it powers up without you pressing the Power button. I.e. It comes on as soon as you apply power to the USB-C input port on the side of the speaker.
Further, you cannot turn off the Flip 6 while it is in Service mode, unless you disconnect the external power source. And then, it 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 work in Service mode, except for the ones that exit service 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 You Might Have Accidently Turned On Service Mode
This is what you may have done at some point just prior to your speaker’s buttons 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 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, and it doesn’t matter whether it’s connected to external power or not.
How to Turn off Service Mode
Now you can restore proper operation by deactivating this mode. But note that when this Service mode is in effect, then to switch it back off, you must connect external power again. Why? Because when in Service mode, the JBL Flip 6 won’t come on without outside power. Yet you can’t change modes without powering up the unit first. So, you need a USB-C power adapter to make this fix.
- So, connect your speaker to external power. Next, the speaker comes on.
- Then, with the speaker Power button glowing, you press and hold the Bluetooth and Play-Pause button combo for ten seconds or so, until the unit powers off.
- Finally, normal speaker operation returns.
Finally, at this point, the speaker should turn ON again, whether or not you connect the AC adapter.
The Speaker is Defective
Finally, the electronics inside the Flip 6 may have failed. The USB charging port may be broken. Or the power switch itself could be worn out. In these cases, unless you have skill repairing Bluetooth speakers, your best bet is just to get a new one.
Other Posts About the JBL Flip 6 Bluetooth Speaker
References for JBL Flip 6 Not Turning On
Revision History
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- 2022-09-22: First published.