Picture of the top of the JBL Flip 5 speaker, powered ON, not paired, showing the glowing Power button highlighted.

JBL Speaker Power Button Not Working Fix

pWhen the Power button on your JBL speaker is not working, this likely means one or more things.  This post covers JBL speakers including the Flip, Charge, Xtreme, and Boombox lines. So one or more of the following causes may be why the power button does not work.

    1. The button mechanisms may have sand, dirt, or other debris in them. To repair this, take the speaker apart. Then blow, brush, or polish switch contacts.
    2. Your charger cord is dead. To resolve this, swap in a working charger for the suspected bad one. The speaker should then power up once more.
    3. The battery inside no longer recharges due to age, over charging, or heavy use. To solve this, replace the battery.
    4. Your JBL speaker is faulty. In this case, get a replacement unit.
    5. For models that have Service Mode, you may have accidently started that up.

So, assuming that all the hardware and software is okay, we cover here the last possibility. Tat is how to get the speaker out of service mode.

JBL Speaker Power Button Not Working: Service Mode Explained

First, when in this (often called ‘weird’ or ‘secret’) mode, the speaker does not power ON without an adapter. Thus, it will not run on the internal battery while in Service mode.  Furthermore, when you do connect the adapter, it powers ON without anyone pressing the Power button.  I.e. It comes on as soon as you apply power to the DC input port on the speaker.

Also, you cannot turn off the speaker while in Service mode. For that you must disconnect outside power. And then, it powers off without pressing the Power button.  So when this service mode is active, the Power button appears to not work.

Finally, none of the buttons seem to work in Service mode, except for the ones needed to exit service mode.  E.g. The speaker won’t pair with any devices or other speakers. Plus the Power button does not switch it off either.





How to Enter This Service Mode

This is what you may have done by accident prior to your speaker’s Power button not working… To turn on this Service mode, power up the JBL speaker first. Then press the Connect+ and Volume UP buttons at the same time. Hold them in until the speaker powers OFF. This usually takes ten seconds or so. Note that newer speakers may use a different button combo to enter this mode.  So find out how to do this on your model. In this case, we show this on the first version of the JBL Boombox.

Note that you can enter this mode as long as the speaker is ON. It doesn’t matter whether external power is present. Also, these buttons are very close to (beside) each other.  So it’s easy to press them both by accident. But remember that once in this mode, you can’t leave it without connecting the charger.

Top view of a typical JBLspeaker, showing the -Connect Plus- and -Volume Up- buttons.
A common JBL speaker, top view, showing the -Connect Plus- and -Volume Up- buttons.

How to Fix the Power Button Not Working on a JBL Speaker

Now you can restore normal operation by deactivating this mode. But you need to connect external power again. Why?  Because when in Service mode, the speaker won’t power up on battery. But you can’t change modes without switching on the unit first.  Thus, you need the AC adapter to make this fix.

    1. So, connect your JBL speaker to AC power and turn on the unit.
    2. Then, with the speaker Power button glowing, press the Connect+ and Volume UP button combo. Then hold for ten seconds or so, until the unit powers off.
    3. At last, normal speaker operation returns.

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

Other Posts About the JBL Speaker

    1. JBL Speaker Bluetooth Pairing Instructions
    2. How to Pair JBL Speaker to Alexa
    3. How to Connect to Echo Dot
    4. Factory Reset Instructions
    5. How to Pair iPhone with JBL Speaker

References for JBL Speaker Power Button Not Working

    1. JBL Speaker Official Product Page