JBL Xtreme 2 Not Charging

Front right view of the JBL Xtreme 2 Bluetooth speaker.

Sometimes the JBL Xtreme 2 is not charging fully, or at all when you connect the charger. This can occur due to a faulty adapter, bad battery, dead outlet, or a faulty speaker. But doing some easy steps like can usually solve this problem. Things like checking that the outlet is live, the charger works, and the battery is not bad. More details follow…

How to Tell that the JBL Xtreme 2 is Not Charging

One way you can tell that the JBL Xtreme 2 is not charging, is by reading the battery status gauge. Find this on the front lower portion of the unit.

Now this meter starts blinking red during play to let you know that the battery is low on power. And the flashing does not stop, even when you plug in the charger. It should change at this point though, to blinking white. This indicates that the speaker is getting some power from the adapter. But if it continues red, then recharging is not happening.

You can also feel the power adapter’s side panel ten or fifteen minutes into the charge cycle. The speaker itself warms slightly as well during correctly charging operation. But if you feel no warmth, then again, the JBL Xtreme 2 is not charging.

Then too, the battery gauge normally shows battery recharging progress. I.e. as the unit recharges, more and more of the lamps light up white. Now you might not see more lights coming on after a couple hours. If not, then charging is not going well and you should investigate further.

Thus when the Xtreme 2 is not recharging though it should, find out what’s wrong and how to fix. So in this post, we offer reasons why this might happen. Then we give possible fixes.

JBL Xtreme 2 Not Charging, Reasons and Fixes

AS we said above, it’s normal that the battery level gauge blinks red when the battery is about dead. But this meter should turn to a flashing white when you connect the charger.

The blinking red light on the JBL Xtreme 2 speaker.

Normally though, this meter only displays white lights. The number of these lamps glowing tells you how full the battery is. It can appear as follows.

Front bottom view of the speaker, showing all battery gauge lights glowing.

Or, if the speaker is OFF, then once recharging finishes, all lights in this gauge go dark.

The dark battery meter.

If the gauge does not change to white when you connect the charger, then several things might cause this. So we list these below thus.

1.The Power Outlet May Not Be Live

The Problem

The charger may not output any power because it is not receiving any to begin with. This can happen due to a defective AC or car circuit or tripped breaker. Also, a blown fuse, faulty wiring, power failure and the like can cause this as well.

The Fix

Check that your receptacle has power by plugging in a lamp or other device. Reset circuit breakers if tripped. Also, the outlet may have a light switch that controls it. If so, then be certain that that switch is ON.

2. The Adapter is Faulty

The Problem

The JBL Xtreme 2 not charging can also occur because the charger provides SOME but not ENOUGH current. So it does not completely recharge the speaker, even though it has good power input. Now as the unit ages, its output energy can fall over time. So the adapter might not deliver the correct amount presently.

When this happens, you may see the gauge turn to a flashing white light. But it does not gradually advance toward full charge. Or if it does, it advances more slowly than usual.

Note that this speaker needs 3 amps at 19 volts to fully recharge in the 3.5 hours spec time. Charging may not work as we expect if the charger does not deliver on these requirements.

JBL Xtreme 2 charger cord adapter.

The Fix

The solution is to replace the power adapter, preferably one that delivers the 19 volts at 3 amps (57 watts). We advise that you order a replacement directly from JBL for fastest yet safest charging.

3. The Battery in the Xtreme 2 is Faulty

The Problem

As lithium ion batteries age, they lose their ability to fully charge. Furthermore the characteristics of the charging current they draw changes with age too. Normally, as a battery recharges, it draws less and less charging current as it fills. But in the case of cell failure, it may draw too many or too few amps. Thus this can confuse the charging circuits. They might act like no charging is occurring. So the gauge shows that no charging is happening.

The Fix

To address this, replace the battery. But keep in mind that you can’t easily get the old one out of the JBL Xtreme 2. Indeed, changing the battery means that you must take the speaker apart, and this is a delicate operation.

Also note that doing this likely breaks the water resistant seal. So the speaker will no longer be safe to use, should you expose it to water.

Breaking this seal may well 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 and provide 3.6 volts and at least 10,000 mAh (36 watt-hours). But we suggest using only JBL certified batteries for this speaker.

4. The Speaker Might be Defective when the JBL Xtreme 2 Does Not Charge

The Problem

So you may have the proper power supply, with a functioning battery in the speaker. Yet the charging current that actually reaches the battery may be too low or too high. This can happen when the battery management circuits inside the Xtreme 2 become defective. Note that these systems read the battery status. Then they shut off the charging current when they deem the battery as full.

But when they break, the battery might get no power at all. Thus, it never recharges. Again, in this case, the battery gauge might never stop flashing, even with the charger connected. The speaker may also not play as long before going dead, if at all, until you connect the charger. Or it might not play at all.

The Fix

The best answer here, is simply to get a new JBL Xtreme 2. Why? Because the electronic parts in this model are quite small. So perhaps you can replace the system board(s) yourself, or know someone who will do it for you. If not, then just buy another speaker. Believe us, this saves a whole bunch of aggravation.