My JBL Charge 5 Won’t Turn OFF

JBL Charge 5 speaker, top view, showing all lights lit.

When my JBL Charge 5 won’t turn OFF, we find that this likely means one or more things. And we offer below a couple solutions for the most likely cause.

My JBL Charge 5 Won’t Turn Off: Causes

Now in this model, one or more of the following may cause this speaker to fail to shut down.

1. The button mechanisms may have sand, dirt, or other debris in them. To repair this, take the speaker apart if so inclined. Then blow, brush, or polish switch contacts if you can reach them.
2. The battery is providing SOME but not ENOUGH power. Verify this by connecting a charger. If the problem goes away immediately, then it could be that the battery was almost dead. Further verify by fully charging. Then remove the charger and power up the speaker on batteries. Then see if it will turn off. If not, then the battery may be defective.
3. The speaker is defective. In this case, get a replacement unit.
4. The Charge 5 has both a Service Mode, and a Lock Mode. Now either of these you may have switched on by accident.

Now we assume here that all the hardware and software in the 5 is working correctly. So we cover below the possibilities in the last item; Service Mode and Lock Mode. Thus, we describe below how to get out of these modes, and turn your speaker OFF once again.

My JBL Charge 5 Won’t Turn Off: How to Fix

Exit Service Mode

Top view of the JBL Charge 5. Showing the -Pairing- and -Play-Pause- buttons.

Now you can restore normal operation by deactivating this mode. But note that when active, you must connect external power to switch it OFF. Why? Because when in Service mode, the speaker won’t power up without outside power. 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 the speaker to AC power and turn on the unit.
2. Then, with the speaker Power button glowing, press the Pairing and Play-Pause button combo. Then hold for ten seconds or so. Release when the unit powers off.
3. Then, normal speaker operation should return.
4. Verify this by powering ON the speaker.

Exit Lock Mode

The -Power- button glowing.

Again, you can restore correct operation by cancelling this mode. But note that when Lock mode is active, you can switch it back OFF without the charger. But you can do that only if the battery is not dead.

1. Connect the speaker to AC power.
2. Then, press and hold the Power button for ten seconds. If the button lamps are glowing, then they’ll go dark at this point. When you see that thus, then release the Power button.
3. Wait two seconds.
4. Finally, press and release the Power button. The speaker should then boot up normally, with proper operation returning after that.