Most Sony Bluetooth speakers, including the boombox models, offer truly portable operation via their lithium ion batteries inside. And when said battery dies, you can recharge the speaker with an appropriate AC or car converter. Sometimes though, you may notice that the Sony boombox speaker is not charging fully, or at all, even when you connect the adapter to power, and then to the speaker. To solve this, we offer information here to help.
How to Tell that the Sony Boombox Speaker is Not Charging
Read the CHARGE Lamp
Among the ways you can tell that the boombox speaker is not charging, is by reading the orange battery charge status lamp on the top of the unit, just under the Power button. Now this light is normally dark, but starts blinking orange during play, when the battery is almost fully depleted.
But there’s an issue if this flashing keeps up, even when you attach the charger. Why? Because the lamp should change at this point though, to solid orange. Then, when the light stops flashing, this means that the speaker is getting some power from the adapter. But if the orange blinking continues, then correct recharging is likely not occurring.
Moreover, the status light shows battery charging status while recharging. I.e. As long as charging continues, this lamp also continues glowing solid orange. And this light goes out when charging ends. But if that CHARGE lamp keeps glowing after several hours of recharging, and does not go dark, then chances are, charging is not going well.
Feel the Heat
You can also feel the power supply’s top or bottom panels twenty minutes after plugging it into the speaker. At that time, it should feel warm. But if you detect no warmth, then again, this Sony boombox speaker is probably not charging.
Thus when you notice that the speaker is not recharging as it used to, you’ll want to deduce what’s wrong and how to correct this problem. So in this post, we offer reasons why the boombox may not charge when connected to power. Then we give possible fixes for this seen-often problem.
Sony Boombox Speaker Not Charging, Reasons and Fixes
As we stated above, it’s normal that the CHARGE lamp slowly pulses orange when the battery inside is about dead. But again, the light should switch to a solid orange shine when you connect the speaker to the charger, and the charger to a working power outlet.
Or, once recharging finishes, this light goes dark. See this in the next picture.
If the light does not change to a continuous orange glow when you plug the charger into the speaker, then several things might cause this. We list these below thus.
1.The Power Outlet May Not Be Energized
The Problem
The AC or car adapter for the Sony boombox may not output any current because it is not receiving any power to start with. This can happen due to a defective circuit, tripped breaker, blown fuse, faulty wiring, power failure, and similar issues.
The Fix
Check that your outlet has voltage by plugging in a lamp or other device. Then, reset circuit breakers if tripped, and if the outlet has a light switch that controls it, then be certain that that switch is in the ON position. Or, simply try a different outlet.
2. The Adapter is Broken or Too Small
The Problem
The Sony boombox speaker not charging can also happen because the adapter is outputting SOME but not FULL amperage to fully charge the speaker, even though it is getting the correct power input from the outlet.
Now as adapters age, their output energy can fall over time. So this power supply might not deliver the correct amount if it is very old. So you may see the speaker’s status lamp turn solid orange, but never go dark.
Please note that this speaker needs 4 amps at 20 volts (80 watts) from the AC adapter to fully recharge in the specified time of 3 hours. Yet charging will likely not go as fast as we hope if the charger does not deliver on these requirements.
The Fix
The solution is to replace the adapter, that delivers the (80 watts) for consistently fastest charging. Sony provides an adapter for the speaker. Thus, you may order a replacement from them.
3. The Battery in the Sony Boombox Speaker 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. Normally, as a battery recharges, it draws less and less current from the charger as it fills. But in the case of cells aging out, it may draw too many or too few amps, thus confusing the speaker’s charging circuits into behaving like no charging is occurring. So the CHARGE lamp shows that charging is not happening correctly, either by never stopping its solid orange glow, or never turning on when you connect the charger in the first place.
The Fix
To repair this, replace the battery. But realize that you can’t easily get the old one out of this mode speaker (the SRS XG500). Indeed, changing the battery means that you must take the speaker apart, and this, rest assured, is an intricate pursuit.
Also note that doing this likely breaks the moisture seal. So this boombox will no longer be safe to use, should you expose it to water afterwards.
Also, breaking this seal may alter the sound quality too. So get someone to replace the battery who knows how to pick the right replacement battery. 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 the speaker. But we suggest using only Sony certified batteries specifically designed for this speaker.
4. The Speaker Might be Defective when the Sony Boombox Speaker Is Not Charging
The Problem
Even if you have the proper power supply, with a working battery in the speaker, the charge current that actually gets to the battery may be too low or too high. This can happen when the battery management circuits inside this boombox go amiss. Note that these systems read the battery status, and switch off the charging current when they deem the battery full.
But when they go bonkers, the battery might see no power at all though the power supply itself is okay. Thus, the speaker never charges. Again, in this case, the CHARGE lamp might never stop blinking, even with the charger connected. You may also see that the speaker doesn’t play as long before going dead, if at all, until you connect the charger. Or it might not play at all, even with the charger connected.
The Fix
The best answer here, is simply to get a new speaker. Why? Because the electronics in this unit are quite small. So unless you can replace the system board(s) yourself, or know someone who can, just buy another speaker to save a bunch of mental stress. Now we get that buying a new Sony boombox speaker is likely costly. So in this case, it might be worth the trouble to fix the unit if you can.
But of course, the stakes are higher with this model, since the more costly the speaker, the more you’ll lose if you accidently break something, adding new problems to the unit. And this speaker is indeed costly. So, decreasing the likelihood that you, or anyone else for that matter, will be able to repair it.
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Revision History
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- 2022-08-04: First posted.