Sony SRS XP700 Won’t Turn On

Right front view of the Sony SRS XP700 speaker, showing the party lights glowing green.

Many a Sony speaker offers truly portable operation via their lithium ion batteries inside. And when said battery dies, you can charge the speaker with an AC or car adapter. Sometimes though, you may notice that speakers like the Sony SRS XP700 Won’t Turn On, and wonder what’s wrong with them. That’s even when you connect the adapter to power, and then to the speaker. Now to solve that, we’re here to help.

Sony SRS XP700 Won’t Turn On: When This Happens, Check the Following

Read the CHARGE Lamp

The battery in the SRS XP700 may be completely dead, prevent it from turning on. Now if you connect the charger, it’s possible that the speaker does not charge, and the CHARGE lamp on practically all Sony speakers gives clues to what might or might not be happening. This light is normally dark. But starts flashing orange during play, when the battery is going low. Perhaps you noticed this the last time you were able to turn on the speaker.

Indeed, the light may have kept flashing, even when you attached the charger. Why? Because the lamp should change at this point though, to solid orange. When the light stops blinking, and assumes a steady orange glow, this means that the SRS XP700 is getting at least some power from the adapter. But if the orange pulsing continues once you connect the charger, then correct recharging is likely not happening. Then, without any charge, the battery eventually depleted completely.

Furthermore, this light shows battery charging status while recharging. I.e. As long as charging moves forward, this lamp also keeps glowing solid orange. And it goes out when charging ends. But if that CHARGE lamp keeps glowing after several hours of recharging, then chances are, charging is not going well. If you notice this, then again, the battery may not be getting any juice. So, especially without the charger feeding it, the SRS XP700 still won’t turn on.

Sony SRS XP700 Won’t Turn On: Reasons and Fixes

As we stated earlier, it’s normal that the CHARGE lamp on the top of the speaker pulses orange when the battery inside is about dead. But again, the light should switch to a solid orange glow when you connect the unit to a working charger.

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 SRS XP700, 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 SRS XP700 may not output any energy because it is not receiving any 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 power 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 AC Charger is Defective

The Problem

When the Sony SRS XP700 Won’t Turn On, this can occur also because the adapter is outputting SOME but not ENOUGH amperage to fully charge the unit’s battery and power the XP700 itself at the same time.

Detail: 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 CHARGE lamp turn solid orange, but never go dark.

The Fix

The solution is to replace the adapter, preferably one that can deliver a little more than what the specs of the speaker you have call for. The smaller speakers charge well with a USB adapter that delivers 5 volts, and can deliver at least one amp current.

3. The Battery in the Sony SRS XP700 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. Again, when the battery fails to charge, the Sony speaker may not turn on.

The Fix

To repair this, replace the battery. But realize that you can’t easily get the old one out of most Sony speakers including the SRS XP700. Indeed, changing the battery means that you must take the unit apart, and this, be assured, is an intricate effort.

Also note that doing this likely breaks the moisture seal. So the speaker 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 choose the right part. 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 for this speaker.

4. The Unit Itself Might Be Defective When the Sony SRS XP700 Won’t Turn On

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 small or too large. This can happen when the battery maintenance circuits inside the SRS XP700 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 Power 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.

Also, the control pads on the SRS XP700 can fail, and finding a new one can be difficult, not to mention its installation is very delicate work.

The Fix

The best answer here, is simply to get a new Sony SRS XP700. Why? Because the electronics in this model are very 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 tension.