Sennheiser headphones are popular amongst gamers, but not limited to. They are durable and offer high sound quality, but sometimes they won’t charge. How to fix it?
To fix Sennheiser headphones that won’t charge, use a different charger, perform a hard reset, clean the charging cradle (if using one), or replace the power supply or battery. If nothing works, contact Sennheiser Support or send them to an authorized repair center.
Since there are a lot of causes for this, no fix will work for everyone. So, we prepared a list of 6 fixes you can use.
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How To Fix Sennheiser Headphones That Aren’t Charging?
To fix Sennheiser headphones that aren’t charging, you must find the issue that it’s causing it. For instance, if it’s a charger issue, changing the charger will fix it. If it’s a software issue, a hard reset will fix it. If it’s a hardware issue, changing the power supply, charging cradle, or battery might fix it.
You must contact their support if nothing from this list works.
1. Change The Charger
The Sennheiser charger comes in two parts — wall charger and USB. If one of these two parts is faulty, the battery won’t charge.
It’s recommended to change the charger (one by one) to see if the charger or the headphones are the problems. Most of the time for charging problems, the charger is faulty.
First, change the wall charger and use the same USB charger. If the device starts charging, then it was the wall charger’s fault and you need a new one. The new wall charger must offer the same or more power output as the old one. If you don’t have a new wall charger, connect the USB to your PC or laptop.
If the device doesn’t start to charge, change the USB charger too (use the new wall charger also). If the device starts to change, you need a new USB charger. You can use the new USB with the old wall charger to see if you also need a new wall charger.
For testing purposes, you can borrow one from your friends or use your phone charger. But, for permanent usage, you need an original charger (from Sennheiser) that can offer the same power output or current as the old one.
Note: Change the power outlet too while doing these tests.
2. Do a Hard Reset
If the headphones won’t charge because of a software bug, a hard reset will fix it. A hard reset is a process that restores a device to its original factory settings (default mode). This means every setting, mode, or previously connected device will be removed from the cache.
Since the cache will be cleared, any software bug will be also removed. This can fix the problem and help it charge again.
There are different models of Sennheiser headphones, and each model or type has its unique way of resetting. Here are the most popular types and their resetting process:
Reset Sennheiser HD 4.50 BTNC:
- Put them into pairing mode.
- Press and hold the multifunction and power buttons for 4 seconds.
- Once the LED light starts to flash a purple color (4 times), release the buttons.
- They are now reset and into pairing mode.
Reset Sennheiser PXC 550 Wireless:
- Restart them.
- Press the Effect mode button for 4 seconds to put them into pairing mode. The LED light will start to flash white.
- Release the button.
- Press the Effect mode button again for 4 seconds or until you hear “List cleared”.
Reset Sennheiser HD1 M2 AEBT:
- Turn them on.
- Press the power button for 4 seconds to enter pairing mode. The lighting indicator will flash red and blue.
- Press the 3-way multifunction and power button for 5 seconds.
- Once the LED light starts to flash, release the buttons.
- The LED light will flash 3 more times before the Bluetooth list is cleared.
3. Check the Charging Cradle
A charging cradle or stand is a device designed to hold and charge various electric devices, including Wireless Sennheiser headphones, when they are not in use.
The charging cradle is connected to a power source, such as a wall outlet or USB port, and once it establishes a connection with a portable electric device, it starts to charge devices.
Sennheiser headphones won’t charge if the charging cradle isn’t working properly. To know if the charging cradle is faulty, charge your wireless headphones with a USB-C charger (connected to another power source), if the headphones start to charge, the cradle is faulty.
Occasionally, dust or dirt accumulation on the charging ports or contact points can hinder the cradle’s ability to power the device. To fix this, clean the charging ports and contact points (of the cradle and headphones), using rubbing alcohol.
If the headphones tend to move or remain unstable within the charging stand, it can disrupt the proper contact between the charging points and prevent charging. To solve this, you can use a rubber band to hold the headphones securely in place.
4. Check the Power Supply
A power supply is an electric device that supplies (or converts) and regulates the power from an external source device (e.g. charger) into an appropriate voltage, current, and frequency required by the connected devices (e.g. headphones). If the power supply isn’t working properly, the battery won’t charge.
To know if the power supply is working or not, connect the Sennheiser headphones to their charger. If the LED light starts to glow or change color, the power supply is working. The LED light of Sennheiser headphones will be red if the device is charging.
Unfortunately, if your headphones don’t have LED lights you can’t know if the power supply is working or not. If the power supply is faulty, send it to an electric repair shop to change it. You shouldn’t try to change it as you can do more harm than good.
5. Replace the Faulty Battery
An old or faulty battery is the main cause of why Wireless Sennheiser headphones won’t charge (or turn on).
Wireless Sennheiser headphones use rechargeable batteries. For instance, Sennheiser RS 120-W On-Ear Wireless Headphones use 2 x 1.2 V (AAA), NiMH rechargeable batteries. The NiMH batteries have a life cycle of two (2) to five (5) years and can be charged hundreds of times before their capacity begins to diminish significantly.
Sennheiser headphones won’t charge if the batteries are faulty, old, or have completed their charging cycles. You must replace the batteries every two (2) to five (5) years.
After 2-5 years of constant charging, the NiMH batteries will lose some of their capacity. The more they get charged after this, the more battery capacity they will lose. The NiMH batteries will also get damaged and lose battery capacity if they are over-charged, exposed to high temperatures, over-discharged, or damaged.
Charge Wireless Sennheiser headphones for 30 minutes to test their battery capacity. After 30 minutes, turn the headphones on (while keeping the charger plugged in), once they turn on, remove (unplug) the charge. If the headphones turn off immediately or 5 minutes after you remove the charge, the battery is faulty and you must replace it.
6. Contact Their Support
Contact Sennheiser support if your warranty is still available. Most likely, there’s a hardware problem and you must replace the faulty hardware part. This must be done by Sennheiser Service Center or Authorized Repair Centers (if you have a warranty) or by a Local Electronics Repair Shop (if you don’t have a warranty).
How To Know if Wireless Sennheiser Headphones Are Charging?
Check the LED light indicators to know if the Wireless Sennheiser headphones are charging. According to the Sennheiser website, the LED light will be red if the headphones are being charged.
The battery is less than 5% if the LED light indicator is rapidly blinking red light. The battery is fully charged once the LED light turns green.
Some Wireless Sennheiser headphones, such as Sennheiser Momentum M3, will release a pre-recorded voice to tell you the battery percentage. To do so, press and hold the Multi-function button (the middle button) for 2 seconds.
Alternatively, you can check the battery percentage by pairing your headphones with your Windows 10 PC or smartphone (iPhone or Android). For Windows 10, go to Bluetooth & Other devices, under “Audio” find your headphones and click it, it will show the remaining battery. For iPhone and Android, download the official app (Sennheiser Smart Control) which shows the battery percentage of the headphones.