Contributor I

Answered

Roam wont charge!

63 replies
25107 views

Just got my hands on the new Roam today and can’t get it to charge.

its plugged in with cable provided, solid orange light on the front of it and can see it’s charging on the app but it’s stuck at 20% all day now. Won’t charge up.

any ideas what to do here, very frustrated with this problem.

thanks in advance for any advice.

Edit, light is slowly flashing orange it was only solid orange when speak on but problem remains the same.

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Ken_GriffithsAnswer

What is the power output of the charger you are using? The Minimum requirements are 5v/1.5A (7.5w), but I would personally recommend using a 2A or 3A charger (10w-15w).

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petridish38

Trending Lyricist I

I have tried literally five different wireless charging pads, and even bought a $30 USB charging brick with 12W of power for each port and only plugged in one wireless charging pad. The Roam will charge for a bit, but if left for a few hours or overnight, it will be down to 30% despite being in idle mode with no music playing just sitting on the wireless charging pad.

This is a video of what my unit is experiencing: https://youtu.be/1aSs2OulQEM

Ken_Griffiths

I have tried literally five different wireless charging pads, and even bought a $30 USB charging brick with 12W of power for each port and only plugged in one wireless charging pad. The Roam will charge for a bit, but if left for a few hours or overnight, it will be down to 30% despite being in idle mode with no music playing just sitting on the wireless charging pad.

This is a video of what my unit is experiencing: https://youtu.be/1aSs2OulQEM

The power output is too low - it’s only 5V/1A. You need a minimum of 5V/1.5A (as stated on the Sonos.com FAQ) - I would suggest using between 5V/2A to 3A power output, to charge the Roam.

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petridish38

Trending Lyricist I

I have tried literally five different wireless charging pads, and even bought a $30 USB charging brick with 12W of power for each port and only plugged in one wireless charging pad. The Roam will charge for a bit, but if left for a few hours or overnight, it will be down to 30% despite being in idle mode with no music playing just sitting on the wireless charging pad.

This is a video of what my unit is experiencing: https://youtu.be/1aSs2OulQEM

The power output is too low - it’s only 5V/1A. You need a minimum of 5V/1.5A (as stated on the Sonos.com FAQ) - I would suggest using between 5V/2A to 3A power output, to charge the Roam.

Thanks for the reply. Though it contradicts the email I got from Sonos support today. Here is a quote from that email: “Roam can only accept up to 5W rated wireless chargers. Third-party wireless chargers rated 10W and 15W will work, but they won't charge Roam any faster than a 5W wireless charger.”

Also, I specifically bought that wireless charger because it is a 10W charger (after 5V-1A, notice it says 9v-1.1A which is 10 watts). It is qi certified and the Sonos marketing material on the website says that any qi certified charger will work.

Ken_Griffiths

The power output is too low - it’s only 5V/1A. You need a minimum of 5V/1.5A (as stated on the Sonos.com FAQ) - I would suggest using between 5V/2A to 3A power output, to charge the Roam.

Thanks for the reply. Though it contradicts the email I got from Sonos support today. Here is a quote from that email: “Roam can only accept up to 5W rated wireless chargers. Third-party wireless chargers rated 10W and 15W will work, but they won't charge Roam any faster than a 5W wireless charger.”

Also, I specifically bought that wireless charger because it is a 10W charger (after 5V-1A, notice it says 9v-1.1A which is 10 watts). It is qi certified and the Sonos marketing material on the website says that any qi certified charger will work.

Here is a screenshot from the Roam’s FAQ…

Ken_Griffiths

petridish38,

Your charger power output (as per my screenshot from your video) at the correct voltage of 5V is only 1A - it’s not enough to charge the Roam.

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Arefkay

Enthusiast I

Your charger block appears powerful enough (2.4A per port). And I have had good experience with Anker as a brand.

Maybe it is the Qi pad? Perhaps it is exceeding the power abilities of the Qi pad? That 5V 1A on the Qi pad suggests that might be the issue.

Is there no light on the Qi pad?

Try a different/newer Qi pad perhaps?

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Arefkay

Enthusiast I

Given that the charger block should be powerful enough, and a usb-c cable was supplied in the box, try directly charging without the Qi pad.

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petridish38

Trending Lyricist I

petridish38,

Your charger power output (as per my screenshot from your video) at the correct voltage of 5V is only 1A - it’s not enough to charge the Roam.

Thank you for your replies.

I think there is some misinterpretation of the information Sonos has provided to consumers. I am willing to admit I misread, but I have looked at this 100 times to make sure I’m not crazy… I don’t think I am reading this wrong. Below is my interpretation...

A. Their website says any qi certified charger, so that should be enough to suggest there is a problem and its not with my qi certified charger.

The image below suggests there are three ways to charge the Roam (way #1 in red, way #2 in blue, way #3 in green).

B. Even if a 5w qi-certified charger were not enough, the one in my video is 10 watt

The box for the charger even says as much…

C. In an email I received today from Sonos support, they say that Roam can only accept a 5W wireless charge.

D. My USB power brick is also not underpowered.

Plus, Sonos support also saw the videos I posted to YouTube and had this to say about all of my charging pads:

I am not trying to start anything here, but nothing you have provided from the Sonos website supports the argument that my charging setup is at fault. Sonos support themselves tells me my setup is correct. I guess I am just here to see if anyone else is having the same problem with wireless charging.

Thank you for your replies.

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petridish38

Trending Lyricist I

Given that the charger block should be powerful enough, and a usb-c cable was supplied in the box, try directly charging without the Qi pad.

Thanks Arefkay. It does charge fine with the supplied USB-C cable and this is what gets me by in the meantime.

But for my use (and one big reason I bought this speaker to only keep in my bathroom) I want to be able to just pick it up and set it on a dry shelf in my shower, then return it to charging after my shower without worrying about plugging/unplugging wires. All the documentation from Sonos says that I am able to do this with a qi-certified charging pad.

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Arefkay

Enthusiast I

The only other thing I can think of is which Qi charging protocol version is required.

The older Qi compatible versions did not provide as much power as the newer Qi protocol versions.

It sounds to me like there are some protocol handshaking “smarts” required of the Qi pad as well as the charger block for this to work.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qi_(standard)

When I bought my current Qi pads and power block I made sure they were at the current protocol levels.

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