Enthusiast II

Answered

Sonos Roam flashing red light on charging base

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I noticed this morning the battery was low on the Roam (amber status light), so placed it on the Sonos charging base. Just noticed the base itself has a flashing red light on front.

Does anyone know what this means please?

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James L.Answer

Retired Community Staff

Definitely red, can tell next to the amber light on the Sonos.

Also I've now fished the plug out of the cabinet, it's what appears to be an Apple Watch or iPhone (folding) rather than multi. I've swapped in an Anker PowerPoint 5 until I can retrieve the Sonos one from storage.

Thanks for the fast reply!

Some older iPhone chargers are not strong enough to effectively charge Roam, either via USB-C or attached to a wireless charger, so that is likely what was causing it here; either that or a misaligned Roam.

I’m glad that it’s red, since that indicates a temporary issue while charging. An amber light could potentially mean a hardware fault with the charger so I’m glad it’s not that.

The Anker PowerPoint 5 is definitely strong enough to charge Roam so you shouldn’t have issues with that one, or indeed the Sonos charging plug that came with the charging pad.

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T

twukAuthor

Enthusiast II

Hi @twuk,

The red light will flash on the wireless charger if it detects something that it is unable to effectively charge. I’m able to trigger mine consistently by placing it upside down on top of my laptop, or any other metal surface. It may seem obvious, but are you sure the charging pad is in the correct orientation? The smooth plastic side should be face up, with the rubber side on the bottom. If it is correct, make sure the Roam is positioned correctly on the pad, not overlapping the side, and with the logo side of Roam facing away from the cable.

If this happens again, be sure to submit a diagnostic and either post it here or get in touch with our customer care team, and we’ll look into it further :slight_smile:

Chargers must be different outside of the US. I’ve never seen any status lights on my charger.

Your charger will also have this light, it’s just rare to see it activated :smile:

It was definitely in the right orientation, as the charger is slightly convex on top the two don't ‘pair’ directly if upside down. Also the Roam charged fine on it after I charged it for a while on another charger. It was seated perfectly and on a wooden sideboard so no metal in sight.

James L.

Retired Community Staff

Hi @twuk,

The red light will flash on the wireless charger if it detects something that it is unable to effectively charge. I’m able to trigger mine consistently by placing it upside down on top of my laptop, or any other metal surface. It may seem obvious, but are you sure the charging pad is in the correct orientation? The smooth plastic side should be face up, with the rubber side on the bottom. If it is correct, make sure the Roam is positioned correctly on the pad, not overlapping the side, and with the logo side of Roam facing away from the cable.

If this happens again, be sure to submit a diagnostic and either post it here or get in touch with our customer care team, and we’ll look into it further :slight_smile:

Chargers must be different outside of the US. I’ve never seen any status lights on my charger.

Your charger will also have this light, it’s just rare to see it activated :smile:

It was definitely in the right orientation, as the charger is slightly convex on top the two don't ‘pair’ directly if upside down. Also the Roam charged fine on it after I charged it for a while on another charger. It was seated perfectly and on a wooden sideboard so no metal in sight.

Good to know. Please do submit a diagnostic if this happens again, as I’d like to check out why it was exhibiting that behaviour.

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T

twukAuthor

Enthusiast II

A thought… Is it possible the charging base is not getting enough power from the actual wall charger? I recall plugging it into a USB multi charger as there were not enough mains plugs in the cabinet in which it's wired. Can't seem to locate an originall Sonos mains plugs, but it could be in our storage with the box.

James L.

Retired Community Staff

A thought… Is it possible the charging base is not getting enough power from the actual wall charger? I recall plugging it into a USB multi charger as there were not enough mains plugs in the cabinet in which it's wired. Can't seem to locate an originall Sonos mains plugs, but it could be in our storage with the box.

That’s definitely possible. Weak power could indeed cause the charger’s light to flash - I don’t suppose you know the make and model of the USB multi charger it was connected to?

One more request - if the light on the charger starts to flash again, please take a photo of the charger itself. The light could flash either Amber or Red, and we’d like to confirm the exact behaviour of your unit, should this reoccur.

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T

twukAuthor

Enthusiast II

Definitely red, can tell next to the amber light on the Sonos.

Also I've now fished the plug out of the cabinet, it's what appears to be an Apple Watch or iPhone (folding) rather than multi. I've swapped in an Anker PowerPoint 5 until I can retrieve the Sonos one from storage.

T

twukAuthor

Enthusiast II

PS sorry for the conflicting information. Might be helpful to put a warning/article on the support site confirming the required wattage and also what lights on charging base mean.

It's easy for this subject to get confused with the multiple lights on the speaker.

James L.Answer

Retired Community Staff

Definitely red, can tell next to the amber light on the Sonos.

Also I've now fished the plug out of the cabinet, it's what appears to be an Apple Watch or iPhone (folding) rather than multi. I've swapped in an Anker PowerPoint 5 until I can retrieve the Sonos one from storage.

Thanks for the fast reply!

Some older iPhone chargers are not strong enough to effectively charge Roam, either via USB-C or attached to a wireless charger, so that is likely what was causing it here; either that or a misaligned Roam.

I’m glad that it’s red, since that indicates a temporary issue while charging. An amber light could potentially mean a hardware fault with the charger so I’m glad it’s not that.

The Anker PowerPoint 5 is definitely strong enough to charge Roam so you shouldn’t have issues with that one, or indeed the Sonos charging plug that came with the charging pad.

Mark good posts by pressing the like button, and select the best answer on questions you've asked to help others find solutions.

T

twukAuthor

Enthusiast II

Thanks James.

I’m just running down the Roam now so I can try again later and hopefully confirm this was the issue. Strange that it's been charging happily on that since day 1, and only just complained. Maybe because battery was lower?

James L.

Retired Community Staff

Thanks James.

I just running down the Roam now so I can try again later and hopefully confirm this was the issue. Strange that it's been charging happily on that since day 1, and only just complained. Maybe because battery was lower?

Indeed. If the battery was completely depleted, it can take quite a long time, and a bit more juice to get it back to 15% (the level at which it would power back on and become operational) compared to anything above that.

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twukAuthor

Enthusiast II

Hi James

Tested further yesterday by depleting the Roam battery as low as possible (until its low battery indicator appeared), then placing on the charger using a more powerful power supply. I didn’t see any flashing indicator on the charging base, so it appears that was the cause.

Thanks again for your help on this.

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