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Powerbeats 3 blinking white light

Powerbeats3 never achieve "fully charged" status. When plugged into a power source remains at the pulsating red for hours.


Once unplugged and attempting to power on, indicator light flashes white 3 times and pauses briefly before 3 white flashes again. It is never discoverable under bluetooth devices.


Furthermore, if you hold the power button for longer than 10 seconds and release; it will blink red/white/red/white/red/white a brief pause then 3 white flashes.


I've already tried "resetting" the Powerbeats3 by having plugged into a power source and holding down the power and volume down button for longer than 5 seconds on multiple occasions.


I have yet to implement the firmware upgrade but I will be able to in a few hours. I'm almost positive that this updater will indicate that I'm on the latest firmware as I had just picked these up from an Apple store yesterday and I'll be back to square one.


Is there a solution to this or has anyone ran across this exact same issue? What do the flashes mean?

[Re-Titled by Host]

null-OTHER, Powerbeats3

Posted on Dec 8, 2016 1:34 PM

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Question marked as Best reply

Posted on Jul 7, 2017 1:50 AM

Hi all,


I know the thread is a bit old but I want to share my experience which might help others.


I had the exact same problem with my Powerbeats3 (3 months old and not heavily used). White light blinking three times and then nothing. Tried resetting them (hold down power and volume - button for 10s) and I was getting red/white blinks and then three whites and nothing after that. Very frustrating.


It drove me crazy and I spent a good couple of days online to find a solution. Although nobody really knows what causes this, it looks like it's something to do with the remote and the battery shutting down in the presence of humidity (sweat,water etc). Although in my case the headphones was completely dry when they starting playing up.


What I did was to put the earphones to charge. After 5,6 hours they completely stopped working. They wouldn't turn on and I wasn't getting any light at all.


I left them to charge for more and then one day later it was still the same.


While the beats were charging the light was red/white and then three reds constantly.


BUT two days later,the light went just white and it all went back to normal! I unplugged them and now they respond to all the controls as they used to!


I know it might not work for everyone but I got the idea of charging them for two full days from some other users that tried it successfully.Hope this helps.


Thanks

79 replies

Jul 13, 2017 8:00 AM in response to romJones

thanks. but these are sold as headphones for working out, and are supposed to be "sweat resistant." This issue is a defect, which in typical Beats and Apple fashion, the company refuses to admit to. Beats headphones are complete garbage. I have 2 different beats and both have failed multiple times in the first year and the only correct solution is to continue complaining to apple and pressing them to replace your headset, which they will do within the first year of ownership. When they are forced to replace enough of these, they might actually correct their awful production process at Beats.

Jul 23, 2017 2:15 PM in response to S.SubZero

too bad the headphones are garbage but I am glad to find out I am not the only one having this problem. My first pair quit completely and my second pair is doing exactly what you describe- quits 20-30 minutes into a workout and then I get the 3 blinking white lights. So far I have been able to reboot them and pair with my phone, but they conk out every time.

Jul 26, 2017 9:25 AM in response to gibsly

Have also developed this fault, very unimpressed, going on a fortnight's holiday tomorrow. This is Beats response on Twitter....(not really helpful, and obviously there's no home solution)


Thanks for clarifying this for us. We can set up a mail in repair for you if you'd like. We'll need a few more details from you first. Would you send us photos of your Beats? We'd like to see the left and right sides and any labels that identify the model.

We'll also need your Beats serial number. This article will help you locate it: beats.is/2eztkcV

Please send us a copy of your receipt as well. We'll use this to determine the status of your limited warranty. If you don't have it, most retailers are great about printing you a copy.

Finally, we’ll need your shipping information.

Full Name:

Mailing Address:

Email Address:

Phone Number:

Aug 17, 2017 8:38 PM in response to romJones

Forget your device in the Bluetooth settings if it is in there. Then hold down the pause button and the power button at the same time for about 10 seconds and try powering your beats back on. It worked for me and mine weren't connecting and were charged and brand new. They would blink white three times and when held down for more than 10 seconds would blink white and red.

Oct 18, 2017 7:29 AM in response to romJones

I'm having this problem with mine too, only 2 months old, they intermittently disconnected from my iphone, could be on 20 minutes turn off and light flashes 3 times and won't stay on with 80% battery life. I've just charged them up again to max and they've been on for 2 hours without disconnecting, turned them off and they wouldn't turn on again. I have noticed since I've got them that you need to press the button for some time before they turned on, my old Powerbeats2 didn't do that. All very random. Apple said they would replace them. Had a delivery come through, got excited and made sure I rushed back home to not miss the UPS man and they send me an empty box lol. Looks like I've got to send these back before they send me the new ones, if I'd have known I would have taken them to the store.

Oct 22, 2017 6:33 AM in response to romJones

Same issue for me, again. First pair were 2 weeks old and refused to switch on so Apple exchanged instore with no fuss. This set has lasted 4 weeks (New Personal Best!) before giving up. I bought mine with an IPad that I could only justify buying given the discounted headphones...not great. Fortunately the apple staff are always friendly and helpful- appointment booked instore tomorrow. Hopefully the third set don’t break (don’t hold your breath).

Nov 27, 2017 8:27 PM in response to romJones

I’ve had same problem with my pwrbeats3 and the blinking light then shutting off. First time I sent them in and they didn’t replace em but got them charging and working again after a month it started doing it again. I think something inside gets wet making them malfunction because i tried putting them in a ziplock baggy with instant rice for a couple days and they started working again. After I finished exercising I’d put them back in bag of instant rice until next days wokrout and they kept working but lately i haven’t been placing them in the rice bag after and they stopped working again. So their back in the bag now. I’ll let you know if they start working again.

Feb 28, 2018 2:02 PM in response to Firemark511

ℹℹℹℹ🙂 What Tony Surphman said above worked for him , worked for me!! Finally

I plugged the headphones in with charger cord to computer even though they were at 98%, then i held the power button down and the down volume at same time like i was going to reset, then when the red light came on i unplugged the power cord. This fixed my three blinking lights. I then got the continous white flashing lights saying they were ready to pair when i turned them on. I paired them and they are working great now.


I will try to update after a week to see how this does.


Mark

Mar 2, 2018 4:16 AM in response to romJones

The same exact thing happened to me after my long run, with this I assumed that the headphones where malfunctioning because of my heavy sweat. I left them buried under rice for 3 days, since rice is best at absorbing moisture. Fortunately it worked again, It has been working fine ever since, (i've been using it casually and NOT FOR WORKOUTS) Its a enormous disappointment to see these headphones fail at what they're advertised to do (sweat resistant).

Powerbeats 3 blinking white light

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