Your headphones are lying on the desk like a dead fish on a counter. USB-C plugged in, nothing happens. No lights, no sounds, nothing. Sound familiar – and usually fixable without panic.
Why won't the headphones charge?
There are a few reasons, and most of them are thankfully mundane.
The battery has fully drained. If your VMK20 has been sitting in a box or at the bottom of a bag for months without use, the battery can drop so low that the charger doesn't immediately recognise it. Lithium batteries don't enjoy long-term storage while empty – they're a bit like all of us on a Monday morning.
The charging cable or charger is faulty. There are more USB-C cables in the world than people, and some of them are absolute rubbish. A cheap cable might look functional but deliver power about as effectively as emptying a bucket with a teaspoon.
The charging port is dirty. Pockets and bags carry all sorts of lint and dust. The USB-C port is a tiny hole that can accumulate a surprising amount of gunk.
The electronics are frozen. Sometimes the circuit just locks up. It's electronics, not magic.
How to fix it
Go through these in order:
- Reset the headphones. Plug a 3.5mm AUX cable into the jack on the bottom of the headphones. This disconnects the Bluetooth circuit. Leave it connected for a moment, unplug it, and try charging again.
- Swap the cable. Try a different USB-C cable. Preferably one you've successfully used to charge another device. If your only cable is the one that came with some bargain bin LED light, that might be your problem right there.
- Swap the charger. Try a different USB charger. A computer's USB port often delivers less power than a wall charger, so try both.
- Clean the port. Grab a toothpick or a dry, soft brush and carefully dig out any dust and lint from the USB-C port. Don't use metal objects.
- Give it time. If the battery has fully drained, plug in the charger and wait at least 30 minutes. Sometimes a deeply depleted battery needs a moment to wake up. Like your hungover mate on a Sunday – signs of life will appear, but slowly.
- Try charging with the AUX cable unplugged. The ANC circuit in the VMK20 operates separately from Bluetooth, so make sure nothing extra is connected during charging.
If nothing works
If none of the above brings your headphones back to life, it's most likely a battery fault or another hardware-level issue. That's when you need Jasse and the repair crew up in Kajaani.
Drop us a message at info@valco.fi. Include:
- Order number (or proof of purchase)
- Brief description of the problem
- Photo of the headphones (if there's visible damage)
If the warranty is still valid (24 months from purchase), the repair won't cost you a thing. Outside warranty, we have a repair package that still gets the job done – because we fix things, we don't chuck them in the bin.
A dead pair of headphones is annoying, but rarely terminal. Most of these cases are solved by swapping the cable or doing a reset. And if not, well, that's exactly what our repair service is there for. Gotta fund those alimony payments and the Death Star's 0.000001% somehow.
