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Last Updated on February 22, 2023

5 Reasons Why Your Philips Sonicare Electric Toothbrush is Not Charging & How to Fix The Problem

So you’re having problems charging your toothbrush? We’re guessing that it’s around now that you’re starting to regret ever having moved from a manual toothbrush to a new shiny electric one. You never had problems like this with your old toothbrushes… but we’re guessing your teeth were never so well cleaned either.

An electric toothbrush is much better at preventing the build-up of plaque or tartar, and it’s also better for people who brush too hard or have sensitive teeth. However, it can’t be denied that having to charge your toothbrush is less convenient, and that’s especially true when it won’t charge.

Luckily for you, we have some troubleshooting tips. We’ll go through different steps that you should try, so that you can work out what the problem is and make sure that it doesn’t happen again.

1. Problem with the outlet

Okay, so the first thing to do is to make sure that the outlet that you are using is actually working. It could be that all your equipment is fine and it’s just a problem with the outlet. The best way to test this is to try a different appliance in that same outlet.

If another appliance doesn’t work from that outlet either, then you know that the problem is not with the toothbrush or charger- although it may mean that you need to get an electrician in to look at that outlet. However, if another appliance does work, then you need to do some more troubleshooting.

2. Toothbrush is incorrectly placed

This is a bit of an obvious one, but have you made sure that your toothbrush is correctly placed for charging? If it is a standard charger, have you made sure that it is standing evenly and upright, rather than at an angle?

Or if your toothbrush charges via either a charging glass or a wireless charging pad, have you made sure that your toothbrush is centered? You need to ensure that the bottom of the toothbrush is placed on the center of either the wireless charging pad or the charging glass, depending on which you have.

If you are sure that your toothbrush has been correctly placed, but it still isn’t charging, try the next step.

3. Not using the original charger

Are you using the original charger that you got with your Sonicare toothbrush? It can be tempting to use a family member or friend’s charger if it is closer to hand. Or perhaps you go and stay at your partner’s and just use their charger rather than taking your own.

The problem is that even if you all have Sonicare toothbrushes, they might not all be the same version, and different versions often come with different chargers. This is particularly true if you have a DiamondClean Sonicare toothbrush. The DiamondClean series use glass chargers, but they do not all use the same ones.

Within the series, there are the DiamondClean brushes, the DiamondClean Smart brushes and the DiamondClean 9000 brushes. If you are unsure about which one you have, you can take a look at the code that should be on the bottom of the handle. All the brushes in the DiamondClean series begin with “HX”.

However, the DiamondClean brushes will have a code of HX93, HX94, HX935, HX936, or HX937. For the DiamondClean Smart brushes, there will be the code of either HX992 or HX993. Finally, the DiamondClean 9000 brush will have a code of HX991. Each of these three brushes requires a different glass charger, so make sure that you are using the right one.

If this doesn’t apply to you, or if you know that you are using the original or correct charger, yet you are still having problems charging your Sonicare toothbrush, move onto the next step.

4. Fulltoothbrush charging time required

One problem could be that you have simply underestimated how long it will take to charge your Sonicare toothbrush. If the outlet works, and you are using the correct charger, try leaving your toothbrush to charge, correctly placed, for a full 24 hours. For most Sonicare toothbrushes, there will be an indicator light that will blink while it is charging.

Some may have a beep to indicate the same, such as the DailyClean 1100 model HX34. This will beep twice when it is charging correctly.

If your toothbrush has a light that flashes when charging, it should be noted that the light won’t necessarily continue flashing throughout the charging phase, but that doesn’t mean that it isn’t working. Leave it for the full amount of time and after 24 hours it ought to have become fully charged. If you are still having problems with charging your toothbrush, keep reading on.

5. Outside interference

Sometimes other chargers or metal surfaces can interfere with your own toothbrush’s ability to charge. Try moving your charger to a different location and see if that makes a difference. If your charger is placed on a metal surface, then try it on a different (non-metal) surface.

Or if there were other chargers near your Sonicare toothbrush charger, try moving it to a place without other chargers or appliances nearby. If a new location doesn’t seem to have made a difference either, take a look below.

5. Updates from the Sonicare App

5. None of the above

If none of this troubleshooting has worked then we’ve got some bad news for you- it seems to be broken. The battery for the electric toothbrush is built into the handle. Therefore when it breaks, the whole toothbrush needs to be replaced, rather than just the battery. If you are within the warranty period, usually two years for Sonicare electric toothbrushes, then you ought to be able to claim a new toothbrush through them.

Even if it is out of warranty, it might be worth trying to contact Phillips to see if there is anything that they can suggest. However, the outcome is likely to be that the toothbrush is old, it has lasted beyond the time expected (as set out by the warranty) and therefore ought to be replaced.

Conclusion

We hope that one of these steps has helped you with fixing the charging issues of your Sonicare toothbrush. Often it is something quite simple that we have overlooked, such as being incorrectly placed, or the outlet not working (perhaps even being switched off).

If you have tried all of these steps then you need to either contact Phillips, if it is within the warranty period, or start shopping for a new electric toothbrush. Just remember to use the charger that comes with your new brush, rather than relying on your old one.

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