Updated January 2024 for more suggestions that include suggestions for modern vibrators when your vibrator won’t turn on. Surprisingly enough, most of the suggestions from 2012 still apply today, though!
My Vibrator Won’t Turn On! What’s Wrong with It?
Well, crap. You just bought a new toy, and it won’t turn on. Especially as sex toys get more complicated, figuring out why a vibrator won’t turn on becomes a little bit more convoluted. But don’t worry: I’m here to help!
In order, try these steps:
1) Read the instruction book or packaging. I know, I know, nobody likes reading that tiny print. Sometimes, though, it’ll show you a different way to insert the batteries or it will mention something about the travel lock you didn’t know. Almost all rechargeable vibrators come with a guide, so poke into it to see what it has to say. A lot of your initial problems can be solved by just reading the instruction manual. (One time I was convinced my vibrator was broken. Turns out it had an initial charge time of 16 hours. It just had an uncharged battery on arrival. There’s no way I would have known that without the instruction manual.)
2) If you have a rechargeable toy, try to charge it. Some rechargeable toys come travel locked. A Travel Lock is a “feature” that prevents the toy from turning on without pressing some obscure combination of buttons. This prevents vibrating boxes for manufacturers and retailers. Down the line, for your use, it means you can avoid alarming TSA during flights. Most toys automatically disengage “Travel Lock” once they’re placed on the charger. (And, honestly, you really should charge-up your toy when you initially get it before the first. I know it sucks, but it’s good for battery life and longevity.) Double-check that instruction manual again, too. It’ll include that obscure button combination to disengage Travel Lock.
3) Press and hold the power button. Depending on who makes your vibrator, it may turn on with a quick single-press of the power button – OR it might turn on when you press and hold the button for 3-5 seconds. Try both and see if this is the problem. (I own thousands of sex toys, and I constantly get stuck on this one when trying a new toy.)
4) Does your toy charge magnetically? If so, some magnetic sex toy chargers can be placed on the toy backwards, and you’ll never know. The toy just won’t charge itself, but it will accept the charger happily. Try seeing if your charger will go on multiple ways, and if so, look for the way that lights up the sex toy’s lights and try charging it all over again. (Sorry!)
4b) Are you sure you’ve inserted the plug far enough? If your rechargeable vibrator has one of those “looks like a sealed hole until you plug the charger in” designs, a lot of people can be scared of pushing it in too far and breaking the toy. In many cases, they don’t push the charger far enough in – so the vibe never charges. Try to be a bit more forceful with the plug-in charger function. You can usually feel a bit of a “snap into place” with most of them. Then you gotta charge it all over again. (Still sorry!)
5) If you’re using a battery-operated vibrator, make sure the batteries are in the right way. Sometimes, you place the batteries the wrong way. Some vibrators include instructions that mention how the batteries go in, and most vibrators usually have a guide printed somewhere near the battery compartment – you just may have to squint to find it. In some cases, a battery-operated toy might have a piece of paper or another item “blocking” the battery contact ports – especially if your vibrator shipped with batteries. Check to make sure there isn’t one of those.
6) If you’re using a battery-operated vibrator, make sure you have the battery compartment completely sealed up. Some of these sex toys can require a really tight seal!
7) Is it a small bullet vibrator? Open up the battery compartment and make sure there isn’t a piece of paper sitting on top of the batteries. This breaks the battery’s connection so the bullet vibrator can’t turn on. Sometimes this piece of paper is clear and see-through, so you won’t even know it’s there until you investigate.
8) Did you actually insert the batteries? It sounds obvious, but sometimes we assume that vibrators came with batteries when they actually didn’t.
9) Turn on your vibrator, and press the toy against skin. Some toys now come equipped with an automatic “off” functionality that turns off the stimulation if the toy isn’t pressed against skin. This keeps your sex toy from making annoying noise (and wasting its battery) if you toss it to the side. However, it can also make it really hard to initially turn on when you aren’t used to that feature – especially if this is one of your first luxury vibrators. Try to turn on the toy while keeping the “usable” part touching your skin somewhere to see if this feature is the culprit.
None of That Worked!
Sometimes, despite your very, very best efforts, it just, literally, isn’t your fault. Like everything else in the world, sex toys are mass-produced in a factory. This means that some sex toys come off the line defective from the get-go. This isn’t common, but it definitely happens! (It’s even more common the lower-priced your toy is.)
If none of the above fixed your problem:
10) Contact Customer Service from where you bought it. Sometimes, there may be a known issue with your specific toy they can walk you through. This also happens to be the first step in returning/exchanging a defective sex toy, so you’ll already be in contact with the people who can help you!
11) Other times, your toy is a defect. Just like that blender you took home from the store that was shattered when you opened it or that piece of furniture that was already cracked when you opened the box, vibrators and sex toys can come defective too. Sometimes, a toy slips off the line unnoticed. Contact Customer Service from where you purchased it to see about getting a refund or exchanging it.
12) Did your sex toy die long after you first purchased it? It’s unlikely that the retailer you bought it from will be able to help you anymore. Most standard sex toy retailer return windows are 30 days. (If your sex toy hasn’t died within that window, a retailer will assume that it’s a natural sex toy death instead of defective toys they need to replace.)
That being said, you’re not out of options! Especially if you bought a brand-name toy instead of some knock-off toy on Amazon, most manufacturers offer a 1 year or 2 year warranty against manufacturing issues. If you know the brand name of your toy, do a web search, look at the bottom of the manufacturer’s site, and you’ll likely see info about submitting a warranty (or return!) claim. (Some manufacturers even offer 10-year or 15-year quality guarantees!)
(Protip: Keep all of the receipts from your sex toy purchases! If you buy in-person, keep the physical receipt, and if you buy online, dedicate an email folder to all of your purchases – even the non-sex toy ones! When you try to activate a warranty, most manufacturers will ask for proof of purchase from an authorized retailer. You’d be surprised by how often people accidentally purchase an illegal knock-off and try to contact the original manufacturer to activate the warranty – only to find out that they’re entirely out-of-luck!)
(Protip #2: This is yet another reason NOT to buy your sex toys from Amazon, eBay, or other random sites. Most name-brand sex toy manufacturers prohibit sales on those platforms, so if you buy their toys from those big websites, you may be getting a non-authorized copy. This means that the manufacturer will NOT honor your warranty request – because you essentially bought a bootleg vibrator. There are so, so many reputable sex toy stores out there anymore – ones that give back to sex education and ones that DON’T hide sex toys under multiple filters like they’re gross, hidden secrets. Shop from those instead!)
Updated: January 2024, December 2021, October 2021, May 2021.
Originally Posted: January 7, 2021.
