Does using a fake generic charge 3 charger destroy the battery life of the JBL Charge 3 speaker?

Using a cheap generic charge 3 charger for your premium JBL speaker is a very fast way to completely destroy the internal lithium ion battery. The JBL Charge 3 is a massive portable speaker housing a high capacity 6000mAh battery. The original orange JBL charging adapter is specifically engineered to output exactly 5 Volts at 2.3 Amps (2.3A). Cheap generic chargers from the street market usually output a very weak 1.0 Amp or even 0.5 Amps. When you use a weak charger the speaker tries to pull more power than the adapter can provide causing the charger to overheat dangerously. This trickle charging process takes 8 hours stressing the battery cells and heavily degrading their ability to hold a charge explaining why your speaker dies so fast now.

To save your speaker you must immediately stop using the generic cable and buy a proper replacement charge 3 charger. You do not necessarily need to find the branded orange JBL adapter because finding an authentic one sold separately in Nigeria is almost impossible. What you need is a high quality branded charging block that outputs 5V and at least 2.4 Amps. Brands like Anker Oraimo (their fast charging bricks) or Baseus are excellent alternatives. Furthermore you must use a high quality thick Micro USB cable that supports fast data transfer and high current. Cheap thin cables create massive electrical resistance slowing down the charge. You can buy these premium third party adapters and cables from official Oraimo or Anker stores on Jumia or physical tech malls in Ikeja.

I ruined my Charge 4 doing this exact same thing. The battery expanded and blew the waterproof casing open. Treat your JBL like an expensive smartphone it needs high quality power delivery.

An Oraimo fast charging brick (the 2A or 3A version) works perfectly for JBL speakers. It charges my Charge 3 from dead to full in about 4 hours which is the normal factory charging time.

Make sure you clean the charging port on the speaker with a toothpick. Because the speaker is waterproof people take it to the beach and sand gets stuck in the port. This prevents the cable from making contact and slows down charging.