7 Common Hair Clipper Problems and How to Fix Them

Has your hair clipper been acting weird recently? Loss of cutting efficiency, tugs or pulls in the middle of a haircut, or excessive vibration making it more difficult to control?

If so, then you’ve come to the right place! In today’s article, I’ll be addressing the most common hair clipper problems groomers face on a regular basis.

I’ll teach you how you can categorize using symptoms, find out the causes and apply effective solutions without spending a dime!

So, without further ado, let’s see how your clipper is troubling you and get that fixed as soon as possible!

Common Hair Clipper Problems: Symptoms, Causes & Solutions

In this section, I’ll help you identify the root cause of your clipper problems and provide solutions you can try at home without claiming the warranty!

#1. Clipper Blades Aren’t Cutting Properly

There are quite a few reasons your clipper blades aren’t cutting properly. Such issues tend to decrease your cutting efficiency and cause discomfort on the groomed individual’s scalp by pulling or tugging the hair.

Symptoms: The symptoms include tugs or pulls while clipping and uneven cuts across the hair body.

Causes: Such phenomena can be caused by dulled blades, misalignment between the blade teeth or clipper blades clogged with hair.

Solutions: Sharpening or replacing the blade may be the most convenient solution. But before that, you must clean out your blade properly with a touch of lubrication afterward.

Also, do consider re-aligning your clipper blades. There are alignment tools you can find online that can help you out with this.

#2. Clipper Overheating

Another common occurrence with hair clippers is the overheating of the housing. Even the finest devices out there like Andis Master show such issues on them.

Clippers such as Oster Classic 76 have built-in vents to disperse hot air through the vents but not all the tools are well-equipped like this, and therefore other steps become essential.

Symptoms: While turned on, the housing will feel excessively hot and holding on to it will become a huge challenge. Such a degree of heat can even burn your fingers.

Causes: Most common causes for this to happen is the lack of proper maintenance and lubrication. Continuous use without any break can also be a major reason behind it.

Some clippers tend to heat up in general, otherwise you can categorize the cause under issue with the motor unit.

Solutions: If your grooming sessions are longer, take breaks after every 10 minutes to let the clipper cool down.

Apply lubricants on the blades to reduce friction and lube up the motor to make it smoother so that there’s less tendency to build up heat.

Regularly cleaning the blades to prevent clogs and checking if the vents are blocked by dirt can also be a solution.

If none of these work, try out the clipper cooling sprays to apply on the housing which tends to provide immediate results. But it has to be the last resort in this case.

#3. Battery Issues in Cordless Clippers

Even the most remarkable cordless hair clippers can cause battery issues due to numerous reasons, let’s learn those and see how to fix that.

Symptoms: The common symptoms are limited battery life, sudden loss of power in the middle of a grooming session and clipper not charging up.

Causes: Usually, these issues are caused by a degraded battery unit. Otherwise, overcharging can decrease the battery durability over the course of time.

Using the wrong charger or a faulty adapter may also slow down your charging, damage the battery or even prevent you from recharging properly.

Solutions: Try replacing the charging adapter to see if things improve. Otherwise, replace the battery unit if you believe it’s too old or malfunctioning.

Make sufficient charging a common practice unless your clipper has overcharge protection built into it.

#4. Motor Malfunctions

A malfunctioning motor is usually a very rare phenomena unless you’re using a device that belongs to the more affordable gradient in the groomers market.

Symptoms: A malfunctioning motor won’t deliver you the raw power that it used to before. Your cuts might drag or pull, and the lower sound levels will be a solid hint.

Otherwise, you may find uneven noises while operating the motor and a sudden decline in power. The clipper may even completely shut down in the middle of a session.

Causes: There can be three potential causes for this to occur. Internally, the motor may be worn off or a tear in the wiring system inside.

Otherwise, frequent heating up can lead to such a problem. Also, regular power surges can damage the integrity of your clipper’s motor.

Solutions: If it’s at an early stage, regularly maintaining and lubricating the motor can ease out the stress and prolong the decline in performance.

Otherwise, I’d recommend visiting a professional for this issue because fixing a motor on your own isn’t something you’ll be able to efficiently do without prior experience.

#5. Noise and Vibration Issues

If your hair clipper is making odd noises and vibrating out of control, then you must understand that there’s something wrong with your device.

Symptoms: The symptom is quite simple and straightforward, your clipper will make different buzzing noises and it’ll be difficult to control due to the hefty vibration.

Causes: There could be a screw loose inside your housing which is making everything move around to cause the vibration.

Otherwise, misalignment of blades or inner parts can also cause this issue. Lastly, it might as well be due to internal wear of a particular part or segment.

Solutions: If you are able, then take apart the clipper and tighten all the screws inside. Check for alignment if anything seems out of place.

Additionally, you could utilize anti-vibration pads if the wears are causing the inner parts to move around freely.

Replacing a worn out part has the potential to solve this problem. If none of these work, then it’s probably time to consult a professional.

#6. Jammed or Sticky Blades

Clipper blades getting jammed or turning sticky occur more often than you could think. These issues are very easy to address and solve.

Symptoms: Usually, the blade movement would be restricted, adjustment levers would become more rigid and the haircuts would seem more rough.

Causes: The blade hinges or teeth may have build up of debris and hair particles, with an additional lack of proper lubrication.

Solutions: Primary solution would be to thoroughly clean the blades and apply blade oil to see if the issue persists.

If it does, then you’ll have to remove the blade teeth to check for build up that may have gotten stuck deeper inside. Check the motor heads as well for residue.

Cleaning all of it out and applying lubricants to free up movement should solve the problem.

#7. Clipper Won’t Turn On

For most parts, clipper not turning on isn’t necessarily a core issue of the machinery inside the device, rather it’s something external that you need to find out.

Symptoms: Clipper won’t turn on even when plugged into a power source. For cordless clippers, the symptoms may be similar.

Causes: There could be a faulty wall socket that’s failing to provide power, the power cord might have a tear inside, the ports connected to the wall or the clipper may be damaged.

Additionally, the switch that turns on the clipper could be faulty. Cordless clippers could have a dead battery inside.

Solutions: For corded clippers, using a different power outlet should be the primary consideration. Then you could replace the power cord (grab an official one instead of a cheap aftermarket replica).

As per cordless clippers, try using the device with and without the power cord connection. Try out a different cord to see if it works.

For both cases, should none of the solutions work, visit a professional to have your power switch checked out. Otherwise your main board inside the clipper may be fried and the fix could be quite a costly one.

If you’re facing any other issue than the seven I mentioned here, feel free to reach out to me as I will try to find easy fixes for you that you can apply by yourself!

Final Thoughts

So far we’ve explored 7 of the most common clipper problems to persist in the men’s grooming world and riddle consumers for years.

Most of these problems are caused by very basic reasons including a lack of proper cleaning or maintenance.

Therefore I urge you to take good care of your hair clipper to prolong its life. Simple cleaning and lubrication goes a long way, that much I can tell you.

And if you think the fix is beyond your comprehension, there’s no shame in bringing your device to a professional who actually might be able to help you out!