2 possibilities:
- If yours is indeed the older ‘original’ Clip (round scroll wheel, no SD card slot), those are pretty old now, so the battery may just be worn out.
- Again, if it is the original Clip that model was prone to bad solder joints on the battery lead-in wires. This is usually characterized by the player acting normal when plugged into a computer, but no power when unplugged.
You may have one of these solder points failing to where it isn’t really accepting a charge, except for a few minutes worth, or the battery may be in such a depleted state due to age it won’t hold a charge. A third possibility is that the charging circuitry has failed.
But in answer to your original question 3-4 hours should be sufficient to completely charge one of these little guys, maybe even less depending on how low it was to begin with. You could always try resetting it and see if that helps, but I doubt it will.
