If you don’t know, make sure the light blinks when you drop each AirPod in. That will show it hit the contacts correctly. My APP 1s also had this issue way more often than my second gens.
Thanks! In my case (pun intended) the AirPods will sometimes just refuse to charge. I have spent several hours holding the case open and wedging one AirPod up… slightly… to get it to charge, and another several hours trying to replicate that delicate configuration with small shims of various design.