Pulling the trigger does not elicit any beam from the weapon.
The safety could be preventing even a stun beam from firing. Make sure the safety is off, there should be a raised orange button above your thumb when it grips the pistol. If there is a depressed black circle, the safety is on. Point the phaser at the ground, or somewhere it will not be a danger to any lifeforms, ensure your phaser is set to the lowest setting and press the black circle. This will disengage the safety. Try a test fire of no longer than .5 seconds to see if this solves the issue.
Check the yellow gauge on the dorsal(top) side of the phaser, if there are fewer than two glowing bars in the meter, there may not be enough power for the higher settings. Point the phaser at the ground, or somewhere it will not be a danger to any lifeforms, ensure your phaser is set to the lowest setting and try a test fire of no longer than .5 seconds. Even if this works, you should probably seek a power cell replacement from Starfleet Requisitions, or get approval to replicate one for yourself. See the power cell replacement guide to complete the repair.
If your phaser was recently set to overload, or has been operating at higher power settings for an extended period of time, you may have some dilithium crystal leakage, which commonly fuses circuits, preventing the phaser from recognizing the trigger’s commands. Repairs of this nature are not recommended due to dilithium radiation exposure. Contact a Starfleet engineer who has access to proper shielding tools, or contact Starfleet Requisitions to replicate your phaser back to spec.
Phaser seems to be operating on a lower power setting than what is selected.
If your target is a biological entity, or could possibly be a non-standard life-form, their composition may be resistent or even immune to the effects of the nadion particle beam. Select a known non-biological substance to see if the beam strength matches the selected power setting.
Phasers are proven to have no effect on Neutronium or Dikironium metals or their alloys. Select a known non-biological substance to see if the beam has an effect on other targets.
Phaser beams seem to be operating at power levels far above the selected setting.
If the phaser is humming, you phaser could be set to overload. Try to disengage the overload setting by dialing back the power cell output. If this is not an option, attempt to drain the power cell by firing the phaser, safely. Fire into a patch of atmosphere clear of biological entities, or a rock of non-igneous composition, these will absorb heat but are unlikely to burst.
