Pretty much earlier today, I was in my car and plugged my Desire into the car charger. Along my trip I noticed the phone wasn't charging and fiddled around a little with it. When I took it out I looked at the charger slot on the phone and noticed that a little bit of plastic that covers one of the contact pins has come off/been removed. So now one of the contact pins on the end show, unlike the others.
The car charger wouldn't charge my phone unless I put downward pressure on the charger plug. Just got home and it works perfectly fine with my USB wall charger, without the need to fiddle.
Question is; should this cause many problems charging phone in the future? And secondly, is it fixable at all?
Given I own the phone outright (8181A model) and it's on an Optus BYO plan, so no insurance etc. It's a touch over a year old now and obviously can't be without a phone. I'm just hoping it lasts some while longer because I'm not in a financial position to just go buy a new one and I only just renewed my BYO cap during the week for 12 more months. -__-
TBH I can't see any of the contact pins on my phone
Related
I've noticed that the connection using the micro usb cable is not snug, if I apply slight leverage to it the charge/connection is lost.
Im a bit dissapointed because I have certainly not pulled on the lead/dropped the device while attached or anything else that might have buggered the plug.
Is there any way I can make the connection snug again, or is this typical for all other devices too.
If this does turn into someting more problematic what are my steps to get it fixed, I brought this phone as an orange locked unwanted upgrade from ebay. fully boxed and sealed. (i.e. new)
Im a bit annoyed because the micro-usb plug is supposed to be more robust than the mini-usb. but to my eyes that not the case, and has proven to be not true either.
I have this issue too. Interested to see if it's a common flaw.
Sent from my HTC Desire using XDA App
Same problem here. Just got it yesterday. The loose connection is very annoying in that you cannot be sure you left in a charging state unless you unlock it and check the screen. I wonder if it supposed to be that way?
After having posted this, I realize that the thread is not for my phone, a Samsung Captivate. I trusted Google search a little too much I guess. Interesting that the problem is the same.
Same here.
Xperia X10 with a loose connection that got much worse with time. I don't expect a fix for a hardware issue, but I am taking it back to the store for a replacement. The problem is that it has gotten so bad that I can't maintain a connection long enough to get my data!! Not pleased
Jamescousins said:
I have this issue too. Interested to see if it's a common flaw.
Sent from my HTC Desire using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
me 3. another thread here t=689367 and here t=692242 (wont let me post full url as noob)
May have to return to T-mobile as its really annoying
I have the Captivate, and I had to exchange mine for one that did not do this.
Yep I started getting this problem a few days ago. Pissing me right off.
can someone tell me if the Samsung captivate and Xperia X10 both have micro-B USB ports also ?
Micro USB Sucks
I have the HTC Incredible and whenever its plugged into my PC you can tell by the audibles (and by HTC Sync failing 1/2 the time) that it keeps disconnecting and reconnecting - especially if you lift the phone or move the cable. So I was just as surprised to hear the MicroUSB was supposed to fix some of the wear and tear issues of MiniUSB - which is just untrue!!!
My HD2 has a loose connection
http://app1.appserver.dk:8080/RepairPictures/servlet/getPic?id=51371
<-- This is the chip. And HTC wont repair it. They say it's my own fault? :S
I've got this problem too with my desire and realised it's the cable. I got my desire on the release date (had it preordered) and the plug on the cable is smooth on all sides so it slips in and outu the phone easily. However, my girlfriend got a desire 2 weeks ago, and the micro-USB plug on her cable has two little spring loaded bumps on it, which gives it a positive "click" when it's plugged into the phone and it takes a lot more force to remove it.
Hence I stole her cable
My cappy too
This problem is happening, albeit not as seriously as some of yours, to my cappy now. I have had it for just under a year now. Looking back I could have been a little gentler with it...
Running Teamhacksung's ICS Build 9.
I've got the same issue - turns out that it's the cable more than anything, as when I plug the in-car charger one (a different cable) in, everything worked perfectly.
terrible design
Every device I or my wife has that is micro USB has charging issues. The design in a laboratory is supposed to get 10,000 cycles. But our experience is that a device after 6 months starts to have issues. Finally after a year about every device must be replace as the charging port is so loose that not even the highest quality cables will stay seated well enough to guarantee a charge or data connectivity. Very disappointed that EVERY phone uses this. Well other than Apple, which I may just have to go to since I cannot afford new phones constantly. The wireless companies KNOW it is a flaw in the design of the port also. Not a one of them will warranty the phone if the issue is the charging port. I am talking clean ports here also. No lint or anything.
Down with micro USB
lukester01 said:
Every device I or my wife has that is micro USB has charging issues. The design in a laboratory is supposed to get 10,000 cycles. But our experience is that a device after 6 months starts to have issues. Finally after a year about every device must be replace as the charging port is so loose that not even the highest quality cables will stay seated well enough to guarantee a charge or data connectivity. Very disappointed that EVERY phone uses this. Well other than Apple, which I may just have to go to since I cannot afford new phones constantly. The wireless companies KNOW it is a flaw in the design of the port also. Not a one of them will warranty the phone if the issue is the charging port. I am talking clean ports here also. No lint or anything.
Down with micro USB
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree, micro USB is horribly unreliable across all brands. Too bad I absolutely loathe iOS, because I would consider getting an iPhone if I could run Android on it. Hopefully USB Type-C will be better.
5 data points and a question
First, additioanal data points:
I've had 2 different devices with micro usb connectors and both failed within 3 days of beginning to use them. I can't swear it was the female socket that was damaged but that was my impression. The prongs on the male connector were NOT flattened. I looked for that.
I had another device, a Nook Color I believe it was called, that had a usb charging/data connector that was their own slightly modified design of one of the usb standards. I can't swear whether it was a modified mini or a modified micro but I think it was a modified micro. Anyway the socket was a little deeper than the standard. The idea was that if you plugged in a standard male connector it worked the same way as a standard socket but if you plugged in the longer Nook male connector it went in deeper (I'm straining to refrain from low humor here), additional contacts came into play and it would charge faster. In the Nook case it was definitely the male connector that would break. I replaced the charger twice before the Nook failed for other reasons (I suspect a cat baptised it). If you search the net you'll find a lot of people had the same problem.
So in my case micro-usb is either 2 for 0 if you don't count the Nook, 3 for 0 if you count the Nook once, or maybe 5 for 1 if you count the Nook replacement chargers and charitably assume the last one would have worked for a while if the cat hadn't scented it.
I've NEVER had a problem with large, plain, standard, type A rectangular connectors. I think the idea that the mini is too big is one only Madison Avenue types could come up with. Even the standard type A isn't really too big. After all, how big is a thumb drive? I suspect it has more to do with making it a wee bit cheaper than making it smaller.
So yeah, micro-usb just plain sucks. Assuming Frank's posts in this thread at stack exchange:
electronics.stackexchange dotcom /questions/18552/why-was-mini-usb-deprecated-in-favor-of-micro-usb
aren't fraudulent, Nokia pressured the USB Implementers Forum to accept the micro standard, implicitly against the better judgement of some people involved. I'm therefore inclined to never buy a Nokia anything.
So much for the problem. I'm thinking about workarounds because there is a tablet I'd really like to use that charges through a female micro usb port. If I can't charge the battery it's useless. So I'd appreciate comments regarding the feasbility of these alternatives:
WORKAROUND # 1:
Carefully insert a male-micro-usb-X-female-standard-type-A adaptor into the device and glue them both to a piece of waterproofed luon (very light plywood) and then connect with a cable that has male standard full size rectangular type A connectors at BOTH ends. I've never had any problem with the standard full sized type A and they are easy to replace if I do. Though both adaptors and cables as described, are readily available, it is said that the maleXmale cables can damage equipment in some cases and I'm don't know enough to be sure this is not one of those cases.
WORKAROUND #2:
Alternately I could just glue the micro end of the kind of cable that comes with such devices to the luon and leave the rest of the cable dangling. Downside: Messy dangling cable. Upside: I KNOW it is safe.
Any thoughts on these workarounds would be appreciated.
My charger doesnt fit well and i just came to terms with this but it has got worse the last two weeks. It plugs in and the led lights up but it doesnt charge sometimes, it says it is charging but an hour later and the battery goes down 5% ish. Also it only connects when the phone sits face up and the cord hangs down as in it must sit on the edge of the table for it to charge. I tried my friends Droid cord and it was a snug fit. do i have an insurance claim on my hands?
You can try getting the cable swapped, but honestly I think the amount of hassle you would go through would just not be worth it. If the problem was with your phone then I would 100% definitely get the phone replaced, but if the problem is only with the cable, I'd take the path of least resistance and just buy a new cable out of pocket. They really aren't expensive if you know the right place to get them.
I use this cable here with my Aria and it works great: http://www.monoprice.com/products/p...=10303&cs_id=1030307&p_id=5458&seq=1&format=2
It is only $3.13 shipped (to my address), and it's 2 feet longer than the original cable which I like because I thought the original one was too short. Never had a problem with it charging my Aria. I know it seems too good to be true, but the quality really is just as good as a $20+ cable you'd find at a local store.
I ran into the same problem with an Aria I bought off of Craigslist. It would kind of charge at first, then it gave up altogether. I found that the end that plugged into the phone had been slightly squished by the previous owner. I just went to Staples and bought a Staples branded MicroUSB cable, it's six feet long and works fine. Granted, it wasn't ebay-cheap but I got the problem handled same day, no screwing around. The nice thing about this cable is it's just as flexible as the original, unlike the MicroUSB charge/sync cables that come with Blackberry phones and the extra length makes it a little more versatile.
Don't mean to resurrect an old thread, but I didn't want to start a new one.
My connection is getting worse every day. It is very aggravating. I'll plug in at night time and wake up to find my phone didn't charge at all. I have to put the cable in at a slight angle to get it to connect.
Using adb and just any file transfer on the computer is almost impossible.
I use the original cable, and sometimes my brother's Captivate cable--both are just as bad.
And the AT&T car charger is a joke. So I think it is the phone, not the cables.
i find that the motorola(backflip) usb doesnt fit snug(still charges & transfers fine, a little slower)
May be just a bit too rough with this little phone
Finally had enough of the cable problem, so I decided to figure out whats wrong. Turns out, I ended up pulling out about a cubic centimeter of dust and lint from in the port (way down in there, a quick glance and it didn't look as bad as it really was.)
Works like a charm, now!
Brivette, glad to see you fixed your issue!
For future reference,
The MicroUSB cable that has become the new standard contains 2 prongs on the end of it. This prong is responsible for ensuring it stays locked into the connector.
The newer MicroB connector is rated at a higher use cycle than the old MiniB type, which is why current devices are moving to it as a standard. It is also designed so that the cheaper cable will bear the wear and damage, rather than the device. The usual culprit is the two latch pins at the top of the male connector which tend to wear and bend eventually causing the cord to become "flaky" or fickle (for a lack of a better term). This is usually the cause of most people's woes. However often times the connections from inside the cable may wear and short out, causing the cord to become dysfunctional. Before sending your phone in for a replacement, I highly recommend trying a second cable.
If changing the cord doesn't work, the problem most likely lies with the phone. While it is possible that the PCB mount has come disconnected from the board, it is more often than not likely that the port has become clogged with debris. So before sending your phone in for service, check the port and ensure that the port is clear and clean of obstruction.
This also goes for charging or data transfer. Sometimes issues with data transfer can arise out of a bad cable. This often happens when people wrap their cord too tightly or kink it, which causes signal interference. It also occurs with frequent use and wear and tear, which is normal.
Take good care of your cord, and it'll be there to last you a long time.
Hello,
I had been using the micro-usb cable that came with my evo to charge it since release day. Then about 3 weeks ago my phone wouldn't charge unless I applied a little pressure to the cable while it was plugged in.
I found that I had to press downward on the base of the cable/connector or it wouldn't make contact. So if the phone was laying camera side down on a table, I had to push the thick black part of the connector down towards the table to get it to charge.
As with most laptops and most of my other phones, I assumed the micro usb slot was wearing out or shorting. Everyone has had one phone or another where the little tiny plastic board and leads snap fall out of the charing slot. I was assuming mine was headed out.
So anyway before I called for a replacement, I decided to get a new cable. Sure enough I bought a cable from Staples and it charged my phone without having to twist or press the cable in any way. So its been fine for 3 weeks now.
Last night, it all started happening again. Same deal, have to press on the cable for it to charge. My questions are:
Could it be that my micro usb slot is worn out? Is this a common thing for our phones? I haven't seen any other similar threads.
My second question is: Could I possibly get a phone that can't be rooted? I installed baked snack 1.7 and one of kings kernels a long time ago. Phone has had fantastic battery life and performance so I stopped messing with it. So I have no idea if the newer ota phones prevent rooting currently.
I am assuming the best way to exchange a phone with sprint is to do it in a store so you dont have to wait for shipping and a return. I will happen to be by a sprint store tomorrow. There are none around here and I have never returned a phone with sprint before. So I dont know how smoothly this will go. I have a pretty strong bond with my phone and hate to see it go for some brand new stranger
verizonwireless.com/b2c/store/accessory?action=accessoryDetails&accessoryId=47423
Looks to be a new Inductive case. Sorry but what is the point exactly to charge "wirelessly" like this when the phone is still having to be placed on a station?
because some people can't be bothered to plug in a cable to charge their phones. It just means the phone will charge if you put it down on the charge pad.
I work in a vzw retail store and one of the #1 problems I see in phones 2+ years old is the charging port is worn out and the phone can no longer charge. Although this can be mitigated slightly by simply being careful, no matter what you do every time you plug in there's a chance you could bend a pin, bend the end of your charger, or ream out the port. (happened to my old droid 2)
Wireless charging means no physical wear and tear in the charging port except when using data cable.
I like the idea of just putting my phone on a pad to charge. This would be great at work where I occasionally check on my phone and can just toss it back on the pad. I've definitely noticed how annoying it is to hold the phone while a cable is connected. It isn't anything that'd make me want to throw my phone against the wall, but annoying enough that I notice it.
My only gripe about the cover is that it adds that little bump on the back.
Now what would be awesome is if the inductive field were strong enough to actually charge the phone while it's standing up on the kick-stand. That would mitigate the annoying location of the usb port in terms of not being able to charge while watching videos in landscape mode.
mcmillanje said:
I work in a vzw retail store and one of the #1 problems I see in phones 2+ years old is the charging port is worn out and the phone can no longer charge.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Fair enough, but how many people keep their phone 2+years? Of all my friends, there's only one of them that has so far, since moving to smartphones.
l7777 said:
because some people can't be bothered to plug in a cable to charge their phones. It just means the phone will charge if you put it down on the charge pad.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If the charging pad is large enough, and you have multiple devices, there's the advantage of not having to have a separate plug/cable for each device.
inductive charging is awesome, can't wait til they figure out a way for it to charge while it's in my back pocket off my butt's voltage
So, after having the WiFi XOOM since launch day I have played with the device to no end, charged it a handful of times or so and have excellent battery life on the device even OC to 1.5 GHZ.
The question I pose here though is if anyone else has these two minor but annoying problems with their XOOM charger. Upon plugging the male pin into the female port on the XOOM the connection is VERY loose and pulls out with the flick of the finger or a gentle movement. This annoys me due to the fact that I like to know my device is secure and plugged in. Say it came out at night while I was asleep and fell into a cup of water (rare chance, but still a possibility) I would probably be a little upset.
The second problem is the male plugs of the charge to female power outlet. This is also one of the cheapest feeling designs I have ever seen for a device that costs $600. This part pulls out with even more ease which is alright I guess at times, but once again I like to fight to get stuff unplugged, I at least know it is in there snug and will not be unplugged by my dog wagging his tail (this actually DID happen the other night while working on some new apps and testing).
Call me grumbles if you want, but if one of my $20 phones that also comes with a charger is stabler than a $600 device I have a bit of a problem with that. My question is if anyone else is having this problem or if this is a controlled case?
Best Wishes.
I can't stand it either. If you move it when its plugged in it comes out
Sent from my Xoom using XDA App
Mine's extremely loose also. My $20 candy bar phone has a better charger connector than my $600 tablet just like you said.
I am using the standard dock to charge at work, so I really haven't noticed an issue. I do have another charger at home, but rarely use it.
Mike