Repairing the "not charging" and "not connecting to usb" problems

[Guest Alkeli]

Sorry for the lack of pics, my digicam was dead at the time and I couldn't really use my camera phone ;)

This is how I repaired my phone. It had trouble charging. I had to wiggle and play with the connection to get it to charge, and my PC wouldn't recognize it anymore.

If you try it, do it at your own risk! I am not responsible if you screw up your phone!

Things needed for repair:

-A clean workspace

-Extra-fine tip soldering iron

-Empty container for small screws/parts

-Desk lamp or work light

-Set of small torx screwdrivers

-Tweezers

-Multimeter

-A strong epoxy or similar (contact cement etc)

Remove the battery, SIM chip and memory card before starting. There are 6 torx screws that need to be removed. The top 2 are behind rubber stoppers on the backside of the phone just under the antenna. These stoppers can just be pulled out however you can. I used tweezers. The other 4 are around where the battery lives. With the battery removed they're easy to spot.

Now to crack it open. All the buttons will not fall out don't worry, but the rubber cover for the earphones does so keep that in your container with the screws. Of course like all electronics the 2 halves are snapped together and have to be separated, so I also used the tweezers for this. Start from the bottom of the phone when opening(where the connector is) because a lip is tucked under the top of the antenna so you kinda have to open it like it's hinged at the top.

Now you have 2 halves. This is where you need your desk/work light... Take a close look at the contacts of your connector, some might be broken right off, some might just be lifted off of the circuit board. Give the whole connector a wiggle to see if it moves. If it does, have a look at the contacts on the board while doing it. Are they loose?

So onto the repair, you've checked out what's loose so now let your soldering iron warm up. Once it's hot enough to melt solder, go over each contact on the board and just touch them, pressing lightly. Not for too long though! Just long enough that you see the solder melt and the solder and pin bond together. Do this for ALL the pins, just in case.

Once you've gone over them all, now's the time to use your epoxy or similar product. I used a super small flathead screwdriver to dip in the epoxy and spread around the entire connector. Don't go too crazy with it, you'll just make a mess. But get around the entire bottom to make sure that sucker doesn't move again!

Double check for continuity with the multimeter to make sure your solder repairs worked.

Re-assemble and you're good to go. If you had pins that were actually broken off and missing in the phone, then I can't help you. These little parts are assembled by machines, too hard to most people to repair. At that point I would suggest a desk charger. UNLESS, like my phone, the middle charger pin is missing. Dont' worry, it still charges without that middle one.

Hope this helps. If anyone needs help or has questions, just post it...

Al