Kaiser/ Vario III charging problems

[Guest chris organic]

I was having problems with my Vario iii charging. The battery wasn't charging despite the orange LED light coming on and trying different chargers etc. In other forums I was advised that the battery was dead, or there was a burnt component on the phone. I was pretty sure the battery wasnt dead since I look after my PPC pretty well and it didnt have any other simptoms of a dead battery. It just simply one day stopped charging.

So I decided to open it up and have a look. When I mentioned on another forum I might have a go at dissambling the phone I was told I was mad and I'd never get it back together again and it'd be too easy to break it beyond repair! Well, I figured if I did it patiently and carefully I would be OK. It's already out of warranty and in any case it was opened up once by HTC themselves once, so the 'void' seals were already broken. I also figured that it couldnt hurt if the phone was already dead anyway (and there's always the option of phone insurance if I did break it :D

Anyway I think this information is helpful since I've seen a lot of posts with people having similar charging problems, but replies to these threads are very seldom and, in hindsight, very unhelpful. I'm not an expert at microelectronics or anything like that, I don't know much about these things but I do have an eye for detail and a basic understanding of circuit boards etc... VERY basic, but I think it helps.

So, fristly I found this HTC service manual:

http://www.wmmania.cz/downloads/manual/htc...e_manual_en.pdf

and also this one: http://www.pdacenter.ru/razborka/razbor_htc_kaiser/ but that is in Russian, so I only used it as a backup to the first one when something wasnt clear.

The procedure was very simple... take out the battery and undo a few screws. I had to buy a "T6" socket for my socket set, this is a fairly small star-shaped screwdriver bit that's needed for 4 screws. Apart from that I needed a micro phillips screwdriver, a very small flat head screwdriver for prising open the case and taking out a few parts, and some flat plastic for the same. Read the guide and you'll seee why. It really wasnt difficult and I didnt break anything. The guide is very clear.

So.. this is what I found. Around the mini-USB hub there was some dry white substance all over some of the tiny components in that area. It looked like salt (unlikey but possible since I'd just come back from holiday by the sea) or dried heatsink compound (also likey I suppose). I brushed it off with a stiff mini paint brush, and then cleaned it with Isopropil alcohol. While I had the device open I brushed and blew out all the loose dust that had gotten inside. then, with a spotlight I examined the little pins on the mini usb port, since I had a better view. The port has a soldered-on cover which I really didnt want to take off, however I was concerend that a couple of the pins were looking very flat/ slightly out of alignement.

I found a mini-usb pin schematic on the web. In any case I got a needle from my sewing kit and very carefully raised the pins a bit and straightened them. I could have done that with the phone assembled but I had slightly better access this way and more light to see what I was doing.

Finally, I reassembled the ppc using the guide's reassembly guide. Easy! And guess what, the phone is now charging nicely. I'll report my progress or any change if it happens.

I hope this helps and prevents people from rushing out and buying spare batteries, desktop chargers, all these things I was advised but I think totally unecessary. Good luck!