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[Q] HELP SIM tray stuck in - Nexus 5 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

I'll start with that fact that I know I did this to myself.
With that out of the way, I need some help. I'm coming from a Moto X (that I was planning on keeping as well), so I bought a nano to micro sim adapter from Amazon.
With my new N5 unboxed and ready to go, I went ahead and tried just the adapter in the micro SIM tray to make sure it fit well. Turns out it goes in, but does not come out, or at least not without the nano SIM installed.
Now I have a shiny new N5 with the SIM tray stuck in the device, but my nano SIM isn't in it. When I insert the SIM ejection tool the tray pops out about 1/8", and I can get my finger nails on it and pull, but it will not come out any further.
I've tried slipping a piece of paper in while it is partially ejected to see if I can get it past a particular stuck point, but I don't really know what part is stuck.
I really don't want to tear open my brand new phone, any other ideas?

sjroberts98 said:
I'll start with that fact that I know I did this to myself.
With that out of the way, I need some help. I'm coming from a Moto X (that I was planning on keeping as well), so I bought a nano to micro sim adapter from Amazon.
With my new N5 unboxed and ready to go, I went ahead and tried just the adapter in the micro SIM tray to make sure it fit well. Turns out it goes in, but does not come out, or at least not without the nano SIM installed.
Now I have a shiny new N5 with the SIM tray stuck in the device, but my nano SIM isn't in it. When I insert the SIM ejection tool the tray pops out about 1/8", and I can get my finger nails on it and pull, but it will not come out any further.
I've tried slipping a piece of paper in while it is partially ejected to see if I can get it past a particular stuck point, but I don't really know what part is stuck.
I really don't want to tear open my brand new phone, any other ideas?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try this it's a video for a iphone, but it may work in your case.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cCMcMkEJAIU

worst come to worst you can pop off the back... http://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/Nexus+5+Teardown/19016
I'm guessing the adapter just isn't sitting flush, maybe try using a business car of paper that's sturdier?
Also try jiggling it up and down light, that how i got the sim tray out of an iPhone that was also stuck because of these damn adapters.

eneka said:
worst come to worst you can pop off the back... http://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/Nexus+5+Teardown/19016
I'm guessing the adapter just isn't sitting flush, maybe try using a business car of paper that's sturdier?
Also try jiggling it up and down light, that how i got the sim tray out of an iPhone that was also stuck because of these damn adapters.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks, I'll try it with a little less force. I tried the first reply as well, with a piece of clear thin plastic, but no luck. I can get the plastic pretty far into the tray area, but can't get it to slide out at all. I guess this is one part of the phone they manufactured with really tight tolerances.
I already ordered the ifixit tool kit from Amazon..not sure if two Amazon's make a right, but it is probably the only answer.

So I was in this same position. I was going from Apple iPhone 5 to Google Nexus 5 back and forth. I didn't want to lose my nano to micro SIM adapter, so I put it in the Nexus 5's SIM tray and then into the Nexus 5. Lesson learned: Do not ever stick in an empty SIM adapter (micro-SIM for Nexus 5) into the tray. It will get stuck by the recess portion of the SIM adapter due to the spring terminals inside the phone that makes electrical contact with the metallic portions of the SIM. If you don't know what I mean, take a look at your SIM card and you'll see about three lines that travel across the metallic portions of the SIM. I did not need to open up the Nexus 5 to remove my stuck tray.
It turns out that if you still have the Nexus 5 screen protection film that comes with the new phone that you pull off of the LCD screen side, it is stiff enough to create a ramp for the metallic spring terminals to remove the stuck tray with the adapter in it. Cut across the width of the Nexus 5 screen protection film. Measure such that the width of the film to be about the width of the SIM's metallic width.
Here's a photo of what I'm talking about:
Note the Nexus 5 screen protection film, the Nexus 5 SIM tray in its normal position with the micro SIM adapter card recess portion pointing downwards, the nano SIM, and a piece of folded V shape plastic film cut out.
Pop out the SIM tray from the Nexus 5. It'll probably go out just enough that you can slip in a plastic film. What you do is you bend the cut plastic film in half to create a V shape and you jam in the bent V portion into the bottom side of the SIM tray opening if the Nexus 5 LCD screen is facing you. This is because that's where the SIM card's metallic parts face. You want to use the plastic film at the bent portion, not the two ends of the plastic film to be inserted into the SIM tray so that you can create a ramp to allow the spring terminals inside the phone to slide up and out of the recess of the micro SIM adapter (empty portion of where the SIM would normally go). You are trying to insert the plastic film where the SIM card normally goes into the recess portion of the micro SIM adapter. Make sure that the plastic film goes about more than the length of the SIM card or about the length of tray going into the phone. At that point, while pushing the plastic film into the tray, you will need to wiggle and pull the SIM tray out. I hope you have some finger nails, as that would help.
Watch this YouTube and it's basically what you're suppose to be doing: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cCMcMkEJAIU
Good luck. I know I wasted a lot of time removing mine and finally got mine out. Hope this helps someone else out.

hoang51 said:
Pop out the SIM tray from the Nexus 5. It'll probably go out just enough that you can slip in a plastic film. What you do is you bend the cut plastic film in half to create a V shape and you jam in the bent V portion into the bottom side of the SIM tray opening if the Nexus 5 LCD screen is facing you. This is because that's where the SIM card's metallic parts face. You want to use the plastic film at the bent portion, not the two ends of the plastic film to be inserted into the SIM tray so that you can create a ramp to allow the spring terminals inside the phone to slide up and out of the recess of the micro SIM adapter (empty portion of where the SIM would normally go). You are trying to insert the plastic film where the SIM card normally goes into the recess portion of the micro SIM adapter. Make sure that the plastic film goes about more than the length of the SIM card or about the length of tray going into the phone. At that point, while pushing the plastic film into the tray, you will need to wiggle and pull the SIM tray out. I hope you have some finger nails, as that would help.
Watch this YouTube and it's basically what you're suppose to be doing: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cCMcMkEJAIU
Good luck. I know I wasted a lot of time removing mine and finally got mine out. Hope this helps someone else out.
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Click to collapse
I was in the EXACT same scenario tonight and just wanted to say thanks. It took about 10 minutes, but I got the tray and the adapter out without breaking anything. Thanks again!

Thank you hoang51 :good::good::good:
It worked and helped me get my nexus 5 tray out.
Remember guys, if you have your tray stuck, try this method (mentioned by hoang51) and be patient. It works!

You saved My N5 too, worked like a sharm

aaronkalb said:
I was in the EXACT same scenario tonight and just wanted to say thanks. It took about 10 minutes, but I got the tray and the adapter out without breaking anything. Thanks again!
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Click to collapse
I'm curious if the pins come up from the bottom of the phone or down from the top. To put it another way, do I slot in the plastic on the top of the sim card tray or the bottom? I assume the bottom but I'm having a bit of trouble getting this to work.
On the positive side, I had some difficulty finding plastic that would fit in there. Paper was, of course, too flimsy. It appears that cutting a rectangle out of an aluminum soda can seems to fit quite well and retain its shape as I fumble around with this.
Thanks for the ideas!

Thank you for the idea, it worked for me too.
One piece of advice for those who are struggling > try to use the piece of plastic unfolded. I found the V shaped folded plastic too thick to properly go inside, as soon as I unfolded it it worked like a charm.

matt68000 said:
I'm curious if the pins come up from the bottom of the phone or down from the top. To put it another way, do I slot in the plastic on the top of the sim card tray or the bottom? I assume the bottom but I'm having a bit of trouble getting this to work.
On the positive side, I had some difficulty finding plastic that would fit in there. Paper was, of course, too flimsy. It appears that cutting a rectangle out of an aluminum soda can seems to fit quite well and retain its shape as I fumble around with this.
Thanks for the ideas!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
For the record, You need to slide the shim between the bottom of the tray and the phone. Like where the Pins would contact the sim card.
Wasted about 90 min sliding the shim in the topside.

When it's fixed put some duct tape on the underside of the converter. Trim to size. It stopped my pins. You can put a blank cut piece of plastic in the cutout, the duct tape holding it. Just swap the blank for the sim.
Sent from my Nexus 5 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

Many many thanks to everyone who posted help and advice in this thread especially http://forum.xda-developers.com/member.php?u=3827427
Got my sim tray out after about 20 mins of wiggling. Thought i was doing it wrong but got there in the end. Phew! Was very worried id broken a £350 phone!
Just for the record..... DO NOT PUT EMPTY SIM ADAPTORS IN THE NEXUS 5! :good:

After about an hour of jiggling and wiggling, i finally got it out using my galaxy note 3's screen film. Many thanks i thought my N5 is over.
Hurra!!

Love it when a story has a happy ending. Great example of a helping hand saving many in trouble.

What a freaking nightmare. Tore the whole phone apart and couldn't figure how to get the tray out until I came across this thread. Thanks @hoang51, you saved my arse.

I joined this forum just so I could say thank you for this. I thought I was well and truly humped until I read the trick about folding the plastic film and inserting it into the bottom side of the tray. Popped out after about a minute of fiddling. Big ups sir!

Thank you. This worked for me too.

Corbu said:
Thank you for the idea, it worked for me too.
One piece of advice for those who are struggling > try to use the piece of plastic unfolded. I found the V shaped folded plastic too thick to properly go inside, as soon as I unfolded it it worked like a charm.
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Click to collapse
Thanks a bunch saved my Red Nexus 5

A 0.15 mm feeler gauge, such as this one from AutoZone or Pep Boys is PERFECT for this task. I slid it in on the non-screen-side of the sim tray, pulled on the tray and out it came, instantly, first attempt, no wiggling or playing with it required. The feeler gauges I have are exactly the same width as a mini SIM.
Sadly, I didn't think of this trick a few years ago when I did the same stupid thing with my CR-48 Chromebook's SIM and destroyed the pins forcing the sim adapter out.

Related

I bought a Noosy micro sim cutter, and it looks like my t-mobile sim is a little weird. The gold part isn't centered, and instead is farther to the left side than it should be. I'm afraid that if I cut it with the cutter it will cut off some of the gold part and not work...anyone know if it would be a problem?
EDIT: Never mind, I did it and it worked

First off this Xoom is out of warranty. All ready called motorola to try and get the part number, but they are going to replace the whole board which would cost a lot out of warranty.
Well I put my micro sim card adapter into the xoom (with out the sim card in it) and when I pulled it out, it broke off two of the pins in the sim card tray inside the xoom.
So I took the thing apart and bent the pins up and it works great, except that anytime I want to pull it back out, I have to wedge a thin piece of plastic in there to try and slip it out, and it is a pain.
So I have great soldering skills, and I'm confident I can do it my self, but I need to get the correct sim card tray.
The best one I could find is the JAE SF8 and the SF9 series:
comparison chart: I cant use hyperlinks so see attached picture "JAE"
Does any one know which one will work?

Here are some more pictures of the Xoom and the solder points and the pins I broke.

fixed
I decided to just fix this thing with spare parts.
I found an old R/C car wire with some metal on the end, I broke it off and shaped the metal to the desired size and thickness. It was already bent but I could have done that easily as well.
Then I took the xoom apart with some websites, and also a few videos on youtube that showed me how to get some of the ribbons off with out damaging them.
Then I de-soldered the case, bent it back, and soldered on my new pieces. Put everything back and it works perfectly.
Hopefully this helps someone else, or maybe you can take it in to a small electronic repair shop and they should be able to do this. My soldering skills are not that good, so they could do a MUCH better and more professional looking job.

legobrains said:
I decided to just fix this thing with spare parts.
I found an old R/C car wire with some metal on the end, I broke it off and shaped the metal to the desired size and thickness. It was already bent but I could have done that easily as well.
Then I took the xoom apart with some websites, and also a few videos on youtube that showed me how to get some of the ribbons off with out damaging them.
Then I de-soldered the case, bent it back, and soldered on my new pieces. Put everything back and it works perfectly.
Hopefully this helps someone else, or maybe you can take it in to a small electronic repair shop and they should be able to do this. My soldering skills are not that good, so they could do a MUCH better and more professional looking job.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Would you be willing to help me fix mine for a fee? I also damaged my sim connector.

A lot of people I've noticed have been getting a sim card error. I've read that people are moving the gold prongs up and that's helping; mine did not need to be moved.
Instead there is a small piece that is depressed when the tray is inserted, probably allowing the data to flow, not sure.
It's at the bottom, mine popped out and I just pushed mine in. After that I couldn't get signal, but I just put my phone back on the housing and now it works fine...
TL;DR
The Little piece at the bottom of the sim card needs to make contact with the copper piece.
The attachment in this file has a black circle around the piece I'm talking about
MAKE SURE TO PUT THE PHONE BACK IN THE HOUSING AS THE RADIO NEEDS A PART OF IT TO WORK
Good luck guys!

Hey,
just got the 16GB from tesco.
When I opened it, (factory sealed box), the case was not clipped all the way on, and the top edge was open a bit. I opened it properly, from the bottom as instructed. Sim car already in, so clipped case on.
Basically there is 1mm gap, right next to the headphone jack and microphone on top of the phone. So, I took case off and had a look. The body has a space for an extra clip next to microphone, but the back case misses this one out (presumably to make room for rubber bit on microphone). I had a look at the pink case in the box, this also misses this clip.
Do other peoples phones case sit tight and flush on the top edge? or is my phone maybe wonky!! I worried the numpty who put the tesco sim in has distorted the chasis, or I just have been unlucky.. Its pretty minor, but its dust access so would prefer a tight fit!
FYI, there stock systems are screwed for xmas. Says out of stock everywhere, including when you phone up the store. I went to a tesco Extra, it had lots and lots in stock. Same price as Tesco direct. So, if you still want one for £129, 16GB. Get to your nearest tesco extra, you may well get one if they have a phoneshop instore.

helppme said:
Hey,
just got the 16GB from tesco.
When I opened it, (factory sealed box), the case was not clipped all the way on, and the top edge was open a bit. I opened it properly, from the bottom as instructed. Sim car already in, so clipped case on.
Basically there is 1mm gap, right next to the headphone jack and microphone on top of the phone. So, I took case off and had a look. The body has a space for an extra clip next to microphone, but the back case misses this one out (presumably to make room for rubber bit on microphone). I had a look at the pink case in the box, this also misses this clip.
Do other peoples phones case sit tight and flush on the top edge? or is my phone maybe wonky!! I worried the numpty who put the tesco sim in has distorted the chasis, or I just have been unlucky.. Its pretty minor, but its dust access so would prefer a tight fit!
FYI, there stock systems are screwed for xmas. Says out of stock everywhere, including when you phone up the store. I went to a tesco Extra, it had lots and lots in stock. Same price as Tesco direct. So, if you still want one for £129, 16GB. Get to your nearest tesco extra, you may well get one if they have a phoneshop instore.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The gap is there to allow leverage to get the back cover off. It's annoying that dust can get caught there but it would be a nightmare to remove it if there were no gap. I've had four now from various Tesco stores and they all have this gap, so no need to worry. Just clean out the dust now and again.

I had one which shipped with the case split open like you describe when I first opened it (also 16GB from Tesco).
That phone had a creaky back case - particularly noticeable applying slight pressure to the corner near the speaker. On looking at it I could see the clip on the front of the phone (not the back) was slightly too large, and so you wouldn't be able to fix it with a new back.
Phone went back as it also had a dead pixel in middle of the screen.
I think that the small plastic clips on the front part of the phone can be damaged by not taking the rear of the phone off carefully enough. If they are damaged your phone will always have a loose back, so best not to remove the back too often.

Yes mine is the same and annoyingly someone has used this gap to try and remove the backplate causing it to split at the microphone opening. (2nd hand phone).
So I suggest always removing the backplate from the microUSB end as these are not the sturdiest of backplates.

michael-jb said:
Yes mine is the same and annoyingly someone has used this gap to try and remove the backplate causing it to split at the microphone opening. (2nd hand phone).
So I suggest always removing the backplate from the microUSB end as these are not the sturdiest of backplates.
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Click to collapse
The phones from Tesco include a one page leaflet telling you to put your thumb on the moto logo on the rear and peel it up from the USB, definitely not from the top.
Seeing how flimsy the back is I personally crack open the bottom at the micro USB and then run my fingernail around the gap to pop the back off all the way. The hardest bit to release is the corner above the buttons, which is also where the rear of the case is weakest.

jfinnie said:
The phones from Tesco include a one page leaflet telling you to put your thumb on the moto logo on the rear and peel it up from the USB, definitely not from the top.
Seeing how flimsy the back is I personally crack open the bottom at the micro USB and then run my fingernail around the gap to pop the back off all the way. The hardest bit to release is the corner above the buttons, which is also where the rear of the case is weakest.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yea this is how I remove mine. The gap at the top is definitely not there to aid removal of the back. You start from the bottom like you say,
I actually swapped the black back for the pink one included. it fits much much tighter at the top so I think the back can be distorted on poor removal. The downside is I now have a pink phone until I get a replacement
cheers for the responses guys. Good to know its not a problem with my phone as such, just a design quirk..

just got a 16 GB XT1032 from US and i have this same kind of gap in between the body parts on the right side of the audio jack, when the display is facing ground. i freaked out when i found this out. i really expected perfect finishing from motorola.
did someone figure out why is this werid 1mm gap is there or some way to fix it?

Hi guys! I just bought my Moto G from Romania, 16 gb dual sim. Well, today I notice a tiny gap at the right side of the screen, between screen and plastic body. Did anyone else had something similar? The phone it's just great, but I'm a little worried because maybe dust can enter under the screen. I did'nt dropped or something, I just noticed today in the bright light. Thank you

There's no gap in mine. Are you guys making sure that your back cover is completely "snapped" on on all of its sides?
Sent from my XT1034 using Tapatalk

Picture to confirm problem
Hi,
I too have this problem.
Posting a picture

Have just got my beautiful new silver Mate 9 and got it on line using WiFi, but I can't open the SIM card tray.
There is no ejector pin. I've searched all the packaging several times and it's not there.
I tried pushing in a paper clip that seems about the right diameter. It goes in with very slight resistance until about 3mm and then comes to a hard stop. The tray doesn't come loose. I tried pressing the tray with the pin in place but it's not loose.
Any advice please?
Edit! I found the pin! It had fallen out of the package onto the floor. SIM now fitted OK.