Every time when I charging use cable, I can feel the small vibration on side of phone when touch it.. especially on top of phone .. Does everyone got this issue
Sent from my [device_name] using XDA-Developers Legacy app
I'm not seeing this on my N20 Ultra.
What happens if you use another charging cable and power brick and or wireless charging.
Is it a vibration or electric current?
Probably a coil in the phone's power converter.
Switching transformer or such.
It happened sometimes for me too with almost any phone, and it was more likely to happen with metal ones. Usually it goes away after a bit.
The same with laptop that got a metal casing too.
Wouldn't have thought you could feel 11v max
Sorry guys but you wouldn't feel that low voltage even if it was 20V
You wouldn't feel it
Maybe your fingers/palm vibrate when you slide along the metallic bits of the phone making it feel like voltage
Umm... people have been severely shocked by car batteries.
One kid decades ago it was reported killed himself with a 9V battery.
It all depends on the resistance in the circuit. Most times 14 volts won't be felt but when it is it's a shock.
Don't handle battery terminals with wet hands including sweat.
In this case I think it's a physical vibration.
Some people have much more sensitive levels of physical perception. Tesla was said to have extremely acute senses... and he was not stranger to shocks.
blackhawk said:
Umm... people have been severely shocked by car batteries.
One kid decades ago it was reported killed himself with a 9V battery.
It all depends on the resistance in the circuit. Most times 14 volts won't be felt but when it is it's a shock.
Don't handle battery terminals with wet hands including sweat.
In this case I think it's a physical vibration.
Some people have much more sensitive levels of physical perception. Tesla was said to have extremely acute senses... and he was not stranger to shocks.
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Click to collapse
The 9v battery thing was 'apparently' if true, because he pierced his skin with the probes allowing the blood to become the conductor passing through his heart (Although I find the story a bit far fetched, the theory is true, not sure about the story), a finger covered in skin touching the edge of a phone is not going to be felt / give a shock coming from a phone charger, stick it on your tongue maybe but not your skin, not enough voltage to make it through your skin in a phone charger
Car battery won't shock you either, touched both terminals many times using jump leads, HT leads / spark-plugs on the other hand give quite a nasty shock if you are also touching the chassis, in the rain
*Detection* said:
Wouldn't have thought you could feel 11v max
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Click to collapse
*Detection* said:
The 9v battery thing was 'apparently' if true, because he pierced his skin with the probes allowing the blood to become the conductor passing through his heart (Although I find the story a bit far fetched, the theory is true, not sure about the story), a finger covered in skin touching the edge of a phone is not going to be felt / give a shock coming from a phone charger, stick it on your tongue maybe but not your skin, not enough voltage to make it through your skin in a phone charger
Car battery won't shock you either, touched both terminals many times using jump leads, HT leads / spark-plugs on the other hand give quite a nasty shock if you are also touching the chassis, in the rain
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I first read the 9V battery story 40, 50 years ago in print. It's certainly possible... but last time I tried tracking it down found nothing conclusive. However massive as the internet db is, much info is missing.
As for car batteries I can verify from first hand experience they can give you a shock:silly:
Don't ground yourself out...
My 12KV 30 ma neon sign transformer though can give a nasty shock if your careless enough to touch one terminal.
Even along a plastic screwdriver handle if any sweat is on it. It will ground you out through the air or a hardwood floor... fun times
blackhawk said:
I first read the 9V battery story 40, 50 years ago in print. It's certainly possible... but last time I tried tracking it down found nothing conclusive. However massive as the internet db is, much info is missing.
As for car batteries I can verify from first hand experience they can give you a shock:silly:
Don't ground yourself out...
My 12KV 30 ma neon sign transformer though can give a nasty shock if your careless enough to touch one terminal.
Even along a plastic screwdriver handle if any sweat is on it. It will ground you out through the air or a hardwood floor... fun times
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Had many nasty shocks, the power circuit board from an original Playstation, touched the back of the board where the capacitor pins were, that really hurt badly, and strangely I managed to do the exact same thing again about 5 minutes later lol
Also learned that turning off a lightswitch does not cut power to the light fitting the hard way too
*Detection* said:
Had many nasty shocks, the power circuit board from an original Playstation, touched the back of the board where the capacitor pins were, that really hurt badly, and strangely I managed to do the exact same thing again about 5 minutes later lol
Also learned that turning off a lightswitch does not cut power to the light fitting the hard way too
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Click to collapse
It's always quite a surprise...
One of the scariest shocks I got was from a 30" CRT I was replacing.
Basically a giant HV vacuum capacitor.
They can hold a charge a very long time, even can collect a charge sitting there from static electricity and they have "memory"; simply discharging it once isn't enough as they will build back a charge. Even though I had shorted it out for over a minute, when working to put it in, I knocked the lead off. In less then a minute it built up enough voltage to tag me... and of course it did.
The shock wasn't that bad, the real danger was dropping the CRT and it imploding. There's no protection on the back to keep the glass shards from flying out at high velocities. Techs have been killed like this.
I kept my grip... and successfully repaired it.
blackhawk said:
It's always quite a surprise...
One of the scariest shocks I got was from a 30" CRT I was replacing.
Basically a giant HV vacuum capacitor.
They can hold a charge a very long time, even can collect a charge sitting there from static electricity and they have "memory"; simply discharging it once isn't enough as they will build back a charge. Even though I had shorted it out for over a minute, when working to put it in, I knocked the lead off. In less then a minute it built up enough voltage to tag me... and of course it did.
The shock wasn't that bad, the real danger was dropping the CRT and it imploding. There's no protection on the back to keep the glass shards from flying out at high velocities. Techs have been killed like this.
I kept my grip... and successfully repaired it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
haha yea, I was very inquisitive as a kid about all things electrical, my bedroom floor was covered in PCBs and chips and wires, (surprised I'm still here to tell the tale tbh) but CRT TVs were the one thing I didn't play around with too much, they just looked like certain death to me, those thick high voltage cables and suckers were far too intimidating at that age (says the guy who did the 9v battery on the tongue trick with a mains cable plugged into a 240v socket and switched on, luckily the reason whatever device wasn't working was because the live wire had come loose from the back of the socket... can't even imagine what my mouth would have looked like if it had not...)
*Detection* said:
Had many nasty shocks, the power circuit board from an original Playstation, touched the back of the board where the capacitor pins were, that really hurt badly, and strangely I managed to do the exact same thing again about 5 minutes later lol
Also learned that turning off a lightswitch does not cut power to the light fitting the hard way too
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
*Detection* said:
haha yea, I was very inquisitive as a kid about all things electrical, my bedroom floor was covered in PCBs and chips and wires, (surprised I'm still here to tell the tale tbh) but CRT TVs were the one thing I didn't play around with too much, they just looked like certain death to me, those thick high voltage cables and suckers were far too intimidating at that age (says the guy who did the 9v battery on the tongue trick with a mains cable plugged into a 240v socket and switched on, luckily the reason whatever device wasn't working was because the live wire had come loose from the back of the socket... can't even imagine what my mouth would have looked like if it had not...)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Bah-ha-ha-ha when I was around 10 yo I stuck my index finger across the 120VAC plug prongs while they were making contact to see what it felt like... once.
The old huge plugin disposable magnesium wire flash bulbs.. once set one off in my hand with a battery. Surprise, they really get bright and... hot.
Mild first degree burns, nothing much but for the first few seconds were priceless.
kenloon2004 said:
Every time when I charging use cable, I can feel the small vibration on side of phone when touch it.. especially on top of phone .. Does everyone got this issue
Sent from my [device_name] using XDA-Developers Legacy app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I saw people mention this for other phones and for wireless charging. To some extent I think your right about "leaking electricity" but in a different way. I think the high power thats going into your phone is causing some electronics to jump to your speakers. I could be wrong, especially if the internal speakers dont use copper coils. But if they do, its very possible.
Shadow Assassin said:
I saw people mention this for other phones and for wireless charging. To some extent I think your right about "leaking electricity" but in a different way. I think the high power thats going into your phone is causing some electronics to jump to your speakers. I could be wrong, especially if the internal speakers dont use copper coils. But if they do, its very possible.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Pretty sure all the internal speakers are piezo.
It's quite possible though with wireless charging they are feeling the internal pickup coil vibrating or with wired, the power converter's choke coil(s) vibrating.
Coursing with raw power...
People really scrutinize their devices far too closely... have pity on their better halves
blackhawk said:
It's always quite a surprise...
One of the scariest shocks I got was from a 30" CRT I was replacing.
Basically a giant HV vacuum capacitor.
They can hold a charge a very long time, even can collect a charge sitting there from static electricity and they have "memory"; simply discharging it once isn't enough as they will build back a charge. Even though I had shorted it out for over a minute, when working to put it in, I knocked the lead off. In less then a minute it built up enough voltage to tag me... and of course it did.
The shock wasn't that bad, the real danger was dropping the CRT and it imploding. There's no protection on the back to keep the glass shards from flying out at high velocities. Techs have been killed like this.
I kept my grip... and successfully repaired it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Been there, done that... worked in Diagnostic Imaging Field Service for 30+ years - hang on to that baby, the charge will dissipate!!! The alternative, like you said, could be a "glassy" death!
Related
So my Nexus S took a swim while canoeing. The phone wasn't canoeing, I was. I threw it in a bag of rice and it works beautifully save one thing. My external speaker and headphone jack are very, very garbled. The ear speaker works great while on the phone, but every ring, sound, keypress, or music is just rough noise. Any ideas on how to replace and/or fix this?
sounds more like it still has mist/moist trapped in the speaker area
let it dry under indirect sunlight to evaporate the remaining water
the best thing to do is if you are technical enough, is to open the phone up, and use compressed air to flush out the remaining moist
I would think that to be the case, but why do I get the same sounds out of the headphone jack?
diagnosisdroid said:
I would think that to be the case, but why do I get the same sounds out of the headphone jack?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
same circuit
when you plug in the 3.5 the back speaker turns off and vice versa
so that circuit is still moist (to my best guess 99%)
i always put any wet stuff i want to dry quickly on top/behind my PC
because the i7 minimum temp is always in the 50c range
so it's always pumping out heat, it's the perfect spot to dry anything
just leave it there for a few hours, or over night and next day is all dry
i also use it to re-melt those pens that got the ink dried up stuck
I am going to give it a try. Also, good advice on dried ink!
Beware of corrosion. you might need to take it apart and clean off the corrosion on the connectors. this is coming from personal experience. Open it up if u know how and check out the circuits
Sent from my Nexus S using XDA App
Be carefull
Honestly it sounds like you did not leave it in rice long enough, best thing you can do is put it back in a bowl of rice with the back cover off and leave it there for another 3-5 days at least.
You will probably find if you continue to use it now that in a few days it will stop working due to corrosion. It may already be to late..
http://www.globaldirectparts.com/Nexus-S-Earspeaker-p/smsng6098610.htm
Replace it
So here is the plan. I am going to open that puppy up and used compressed air to get any unseen H2O molecules out, then a bag or rice for a few more days. It has spent a total of 30 hours or so in rice so far. I'll report back with result.
Good advice. You really should not have tried using it, rather immediately pull the battery and immediately open every part you can reach and blow out with air.
No Luck
After 2 more days in a bag of rice and some compressed air. I am still getting the garbled speaker sound. I may try to replace it, anyone know of a quick guide to do that? I have zero experience working on circuit boards, that is to say, unless there is a cable with a plug in type connector, I am lost.
Is this the piece I need to repair the whole audio setup? I pulled apart the phone and think I might be able to swap out this piece.
http://www.globaldirectparts.com/Samsung-Googel-Nexus-S-Ear-Speaker-Flex-Ribbon-p/smsng6098600.htm
hello last night i was at a coffee house i left my sidekick 4g on the table while i went and get my drink my clumsy friend trips and spills coffee all over my cell o kinda got it dry and the screen is a bit messy inside the camera just cleared up everything seems to be workin except the sim card port my sim card does work since i have it on a back up cell but wen i put on my sidekick it wont even give me data nor show that its in the phone wat can i do or is there anything i can do
snoriega said:
hello last night i was at a coffee house i left my sidekick 4g on the table while i went and get my drink my clumsy friend trips and spills coffee all over my cell o kinda got it dry and the screen is a bit messy inside the camera just cleared up everything seems to be workin except the sim card port my sim card does work since i have it on a back up cell but wen i put on my sidekick it wont even give me data nor show that its in the phone wat can i do or is there anything i can do
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
is the water damage tab turned pink?
yea it did its not all pink but its pink all right
snoriega said:
yea it did its not all pink but its pink all right
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Click to collapse
how new is the phone? maybe with some sweet talk you can get it passed a rep to get it repaired or just wait it out a little while dry it out and try again in 2 or 3 days
got it in May so its new lets hope i just been letting it sit
snoriega said:
got it in May so its new lets hope i just been letting it sit
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
well i hope all goes well
thank you
The best thing to do with any water damaged phone is to immedietly pull the battery out and stick it in a bowl of dry rice and cover it leave it for 24 hours the rice will draw out the moisture and hopefully phone will work again but usually its best to do this asap the longer the phone sits with liquid in it the more likely there will be damage
Sent from my SGH-T839 using XDA App
also just for next time (hopefully there is no) never power back on the device after water gets in it because you could fry something!
do what the post above said then you can power on!
As long as the water tab is another color, they're gonna charge you for a new phone. But as others said, the rice method is your best option.
Hope all goes well, I'd hate to see a Sidekick go like that.
I do electronics repair. I mostly work on laptops, but the idea is the same for cell phones. To repair a liquid damaged laptop I fully dismantle it, wash the mainboard with distilled water and a toothbrush, then I wash it again in 99% isopropyl alcohol. After that I place the board somewhere hot to dry. Above a low wattage lightbulb, on top of a heater vent, in a car in the sun, or on the preheater of our IR reflow station have all been used in the past. After it's completely dry I re-assemble the machine.
One of the key things about spill damage is working quickly. A laptop or a cell phone with water in it will often half-work initially. Water is mildly conductive, enough to cause circuits to malfunction. But it's often not conductive enough at the low voltages consumer electronics work at to cause immediate damage. That's why your phone still seems to mostly work in the minutes or hours after a spill.
But what happens if you keep using the device, hoping that it'll get better? Well, water corrodes metals. Aluminum, copper, iron, etc are all used inside our devices, and they'll happily corrode when they get wet. And if you turn the device on, the electricity will cause the corrosion to happen much faster. This build up of corrosion is much more conductive than straight water is. So before you know it, the corrosion will grow so thick on the closely spaced pins of a component that it shorts them together. BOOM! Now it's too late to take it to a professional. It's dead.
So keep that in mind, all of you, if you spill something on your phone, laptop, etc. Pull all power out right away, dry it quickly, and don't give it power again until you're sure it's clean and dry.
BTW, if you're unable to repair the phone, I would be interested in buying the speaker out of it. Mine has a horrible crackle that makes it hard to hear what some people are saying.
Just received my inexpensive amazon wireless charger today (March 8th), shipped on the 27th, so shipping was pretty quick. Cost $29.98 after shipping.
Like the amazon reviews mention, it does beep, but only when the phone is placed on it and not when it is taken off, it also isn't very loud or annoying either.
It looks great and feels solid, it senses the phone right away even with my case, and seems to charge quite quickly.
Overall it seems to be a great alternative to the official orb, especially for Canadians who can't get it yet.
http://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B00B7TBX36/ref=oh_details_o00_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
EDIT: Ended up opening it up and disconnecting the speaker, it really wasn't that annoying but I noticed the tone it made was "inconsistent", turns out the ground wire for the speaker was barely hanging on, so i just ripped the speaker off and now it's all good
PROS:
-From about 60% to fully charged took about an hour and 15 min, so it seems to be on par with other wireless chargers (2-3 hrs full charge)
-Doesn't seem to stop charging once it hits 100%, judging by the battery profile it looks like it falls down to 95% then starts charging again over and over
-LED turns red so you know it's done charging
CONS:
-Poor soldering on speaker, but i imagine most people would remove it anyway
-Charging LED is a soft blue kinda like the nexus notification light, but it is somewhat bright at night, but again a modification could fix that too.
Go for it if you don't mind opening it up to fix those 2 issues.
Hm, that's good that the charger senses the phone right away. Keep us updated on how this charger is working out, I'm planning to order one this weekend. Hopefully all is good. I will probably end up opening up the charger and removing/desoldering the speaker.
Did the seller just increase the price due high demand?
ma678 said:
Did the seller just increase the price due high demand?
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Click to collapse
Here is a U.S. Amazon link. $29.95.
His was a Canadian link. *#^$ exchange rates!
Edit: I'm illiterate...yes it is $5 higher. #@$^ profit! @#%* words!
Thank you for providing the pictures of the internals. I am currently expecting one of these (probably next week) and was a little worried about the noise.
ma678 said:
Did the seller just increase the price due high demand?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ya they must've, that's really odd
hgigh said:
Thank you for providing the pictures of the internals. I am currently expecting one of these (probably next week) and was a little worried about the noise.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No problem, also there's 4 screws to open it under the little foam pad "feet" on the bottom of it.
Weak that there's no Prime option.
Does this continue to work after a few days? I picked the small, flat charger from Fasttech, and it does not work very well. It will charge the phone fine initially, but refuses to charge the next time I place the phone on the charger until I power cycle it. Kind of defeats the purpose of not messing with wires if I have to unplug/plug in the charger every time I want to use it.
The board looks similar on this charger, although it is different enough that I don't think they are using the same components. Just wanted to see if you've had any issues with it.
shrapnelx said:
Does this continue to work after a few days? I picked the small, flat charger from Fasttech, and it does not work very well. It will charge the phone fine initially, but refuses to charge the next time I place the phone on the charger until I power cycle it. Kind of defeats the purpose of not messing with wires if I have to unplug/plug in the charger every time I want to use it.
The board looks similar on this charger, although it is different enough that I don't think they are using the same components. Just wanted to see if you've had any issues with it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I just got it yesterday so I guess we'll see, I've set the phone down on it many times since it arrived and haven't had an issue yet.
do NOT buy this piece of crap.
I bought one about 1 month ago, so many things are wrong with it.
for most it stopped working after a week.
the surface isnt completely flat and has a very slight arc to it. so the N4 will easily slide off on its own.
you will have to hit a "sweetspot" for it to sense your phone. it's very frustrating to have to look for it.
Annoying sound and more annoying lights, especially at night. they are INCREDIBLY bright.
do yourself a favor and buy google's original.
ma678 said:
Did the seller just increase the price due high demand?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeap it was only $29.98 a few days ago on Amazon.CA
Must've had something to do with my RFD post.
tt6368 said:
do NOT buy this piece of crap.
I bought one about 1 month ago, so many things are wrong with it.
for most it stopped working after a week.
the surface isnt completely flat and has a very slight arc to it. so the N4 will easily slide off on its own.
you will have to hit a "sweetspot" for it to sense your phone. it's very frustrating to have to look for it.
Annoying sound and more annoying lights, especially at night. they are INCREDIBLY bright.
do yourself a favor and buy google's original.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't know what arc you're talking about, the sides curves down slightly around the perimeter about 1 cm in, but the surface is totally flat. I don't see how it could possibly slide off, unless the surface your's sits on isn't level.
And expecting any inductive charger to work without lining up the coils is kind of unrealistic. You can't just causally throw your phone onto the pad and expect a solid connection, it's physics.
Placing the phone somewhat centered on the pad (as I expect most people would) works out fine.
As for the sound and lights...well I already covered that, its an easy fix.
wtf ,it does NOT work with the TCP gel case on, i had to take it off? anyone get it to work with a backing/case on?
before it works, the nex4 screen has to be ON for it to work right? that kind of sucks, no wonder this thing is cheap! 30+ tx bucks from amazon.ca
another thing is its gotta be put on the pad 'centered' you can't just be off center
giving this a 3/10 , don't recammend it, man the beeps are loud!
holy cow, this thing really HEATS up while charging, doesn't HEAT kill your battery? it was 40c the battery temp, in 2hours my charge only went up 30% from around 40% to 70%, im not using this charger, i think it will kill your battery faster with all that heat
I purchased the same charger, but contrary to your post mine will charge to 100% then the led turns red and won't charge again until picked up and put back on the charger. I'm curious if a different kernel or rom can affect this behavior. I'm on cm10.1 latest nightly. I'm in the process of returning it, but like everything else besides not maintaining a charge.
cobyman7035 said:
wtf ,it does NOT work with the TCP gel case on, i had to take it off? anyone get it to work with a backing/case on?
before it works, the nex4 screen has to be ON for it to work right? that kind of sucks, no wonder this thing is cheap! 30+ tx bucks from amazon.ca
another thing is its gotta be put on the pad 'centered' you can't just be off center
giving this a 3/10 , don't recammend it, man the beeps are loud!
holy cow, this thing really HEATS up while charging, doesn't HEAT kill your battery? it was 40c the battery temp, in 2hours my charge only went up 30% from around 40% to 70%, im not using this charger, i think it will kill your battery faster with all that heat
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Im currently using the ringke fusion case which is probably the thickest there is, i've also switched to my mercury TPU case and they both work, I also don't need to have the screen on for it to start charging either, maybe the manufacturer made a revised version or something.
On the idea of a revised version. Here is a picture of my charger including the model number. It is T-100. I'm very curious if your charger has a different model number.
I am also thinking about ordering this as it seems very cheap for the price. My one concern is does it keep the phone topped up you said it does but there seem to be conflicting reports on amazon as well.
Led/speaker are no issue as they can be easily fixed however waking up with less than a full charge would be annoying.
khronostn said:
On the idea of a revised version. Here is a picture of my charger including the model number. It is T-100. I'm very curious if your charger has a different model number.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ya mine is also the same T-100 model
maybe i got a defective one
when the screen is OFF, and you place it on the charger pad, the screen turns on automatically right? is that normal for every android phone?
also the blue led light is very dim, and its 'behind' the white plastic casing inside, i can't hardly see it, its all blurred/low lighting, mine is the same pic as above t-100 model
Well, this isn't the best place to ask, but I'm not sure where else to do so. Somehow I managed to drop my phone (onto a carpeted floor from not quite a full standing height, not concrete or anything) and it landed right on the bottom I think. I can't see any signs of damage anywhere at all -- I even pulled out the screws and looked at the PCB itself and I just can't see anything obvious at all. Unfortunately, something obviously is wrong all the same. It simply will not charge at all most of the time, though seemingly randomly on a whim when I connect it sometimes it will. I'm afraid even to touch it once it finally does as just moving the cable around seems to be enough to make it stop sometimes (whereas at some other times I can move it around a lot and everything and it still stays connected.) Last night it decided not to even charge even though the LED indicator and the icon showed that it was connected. What's more, I can no longer use the USB OTG capability to plug in USB drives, other devices, and etc (which I used for diagnostics, repairs, and etc of other things on the go.) I have multiple batteries and external chargers, so this isn't completely fatal but it means:
A. I can't keep it from running the batteries down in the first place (which means larger wear and tear on the batteries long-term since they are discharged further before charging.)
B. Since it's like this it means generally speaking it's not as ready for a fully day of use since it's starting the day with less than 100% charge before I even leave for work every time now.
C. I really did use the USB OTG feature and have already been missing it. It's not as fatal as devices like my Nexus 7 (since that lacks a MicroSDHC card reader to supplement its internal storage whereas this has one) but very annoying at least.
D. I really really miss being able to use a phone dock! I was docking it in my car to keep it at least semi-charged and to output a line output to my car stereo system. It's kind of a pain having to change the volume back and forth between headphones and line output (since a line output really needs the full volume) and obviously it uses more power while playing than just sitting quietly in a pocket anyway. I also liked the way in the dock it wouldn't completely shut off the screen, just go into a really low power mode where it had a faded clock (might be a CM10.1 feature, but nice wherever it came from) and I could just touch it to get back to the player controls.
At first I thought it was just loose, so I tried putting a very thin piece of plastic in the top part of the connector so the connection is extremely tight which fooled me at first by pretending to work really well for a while, but then after a while it just did the same stuff all over again (so it was just doing that thing where it works fine for a little while even when I move the cord around.) I just can't see what could possibly be the problem though because if there is any damage anywhere I'm just not seeing it. I really don't see how the connector could have been damaged anyway since it more or less landed straight on the middle of the bottom (and that ring that goes around the side should have absorbed the shock) but with no cracks on the PCB or anything that I can at all see I can't imagine what else it might be -- plus a few times when it decided to charge it was just sitting flat not being touched and suddenly started working randomly. It really is like it just works on a whim here...
So I'm wondering: just how screwed am I here? I don't have any sort of drop insurance -- I've never dropped a phone in a way that damaged it before -- and I don't think there's any way I could afford the ridiculous amounts they'd surely want for a repair (not to mention that for a while I'd have no phone at all if I did that...) I thought about changing out the connector myself (I see one on Amazon for $8 which is ridiculous, but obviously it has to be the exact same connector) but I'm not terribly confident about desoldering and resoldering something with such small connectors as it is and that one is hard to get to anyway. Besides which, I'm not convinced it is the connector even if I can't see what else it could possibly be. What could possibly be causing it to be quite so random about this? Is there any way at all I can fix this myself, or is this something where the only way of ever getting it fixed would be to take it in for repair at extreme cost (and no phone for a while too)? Anyone have any idea what it might cost for such a repair?
Well I'm sure you noticed the metal charging usb port that is connected to the circuit board.
It sounds to me that it may have broke free a little bit and not making a solid connection.
First thing I would do is try some one else's charger and see if it works ( Just in case)
Then If that failed I would take apart the phone and inspect the connector.
Ten screws on the back plastic and one little black one on the circuit board.
Next you pop off the ribbon connectors and finally pop off the wire connector that runs along the right side of your phone when laying face down,
Double check all connectors and remove circuit board carefully.
Now you will be free to inspect connector
For all you know. Pushing it down with some pressure on the thumb may give you the connection you need again and you should be good to go.
But you really need to see what's broken before you go to fix it.
Good luck. Pm me if you need further help
Well, like I said, I opened it up and I just can't find any signs of damage to the connector or the board. Also, if you look at the SGS3, the connector is actually inside the casing somewhat, so really I don't see how it could have bee damaged anyway -- I'm just not sure what else it could be since, as I said, I also couldn't find any cracks in the PCB or anything.
Oh, and I've used four different chargers and at least three different cables. One charger and cable is the OEM set for the SGS3 and another is the OEM set for the Nexus 7 (which is probably a decent amount more more power hungry.)
Nazo said:
Well, this isn't the best place to ask, but I'm not sure where else to do so. Somehow I managed to drop my phone (onto a carpeted floor from not quite a full standing height, not concrete or anything) and it landed right on the bottom I think. I can't see any signs of damage anywhere at all -- I even pulled out the screws and looked at the PCB itself and I just can't see anything obvious at all. Unfortunately, something obviously is wrong all the same. It simply will not charge at all most of the time, though seemingly randomly on a whim when I connect it sometimes it will. I'm afraid even to touch it once it finally does as just moving the cable around seems to be enough to make it stop sometimes (whereas at some other times I can move it around a lot and everything and it still stays connected.) Last night it decided not to even charge even though the LED indicator and the icon showed that it was connected. What's more, I can no longer use the USB OTG capability to plug in USB drives, other devices, and etc (which I used for diagnostics, repairs, and etc of other things on the go.) I have multiple batteries and external chargers, so this isn't completely fatal but it means:
A. I can't keep it from running the batteries down in the first place (which means larger wear and tear on the batteries long-term since they are discharged further before charging.)
B. Since it's like this it means generally speaking it's not as ready for a fully day of use since it's starting the day with less than 100% charge before I even leave for work every time now.
C. I really did use the USB OTG feature and have already been missing it. It's not as fatal as devices like my Nexus 7 (since that lacks a MicroSDHC card reader to supplement its internal storage whereas this has one) but very annoying at least.
D. I really really miss being able to use a phone dock! I was docking it in my car to keep it at least semi-charged and to output a line output to my car stereo system. It's kind of a pain having to change the volume back and forth between headphones and line output (since a line output really needs the full volume) and obviously it uses more power while playing than just sitting quietly in a pocket anyway. I also liked the way in the dock it wouldn't completely shut off the screen, just go into a really low power mode where it had a faded clock (might be a CM10.1 feature, but nice wherever it came from) and I could just touch it to get back to the player controls.
At first I thought it was just loose, so I tried putting a very thin piece of plastic in the top part of the connector so the connection is extremely tight which fooled me at first by pretending to work really well for a while, but then after a while it just did the same stuff all over again (so it was just doing that thing where it works fine for a little while even when I move the cord around.) I just can't see what could possibly be the problem though because if there is any damage anywhere I'm just not seeing it. I really don't see how the connector could have been damaged anyway since it more or less landed straight on the middle of the bottom (and that ring that goes around the side should have absorbed the shock) but with no cracks on the PCB or anything that I can at all see I can't imagine what else it might be -- plus a few times when it decided to charge it was just sitting flat not being touched and suddenly started working randomly. It really is like it just works on a whim here...
So I'm wondering: just how screwed am I here? I don't have any sort of drop insurance -- I've never dropped a phone in a way that damaged it before -- and I don't think there's any way I could afford the ridiculous amounts they'd surely want for a repair (not to mention that for a while I'd have no phone at all if I did that...) I thought about changing out the connector myself (I see one on Amazon for $8 which is ridiculous, but obviously it has to be the exact same connector) but I'm not terribly confident about desoldering and resoldering something with such small connectors as it is and that one is hard to get to anyway. Besides which, I'm not convinced it is the connector even if I can't see what else it could possibly be. What could possibly be causing it to be quite so random about this? Is there any way at all I can fix this myself, or is this something where the only way of ever getting it fixed would be to take it in for repair at extreme cost (and no phone for a while too)? Anyone have any idea what it might cost for such a repair?
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You might as well try it yourself THEN go somewhere if it doesn't work out. I wouldn't think if things go horribly wrong that you'd do damage that isn't reversible, and if there was damage it would likely be just to that $8 piece.
You sound like a knowledgeable guy though, so I'd give it a shot.
Sent from my SCH-I535 using xda app-developers app
The thing is, I don't really want to spend the $8 (I'm getting pretty broke) and have to try to desolder then resolder those tiny contacts on a board I'm not even entirely sure how to safely get out possibly messing something else up along the way when I'm not convinced it is the connector (and obviously if I messed something else up along the way I could make things a lot worse -- for instance, breaking it entirely...) Things that should make it work if it were (jiggling and shaking it for instance) don't seem to and then some things that should work don't (for example, last night I disconnected the phone from one charger and connected it to another while it was at least pretending to work and it stopped even though the connector part didn't get moved at all.)
That's my real concern in the end. If it's not the connector, what is it? I'm not 100% confident about trying to replace it myself as it is, but if it's not that the time, money, and effort would be wasted...
Well that's that. The problem, as I feared, was more fundamental (which is part of what I was asking here.) I plugged in something last night and it just shut off. I checked all over and couldn't find shorts or anything to explain it. Even after leaving the battery out overnight it still won't come on. Clearly the problem was much more fundamental than it seemed. Regardless, the question of the connector is moot now. EDIT: It might have been caused by the connector after all. It seems like there are pins at the back that either are loose or were knocked loose by the fall. I THINK one of them was touching another causing a short. Unfortunately, it's too late to discover that now as either way the damage is already done and it no longer works even after I got them straightened out.
Hi all,
I ditched my phone in water.
I disassembled the whole phone, cleaned everythign with IPA and dried it afterwards. Now I would like to check if the mainboard is still working.
I connected the battery, display and usb port to the mainboard and plugged a charger in -> no response (display black, no vibration, sound etc)
I assume that the batterie is completly dead as it discharged until it turned off.
Is this aready a clear sign for a broken mainboard or does it only boot when fully assembled? Just want to avoid to put more effort into the phone, e.g. replacing the battery etc if its already lost...
Thanks in advance!
Dry for at least 72 hours in a warm dry room with a fan on the mobo. The BGA chipsets can dry slow.
Isopropyl is hygroscopic so it's important to remember it may attract some moisture from the air while drying. Use only >92% or greater, 96% is best. Submerged the board in it for a couple minutes while moving it around.
Battery needs to be charged and good for the phone to boot.
Out of circuit the mobo especially is sensitive to ESD damage. Use your best judgment but more assembled is better than less assembled unless very familiar with the device.
Thanks for the reply! Phone is "drying" for two month now as I was already considering as "lost" after disassembling and no luck with first checks. But before getting the new 6a, I want to give it a last try Was just 7 month old when I dropped it :/
When I plugged the charger in, there was no sign of charging. So not sure if the batterie is broken or if its coming from the board, or both.
A new battery is quite expensive just for a test / to find out more is damaged.
Helikoptermann said:
Thanks for the reply! Phone is "drying" for two month now as I was already considering as "lost" after disassembling and no luck with first checks. But before getting the new 6a, I want to give it a last try Was just 7 month old when I dropped it :/
When I plugged the charger in, there was no sign of charging. So not sure if the batterie is broken or if its coming from the board, or both.
A new battery is quite expensive just for a test / to find out more is damaged.
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If the battery sat near its auto shutdown voltage for 7 months it's DOA.
A charger likely won't supply enough current to boot.
The fact that it does nothing when connected to the charger is a bad sign.
Check for loose connectors, bent connector pins, etc.
Examine the mobo (power section especially) and connector pins closely for corrosion damaged caused by electrolysis.
Since you can't see the BGA pads if there's corrosion there...
Water exposure; power off immediately and pull the battery asap to limit damage. Salt or brine water is a death sentence though.
Anhydrous isopropyl alcohol is an excellent drying agent but it and any solvents can't be used around LCD's; it will irreversibly poison them.
LCD's are vented to atmosphere on the sides...
blackhawk said:
Water exposure; power off immediately and pull the battery asap to limit damage. Salt or brine water is a death sentence though.
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Thats true, happened at work so I could do anything for the whole day and in the evening it was already dead. With some random screen on and offs during the day and "booting into fast mode" or something similar during the day.
Phone was not reacting to switch it off normally, screen was black and buttons did not react either
blackhawk said:
Anhydrous isopropyl alcohol is an excellent drying agent but it and any solvents can't be used around LCD's; it will irreversibly poison them.
LCD's are vented to atmosphere on the sides...
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Click to collapse
A thats interesting, I was already thinking that some water went inside the screen. Because I have quite some dark areas on the screen, which increased in size the first days. Looked like water got pulled in. Was hoping that when the phone gets warm again it will disappear...
blackhawk said:
The fact that it does nothing when connected to the charger is a bad sign.
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Yeah, have the same feeling. Very unlucky as it was just rain water in a not perfectly closed rain jacket...
Will check the connectors and cables again but was already quite sure that they are all clean
Helikoptermann said:
Thats true, happened at work so I could do anything for the whole day and in the evening it was already dead. With some random screen on and offs during the day and "booting into fast mode" or something similar during the day.
Phone was not reacting to switch it off normally, screen was black and buttons did not react either
A thats interesting, I was already thinking that some water went inside the screen. Because I have quite some dark areas on the screen, which increased in size the first days. Looked like water got pulled in. Was hoping that when the phone gets warm again it will disappear...
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That sucks. Prompt battery disconnect* can save electronics (flooded cars sometimes too).
LCDs are sort of witchy. The spot may or may not disappear over time. Have an old S4 that got sunbaked while charging. The display had multiple issues, barely usable. Thought it had fried drivers. Strangely the longer it sat unused the better it got. 3 years latter it almost 100%.
*Lol, 3 years ago I dropped my Buds case in a full cup of coffee, cream and sugar of course. It promptly sank to the bottom like a lead weight.
The Li is spot welded in. Immediately tore it apart, flushed with RO water, then with anhydrous isopropyl, allowed to dry for a day.
It's still working normally today. A drank that cup of coffee afterwards too