Repair a Faulty micro USB Charging port Or Cable with this easy tutorial

No sane adult would damage his/her charging micro USB port or cable. Unfortunately, it is bound to happen. You will see later in the post I have had several damaged cables and a few faulty ports in the past. Today’s article aims to enlighten you on how to prevent damages(especially accidental) from happening to your micro USB port and cable. We are discussing how to repair a faulty micro USB port or cable. Inevitably, even with the most careful use of a phone, with time or by accident, the micro USB connector of your cable can be damaged by dust, contamination (like calcium, road salt), or get “stretched” to the point it will not stay in place anymore.

Also, the port/jack itself may be at the receiving end. Most of the time, this will go unnoticed until it begins to cause significant problems. Case in point: one day, you can wake up  I woke to discover your phone hadn’t charged overnight, although you plugged it into its cable. This can be due to the not being plugged in as far as it used to. Even when you have plugged it in correctly, the slightest movement of the Phone would cause the cable to come a bit loose. By extension, this will lead to the not-charging problem.

Especially relevant:

• Why you need a durable high-quality Usb charging cable[Possibly reversible]Never Clean your Phones with The following Materials; Sadly, A Lot of us Still Make This Mistakes
• BENEFITS OF QI INDUCTIVE CHARGING/ WIRELESS CHARGING FOR PHONES
• PHONES HARDWARES: Problems, Causes, Symptoms, Fix and Prevention

How to Prevent Your Micro USB Port or Cable From Damage 

 

As discussed above, it is inevitable not to lose your micro USB cable to wear and tear over time. However, if you are the type that buys a new cord every couple of weeks or your phone is having a charging problem, then this is for you. Micro USB is a miniaturized version of the Universal Serial Bus (USB) interface developed for connecting compact and mobile devices such as smartphones, MP3 players, GPS devices, photo printers, and digital cameras. Usually, your phone’s USB port should have the same lifespan as your phone. However, due to ignorance, you may start having problems with it. As for your Micro USB charging cable, you need to take very good care of them if you want them to serve you for long. To do this, follow our maintenance guide in the section below.

How To Maintain Micro USB Cables and Ports

The micro USB cable connectors use friction in order to stay connected to the phone. If the connector gets forced up and down or left and right, the inside section will eventually get ‘stretched’. Also, the two prongs may flatten, thereby causing the connector not to dock correctly. Below are tips that would help you maintain your phone’s charging cables and ports to stay out of trouble for as far as you can/

1. Clean your charging port/socket every once in a while. Don’t wait until problems start before you clean this. Read my pictorial guide on how to do this later in this post. Also, please don’t allow your phone’s port to gather dust as it can cause some dirt in there that forces the cable connector latches to bend.
2. Secondly, buy more than one cable at a time. This is very important as it will extend the life of the original cable and afford room for adequate troubleshooting.
3. Don’t use extreme force to plug your cable into your phone’s charging port. Check if you are plugging it the right way instead.
4. While your phone is charging, avoid moving it around or stretching the cable. Similarly, please don’t allow it to fall off at a distance that can impact the cable.
5. Also, don’t sleep over your phone while it is charging. This will cause the connector to bend.
6. Your kids should be tutored on how to charge a phone properly. Otherwise, please don’t ask them to go and charge your phone for you.
7. Be mindful of where you place your phone while it charges. Avoid placing it at the edge of a table.
8. Vibration can cause a phone to move. If your phone is in beat, please place it in an enclosure or on the floor while charging it.
9. Interestingly, while it is good to buy and use a sturdy cable, please don’t buy a cable that is too big, strong, and rigid. Go for the solid and flexible instead.
10. The world is switching over to USB TYPE-C. If you have the money, buy a phone with a type-c charging connector. E.g., galaxy s8, s9, galaxy s23 ultra, and the like.
11. In another twist, you can buy an iPhone instead. Since the days of the iPhone 4s, iPhone users have had the least worries about charging connectors or ports. This is not to say that it isn’t also failing.
12. If you are a factory worker or constantly exposed to dust or dirt, please buy a phone case with flaps that can cover every port on your phone.
13. Reversible micro USB cables are also another great preventive measure. They cost just a few bucks.
14. Inductive wireless chargers can relieve the stress of your micro USB cable. If your phone supports one, make use of it.
15. Finally, get quality aftermarket cable from stores like Amazon, eBay, etc. Make sure you go for the braided ones, and don’t choose one with a very long connector.

 

Symptoms of Faulty USB Ports and Cables

MicroUSB plugs are reasonably fragile – far more delicate than the old MiniUSB ones were. Also not as convenient and consistent as the new type-c connectors. Before we proceed with how to repair a faulty micro USB port or cable, Let us talk more about the symptoms and causes of charging problems in micro USBs.

One of the significant reasons that MicroUSB replaced MiniUSB was that for MiniUSB, the sockets used to wear out (i.e., the one on your phone!) rather than the plug. MicroUSB moved all the fragile parts across to the plug so that *when* things wore out, it would be the cheap cable that would need replacing rather than the expensive phone.

Causes of Charging problems With A Phone

This is subdivided into two categories. 1. the problem with your micro USB charging cable connector or 2. Your phone’s charging port/jack/socket. Luckily, only in an extreme case do the charging ports get spoilt before the cable. However, your phone charging port can accumulate dirt/lint quickly. Also, your charging cable may go bad due to overuse or breakage.

• If your micro USB connectors are loose and don’t stay connected when plugged into the phone, this will surely lead to problems like frequent disconnecting, low charging, or inconsistent charging. The following causes apply:

1. Your connectors prongs/clips are worn down or flattened. Please check. we will talk about a fix later
2. It is possible that your phone’s charging port is full of dirt and it needs cleaning.
3. Finally, your cable may be too old or loose due to wear. Remember that the metal body of your micro USB charging port might also be the culprit.

• On the other hand, if your cable is new and firm, but your phone is not charging at all, please check your adapter, use another cable, and if all that fails, take your phone to a technician. Your charging port might be damaged.
• If your phone will only charge when you wrap a rubber band around it or it charges at a precise angle, you have either a bad charging cable or a failing charging port.
• Alas!! Your phone self-connects or charges itself even when no cable is plugged in, then you have a looped micro USB charging port. You may be lucky if you clean it thoroughly. Otherwise, take your phone to a technician.

 

Guide To Repair faulty micro USB Port And Cable

Warning–proceed at your own risk

A quick word of warning first: if you clean your ports too aggressively you can damage the port itself, which could result in a non-functioning phone. This article is for your informational purposes only and you accept all risk.

The engineering perspective is that Micro USB is sensitive to failure from several points. Usually, the first observation for the user after the non-charging problem is that the connection feels loose. To repair faulty micro USB port/cable, you need to be conversant with the following statements:

TRUE: The plugs on the end of charging leads can wear with time/metal goes soft / tangs get weak.
IT IS ALSO TRUE: The sockets on devices can weaken and spread, perhaps through material flaws or rough user handling.
STATEMENT OF TRUE that any foreign objects will make the above worse.
TRUE = If the socket is jammed with pocket lint – it gets so compacted that it feels completely solid. It’s hard to tell that the cable is not in.

1. Repair Faulty micro USB port/cable by Cleaning the Charging port

• If your phone uses a user-removable battery, please remove it before cleaning. If yours is an inbuilt battery, power the phone off before you commence.
• A toothpick or the plastic end of a dental floss. You can also use the thinnest sewing needle, slightly bent to form the letter j. Some users have succeeded with plastic cards or a piece of plastic cut from a blister pack cut with scissors.
• In addition, and especially if the inside of your phone’s port is solidified, you will need a liquid cleaning solution like alcohol or spirit.
• A flashlight is crucial to look into a tiny and hidden area.
• For those of age, please get a magnifying glass for better vision.
• A Toothbrush with a firm bristle can be part of the requirements if you want to clean off a looped port.

Step1

You should use a toothpick, a needle, or a plastic card. I strongly recommend you use a needle. Now, you must use your sharp object to clean the area around the phone’s USB port carefully. In the picture below,  the area is painted in blue:

Step 2

After this, you should give special attention to areas in the micro USB port marked in red in the picture below where bolts fit and attach the cable to the port. You should try to clean the dust that has become entrenched there as much as possible.

Final cleaning tip.

The best way to get any material out is to scrape it to the side of the female plug, then press against the female housing and drag it out that way.
This is where a metal needle comes in handy. Get a metal needle and tap the head with a hammer. The needle’s sharp end will bend slightly into the letter J. This will allow you to drag out the material from the plugs more effortlessly.

Another clue for cleaning

Sometimes, you may need to keep scraping and scraping to eliminate the agelong of built-up crud/lint. However, it still feels solid all the time, like you are at the bottom of the connector. But the clue is- if you can’t see shiny metal at the bottom – keep cleaning.

2. Fix the looseness in your micro USB by Repairing the Connector’s clips/prongs

There may be no dust, crud, or lint in your phone’s charging port. Maybe your micro USB cable is loose because its two prongs/clips have gone flat. There is a workaround for this before you go and buy another cable. I will try this out using the USB cable with the phone.

fixing the clips on your charging cables

• You can use a needle to adjust the clips on the cable. This is for anyone else who’s suffering looseness not caused by dust.
• Another case in view is such that the clips are flat. That is, they no longer come out. This can cause a low connection line. Use two needles to create a higher V or hump. First, try to push ahead on the bottom of the hump with a single needle, or use one needle to hold the tip down and press in the V groove with the other to raise it.  Stick the needle in the tiny hole between the top of the prong and the rest of the metal body and use the needle like a lever to lift the prong.  Now the prongs should fit in the red holes of my picture above much better.
• You can push the clips up with a sharp knife if they are not flat.

3. How to repair a faulty micro USB port/cable due to corrosion

If your phone misbehaves and you see a greenish substance in your phone’s charging port, it simply means the charging port is corroding gradually. There is a fix for this before it results in further damage.

Step

Power off your phone and unplug the charger cable. Turn the phone over and remove the battery cover from the rear of the unit. Remove the battery. If it has a non-removable battery, skip this step. But make sure you power off your phone.

Step

Dip the bristles of your toothbrush in rubbing alcohol so that the strands are moist but not dripping wet.

Step

Use the toothbrush to clean the charging port of the phone. Use even strokes and moderate pressure. Continue until you remove the green residue from the phone and allow the port to dry.

4. Other Tips

•  Suppose it is still quite loose after cleaning your phone’s port thoroughly. One slight bite on the micro USB connector might help. I have done this several times. Please don’t bite too hard.
• Yours may work by bending the steel of the lower side so it will become tight when you connect.
• Also, your micro USB cable may be damaged. Test with another cable, and if it works, buy a new one.
• If the problem of a loose plug is dust or fluff – cleaning the socket is ok and may be the solution. If your socket is ok, then the problem is a bent plug.

• Still under warranty; please take it to the stores.
• Out of warranty? Have a technician look into it

CONCLUSION

With no intention to advocate for Apple, Apple has taken care of USB charging port failure since the days of the iPhone 4s. Fortunately, other phone manufacturers are developing measures to mitigate the menace of micro USB charging failure. USB TYPE-C is the answer and in no distant time, every new phone will be using one. We hardly have anyone that is still using a mini USB currently.

Type-c is less prone to charging connector or charging port problems. However, even type-c cells are not immune to dirt/lint/crud. So, make it a habit to clean your charging ports regularly. If you can’t do this yourself, have your technician do it.