Take a tooth floss pick and dig all the pocket crud out of it, both the top and bottom side. try a fresh cable, if that fails try some deoxit on the port
Yep, cleaning the port works most of the time. Lint and crap get caught in there and prevents the cord from plugging in all the way
Do this. It worked for me.
Yea, I bought one of the induction chargers cause this happened to me about a year ago. My phone still works so i see no reason to buy a new one and quite frankly i just don’t want to. Gonna ride this bad boy out until it dies.
Have you tried cleaning the port out, mostly it’s crap built up in the port.
I had the same thing.
Turns out the charger was too weak. Getting a 2A (Ampere) charger fixed it.
I was happy when usb c came out because it looked like it had to be a significant improvement over micro usb, in terms of longevity and reliability.
It’s looking like it’s only a slight improvement though, which sucks.
Idk what cables and devices youve been buying but ive seen an insane difference in durability going to micro to c.
For a start, none of my usb c cables have lost their gripping strength, one of which ive been using daily for over 6 years.
None of my usb c devices have had the central pin blade thing fall off or fatige to the point of not making a connection,
The one down side ive seen to usb c is that when i accidentally rolled my chsir over a connector, it did crush the oval inwards but i pried that open again and stuck it in my desk mic and its been working fine since.
I only used Apple for a very short time, but their connector seemed pretty neat. Small and with satisfying haptics. Too bad they are so shitty about patents and standards.
I have yet to have a USB c port be ripped out of a device, I have had this happen to two USB micro b devices (ultra cheap). (USB c cords die relatively frequently though)
I’ve never had any issues with micro usb, yet no usb c on a phone survived for more than 2 years. It’s ridiculous.
Remember when the little chip that held the pins in the middle would get obliterated?
That’s the beauty of the Fairphone https://shop.fairphone.com/shop/fairphone-4-usb-c-port-25
Ugggg I was so close to pulling to trigger for one on my last phone death. But I was doing all this comparison and pricing, and at the end of it all, realized they arent sold in my shithole country and had like a extra 200 hundy shipping price. So im still android and the ogle. But next time… pretty sure itll be fairphone.
By the way, any users of the Mint mobile service who have a fairphone who see this comment, please respond to me. Im still only like 90 percent sure I use one with that plan.
As long as the parts are available.
Haven’t needed them myself, but I’ve heard stories where they couldn’t get a replacement part because it was sold out. Which kind of defeats the purpose.
Still, it is such a robust phone.
Digging around the forums it’s really easy to find replacements! FP3 replacement parts are still widely available, and you can find FP2 parts by doing a bit of digging. Remember to contact your local Fairphone Angel too!
Now if only the hardware wasn’t subpar and the OS unusable…
How is the OS unusable when you can always install a custom rom?
Fairphone even encourages it.
Didn’t know that but I’ve not rooted in quite some years because Google actively opposes it and not everything works as well. But good point. I do however stand by my hardware point. Wish they made a premium Fairphone.
For me it works perfectly fine. I don’t need a super computer in my pocket
All the better for you then. :)
And had an audio jack
As well as the other suggestions, was discussing this with someone just yesterday and they suggested filling the port with PVA glue (like the stuff used at school, not super glue or epoxy!) and a bit of thread, then pulling it out with all the crud once it’s set.
No idea how effective it is personally, when I got my current phone I got some plastic usb c port covers and that stays in place whenever I’m not charging, so far it’s done the job.
That’s a tiktok thing. In the videos it’s satisfying to pull out all the glue and pre-staged gunk from the port in one solid go, but in reality you have no idea how much dried glue is being left behind or how it’s going to interact with the lint and dust in the port. You could potentially render the port unusable. Better to go with a soft pick and some compressed air.
Don’t do this, just clean it out gently with a small scraper.
If there is a problem with capacitance then this won’t help, but if it might just be dirty then power it down and clean the charging port with a can of 99.99% compressed alcohol electronics cleaner, then use a can of air duster, repeat a couple of times. Afterwards, press the case firmly to ensure it’s still held together. Leave to dry completely before trying again.
If you want a sketchy but simple solution you can use the back of a sewing needle to poke the stuff out of the port. Be careful tho, you can very easily break the port.
Toothpick. Wood only. Never do this with metal.
I found wooden kebab skewers were better. Longer and stronger, can be shaved to the best point needed for each task.
Toothpick too thick, either sharpen it or use some plastic from somewhere.
Mind sharing what toothpicks? Because in here the ends of them are exceptionally thin.
Never thought of this, will do this in the future tho. Thanks!
Toothpicks would probably be too thick.
This is the way
Every time I’ve had that happen, it’s been the cable going bad, not the port.
I had one phone where it was the port, but I’m pretty sure it was water damage. It took one too many falls into puddles while fumbling with kids, carrying stuff and opening doors all at once
In my case it was actually the port, well not really the port, but a lot of pocket dust had gotten into the port. I spend some time with a toothpick to clean everything out and it was fixed. When you think you got it all there is probably more.
The cable is designed to break before the port.
Or the port is just full of pocket lint
i literally just finished a usb-c charging port repair on a relative’s phone.
The plastic “tongue” inside the port was gone, and the metal pins normally embedded in it were standing in empty air.
You can break it if you really want to :)
Wireless chargers
Say what you want about Apple, but MagSafe is amazing.
You can get magsafe cases for basically any phone these days
You mean Apple’s copy of the open source standard Qi charging?
Qi is worthless to me without the magnets. Apple gave WPC the magnets for Qi2.
Caused by gunk in the charge port. It naturally accrues over time. Local repair stores will have the specialized tools to fix it.
Edit: people who are saying toothpicks havent actually done the job properly before, I’m willing to bet. Toothpicks don’t fit properly in a USB-C port, and can barely get inside a lightning port. Not to mention that if it breaks, you’re fucked and have to go to a repair shop anyway.
Toothpicks are not exactly specialised tools
I use a sewing machine needle, works great, just don’t go crazy and break shit.
Something nonconductive seems the safest choice, so you can’t accidentally short anything.
Plastic dental flosser with a pick. Cut the tip flat. Easier to reach the edges and less likely to damage the port.
I’ve done a little bit of okay cleaning with a toothpick, then much better cleaning from the repair shop.
Me too, alcohol and toothpick
I wouldn’t recommend using that toothpick while drunk, my dude.
Lol
Can confirm rubbing alcohol can improve your experience with failing phone charge port. I got to the point with one where it wouldn’t charge unless I applied a minuscule amount of alcohol around the metal prong in the phone with a shaved down toothpick before plugging it in. This tip is mentioned exclusively for those trying to extend the life of an end-stage phone and I take no responsibility for any fires or harm to the phone.
That said, there were never any problems when I did it and it extended the phone’s life maybe 8 months, and after a few months it didn’t even need the alcohol. Maybe it improves conductivity or used the charger head to over time clean the phone port. This was a micro-USB charger because I like using 8 year old, $60 phones.
Toothpicks work great. They are wood or plastic so they won’t conduct electricity.
Can confirm. Clean these out all the time. about 75%-80% of the time this is the cause of this exact issue.
What the hell are you people doing to your ports?
Pocket lint + port with no cover = clogged ports that chargers can’t plug into all the way. It’s very common.
I almost completely ruined the charge port on my last phone by digging out lint and scratching the contacts. I don’t use cases without port covers anymore.
Rip.
Good luck buying a new one with all of * gestures at everything * this going on.
I just started buying cheap xiaomi phones. Mine cost 120€ and it can do everything I want it to do.
Huge thanks to people in this thread. USB-C stopped charging reliably on my phone a few months back, tried clearing the port with compressed air but no joy, so I started using wireless charging. Spent 5mins today picking out a surprising amount of lint with a narrow toothpick and it works like new!
Might consider how you’re storing it, too - I used to keep my phone upside-down in my pocket (so the charging port was pointing up), because that angled it so it would be upright when I pulled it out. That also let all the gunk fall in and stay in - seems like it takes a lot longer before this happens now that I pocket it with the port facing down!
it is frankly impressive how much debris a port can hold!
I had that exact same experience a few months ago.
I did the same thing! I thought I was boned, turned out I just had a pocket lint problem. It really was amazing how much shit I pulled out of there. Charges just fine now.
I’ve had that for 2 years. It’s no big.
Im still rocking my galaxy s10+ and it’s had this issue for about 2 years. Otherwise its great. I’m gunna keep hangin on. ✊🏼
s10 here reporting for duty.
Time to clean the lint out of the charging port
The charging port is the bellybutton of the device
charge is stored in the battery
Years ago when fixing phones most of the charging problems was just that. Most of the ear speaker issues were from makeup getting caked up in the mesh screen. And most of the motherboard issues came from people dropping them in the toilet/lake/ocean.
I have a friend who dropped his phone into a porta potty at a festival and then fished it out. Apparently he was drunk enough that he forgot about doing it and woke up in the morning wondering why his phone stank.
There is no point to this story
A teenage boy is getting ready to take his girlfriend to the prom. First he goes to rent a tux, but there’s a long tux line at the shop and it takes forever.
Next, he has to get some flowers, so he heads over to the florist and there’s a huge flower line there. He waits forever but eventually gets the flowers.
Then he heads out to rent a limo. Unfortunately, there’s a large limo line at the rental office, but he’s patient and gets the job done.
Finally, the day of the prom comes. The two are dancing happily and his girlfriend is having a great time. When the song is over, she asks him to get her some punch, so he heads over to the punch table and there’s no punchline.
On the old iPhones if you got lucky you could cut the power on it, pull the logic board out, and we’d stick it in an old jewelry vibrator filled with 99% rubbing alcohol. Hit it with a heat gun right away to disperse any liquid. Once dry id hook it up to a cheap screen and battery I knew was good before sticking it back in the phone, if that came on. Then work your way backwards replacing anything that needed to be replaced out of the other parts, or hook up to a docking cable to a computer to back up to iTunes, so they could get their data. Slowly apple forced everyone into iCloud backups, so the need dropped more and more for such though.
They also interconnected screens, facial cameras, color adjustments and all the other bullshit that’s making fixing these more and more annoying and expensive.
It’s always this unless you can think of a time you specifically damaged the port. And you’ll be surprised how much shit comes out with the tip of a plastic toothpick; how it was somehow actually managing to still charge in the first place lol.
Depends on the port, micro usb used to just wear out over time.
I honestly enjoy it when this happens. It’s so satisfying getting to pull obscenely large wads of lint out of the port
Also a decent idea to snag a magnetic charging adapter to avoid this in the future
Got one that plugs into my phone and a few of the other end for cords around my house and car, totally worth the 15 bucks I spent
My dad had Parkinson’s at the end of his life (and a general lack of coordination his whole life). Those magnetic charging adapters were a lifesaver for him. He just needed to get the cord close enough to the charging port on his phone and it would snap together. No coordination required.
It was also nice when he would forget to disconnect the cord. As soon as he walked away, the cable would pop off. No more broken cables from being yanked out of the phone or the wall.
I have these for all my chargeable things. Bought like 4 packs with multiple port types, so I have tons of extra cables in case some die. They are great for game controllers, phones, tablets, rechargeable keyboards, and all sorts of other shit. All you need is multiple ends, and you can use the same cables for everything. It’s glorious if you have a mix of port types.
what if cleaning doesn’t solve it?
Get a wireless charger if your phone supports it. It will likely be slower, but still work.
it doesn’t
what type of phone? I can gladly give detailed instructions on how to replace it if you want!
it’s my laptop actually, but I’ll just ask my local computer guy it’s okay
You’d be surprised how caked a charge port can be, you know you’ve cleaned it correctly when the plug goes in all the way and doesn’t stick out a bit.
When it still doesn’t connect correctly and/or you feel play in de cable/chargeport, it might just need replacing.
Then repeat step 1.
Note: cleaning didn’t work for my kids phone, took it to the store, they cleaned it out and it works since 1 year now.
How do you clean the port?
Take a toothpicks and carefully break it in two halves. Ideally you are left with something about half as wide as the original pick. You want thin and sturdy pieces to get into the port. Now carefully scrape the lint and dirt out of the port. The dirt tends to compact on the bottom, so you have to scrape a bit to get it all out. I would recommend to do it in direct sunlight to better see the interior of the port. Torchlights usually are either to bright on the spot or to dim.
Works like a charm.
