1. TheStig3's Avatar
    Hi,

    My 1.5 year old Curve 8330 from Verizon is dying. Over the Easter weekend, the keyboard stopped responding. The trackball can still move the cursor around, but pushing it performs nothing. So, the trackball button is dead too.

    I've had this happen before, (as some suggested maybe due to high humidity), but it went away after about 6-12 hours. Here, the problem lasted more than 48 hours. I took the Blackberry apart, cleaned it, and put it back together. Same thing. Device starts up fine, trackball moves cursor around, all buttons unresponsive.

    Any ideas? Any solutions? Please advise.

    In the meantime, I resorted to using an old-school RAZR. My contract expires in a month, so hopefully Verizon releases the Essex/Tour2/Bold, but I would still like to fix this one.
    04-10-10 10:54 AM
  2. jeffh's Avatar
    If you have had the problem before, and you suspect moisture caused the previous problem, then there's a good chance the cumulative effect of moisture damage from then until now has finally killed your device. When you cleaned it, did you see any corrosion? What did you clean it with?
    04-10-10 01:34 PM
  3. TheStig3's Avatar
    There was no corrosion of any kind. The circuit board looks perfect. The interface works fine and I am able to access the device from Desktop Manager/back it up. Just the keyboard and buttons on the sides do not work. I cleaned it with precision electronics cleaner/alcohol. Thanks for replying.
    04-10-10 03:31 PM
  4. Bakagu's Avatar
    I'm having the same problem with my 8330 curve... got a replacement Curve from Verizon, it worked for a few hours, then the same with the replacement. Finally discovered the battery wasn't holding a charge... got the battery replaced too. It worked great for a few days, but today it went back to the same problems... trackball moves but doesn't function, nor do any of the keypad or side buttons. Very frustrating!
    04-10-10 03:41 PM
  5. jeffh's Avatar
    There was no corrosion of any kind. The circuit board looks perfect. The interface works fine and I am able to access the device from Desktop Manager/back it up. Just the keyboard and buttons on the sides do not work. I cleaned it with precision electronics cleaner/alcohol. Thanks for replying.
    I haven't taken a BlackBerry apart, but I assume there are flat cables connecting various assemblies. Are the connectors seated and tight?
    04-10-10 04:27 PM
  6. TheStig3's Avatar
    JeffH...The only flat cables on the Curve are the ones that connect to the LCD screen and the antenna. Both of those work. Everything else is "directly" connected or physically soldered to the main board, including the keyboard.

    Bakagu...As for the battery - this might have something to do with it. Now that I recall, the battery did almost die when this started happening. Maybe "memory effect" of some sort. I'll try a new battery...
    04-10-10 06:01 PM
  7. nickyish's Avatar
    Hi everyone,
    My Curve is only a little over a year old and I'm having the EXACT same problem - keyboard unresponsive, all other buttons unresponsive. I can move the trackball around but can't click on anything. Periodically, the "#/Q" button presses itself repeatedly. I put a new battery in also, and no luck. I can see the screen and that there are messages waiting but that's about the most I can do. Please help!
    I've never dropped it or got it moist. Not too sure where to go with this as I can't afford a brand new phone. Suggestions?!
    04-13-10 12:54 PM
  8. TheStig3's Avatar
    Success!

    My BlackBerry now works! I approached this in a way that could have probably destroyed the device completely, but I risked it, since it would be worthless otherwise anyway. I still assumed that this problem had something to do with moisture/humidity, so I wanted to clean it/dry it out as much as possible. I tried the rice trick, but to no avail.

    I went to rather extreme measures. I took the Curve completely apart, to the bare motherboard. I then soaked the motherboard in 70% rubbing alcohol for about half hour. I let the part dry out for the next two days. Today, I decided to to give it one last try, turned it on, and the buttons were working!!! Works perfectly.

    I don't recommend this solution, as it doesn't seem very logical and it's easy to break something. Maybe it worked, maybe it was time, but the Curve now works.

    Thanks for all the replies.
    04-13-10 11:11 PM
  9. moody's Avatar
    I started having same problem wednesday. I took it apart, did the rice in the bag trick for almost 24 hours. Thursday evening, I put it back together, it worked just fine.......until this morning. I got a phone call, talked for about 3 or 4 minutes, hung up, wanted to send a text message and it wouldnt work again.

    The "common" thing I seem to have, is it wil inadvertantly switch to the calculator just before it stops working. I have no idea why.

    Later today, I took it completely apart down to the motherboad also, and using rubbing alcohol cleaned the circuits, even though there was no obvious signs of corrosion, damage, loose connections, etc. Put it all back together, and now at this moment it is working.

    I would LOVE to know if yours is still working after all you did.
    05-01-10 07:01 PM
  10. Cinchup25's Avatar
    I too am having the same problems as you guys.... It did it once before but it started working after an hour or so. No such luck this go round. Everything on the phone works except the keys. Shoot, I'm tethered right now.
    05-01-10 08:31 PM
  11. moody's Avatar
    Cinchup25

    So far my phone is still working. It seems to be working even better than before this happened. It is much smoother and easier to control the trackball too.

    (I assume NO responsibility if it doesnt work for you, or if your phone completely malfunctions, or if you don't do it correctly)

    Tools needed: Tork #6 ,#5
    Small Regular Screwdriver (optional)
    tweezer (for removing fine fibers left from lint or q-tip)
    paper towel

    Here is step by step what I did:

    Disassemble your phone. Here is a video explaining how to do this, just DONT remove the screen. Stop the video once you have the motherboard/keyboard exposed.

    (ROMOVE BATTERY, SIM AND MC BEFORE TRYING TO DISASSEMBLE YOUR BB)



    Take some q-tips and rubbing alcohol to thoroughly wipe all contacts and key buttons. I read on other forums where others actually lifted up the white membrane off the key buttons to clean the contacts themselves. I did NOT do that, I cleaned with the membrane in place. (If you choose to lift the membrane, be careful not to get alcohol on it as it wont stick back down if you do)

    I cleaned every contact on front and back of my phone and wiped the screen.

    I then used the COOL setting on my blowdryer, about 12" from motherboard to make sure all the alcohol had evaporated. You can just wait for it to evaporate on its on, doesnt take that long.

    Reassemble, pray over you phone, reinstert sim, mc, and battery, then pray again , close your eyes, wait about five minutes, slowly open one eye at the time, as you start pressing keys and hopefully you can give God the glory for great things He hath done! LOL
    Last edited by moodyk13; 05-03-10 at 07:48 AM. Reason: fix link to youtube
    05-03-10 07:47 AM
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