[rpmgsxr]

I'm on my 10th, that's right, TENTH Storm II. Is there anybody here from RIM following these threads?? How is it that I have had tiny things get into the speaker of 7 of the 10 Storm II's, and apparently I'm not the only one. There are literally hundreds of users complaining about the same exact issue in these forums yet nothing is done to correct the problem. I have remained loyal to RIM even through 14 no click, or black screen, Storm I's and now I am on my 10th Storm II. Before everyone jumps on this thread to tell me that it's me and the way I use my phone, then please tell me how at my job there are two guys doing the same work everyday that use iPhones. I HATE APPLE AND THE iPHONE and there is nothing I hate more than having these iPhone using guys busting my chops when my 2 day old phones are crackling and their 1 year old iPhones are working perfectly(well as good as an iPhone can). I love the functionality of my BB and all my apps but I can no longer deal with the crackling speaker followed by a day or two of waiting to get a new one so that I can spend literally hours getting my phone back to where I was. With the lack of a real app management system I suffer having to send emails and then wait for activation codes which can take days. This needs to be improved. Here's a novel idea. How about we use our phone number to identify who we are to these app writers and use our phone number to get new activation codes???

In closing, unless someone can tell me how to prevent my phone from magnetically sucking every possible tiny piece of metal or dirt into the earpiece speaker, I'm going into VZW to get a Droid. That's right, a droid with a 1ghz processor. RIM needs to step it up and fast because you are losing customers. Where is the Storm 3?? And what are you going to do to fix this problem. I have tried scotch taping the speaker hole shut but why am I doing this?? Why is there no foam protecting the speaker?? I would think the cost of replacing a few Storms would far outweigh the cost of the tiny pieces of foam necessary to prevent this from happening. This sucks. I love my BB and all you guys and gals on this forum and I'll miss you but I can't take this crackling speaker anymore.

[Radius]

Magnetically sucking whatnow? What the heck is in your pockets? And why don't you get a case for it? Don't blame your own bad habits on any piece of tech.

[rpmgsxr]

I have not found any case that covers the speaker opening. How could it?? It would block the speaker of the ear piece.

Look I'm not here to bash RIM, but they have to address issues like this.

After a long conversation with VZW and realizing I would be giving up my BBM, I decided to stick with my Storm II for now and before doing a warranty I thought I might try to fix the problem myself. I did it. I fixed it!!!!

BEFORE YOU DO THIS, UNDERSTAND THAT YOU COULD DAMAGE YOUR PHONE AND THAT THIS IS A LAST DITCH EFFORT TO SAVE A STORM II THAT HAS A CRACKLING EARPIECE SPEAKER.

Here's how, and if you are not comfortable disassembling your Storm II then I don't recommend that you try this.

You need the proper Torx driver (T6HX50 is what I used) and a Dental pick.

Remove the ear piece trim cover (the piece that says Blackberry on it) by putting your fingernail in the opening at the very top of the phone and prying gently from back to front. There are 2 small clips on either end of the trim piece but there is also a double side adhesive as well. It comes apart, just take your time and use light but steady pressure. Do the same at the bottom. Fingernail in the groove at the very bottom pull gently but steadily to undo the adhesive and the two clips on the sides. TRY TO PULL IT STRAIGHT OFF IF YOU CAN SO AS NOT TO BREAK THE CLIPS OFF.

Next remove your battery door, battery, sim card, and micro SD card.

Now you should see 6 torx head screws in total. 2 under each trim pieceon the front, and two under the battery door, one of which has the moisture sensing sticker on it. You can try to save the sticker(good luck, I removed mine with the dental pick) or just poke through it with the torx driver.

Remove all six screws.

Now pry from the right side of the touch screen, the side that has the volume keys, until it unlatches from the screen and inner body of the phone. Once it is unclipped you can undo the other side where the USB port is(the USB port prevents the left side from coming off first).

Now you have the "shell of the phone off" exposing the inner workings of your Storm II. place it face down on a smooth surface and with a small pick unclip the shiny metal clips that are along each side (I believe there are 3 or 4 on each side).

There are 2 ribbon cables that need to be gently disconnected now. THESE ARE EXTREMELY FRAGILE!!! I used my trusty dental pick to pry them up from the circuit board and they snapped off(they are like really small strips of connection that snap onto the circuit board). They are one on top of the other. Disconnect both.

Now separate the two pieces of the phone, exposing the backside of the earpiece speaker in one of the halves.

I pryed it out of the body of the phone with the dental pick.

I could see some super small black dust(metal filings??) through the mesh on the front of the speaker.

I could not blow it out or get it out with a large magnet.

What I did was VERY CAREFULLY, let me say that again...VERY CAREFULLY pried open the speaker with my pick. when you do this you are playing with wires so thin that you literally can almost not even see them. There is a red coil of wires called the "voice coil" that is what makes the speaker go in and out to produce sound. When you snap the shiny rectangle speaker cover off the voice coil stays attached to it but there are two TINY red wires connecting it to the other half of the speaker, the "cone".
DO NOT BREAK THE WIRES or you will be looking for a new speaker on eBay.

Once open I lightly blew all of the debris out of the speaker. I then snapped the speaker back together, and reassembled.

Wahlah... it works perfect again!!!

I also put a very small layer of butyl rubber under the top trim panel before I reinstalled it to plug the hole that I believe allows this stuff to get into the speaker. I'll keep you guys and gals posted as to whether or not this is a permanent solution.

Good luck.

[paulwright1]

cool story bro!

[rpmgsxr]

ATTN MODERATOR: Should this post be moved somewhere else??

EDIT:
Thanks for the move!!

[SilentSeth]

I can imagine the satisfaction you felt after you did this.. Great job by the way.. I always admire people who dare enough to dig deeper into their device.

[Ayrow]

Otterbox case, dude.

All Otterbox Defender cases have a mesh that covers the speakers. It doesn't cover the sound and it actually repels random splashes of water.

My last five BB's have all been kept in Otterbox cases and I swear by them. Anyone that has used these cases will agree with me.

Good Luck.

[momof2byz1grl]

My husband is on # 9 since Dec... after 3 days the sound is horrible and you can't hear anything on it... and everytime we call customer serivce they say we haven't heard of any problems like this.. then they send a "certified like new" and then in 3 days it starts all over.. well we have fixed the problem!! we went with the HTC Incredible!

[Bob61]

I'm on my first phone since January, everything works perfectly. I must be doing something wrong

[carolina gamecock]

I'm on my 5th storm 2 for the exact same problem. Distorted speaker after a few days. Glad I'm not the only one.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[rj160202]

If you are on your 10th storm, then you are abolutely ridiculous in your expectations and tastes. You are either being extremely careless with it or have no idea what the functionality of the phone is really supposed to be. 8 or 9 replacements is a joke.

Its the equivalent of going to a restaurant, eating 90% of your food, and then complaining it was subpar. If after 3 or 4 you are still having issues...get rid of it for good! It is clearly not for you.

[jiggaman2g]

Sorry you had to endure such grief and agony with your phone.......Good luck on your next unit, whatever it may be...

[pkcable]

Yes some posts were deleted, you'll survive, the loss. Be nice gang!

[treadwellalan]

Magnetically sucking whatnow? What the heck is in your pockets? And why don't you get a case for it? Don't blame your own bad habits on any piece of tech.

f&*k that mine is in a otter box and out of my pocket an also put away in a metal free enviroment an ive been thru 4 myself its the bull**** technology point blank

[simbosis]

RIM s u c k s goat rectum. Simple fact.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[Turbod]

I have gone through 4 Storm 2's for bad ear piece speaker. I love the phone, but its gotten to the point where I am so afraid to even use the speaker, I bought a headset. It is definitely an issue with the phone, I almost always have it on low, never past half volume. I keep it in my pocket with the screen facing my leg just in case I was to bump into something. I am very careful with my phone, so if I went through one for a blown speaker I could understand, but definitley not 4. And if putting it in my empty pocket is what somehow ruins the speaker, I would call that a design flaw, it is a cell phone after all. I dont work anywhere near metal shavings, so that is definitely not the problem. I never once had a problem with the Stom 1 speaker, I wonder why they changed it. I love all the phones capabilities, but I am thinking heavily of jumping ship this fall because of this. Thankfully they have all been covered under warranty, but its still a p.i.t.a. getting all of my new activation codes and reloading everything.

[dkingsf]

I'm on my 32nd storm 2. The issue with fingerprints all over the screen just could not be resolved by RIM or Verizon. Finally had to fix it myself. Carry a pencil behind my ear and use the eraser to touch and scroll.

Why couldn't RIM just include a pencil in the box? Simple fix.

Are you following these threads RIM? Put a damn pencil in the box or I'm going to a google phone!

[sookster54]

Holsters and skins save phones.

[corymcnutt]

I'm on my 32nd storm 2. The issue with fingerprints all over the screen just could not be resolved by RIM or Verizon. Finally had to fix it myself. Carry a pencil behind my ear and use the eraser to touch and scroll.

Why couldn't RIM just include a pencil in the box? Simple fix.

Are you following these threads RIM? Put a damn pencil in the box or I'm going to a google phone!

LMAO! Good one! Why in heavens name would ANYBODY go through 10 phones??? Get something else, end of misery.

[titusilvering]

i must be super lucky that my 1st s2 still working perfectly which i bought early this year, a 2nd hand phone dated oct 2009 with all the 1st gen parts your may call it.

ps.. its sucks that i do not have warranty and using half the globe away from its origin.

[Jaji_vzw8330]

If you went through 14 S1s and now 10 S2s, it's not RIM's fault. It's yours.

[Jaji_vzw8330]

I'm on my 32nd storm 2. The issue with fingerprints all over the screen just could not be resolved by RIM or Verizon. Finally had to fix it myself. Carry a pencil behind my ear and use the eraser to touch and scroll.

Why couldn't RIM just include a pencil in the box? Simple fix.

Are you following these threads RIM? Put a damn pencil in the box or I'm going to a google phone!

Hilarious.

[maddie1128]

Originally Posted by dkingsf
I'm on my 32nd storm 2. The issue with fingerprints all over the screen just could not be resolved by RIM or Verizon. Finally had to fix it myself. Carry a pencil behind my ear and use the eraser to touch and scroll.

Why couldn't RIM just include a pencil in the box? Simple fix.

Are you following these threads RIM? Put a damn pencil in the box or I'm going to a google phone!

Good one! Almost peed my pants laughing at that one! They could also come with multiple tear off screen covers like the windsheilds on Nascars.

[1812dave]

i'm on my 10th, that's right, tenth storm ii. Is there anybody here from rim following these threads?? How is it that i have had tiny things get into the speaker of 7 of the 10 storm ii's, and apparently i'm not the only one. There are literally hundreds of users complaining about the same exact issue in these forums yet nothing is done to correct the problem. I have remained loyal to rim even through 14 no click, or black screen, storm i's and now i am on my 10th storm ii. Before everyone jumps on this thread to tell me that it's me and the way i use my phone, then please tell me how at my job there are two guys doing the same work everyday that use iphones. I hate apple and the iphone and there is nothing i hate more than having these iphone using guys busting my chops when my 2 day old phones are crackling and their 1 year old iphones are working perfectly(well as good as an iphone can). I love the functionality of my bb and all my apps but i can no longer deal with the crackling speaker followed by a day or two of waiting to get a new one so that i can spend literally hours getting my phone back to where i was. With the lack of a real app management system i suffer having to send emails and then wait for activation codes which can take days. This needs to be improved. Here's a novel idea. How about we use our phone number to identify who we are to these app writers and use our phone number to get new activation codes???

In closing, unless someone can tell me how to prevent my phone from magnetically sucking every possible tiny piece of metal or dirt into the earpiece speaker, i'm going into vzw to get a droid. That's right, a droid with a 1ghz processor. Rim needs to step it up and fast because you are losing customers. Where is the storm 3?? And what are you going to do to fix this problem. I have tried scotch taping the speaker hole shut but why am i doing this?? Why is there no foam protecting the speaker?? I would think the cost of replacing a few storms would far outweigh the cost of the tiny pieces of foam necessary to prevent this from happening. This sucks. I love my bb and all you guys and gals on this forum and i'll miss you but i can't take this crackling speaker anymore.

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[corymcnutt]

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Dave, you are just too bad!