Another USB/charger port Thread

I also posted this in the 8300 listing I hope I am not breaking protocol!

Hi,

I have a wasted USB/charger port. I have read through all the forums and have not found a difinitive answer to the repair. So here goes:

I have ordered the new part off eBay for $9 shipped and it should be here in a couple days.

When I took the phone apart the port was NOT soldered to the board and just popped out upon disassembly of the case around it.

Many people say that the port needs to be soldered back in and at best is extremely delicate if not impossible. I have found noone who has actually said they soldered one in, most have sent it off for repair. Then I found one post where the guy stated that the port is NOT soldered at all that it is just pressed into place an the case around it holds it in place.

""The fix on a Blackberry is so simple too. All they have to do is to recess the connector a couple of mm and then use the plastic case to support the original Blackberry USB cable. I have seen several devices that do this and it works well.""

(since I'm new I can't post the url to his exact forum post)

My inspection leads me to believe that the port IS NOT soldered but perhaps glued to the board (there looks to be residue) and just sits there with the case holding it in place.

QUESTION; has anyone actually attempted or done this change? If so what did you do?

If noone responds I'll let y'all know what happens when the part comes in and I do repair or fail in the repair.

Thanx in advance

-=Fred=-

Cross/Double Posting
Please post to the MOST relevant forum. Double or cross forum posting or other attempts at flooding the forum with a stream of posts will be removed. If you find that you have posted in the incorrect forum, please contact a moderator to have it moved to the correct location.

Actually this problem is not specific to any model... all BB's in general. Hence why I posted here as well as my specific model location.

Hope you don't mind

-=Fred=-

MOD NOTE: I left the post here and deleted the post in the 8330 forum, since this is the more appropriate forum.

Realistically speaking if you see something that possibly looks like glue on there it probably was glued in. Working with electronics has proved to me in the past that its often not done the same way on the same device every time I know this sounds dumb but it can partially be based on were the phone would have been assembled. I am not fully familiar with the insides of RIM products but I have seen this in other products of the same type.

If you get the part and it sits on there good and makes the connection that is all you really need. Soldering only actually creates the connection so in a technical aspect as long as you make the connection it wont matter how you get it done.

Be careful though if a connection touches a point its not supposed to you can cause damage.

Being that you ordered the part and are trying to do it yourself It seems that you already know at least basic electronics so don't take my post as anything negative to your skill level. Just some ideas that you may or may not have known.

Seems like there is an awful large amount of people having problems with a wasted USB port on 8300 series BB's!

If U DO decide to carry out the repair please report back and let us know how it went for you...

Originally Posted by dirtinla

Many people say that the port needs to be soldered back in and at best is extremely delicate if not impossible. I have found noone who has actually said they soldered one in, most have sent it off for repair. Then I found one post where the guy stated that the port is NOT soldered at all that it is just pressed into place an the case around it holds it in place.

Originally Posted by dirtinla

My inspection leads me to believe that the port IS NOT soldered but perhaps glued to the board (there looks to be residue) and just sits there with the case holding it in place.

Both quotes above have some elements of the essential facts. Assuming your description is complete and the connector is surface mount, not 'through hole' with pins soldered through the board...

The original component will (should) be both glued and soldered to the board. The solder makes the electrical connections. The glue is used to hold it in place while it goes through the automated soldering process, and to provide extra strength in service to help resist abusive users who push the cable too hard and at difficult angles. The glue-solder combo is usually pretty strong which suggests a lot of force has been applied at some time to break it :(

If the connector is undamaged and the right soldering equipment is available it should be possible to resolder the original connector - or you will have the spare. If you examine the connector closely (use a lens) you should find 5 small terminals, and probably 2 or 4 larger lugs if it has a metal screening can. These will all have corresponding solder pads on the circuit board, and a close look will show where the feet have peeled out of the solder. It might also have 2 pins for physical location, which simply fit into holes in the pcb. The solder lugs on the connector should all look like little 'feet' outside the footprint of the body, and should sit down flat onto the solder pads on the pcb if the plastic pins are in their holes. (Usually the terminals get distorted when the connector is ripped from the pcb, but it is usually possible to realign them with a little patience and micro-pliers.)

I've never seen your pcb so I don't know for certain that you can get to the solder connections without overheating something else. Assuming you think it is possible when you look at the problem, hand soldering small surface mount devices is fairly easy with the right tools and materials, and connectors are reasonably heat tolerant. You probably don't have the hot air soldering gun or solder paste used for commercial rework. I usually don't have these to hend either when I encounter a broken connector so I have to make do with a very fine (1.0mm max) soldering iron tip, and very fine solder wire, about 0.8mm. You will also need good lighting and a workbench lens or binocular magnifier so you can work hands-free. El-cheapo supermarket or drugstore reading glasses make a good substitute, about +2D or +3D is my usual choice.

The soldering technique is simple once you have the terminals straight and everything aligned. If there are locating pins simply sit the connector in place so ALL the terminals touch their solder pads, and solder each one in turn. If there are no pins you need to put a *small* blob of solder on each solder pad, and tin the contact legs. Then position the connector so all the legs are on the solder blobs and gently sweat each one down with a little downward pressure on the connector so it stays 'down' as you work. (There is no margin for error here because it's difficult to remove multiple legs if alignment slips with more than one leg fixed). If you want to add glue you could probably run a small drop of cyanoacrylate 'instant glue' under the connector after it is soldered.

If you are not confident about your ability to solder without damaging the rest of the board - find an electronics guy who can, because the price of failure is a new phone. The risk is your call. Good Luck

I'm going to attempt the repair regardless of the outcome. This is my son's phone and he already has a new one so if I mess it up oh well.

I do have soldering/electrical experience and the job looks real simple.

I'll report back exactly how it goes.

I do not know if pics are allowed here but I can document the procedure.

Wish me luck hahahahha

-=Fred=-

Pictures are allowed. Just keep them small. Picture attachments are limited to 488k each. You can use Photobucket to upload them. Good luck with the procedure.

Well folks NO LUCK!

The new port came in... it matched up exactly. I soldered it down to the board on the 4 side notches only. The tiny pins that ran to the board behind the connector were IMPOSSIBLE to get to but once in place clearly made a connection. It wasn't soldered to begin with. Put it back together and nothing. I'll have another charger hopefully this weekend and will try that.

Thanx

-=Fred=-

Ya, new to bb and a couple days after I got my 8830 the usb blew out in a couple days.

Mine was soldered and looked like they just broke. Tried to fix it and completely busted it, heh. Gave up.

Couple cocktails later I started feelin frisky. Busted open my ppv6700 base open and removed the usb plug. After an hour of fanagling and power moves I got it soldered in and working!

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how did u take out the broken USB connector... mines seems like the 2 side prong looking things are soldered on to the motherboard or whatever. I need to take out the old one and replace it with new one.
HELP ME!!

On Curves and Pearls - the only ones I have had apart, the USB port (and everything else on the board) is surface mount and you CANNOT repair this with any home tools. It just can't be done.

I am an excellent solderer with a regular soldering iron. The 8 connection points (5 terminals and 3 mountpoints are not designed to be soldered with an iron. At manufature, the parts are placed on the board after the board and components have been solder tinned and the whole lot is heated up to the melt point of solder (250-280 C) and then allowed to cool.

It is therefore impossible to solder the contacts under the USB port because they are obscured by the mount points.

The only possible way to fix this is with a vey fine hot air jet that exceeds 250C. I tried one of these and it did work but the tool was not mine so I don't have it any more.

BlackBerry Repair Shop - A full line of RIM BlackBerry repair services and BlackBerry parts for all BlackBerry handheld devices want about $70 to do the job and I think that given the expensive tools they have and the raining needed for empoyees who use these, this is a proce that is only on the high side of reasonable.

These guys fixed my phone when it needed specialist hardware help and they did a very good job.

for $70 will that include any shipping label that were gonna use to send the package to each other?

Same thing happened to my old Curve 8310. My dad--who has a lot of experience with electrical systems and electrical wiring--couldn't get it fixed, mainly for similar reasons cited above (such as specialized tools).

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