Loose headphone jack

[gotwillk]

You can get a replacement under the 1 year warrenty by taking it to the Verizon store but they will give you a refurb instead of a new phone.

will I be under that warranty if I bought the phone from best buy?

 

[ssantan2]

it would seem my second droid now has acquired a loose crackling jack

 

[Spbeyond]

IF I bought my droid from best buy can I get it replaced for this? My headphone jack is super loose! Can I take it in to Verizon or Bestbuy and get it replaced? I dont even have the dang receipt, but the phone hasn't been out a year so obviously its still in warantee right??? (I wish this were the case in most situations)

 

[b3nder]

verizon won't replace the phone in the store (at least not in minnesota) you will need to call the customer service and have them replace your phone (which you will get a refirb) i am on my 5th phone due to my headphones cutting out -- much like the situation like a lot of you are describing. this IS a hardware issue as far as i can tell -- have a root'd droid and it happens on every single ROM i have used (about 5 or 6 on this droid). it normally starts cutting out after about a month of use - however, the headphone jack gets loose within a week or so..

my friend (who did have a droid and went to the N1) was on his #5 before finally getting fed up with dealing with the issue.

i think this is a manufacturing defect in the device but not enough people use the droid as their primary MP3 player to notice the issue.

 

[audioi]

Good enough reason for Verizon to bite it and start selling the iphone.

 

[ssantan2]

Yea I have been putting up with the annoying cutting out for a while now just cause it I dont want to go through all the hassle of exchanging it again, this is my second one I. I returned the first within 2 two weeks for that very same reason.

 

[Barkleyfan]

Good enough reason for Verizon to bite it and start selling the iphone.

I would recommend a bluetooth set. Nothing but joy with the Moto S305 set here. S-9HD's will give better bass response, but the weight distribution isn't as friendly for active people. Plenty of other choices as well, but I have no experience with them.

 

[b3nder]

I would recommend a bluetooth set. Nothing but joy with the Moto S305 set here. S-9HD's will give better bass response, but the weight distribution isn't as friendly for active people. Plenty of other choices as well, but I have no experience with them.

i owned a pair of bluetooth headphones but they weren't comfortable at all. i enjoy in-ear buds and i haven't found anything out there that looks comfortable -- plus why should i have to go spend ~$50-$100 to make my headphones work? motorola should fix these.. im getting sick of replacing my droid to get a refirb that will have the same exact problem within a month.. ... and now with 2.1 rolling out, im worried rooting will be harder on the droid for a while.

 

[shadowdude777]

For what it's worth: If you look around 2:40 of the video I linked below, you can see that there doesn't even seem to be a headphone jack... all I see is a stick with what looks like 3 contacts. So they didn't even include a proper 3.5mm package, it's just some metal contacts. I wouldn't be surprised if they twisted wires together inside the device too instead of soldering to a circuit board.

So yeah, if anyone's feeling daring, they can try to take the Droid apart, remove that stupid contact crap, and solder in a proper 3.5mm jack. I'll be doing that if (when?) my headphone port starts acting up, but until then, I have no reason to mess with it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dE81IaQHEHc

 

[ssantan2]

For what it's worth: If you look around 2:40 of the video I linked below, you can see that there doesn't even seem to be a headphone jack... all I see is a stick with what looks like 3 contacts. So they didn't even include a proper 3.5mm package, it's just some metal contacts. I wouldn't be surprised if they twisted wires together inside the device too instead of soldering to a circuit board.

So yeah, if anyone's feeling daring, they can try to take the Droid apart, remove that stupid contact crap, and solder in a proper 3.5mm jack. I'll be doing that if (when?) my headphone port starts acting up, but until then, I have no reason to mess with it.

YouTube - Motorola Droid A855 Take Apart & Repair Directions by DirectFix.com

very interesting but I wont be attempting that till I get close to my NE2

 

[shadowdude777]

very interesting but I wont be attempting that till I get close to my NE2

Yeah, it looks rather intimidating to solder to that thing.

Actually, soldering to most circuit boards is a pain in the ass. Have you ever tried installing a modchip on a console? I could barely even see what I was soldering to...

 

[ssantan2]

Yeah, it looks rather intimidating to solder to that thing.

Actually, soldering to most circuit boards is a pain in the ass. Have you ever tried installing a modchip on a console? I could barely even see what I was soldering to...

smallest thing I soldered together was a guitar pedal on some perf board and that was a bitch

 

[randydid]

Just to add a "Me TOO" to the discussion. I am on my second droid. I use it as my primary MP3/Podcast player. I have multiple sets of head phones and an AUX jack in one of my cars. The problem persists on all. I hope that Moto can address the issue soon. Love the phone and don't regret buying it at all. VZW has been great about replacement and hopefully they are monitoring returns with this issue and come up with a solution.

 

[MicroNix]

Just to add a "Me TOO" to the discussion. I am on my second droid. I use it as my primary MP3/Podcast player. I have multiple sets of head phones and an AUX jack in one of my cars. The problem persists on all. I hope that Moto can address the issue soon. Love the phone and don't regret buying it at all. VZW has been great about replacement and hopefully they are monitoring returns with this issue and come up with a solution.

I had the issue with my first Droid in November, returned it in Dec and my 2nd Droid has been perfect so far...and I use it a lot for mp3/podcasts.

 

[djkeller3]

Mine is loose too... I'll try living with it for the next 1.5 years. I hope it lasts that long.

 

[Grecho]

While mine is lose also, i have found a semi solution, by accident. I got the otter-box case because i liked it and i noticed an added benefit to the jack plugs, the plug actually puts just enough pressure, not a lot at all, but just enough that it doesnt allow the headphone jack to move as much. i use my phone a lot at work listing to everything, walking and sitting, i have noticed almost a complete drop in the looseness and cut out of audio.

Just trying to spread that out there.
if you get it new egg has the best price right now

 

[snapcase]

I'll just add my experience on this subject as I have on the other threads about it.

I had this on my first droid. It was literally the only problem that droid had, but it was bad enough that I tried to get it replaced (if the headphone cord moved a tiny bit it would make the music player stop or cause the sound to cut out and cause static).

I checked the forums first, asked around, saw that lots of other people had the same problem but that it was in fact a problem with the individual devices, so knowing that, I went to the VZW store where I bought my Droid. I told them about the problem and they refused to take my word for it that there was anything wrong. They said "it must be your headphones" despite the fact that I had tried it with at least 4 sets of headphones of different makes. So I had to run home, grabbed my 2 most used headphones, and went back to the store to wait to get some service. With those headphones I clearly demonstrated that there was significant static at the slightest movement of the plug or cord. They took it in back for at least 10 minutes. Came back and said "we can't reproduce it". So again I showed it to them. They take it back again for 10-15 minutes. They say nothing's wrong. At this point we'd had several people "look at it" and tell us there's absolutely nothing wrong with it despite being able to prove otherwise. They even had one of the girls who worked there take her droid out and it had static too... it had also seen quite a bit of use and looked kinda beat up. So now they changed their claim that "there's nothing wrong with it, we can't make it cause static" to, "that's just how the phone is, it's poorly made".

This is when I started to get pissed off and it was around this time we were talking to the manager. Now I know a decent amount about audio, and the person with me has professional knowledge of the subject (has worked with audio and electronics/engineering for 30ish years), so we knew what we were talking about. But the "manager" kept insisting that since he used to work on car radios his knowledge was superior and clearly gives clout to his insistence that the phone is supposed to be that way. After discussing it with him, and having him admit 3 separate times (I counted) that the phone was faulty, he still would not budge to his contradictory assertion that there's nothing wrong with it or that it's supposed to be that way.

After that, with continued discussion he basically insulted us to my face and that's when I lost it. I ended up yelling at them for a few minutes pointing out their idiocy, and ended up swearing... loudly. They finally at that point agreed to give me a replacement just to get me out of the store. They also tacked on the condition that if the replacement has the same problem they won't replace that one.

I also learned a few things that day... among which are; "When all else fails, get pissed." and "Rage makes you thirsty". Needless to say I won't be back to that store again. I'd rather go to a kiosk in Best Buy or some other similar store than go back there. One of the things that really baffles me is, they treat the case like you're trying to rip them off and get some huge take... like a damn criminal. But what the hell would I stand to gain by falsely claiming that my phone was faulty and needed replacement? Nothing... I'd end up with exactly what I had to begin with. Now I understand that having to send a phone back to be refurbished costs them money (motorola at least), but does it really warrant treating your customers that way? The real kicker here was that I was still within my initial 30 day "hassle free" guarantee. Hassle free my ass.

If you're having this problem I'd try taking the advice that was given to me after this ordeal. Don't go to a VZW store. Go to a kiosk in Best Buy or similar, or use their phone service. The way I hear it the phone service is the least hassle since it's done by a third party and they'll issue a replacement without too much scrutiny.

Oh, and my new droid works fine and doesn't have a loose audio jack.

 

[clintiepoo]

I've had bad problems with this. I got the first phone on launch day, in NOV 09.

Droid 1: loose headphone jack, returned
Droid 2: loose headphone jack, returned
Droid 3: Battery would not charge/bad internal power supply (i think), returned
Droid 4: loose headphone jack, waiting to return
Droid 5: being fed-exed to me


This is a hardware problem and it's under warranty. I tried to get Verizon to let me early upgrade to the Incredible as a good faith gesture, but no luck. As long as I'm under warranty and they keep breaking, I'll keep exchanging them.

 

[devinhfox]

Thought I'd add my 2 cents.
I just had my Droid warranty replaced due to the power button becoming stuck.
The replacement had this loose 3.5mm headphone jack, but had no audio crackling when wiggled. So before I returned my original phone back to VZW, I checked it, and it had some wiggle also though not as much.

So I took my replacement phone to VZW, and the sales rep tried 3 different droids, all of which had similar wiggle. He said it's just a design flaw and he wouldn't replace it.

There you go.

 

[joeker]

Wrapping a fat rubber band around the plug & Droid helps

 

[Grecho]

Update**
I gave in and went to Verizon for a warranty replacement, The rep didn't believe me about the loose jack and the sound cutting out because i explained it by the fact that i could wiggle it around and they said that all droids do this, i finally got them to use headphones and they issued a replacement.

The replacement i got still is lose but no cutting out of the sound so im happy so far.

 

[nobiggie]

i got a replacement droid about 6 weeks in for this same reason, back in january. the second one i got had a loose jack as well, but at first, it didn't have the same cracking/cutting out problems. of course, after just a few weeks, it did.

then i saw someone on here post in a thread saying they basically jammed some thick paper around the jack to stop it from wiggling. i couldn't get that to work, so i got a straw, stuck it in, and trimmed it to where i could just get it back out if i needed to.

unqualified success. it hasn't so much as crackled in two months, and i use the thing as an mp3 at the gym and running outside nearly daily.

it looks ridiculous though. just fyi.

 

[corbinator]

It appears that the 3.5mm jack is in the back cover that was removed around 4:00, and yes it does just make physical contact, no solder. Actually this is a common practice in electronics to assist in making devices smaller. instead of soldering and using wires, the manufactures use just contact and a "dielectric gel" to form the circuit, instrument manufactures have been using this practice for years for LCD screens in handheld devices. I'm not saying this makes it ok, but then again you have $600 in your pocket, be carefull with it.
And for when you all go check out my profile to verify my statements here, no I am not a weather man. I'll google it for you.
Metrology - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[Mr Gorilla]

So I had the same issue, with it getting worse over time. The jack just seemed like it wouldn't seat all the way, it was crackling, channels started to cut out n' all that.

Then I stuck a long skinny screw driver in there just cause and it pulled out a little compact bit of lint! I shined a light down there and removed the rest of it. Now headphones fit like they should and it seats securely. Problem fixed for me! Give it a try!

 

[JDown24]

I too have been having this issue with a loose jack. However i have fixed it without having to exchange. Works great with no popping or pausing.

What i did was bent a paper clip to be able to grab the upper electrode, which is the one inside the jack on the power button side. I slightly pulled it up to make a better connection, this alone did not fix the problem but did make it a little better and a little tighter, but not much.

Next i took a q-tip and removed most of the cotton, just enough to allow access to the inside of the jack with the q-tip. I then took some electronic connector cleaner and sprayed it on the q-tip then removed the excess. Stuck it in and with a few twist its working like new. No issues at all.

I don't think its an issue with the jack itself. I think its just getting really dirty and causing issues with the connectors in it. I know i carry my droid naked in my pocket. A lot of dust mixed with humidity in the air probably just creates a film in there that needs to be cleaned out from time to time.

Hope this helps everybody.