Improve your CHARGE PORT issues. Not a big deal!

[batvette]

I offered this solution in the middle of another thread but didn't push it as I wasn't sure we all had the same problem. Now I'm convinced we do.

The fix to the problem is VERY easy and simple: Over time the tugging and strain on the USB charging port does cause it to expand and get a little sloppy- it's doubtful it's a "solder" problem, soldered connections whether SMT or older through hole design rarely go bad in increments, they either work or they break. You can compensate for the slop in the female connector on the phone by taking a sewing needle (and magnifying glass unless your eyes are sharp) and oh so gently prying up each pair of tension clips on the male charger end just slightly, and repeating this about once a month. Note each side's tensioners are designed differently but they both become depressed over time. You'll note a marked increase in resistance when plugging it in. Doing this ensures the internal conductors make proper connection. This should work for almost all Triumph owners' charging issues, how do we know this? Almost all who complain about this issue will say they tried another charger, either new OEM or a different brand, and the issue improved for a short time then got worse again. That was simply because the tension clips on the other charger became depressed like the previous charger.

Something else to keep up on is the cleanliness of the port itself, look at the conductors with a magnifying glass. If they don't appear bright and shiny (or can't see them at all because of pocket lint) REMOVE THE BATTERY and clean the contacts (contact cleaner is best, alcohol ok too) oh so gently. Best way is a piece of paper soaked with your cleaner, I would not spray contact cleaner on the phone itself.

I've been an electronics tech for many years and always found most issues with electronics devices are external, either plugs are pulled and strain their connections, are dirty, or the device itself overheats due to dust or dust/moisture combine to short internal components. People are looking at software issues of battery charging etc. and that is rarely the case.

I feel sorry for all the folks who sent their phone in and got back someone elses' likely abused phone and experienced the same issues, when the fix was so easy.

(finally noting that the way these companies work they would rather do that than tell customers they need a simple tweak of their equipment. sad and it adds to the cost for all of us)

 

[skearton]

I offered this solution in the middle of another thread but didn't push it as I wasn't sure we all had the same problem. Now I'm convinced we do.

The fix to the problem is VERY easy and simple: Over time the tugging and strain on the USB charging port does cause it to expand and get a little sloppy- it's doubtful it's a "solder" problem, soldered connections whether SMT or older through hole design rarely go bad in increments, they either work or they break. You can compensate for the slop in the female connector on the phone by taking a sewing needle (and magnifying glass unless your eyes are sharp) and oh so gently prying up each pair of tension clips on the male charger end just slightly, and repeating this about once a month. Note each side's tensioners are designed differently but they both become depressed over time. You'll note a marked increase in resistance when plugging it in. Doing this ensures the internal conductors make proper connection. This should work for almost all Triumph owners' charging issues, how do we know this? Almost all who complain about this issue will say they tried another charger, either new OEM or a different brand, and the issue improved for a short time then got worse again. That was simply because the tension clips on the other charger became depressed like the previous charger.

Something else to keep up on is the cleanliness of the port itself, look at the conductors with a magnifying glass. If they don't appear bright and shiny (or can't see them at all because of pocket lint) REMOVE THE BATTERY and clean the contacts (contact cleaner is best, alcohol ok too) oh so gently. Best way is a piece of paper soaked with your cleaner, I would not spray contact cleaner on the phone itself.

I've been an electronics tech for many years and always found most issues with electronics devices are external, either plugs are pulled and strain their connections, are dirty, or the device itself overheats due to dust or dust/moisture combine to short internal components. People are looking at software issues of battery charging etc. and that is rarely the case.

I feel sorry for all the folks who sent their phone in and got back someone elses' likely abused phone and experienced the same issues, when the fix was so easy.

(finally noting that the way these companies work they would rather do that than tell customers they need a simple tweak of their equipment. sad and it adds to the cost for all of us)

I believe your statement to be true.

When I had the issue I used pliers and gently squeezed the outside of the charger tip. The gentle pressure on the sides raised the center slightly, and worked for a long time that way. I no longer have my triumph, but my cable still works fine in my new phone too.

 

[havikx]

I offered this solution in the middle of another thread but didn't push it as I wasn't sure we all had the same problem. Now I'm convinced we do.

The fix to the problem is VERY easy and simple: Over time the tugging and strain on the USB charging port does cause it to expand and get a little sloppy- it's doubtful it's a "solder" problem, soldered connections whether SMT or older through hole design rarely go bad in increments, they either work or they break. You can compensate for the slop in the female connector on the phone by taking a sewing needle (and magnifying glass unless your eyes are sharp) and oh so gently prying up each pair of tension clips on the male charger end just slightly, and repeating this about once a month. Note each side's tensioners are designed differently but they both become depressed over time. You'll note a marked increase in resistance when plugging it in. Doing this ensures the internal conductors make proper connection. This should work for almost all Triumph owners' charging issues, how do we know this? Almost all who complain about this issue will say they tried another charger, either new OEM or a different brand, and the issue improved for a short time then got worse again. That was simply because the tension clips on the other charger became depressed like the previous charger.

Something else to keep up on is the cleanliness of the port itself, look at the conductors with a magnifying glass. If they don't appear bright and shiny (or can't see them at all because of pocket lint) REMOVE THE BATTERY and clean the contacts (contact cleaner is best, alcohol ok too) oh so gently. Best way is a piece of paper soaked with your cleaner, I would not spray contact cleaner on the phone itself.

I've been an electronics tech for many years and always found most issues with electronics devices are external, either plugs are pulled and strain their connections, are dirty, or the device itself overheats due to dust or dust/moisture combine to short internal components. People are looking at software issues of battery charging etc. and that is rarely the case.

I feel sorry for all the folks who sent their phone in and got back someone elses' likely abused phone and experienced the same issues, when the fix was so easy.

(finally noting that the way these companies work they would rather do that than tell customers they need a simple tweak of their equipment. sad and it adds to the cost for all of us)

Plese make a YouTube video on all of this.

 

[batvette]

Thought I'd update this thread as my experience has evolved and I'm still using the phone.
I'd used the technique of tweeking the male charge cord end for some time but gradually it got to the point where it would not charge at all. I disassembled the phone and resoldered the shell connections to the board- no improvement but no loss.

So I did buy two extra batteries off ebay and made a little external charger and have been swapping out batteries. One in the charger, one in the phone and an extra charged battery in the case I keep the phone in. Plenty of backup.

However noted two exceptions- the Motorola supplied cod, when plugged into my notebook PC, will charge the phone if you carefully move it around then leave it be. It will never charge it from the motorola power supply with the motorola cord- nor from a low current generic car charger I bought. Wiggle it all day the light won't even come on- but does from the PC USB port- this indicates a higher current will make connection.

Even more interesting a friend has a Kyocera Rise, she's bought her third in 4 months (clumsy) and gave me the charger cord this weekend as extra. That charger cord used with the Motorola power supply today plugs into the phone and charges it almost as if there has never been a problem. I was able to get the charge light to cut out by pretty good movement but it still charged. Adding the plug was also difficult to remove.

The Kyocera cord differs slightly from the Motorola as it only has tension clips on one side.

My updated analysis is that this issue continues to be a symptom of wear and tear on the port but not outright failure and it can be worked with. Helping matters has been having the extra batteries charged and ready so I am not a slave to the bug and getting angry trying in vain to charge it. I think I'd have tossed it long ago if I didn't have this strategy. So I really don't care if it charges or not if it does great.

Haha little demonically possessed telecommunications device that works only when it wants to, you can't ruin my day.

So don't just toss the phone unless you can afford to. Me I'm going to milk this sucker to the end. $25 plan FTW.

(and of course my problem may be different from yours)

 

[Tokens210]

I can say for certain that not all the charge port issue are related to this, I currently have a charge port issue which i can only get around by barely allowing the charge cable to plug into the phone the tension clips on mine have to be outta place for it to actually charge

I've tried pulling the tension clips up more then 7 different times, the very first time I tried it It worked for one hour, hasent worked since

I also tried to really flatten the copper connectors in the cable side of the charger as I could see they were pushed in and kinked, I wouldn't advise doing this tho lol I underestimated how super soft the metal was and almost broke them right off


My phones had charge port issues for 2 months now, for me simply barely plugging in the charger from the left hand side is the only way it charges

Even stranger note, if I completely power off the phone it charges perfectly like normal no need to do anything but turn the phone back on and it stops charging lol

 

[batvette]

Well since you do have to touch the phone to turn it off and on it's likely the movement breaks the connection, you might think it's the restart but it could be coincidence.
Have you tried another charge cable?

Ultimately buying a couple extra batteries and rigging up an external charger made me comfortable still using the phone. If I was at its mercy trying to jiggle it to charge a few times a day I'd have abandoned it.

A guy on ebay had 2 batteries shipped for $17- and these were new OEM motorola in the wrapper, not generic ones which never seem to last.

Oh and I might finally add, ultimately the more honest title of this thread might be "improve your charge port issues" not fix.

 

[Frisco]

...ultimately the more honest title of this thread might be "improve your charge port issues" not fix.

Done.

 

[Tokens210]

Well since you do have to touch the phone to turn it off and on it's likely the movement breaks the connection, you might think it's the restart but it could be coincidence.
Have you tried another charge cable?

i wasen't trying to sound like na na na boo boo or anything lol, but yes ive tried several different cables that work perfectly fine on other devices, i have my mothers old VM LG phone charger, and my brothers old S2 and S3 cables, the problem with the other cables, an i believe u said it, there tension springs arnt mounted high enough, u feel no resistance when plugging them in, and besides that they seem like the actual slot within the charge cable itself isnt deep enough to make full contact

and about turning the device off the funny thing is i dont move it lol, i lay it on my floor powered off and fully plug the charger in like normal, red charge light comes on, without moving the phone i press power and the red light remains until the flash image goes away, then it flickers and goes off, screen says its not charging, then again without moving the device i can press power again and as soon as the screen shuts off the red light comes back on and the phone begins charging again lol

while the phone is turned on i can get it to charge by laying the phone flat on the floor and barely plugging the charger in with it cocked as far left as i can get it, its hit or miss till i see the light, but with the device on once i get it to start charging i cant touch the phone cause its literally hanging out soo far that if i touch the phone it shoots the charge cable out lol

 

[rzrmxx]

Every Android charging cord I've had, it can be the actual cord they give with the phone it an after market, the wires in side the plug "the male end that goes into the phone" always breaks from the board it is soldered to. I have many of them apart to discover this so your point us dually noted but should also reflect that the solder job could be more efficient.

 

[batvette]

i wasen't trying to sound like na na na boo boo or anything lol, but yes ive tried several different cables that work perfectly fine on other devices, i have my mothers old VM LG phone charger, and my brothers old S2 and S3 cables, the problem with the other cables, an i believe u said it, there tension springs arnt mounted high enough, u feel no resistance when plugging them in, and besides that they seem like the actual slot within the charge cable itself isnt deep enough to make full contact

and about turning the device off the funny thing is i dont move it lol, i lay it on my floor powered off and fully plug the charger in like normal, red charge light comes on, without moving the phone i press power and the red light remains until the flash image goes away, then it flickers and goes off, screen says its not charging, then again without moving the device i can press power again and as soon as the screen shuts off the red light comes back on and the phone begins charging again lol

while the phone is turned on i can get it to charge by laying the phone flat on the floor and barely plugging the charger in with it cocked as far left as i can get it, its hit or miss till i see the light, but with the device on once i get it to start charging i cant touch the phone cause its literally hanging out soo far that if i touch the phone it shoots the charge cable out lol

Yeah I've tried that too, when I got the red light to come on I'm all, "yaaay!" then the phone rings- do I pick it up? Can I answer it without moving it a smidgen?
All of that would have led me to trash this if I hadn't gotten an external charger and extra batteries to alleviate the frustration of depending on this wonky issue for my phone to be usable.
As for the cables (and I guess this applies to the post after yours too) I tried in succession the factory cord, an aftermarket car charger cord, and the first cord a friend had from her Kyocera Rise. All three were equally ineffective. She lost her Rise in a week, I picked up a new one for her and tried the cord she got with the replacement, it was a no go.
Finally a month or so ago she destroys the Rise and I buy her another replacement and ask her for the cord. She gives it to me, I bring it home and to this day my Triumph with THAT cord and that cord only works acceptably well.
(I just plugged it in to be sure- funny enough about a week after she's had that replacement Rise she started having charge port issues using the other two cords- but using the cord her husband has for his Motorola, not sure which model, works fine)

 

[batvette]

Every Android charging cord I've had, it can be the actual cord they give with the phone it an after market, the wires in side the plug "the male end that goes into the phone" always breaks from the board it is soldered to. I have many of them apart to discover this so your point us dually noted but should also reflect that the solder job could be more efficient.

Thanks for your input, couple things to add for discussion (not meant as a rebuttal):
1. In my case 4 out of 5 charge cables at my disposal don't work, 1 does.
2. I did disassemble the phone and resolder the charge port shell to the board, since I agree this would be the first logical fault point. Had no noticeable effect. (the individual pin connectors would require micro solder tools to attempt)
3. We all are experiencing a similar malady which may appear to have similar symptoms but could be one or more different faults/causes in each case. (and this is where electronics troubleshooting gets fun- two or more intermittent faults involved in causing the same issue)
So again thanks for your input, the more data we can gather on this the better,and what works for one person may not help another.

 

[gtaber]

I've had the same problems, had one MT replaced under warranty, quit charging after 6 months, got a brand new one, which was kinda cool cuz VM only wanted the phone itself back, told me to keep the battery, door, charger, and cable, so with two aftermarket batteries with an external charger I bought from amazon, I had 4 batteries when I got the new one that replaced the bad one. then 6 months later, about a month after the warranty on the original was up, which also applied to the replacement, the second one quit chargeing, so until I could afford a Samsung S2 from VM, I just swapped batteries and used an external charger. When I saw this thread today, I tried the pin method with no luck on one original moto cable and a couple of Samsung cables (got lots on micro-usb cables laying around), but I studied the port and cable ends under a powerful lighted magnifier I use to work on small electronics, like replacing broken smart phone glass and screens, and figured out the squeezing the end of the cable(micro, male) with a pair of small needle nose pliers, and making the slot that the little piece inside the port on the phone slides in smaller, and thereby making it harder to plug in, it would charge with little or no wiggling and stay charging even when I moved the phone around while plugged in. did it to three cables, the best one is the original moto cable. Charged 3 different batteries so far today, from almost dead to full in the last 15 hours or so. So far, so good.

 

[batvette]

Thanks for the tip and thinking it over that may be the most likely effective tweak for this plug issue. I'm gonna try it on several cords.

 

[xelz]

"

I offered this solution in the middle of another thread but didn't push it as I wasn't sure we all had the same problem. Now I'm convinced we do. "

If the whole port is moving around loosely its quite common for the solder points to break free from the circuit board. I wouldn't say as much in phones but frequently in tablets because folks tend to use them while plugged in. The cord wiggling and jiggling is too much stress on the solder connection and those break, or the 'tongue' in the port breaks off completely.
We see these a lot in our shop mostly b/c they are being abused by children.
In addition, I find most techs to be honest and since you are one; you're not doing any of us a favor by degrading your fellow tradesmen.

 

[randymartin88]

I offered this solution in the middle of another thread but didn't push it as I wasn't sure we all had the same problem. Now I'm convinced we do.

The fix to the problem is VERY easy and simple: Over time the tugging and strain on the USB charging port does cause it to expand and get a little sloppy- it's doubtful it's a "solder" problem, soldered connections whether SMT or older through hole design rarely go bad in increments, they either work or they break. You can compensate for the slop in the female connector on the phone by taking a sewing needle (and magnifying glass unless your eyes are sharp) and oh so gently prying up each pair of tension clips on the male charger end just slightly, and repeating this about once a month. Note each side's tensioners are designed differently but they both become depressed over time. You'll note a marked increase in resistance when plugging it in. Doing this ensures the internal conductors make proper connection. This should work for almost all Triumph owners' charging issues, how do we know this? Almost all who complain about this issue will say they tried another charger, either new OEM or a different brand, and the issue improved for a short time then got worse again. That was simply because the tension clips on the other charger became depressed like the previous charger.

Something else to keep up on is the cleanliness of the port itself, look at the conductors with a magnifying glass. If they don't appear bright and shiny (or can't see them at all because of pocket lint) REMOVE THE BATTERY and clean the contacts (contact cleaner is best, alcohol ok too) oh so gently. Best way is a piece of paper soaked with your cleaner, I would not spray contact cleaner on the phone itself.

I've been an electronics tech for many years and always found most issues with electronics devices are external, either plugs are pulled and strain their connections, are dirty, or the device itself overheats due to dust or dust/moisture combine to short internal components. People are looking at software issues of battery charging etc. and that is rarely the case.

I feel sorry for all the folks who sent their phone in and got back someone elses' likely abused phone and experienced the same issues, when the fix was so easy.

(finally noting that the way these companies work they would rather do that than tell customers they need a simple tweak of their equipment. sad and it adds to the cost for all of us)

__________________
Before doing all that, try cleaning the female port on the phone and mail port on the cable. I used a tiny safety pin, bright sunlight, and bifocal glasses and gently scrapped out the teeny fuzzies in each of them. Then I cleaned it with a cue tip and alcohol, being careful not to add fuzzies from the QT and dried with a microfiber rag and hair dryer. Perfect results. Cord stays in and it charges. Worked for me so, I'm just saying.