Help Broken EVO charge port

[master7chief]

I received a free HTC EVO 4G from a friend today because the female charger connector broke off so he got a the phone replaced. I have been researching and have found that the EVO is notorious for this problem. I have been surfing the web for 3 hours now to find a "Micro-B USB" female connector; just the connector, no wires, so I can solder it to the logic board. (main circuit board) So far I've found nothing but two companies who want $35 for a $2 part, sites that show it to be "out of stock", and still others who have pictures of the connectors but "conveniently" don't actually sell them.

Does Anyone know where I can get this "Female Micro-B USB connector" for a reasonable price?

Heres a link to what it looks like: http://newnex.com/images/micro-usb-003large.jpg?PHPSESSID=ffed891a82c7fc7e974aff54cec01a98

 

[Mr. Ed]

The only place I have seen them is ebay but it has been a few weeks. Try your local sprint repair store. I bet they have them...and would even be willing to do it for you for a nominal fee

 

[master7chief]

YES! I found it! I'm surprised because I searched Ebay the night before I posted this and found nothing. Oh well, I'm not complaining. Thank you.

 

[Mr. Ed]

post a link and ebay seller !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! someone may need it again

 

[master7chief]

Heres the link I ordered from and is currently good for about 16 days more days from today.
5Pcs Micro USB B Female 5Pin SMT Socket Connector DIY - eBay (item 170520482919 end time Nov-26-10 06:25:24 PST)

another link to the whole ebay page:

female micro b usb items - Get great deals on Computers Networking, Cell Phones PDAs items on eBay.com!

 

[Mr. Ed]

I'll add a link to the seller as well...just in case

eBay My World - workaholic1987

 

[master7chief]

So i got the part and soldered a new charging port on. I don't know if the little tiny gold tabs were originally simply touching the board or if they were soldered; I hope not because I have no idea how I'm going to get into such a small spot and solder those things.

Because I got this phone from a friend, I don't know how to tell if its charging. When I plug it into the charger, if i wiggle it a certain way, it will flicker and turn off the screen; I don't think thats good. If I move it another way, a icon that looks like the front of a car pops up in the top left corner and it takes me to a screen that has icons that say (from left to right) Top row: "Footprints" "Navigation" Next row: "Voice search" "View map" Bottom row: "search" "Make a call". I'm not sure what this screen is. I'm hoping it doesn't think I have it connected to a car dock because I only have a normal wall charger connected.

Currently the new charger port's 5 gold contacts are just resting on the solder points but ARE touching and ARE properly aligned but I don't think its a good connection. If I did need to solder the contacts I would try to mimic the assembly process by some how heating the area that has solder and allowing the solder to melt and make a connection on its own but I don't want to loosen the other chips that are already on the board and cause problems. Will they be fine if I don't touch and move them. Further more, will this process actually work or just explode/destroy my "new" phone? (assuming the battery is removed)

 

[master7chief]

So I got the connector soldered and tried to plug it into the charger when the first problem arose; it didn't fit correctly. I probably would have snapped it off the board again had I tried any harder to make it fit. It WAS the right connector, just not manufactured well. This is exactly why I bought five:

Lesson 1: When buying fragile and important parts, buy MORE than one. However many you buy is how many chances you have to get it right.

I bought 5 chances so it was no big deal. I de-soldered it and put in a different one and it worked great. When I plugged it in to a charger a "car mode" popped up but the phone didn't charge. I assumed this meant the 5 points DO need to be soldered for a good connection so I tried anything I could think of to solder the points. First I tried to heat up the reverse side of the board with a soldering iron to hopefully melt the solder on the reverse side. I got it hot but it didn't work. Second, I tried using a candle to heat a safety pin tip red hot, then move the tip over to the phone and touch the solder but that didn't work. SO... Until today I had tried all I could think of to solder the points. However today the neighbor, who gave me the phone pointed out that when the charger was connected, it went in "up side down" from how it use to, but it still fit right. Long story short, my connectors are designed up side down which means the power connectors are reversed. So rather than the connectors going: (circuit board connections) 1,2,3,4,5 with a connector who's contacts go: 1,2,3,4,5. Instead its 1,2,3,4,5 connected to 5,4,3,2,1. That explains why it responds to being connected but doesn't charge. Rather than hunting down and ordering a new connector, tonight I'm going to reverse the wires in a charger and see what happens.