“My phone won't charge anymore” is one of the sentences we hear most often at the counter. In a large share of cases, no repair is needed afterwards.
Your phone sits in your pocket every day, with the charging port pointing down or to the side. Textile fibres collect there and get pushed further back every time you plug in the cable.
Over time, a firm, matted plug forms at the bottom of the port. The connector no longer goes all the way in, and the contact becomes unreliable.
This happens slowly, over months. That is exactly why hardly anyone notices it until one day nothing works anymore.
There are a few fairly reliable signs. If several of them apply, they point to dirt rather than damage.
The port holds very fine contacts sitting right next to each other. They bend easily, and one bent contact pin turns a quick clean into a real repair.
Needles, paper clips, screwdrivers and the like therefore don't belong in the port. The same goes for contact spray and other liquids — they stay inside and attract even more dirt.
Canned compressed air doesn't help with a packed-in plug either, and some cans can blow propellant into the device. Better leave it.
We look at the port under magnification. Most of the time the plug is visible right away, and we can also see whether the contacts underneath are still straight.
We clean it with suitable tools that don't touch the contacts. Afterwards we check with a cable and charger that the device charges properly again and that the data connection works.
It is a quick job, and usually you don't even have to come back for it. Just drop by during our opening hours.
If the contacts are bent or broken off, no amount of cleaning will help. This mostly happens when someone has been in the port with a tool, or when the device fell with the cable plugged in.
A second typical case is corrosion after moisture. Greenish deposits on the contacts are a clear sign — and then a look at the logic board is part of the job too.
On most devices the charging port is a separate part and can be replaced on its own. It is one of the more affordable repairs.
On many iPhones, the charging port is also the audio output. If there is no sound through a cable even though the speaker works, the trail often leads here.
The other way round, a weak battery can look like a charging problem. One sign of this is when the device does charge but loses its level quickly again during use. There is a separate article about that.
When you drop off your phone, we measure which part it really is. You get the result straight away, and you hear the price before we start.
Only with a great deal of care and never with metal. If you try to get at a packed-in plug, you will almost inevitably touch the contacts. It is better to drop by briefly; it is done quickly, and we can see at the same time whether everything underneath is fine.
That is the classic sign of a port the connector no longer fully clicks into. The cause is usually dirt, less often a bent contact. We look at both under magnification before we replace anything.
Yes, the problem exists with both. USB-C is a little wider and flatter, but it collects fibres just the same. Current iPhones and practically all Android devices use USB-C as standard, while older iPhones have Lightning.
Your question isn't here? Call us on 0211 26134549 or send us a repair request.
Tell us which device it is and what is wrong with it. We get back to you with the price and how long it takes.
What brand is your device?
Four short questions. Then we get back to you with the price and how long it takes.
No obligation · No sign-up · We reply as fast as we can
Tell us what's not working, and we'll have the right part ready. We look at your device for free and give you a quote. Then you decide in your own time whether we repair it.
4.8 out of 5742 reviews on Google