iPhone 3GS won't charge...

$h0rty

Likes Dirt
Right o guys, I've got an iPhone 3GS which is about 14 months old. It's worked pretty much flawlessy the whole time.

Went to charge it last night as usual, it was at around 5% bat. Plugged it in and, nothing. Doesn't recognise anything is even plugged in. Phone worked as usual all yesterday.

Tried wallcharger.
Tried charging/syncing via USB.
Tried another iPhone on these chargers & it works fine.
Tried turning it off & back on.
Tried reset etc (home + power button).

It doesn't see anything plugged in. It's now dead flat, though if I hold the power button it comes up with the flashing red low battery symbol telling me to plug it in asap, so I know it *kinda* works.

I've searched the net and I've tried just about everything I can find & nothing has worked thus far. Biggest suggestion is take it back to Apple, but I hate Apple & would prefer to try and fix it myself if possible since its out of warranty anyway. If I cant fix it I'll just buy a new phone.

So I pulled the sucker apart, cleared out all the gunk. There doesn't look to be any signs of water damage, put it back together, still the same symptoms. Having a good look at the charging/docking port the 'wafer' that the charger plugs onto looks pretty haggard especially on the right hand side where the charger is easily detached.

Anyone have any ideas/experience with this or something similar?
Thinking about buying a dock/charger port assembly off eBay & fitting that. Will probably get a battery at the same time as a few people suggest its a symptom of a dead battery? Anything else I should replace while I have it in pieces again?

Cheers,
Andrew.

INb4 Apple are shit, samsung/HTC FTW etc.
 

driftking

Wheel size expert
You took it apart....that might void a few warranties.
My iphone did a similar thing, wouldnt responed to any plugs and when it died it wouldnt turn on. Doing a hard reset fixed mine. (holding home button + lock button simultaneously). If thats what you meant by home button + power button, then id send it away if its under warrenty.
 

$h0rty

Likes Dirt
You took it apart....that might void a few warranties.
My iphone did a similar thing, wouldnt responed to any plugs and when it died it wouldnt turn on. Doing a hard reset fixed mine. (holding home button + lock button simultaneously). If thats what you meant by home button + power button, then id send it away if its under warrenty.
It's out of warranty as mentioned in my original post.
Power button/lock button = same/same.
 

Hew

Likes Dirt
As I said, try the cord at different angles, like, plug it in then press down on it/pull it up/side to side etc.

My ipod does the same you just have to push it down and it works.
 

$h0rty

Likes Dirt
As I said, try the cord at different angles, like, plug it in then press down on it/pull it up/side to side etc.

My ipod does the same you just have to push it down and it works.
That was probably the first thing I tried, I realise I left it off the list though.

I mean, you'd hope I would try that before taking it apart n' all. :D
 

$h0rty

Likes Dirt
I skim read that bit, my bad.
Looks like sending it away is on the cards. But couldnt imagine it would be cheap.
...If I cant fix it I'll just buy a new phone......
I've bought the bits off ebay, if I can't get it to work once they arrive, new phone time.

Any more money spent would be better put towards paying off my contract & moving to Telstra so I might actually get some reception once or twice (coming from 3).

Cheers.
 

$h0rty

Likes Dirt
How much did you pay on ebay for the bits? Could've gifted you my dead iphone...
Cheers man, all good though. Dock port & battery were around $30. obviously not genuine gear & I'm not expecting OEM quality but not the cheapest gear I could find on there either - stuff like batteries for $1 + $4 postage dunno how they can do that!

If it works it works if it doesn't it doesn't. At the end of the day its only $30, got nothing to lose. Just thought someone on here might have been in a similar situation & I know theres a few tech savvy gadget kids lurking around. If it works I'll just use it til I can get a good balance between what Telstra will credit me Vs my 3 payout figure.
 

Dozer

Heavy machinery.
Staff member
Have you tried plugging it into a different PC or Mac? Mine shit itself last year and the only way I could charge the sucker was to put it onto a machine that had never synced with it. It charged over a few hours and I had to do a reset but luckily my contacts were all still on my old machine and it worked a charm. Give it a go, it it fails, claim it on your house insurance.;)
 

24alpha

mtbpicsonline.com
Shorty, I support a sh!te load of iPhones here at work. And that problem you have is rather typical.

Here's the fix:
Plug your phone into the A/C adaptor. Perform a Hard reset and leave the f@#ker alone until it charges. Sometimes it takes about 15 - 20 minutes to charge up enough to show something on the screen.
 

alexx23

Likes Dirt
also i have a little question if its okay. My iPhone (3G) is pretty slow, in general, i know its an older one, but it has seemed to be a fair bit slower then it once was? Any ideas?
 

Dozer

Heavy machinery.
Staff member
also i have a little question if its okay. My iPhone (3G) is pretty slow, in general, i know its an older one, but it has seemed to be a fair bit slower then it once was? Any ideas?
They are just a compact computer and they do slow down. Try tuning some of your settings like reducing the brightness, turn off 3G and wifi and push notifications while you don't need it, only check your email when you need togroup your stuff on one page instead of trawling through ten pages of apps etc. I turn my phone off every night and ack on when I get to work. Like any battery you need to let it get to its very low percentage and ebven let it run out before charging it.
If some simple things are done you can have an Iphone last for five years.
 

$h0rty

Likes Dirt
frankenstein.jpg
IT'S ALIVE!
So $30 later it's fixed. Not sure if it was the battery or the dock port or a combination of the two. 15 minute fix.

Cheers for the help guys.
 

jhb

Likes Bikes
also i have a little question if its okay. My iPhone (3G) is pretty slow, in general, i know its an older one, but it has seemed to be a fair bit slower then it once was? Any ideas?
This is no doubt since you installed iOS4? double click your home button and all your open applications will appear along the bottom of your screen, press and hold on one until they start shaking and close the suckers down. iPhone 3G and iPod touch are shockers for this.

Android is a dirty dirty word. I would rather communicate with homing pigeons. :cool:
 

$h0rty

Likes Dirt
Seems I was a bit premature in celebrating.

Phone charges & works, but the microphone (part of the new dock assembly) doesn't. :(

Fitted the old dock back in & microphone works fine so it leads me to believe it is a fault with the new dock assembly.

Will see what the seller has to say. What a pain in the ass.
 
You can take it into apple, and if you have the right guy working on the Genuis Bar, then they can see what they can do/suggest, they can deny you with warranty sometimes.. other times i had a iphone 3g swapped over which had no warranty ( bought it in asia actually for 300 aus ahha).. so try your luck you might even get a whole new phone if the problem is unfixible, if not 250$ and they will swap it over for a new one.
 
Top