Royal pain in the butt: can you fix a micro usb female fitted in a phone/tablet? - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / beginners

author: epigramx
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: August 18, 2019, 08:42:51 am
content: It's a regular tablet so there's no immediate guess that it has a discrete module to remove for it. You think it's worth taking it apart and trying to solder something new into it that sticks out or something?I don't have any special microsoldering equipment but I have a TS100 and good lead solder.

author: Chriss
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: August 18, 2019, 08:47:39 am
content: Hi!Yes. It is worth to change and it is easy.You must have:- a regular soldering iron- a good soldering wire- goid and lot fluxTry search on YT for some advice how-to, just to get an idea...Sent from my SM-J500F using Tapatalk

author: thinkfat
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: August 18, 2019, 09:04:04 am
content: Not too difficult if you have a hot-air station. A 50$-delivered from Banggood will do nicely. For soldering the replacement, your TS100 will do, maybe even without extra flux, but the removal of the broken one is a bit of a pain do to with just an iron and nothing else. You can try wicking, go for a desoldering wick that is presoaked with flux. The main pain point will be the mechanical joints, not the contacts.Good luck and try not to lift any pads

author: Buriedcode
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 18, 2019, 08:32:43 pm
content: Generally, when removing partswithout using hot air, damage to one part can be mitigated by sacrificing the other. For example, a damaged part is of no use, so carefully cutting it off, leaving just the pins on the PCB pads will ease the stress on the PCB - you simply wipe those pads clean, and use a solder sucker for any solder filled holes.I'm not suggesting using wire cutters (which can easily tear off the pads), just that, you don't have to be overly gentle, you want to do the least damage/heating cycles to the PCB as possible. Constant heating and re-heating of the same area can cause pads/traces to permenantly lift, or through-holes/via to be pulled out. This can be a nightmare to repair with today's multilayered boards.If you don't have temperature controlled hot air, then I would first cut any through-hole mounting lugs on the USB socket, then flood the USB pads with solder and flux so they can all be heated at the same time. Clean up with solder wick, and put the new one on.

author: smithnerd
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: August 18, 2019, 09:25:17 pm
content: One thing to consider: Qi chargers are dirt cheap (£5 or less), provided you have the NFC/Qi charging capability, of course.Perhaps you need a USB port for other things, but is it worth the risk of damaging the device further by trying to fix it, if you have a fallback option?

author: wraper
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: August 18, 2019, 09:54:57 pm
content: There is no such thing as 'regular tablet', and it would be way more useful naming the model. Connector can be on main PCB or flex cable which you can replace without soldering. If connector is on main PCB, it's quite unlikely that connector itself failed. Usually problem is somewhere else, or it was torn off from PCB, usually together with pads, so you cannot simply solder it back.And it would be useful to name the problem with tablet, not blame connector right away.