Charging port broke, except in the car?

[book1245]

I got my Arrive back in August 2011. In the past week, it seems that the charging port is beginning to fail. I have to put the charging cord in at just the right angle for it to (slowly) charge. The charging light will show up, but most of the time the phone will simply not charge, and instead hold at the current percentage, despite a constant red light.

Clearly my charging port is broken. I went to a nearby phone repair shop, who said that they don't have the charging port part, but were I to bring it in, they could do the replacement. Does anyone know of a reliable source for phone parts to acquire the port?

As Sprint has stated that they will indeed have WP8 devices in 2013, I want to try and hold out for August, but I'm nervous about my phone being able to make it.

Also, my Arrive will charge just fine in the car, using the same cord inserted to a 12v charger. There is no need to try and set the cord at the right angle or whatever, it will just charge perfectly. Anyone have an explanation for that?

 

[gsquared]

Not sure what your problem could be but its not the mini-USB port (ie: charging port).

If it were it wouldn't matter where you tried to charge it from. It wouldn't work. Go back to the drawing board and determine the root cause.

 

[t3chnick]

I was going to suggest that it is the cable itself as the same thing happened to my wife's phone however you stated that you are using the same cable in your car so that can't be the issue. So it is likely the plug adaptor that plugs into the wall. Try replacing that first.

 

[Reflexx]

I think it may be related to the amount of wattage, or voltage, or whatever....

When my HTC port went bad, it seemed to charge okay when charging it slowly. Like when it was connected to a PC USB port or a car charger. When connected to a wall charger it wouldn't work most of the time. Sometimes it would freeze.

I believe there are two puns inside for charging (maybe 3). Perhaps one of the pins is bent or broken. They're really fragile on some HTC phones.

 

[book1245]

I didn't expect so many replies so quickly when most of the world has forgotten the Arrive
Thanks everyone!

I've tried different cables and different plug adapters. My original HTC Arrive cable eventually became twisted and had its wires exposed, so I stopped using it due to irrational fear of a fire. There doesn't seem to be a combination that works, but I'll see if I can borrow any friend's wall adapter.

Are there certain wall chargers that have stronger or more effective wattage/voltage? I know I could try and Google that, but I'd sooner trust a direct reply from someone here who knows more about it, rather than me guessing about results.

One more thing, last night my phone was able to charge fully to a green light, and I went to bed. When I woke up, the battery had diminished to 15%, and had the red charging light. Even if the charger had fallen out, or come loose, the fully charged phone should not lose 85% of its battery life overnight with no activity at all. I've gone to bed with the phone at half power before, and woken up with it hardly losing any percentage. When I had taken the phone to the repair shop I mentioned, they examined the battery and it seemed perfectly fine.

Like I said, I just want this phone to last until August. Fingers crossed for a Surface Phone on Sprint!

 

[Reflexx]

That huge power drain happened to mine also. Maybe some sort of short circuit?

My port eventually just stopped working completely.

 

[book1245]

As of this morning, it seems that my own port has just stopped working completely as well. My phone was dead upon waking, and when I plug it in, no matter what cord or wall adapter I used, it will only flash red, I'll see the dim HTC logo appear for a brief moment, and it will die. I'm not sure if the car will charge it or not, as it's 6:30 and I don't want to venture outside yet.

The cell phone repair shop I had visited suggested an external battery charger, which would at least turn the phone on, but it's not convenient in the long run. I might try and buy a used Arrive from a third party and just have that activated for the remainder of my phone contract, which as it turns out, is up in June, two months sooner than I originally thought.

Edit: I found a well-priced Arrive on eBay. It seemed like the easiest thing to do in this case, and it should be just fine for the duration of my contract. I just hope Sprint follows through on their WP8 promise soon. Thanks to everyone who replied so quickly. It's not convenient to only be able to charge my phone in my car, so I don't mind paying for a replacement phone.

 

[Reflexx]

I ended up buying a separate battery charger and an extra battery. That lasted me until I bought my Lumia.

 

[mattB77]

I have the same issue, except mine doesn't charge in the car very well either. I need a rubber band to hold the cables in place at the right angle. I use a number of different cables throughout the day (my wife has a USB 3.0 charger as well, and I have a couple at work for other phones I use at work). NONE stay in and hold the charge, very frustrating. Like you said, it'll be plugged in, the red light is on, but yet the battery is actually draining rather than charging. It's a good day if the light goes green! Shouldn't have to live like that. This phone is crap, need a new phone, preferably without Windows 8 too. Very disappointed.