Loose micro USB cables

[Jeff Liebermann]

On Tue, 05 Jul 2016 08:17:52 -0700, DaveC <not@home.cow> wrote:

On 5 Jul 2016, Jeff Liebermann wrote:

Also, you might try disclosing the Samsung phone model number.

Sam Galaxy S3.

Thanks. I found no history of the S3 destroying connectors.

Different phones tend to have specific problems. Also, are you doing
anything unusual while charging, such as charging the phone while it's
sitting on a car seat while bouncing down the road or anything that
might cause movement of the connector while charging? An excessively
loose connector will make that worse. You might compare your
retention force with a different phone and micro-USB connector pair.

I use it while charging, sitting on the couch or lying in bed. The
cable/phone does get moved around. But for 6 weeks this isn’t a problem. So
I rule out the phone’s connector as cause. A new cable fixes the issue.

While that's some movement while charging, it's probably not enough to
arc over the contacts. Still, if the receptacle is loose, and you're
getting an intermittent connection, it might do some arcing. Any
evidence of an intermittent connection on the battery meter or monitor
program?

Hmmmm... Is you charging cable very thin (small diameter)? At 2A,
tinsel and ultra fine wire cables can easily turn into fuses. Any
chance your cable failures are fused wire failures instead of
connector failures?


--
Jeff Liebermann jeffl@cruzio.com
150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558

 

On Mon, 04 Jul 2016 19:16:48 -0700, DaveC <not@home.cow> wrote:

A new cable works wonderfully. For maybe 6 weeks. Then when I use the Samsung
phone while charging... "Beep-boop, beep-boop”, charge indicator on, off,
on, off. Over and over.

Why charge when you're using the phone? About the only times I use
the USB cable is charging in the car (while navigating) or as a
hotspot link. Qi works great on my Samsung phone (*much* better than
the Moto it replaced).

 

On Tue, 05 Jul 2016 17:28:28 -0400, DecadentLinuxUserNumeroUno
<DLU1@DecadentLinuxUser.org> wrote:

On Tue, 05 Jul 2016 03:56:56 -0700, mike <ham789@netzero.net> Gave us:

Would be interesting to learn how they estimated that reliability.
If you have a machine that properly aligns the connectors when
plugged, maybe.

The problem is that when it is already under power, which with most
dopey, lazy humans, it already is, it makes little arcs as it connects
and the microinch of Gold goes away and the carbonized conductor... no
longer does.

AlwaysWrong.

 

[DaveC]

On 5 Jul 2016, Jeff Liebermann writ:

While that's some movement while charging, it's probably not enough to
arc over the contacts. Still, if the receptacle is loose, and you're
getting an intermittent connection, it might do some arcing. Any
evidence of an intermittent connection on the battery meter or monitor
program?

Well, that’s the symptom that drives my search for the cause. Suddenly no
charge indicator. Then I move the cable, “beep-boop” the indicator shows
charging. Is this a case of chicken or egg?

Hmmmm... Is you charging cable very thin (small diameter)? At 2A,
tinsel and ultra fine wire cables can easily turn into fuses. Any
chance your cable failures are fused wire failures instead of
connector failures?

Never go for those thin ones. Always fat (5mm?) ones.

 

[DecadentLinuxUserNumeroUn]

On Tue, 05 Jul 2016 21:39:27 -0400, krw@attt.bizz Gave us:

On Tue, 05 Jul 2016 17:28:28 -0400, DecadentLinuxUserNumeroUno
DLU1@DecadentLinuxUser.org> wrote:

On Tue, 05 Jul 2016 03:56:56 -0700, mike <ham789@netzero.net> Gave us:

Would be interesting to learn how they estimated that reliability.
If you have a machine that properly aligns the connectors when
plugged, maybe.

The problem is that when it is already under power, which with most
dopey, lazy humans, it already is, it makes little arcs as it connects
and the microinch of Gold goes away and the carbonized conductor... no
longer does.

AlwaysWrong.

You're a goddamned idiot kiethkeithstain. You are a stain on society.
And that stench! Go away, old fucktard.

 

[Jeff Liebermann]

On Tue, 05 Jul 2016 23:40:27 -0700, DaveC <not@home.cow> wrote:

On 5 Jul 2016, Jeff Liebermann writ:

While that's some movement while charging, it's probably not enough to
arc over the contacts. Still, if the receptacle is loose, and you're
getting an intermittent connection, it might do some arcing. Any
evidence of an intermittent connection on the battery meter or monitor
program?

Well, that’s the symptom that drives my search for the cause. Suddenly no
charge indicator. Then I move the cable, “beep-boop” the indicator shows
charging. Is this a case of chicken or egg?

Omelette perhaps? When you wiggle the cable, I can't tell from here
whether you have a broken wire inside the molded connector, or you
have a contact connection problem. Hold the phone and connector in
one hand so that the connector doesn't move. Then, wiggle the cable
and see if it's still intermittent. That should separate the
potential causes.

Also, if it's that bad, I would tear apart the phone and visually
inspect the connector. Same with using a magnifier to inspect the
contacts from outside the phone. Might as well run a stiff
non-conductive brush through the receptacle while you're at it. Pocket
lint tends to be the same dark color as the connector insulation and
is difficult to see. I've seen phones that I swear looked clean when
I looked inside with a magnifier, yet had an accumulation of lint at
the bottom of the connector which was preventing the connector from
seating properly.

Hmmmm... Is you charging cable very thin (small diameter)? At 2A,
tinsel and ultra fine wire cables can easily turn into fuses. Any
chance your cable failures are fused wire failures instead of
connector failures?

Never go for those thin ones. Always fat (5mm?) ones.

So much for that idea. I've seen a few cables that are mostly
insulation with very little copper. Maybe tear apart one of the
cables that had previously failed.

--
Jeff Liebermann jeffl@cruzio.com
150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558

 

[sms]

On 7/4/2016 7:16 PM, DaveC wrote:

A new cable works wonderfully. For maybe 6 weeks. Then when I use the Samsung
phone while charging... "Beep-boop, beep-boop”, charge indicator on, off,
on, off. Over and over.

Replace cable, all is well.

Rinse, repeat.

Buying a new cable every month is not expensive but also not something one
should have to do.

Yes, I've cleaned out the phone's connector of lint and debris.

I've seen instructions re. fixing the cable connector by bending the tension
pins (external, bottom-side) but there are several types of tensioning
designs; not all are repairable, IME.

Anyone find a long-term fix, or quality cable that avoids this problem
altogether?

The highest quality cables I've found are the Fujitsu cables.
Unfortunately they are quite expensive, $1.80 each if you buy a lot of
10, once you pay shipping.

<http://www.ebay.com/itm/182181176364>

These are pretty large diameter cables because they use AWG 22 wire. The
sub-$1 cables use either all AWG 28, or use AWG 28 for D+ and D-, and
AWG 26 for power and ground.

 

[mike]

On 7/6/2016 12:16 PM, sms wrote:

On 7/4/2016 7:16 PM, DaveC wrote:
A new cable works wonderfully. For maybe 6 weeks. Then when I use the
Samsung
phone while charging... "Beep-boop, beep-boop”, charge indicator on, off,
on, off. Over and over.

Replace cable, all is well.

Rinse, repeat.

Buying a new cable every month is not expensive but also not something
one
should have to do.

Yes, I've cleaned out the phone's connector of lint and debris.

I've seen instructions re. fixing the cable connector by bending the
tension
pins (external, bottom-side) but there are several types of tensioning
designs; not all are repairable, IME.

Anyone find a long-term fix, or quality cable that avoids this problem
altogether?

The highest quality cables I've found are the Fujitsu cables.
Unfortunately they are quite expensive, $1.80 each if you buy a lot of
10, once you pay shipping.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/182181176364

These are pretty large diameter cables because they use AWG 22 wire. The
sub-$1 cables use either all AWG 28, or use AWG 28 for D+ and D-, and
AWG 26 for power and ground.

Thanks for the link.
The large plastic on the small end may mean that they're less
susceptible to being torqued sideways in the socket.

 

[DecadentLinuxUserNumeroUn]

On Wed, 06 Jul 2016 12:58:41 -0700, mike <ham789@netzero.net> Gave us:

On 7/6/2016 12:16 PM, sms wrote:
On 7/4/2016 7:16 PM, DaveC wrote:
A new cable works wonderfully. For maybe 6 weeks. Then when I use the
Samsung
phone while charging... "Beep-boop, beep-boop”, charge indicator on, off,
on, off. Over and over.

Replace cable, all is well.

Rinse, repeat.

Buying a new cable every month is not expensive but also not something
one
should have to do.

Yes, I've cleaned out the phone's connector of lint and debris.

I've seen instructions re. fixing the cable connector by bending the
tension
pins (external, bottom-side) but there are several types of tensioning
designs; not all are repairable, IME.

Anyone find a long-term fix, or quality cable that avoids this problem
altogether?

The highest quality cables I've found are the Fujitsu cables.
Unfortunately they are quite expensive, $1.80 each if you buy a lot of
10, once you pay shipping.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/182181176364

These are pretty large diameter cables because they use AWG 22 wire. The
sub-$1 cables use either all AWG 28, or use AWG 28 for D+ and D-, and
AWG 26 for power and ground.

Thanks for the link.
The large plastic on the small end may mean that they're less
susceptible to being torqued sideways in the socket.

You guys are silly. Cranking on the cable doesn't damage the 'male'
cable, it damages the shroud of the socket you have it in.

 

[mike]

On 7/6/2016 1:08 PM, DecadentLinuxUserNumeroUno wrote:

On Wed, 06 Jul 2016 12:58:41 -0700, mike <ham789@netzero.net> Gave us:

On 7/6/2016 12:16 PM, sms wrote:
On 7/4/2016 7:16 PM, DaveC wrote:
A new cable works wonderfully. For maybe 6 weeks. Then when I use the
Samsung
phone while charging... "Beep-boop, beep-boop”, charge indicator on, off,
on, off. Over and over.

Replace cable, all is well.

Rinse, repeat.

Buying a new cable every month is not expensive but also not something
one
should have to do.

Yes, I've cleaned out the phone's connector of lint and debris.

I've seen instructions re. fixing the cable connector by bending the
tension
pins (external, bottom-side) but there are several types of tensioning
designs; not all are repairable, IME.

Anyone find a long-term fix, or quality cable that avoids this problem
altogether?

The highest quality cables I've found are the Fujitsu cables.
Unfortunately they are quite expensive, $1.80 each if you buy a lot of
10, once you pay shipping.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/182181176364

These are pretty large diameter cables because they use AWG 22 wire. The
sub-$1 cables use either all AWG 28, or use AWG 28 for D+ and D-, and
AWG 26 for power and ground.

Thanks for the link.
The large plastic on the small end may mean that they're less
susceptible to being torqued sideways in the socket.

You guys are silly. Cranking on the cable doesn't damage the 'male'
cable, it damages the shroud of the socket you have it in.

Indeed. It's my contention that the socket is the problem.
Cable plug is easily replaced. Bent/distorted/mangled socket is not.

 

[sms]

On 7/6/2016 3:00 PM, mike wrote:

On 7/6/2016 1:08 PM, DecadentLinuxUserNumeroUno wrote:
On Wed, 06 Jul 2016 12:58:41 -0700, mike <ham789@netzero.net> Gave us:

On 7/6/2016 12:16 PM, sms wrote:
On 7/4/2016 7:16 PM, DaveC wrote:
A new cable works wonderfully. For maybe 6 weeks. Then when I use the
Samsung
phone while charging... "Beep-boop, beep-boop”, charge indicator
on, off,
on, off. Over and over.

Replace cable, all is well.

Rinse, repeat.

Buying a new cable every month is not expensive but also not something
one
should have to do.

Yes, I've cleaned out the phone's connector of lint and debris.

I've seen instructions re. fixing the cable connector by bending the
tension
pins (external, bottom-side) but there are several types of tensioning
designs; not all are repairable, IME.

Anyone find a long-term fix, or quality cable that avoids this problem
altogether?

The highest quality cables I've found are the Fujitsu cables.
Unfortunately they are quite expensive, $1.80 each if you buy a lot of
10, once you pay shipping.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/182181176364

These are pretty large diameter cables because they use AWG 22 wire.
The
sub-$1 cables use either all AWG 28, or use AWG 28 for D+ and D-, and
AWG 26 for power and ground.

Thanks for the link.
The large plastic on the small end may mean that they're less
susceptible to being torqued sideways in the socket.

You guys are silly. Cranking on the cable doesn't damage the 'male'
cable, it damages the shroud of the socket you have it in.

Indeed. It's my contention that the socket is the problem.
Cable plug is easily replaced. Bent/distorted/mangled socket is not.

The pins on the cheap cables lose their springiness and no longer
contact the contacts in the female socket in the phone. It's a good
design since replacement cables are pretty cheap, but changing the
socket on the phone is expensive.

I've found that the 79˘ Micro USB cables, i.e.
<http://www.monoprice.com/product?p_id=4867> are significantly poorer
quality than the $1.80 22 AWG cables that I bought. Plus if you're
charging a high current Micro USB device, using a high-current charger,
you need the better cables, though the 26/24 are also fine.

 

On Wed, 06 Jul 2016 03:32:37 -0400, DecadentLinuxUserNumeroUno
<DLU1@DecadentLinuxUser.org> wrote:

On Tue, 05 Jul 2016 21:39:27 -0400, krw@attt.bizz Gave us:

On Tue, 05 Jul 2016 17:28:28 -0400, DecadentLinuxUserNumeroUno
DLU1@DecadentLinuxUser.org> wrote:

On Tue, 05 Jul 2016 03:56:56 -0700, mike <ham789@netzero.net> Gave us:

Would be interesting to learn how they estimated that reliability.
If you have a machine that properly aligns the connectors when
plugged, maybe.

The problem is that when it is already under power, which with most
dopey, lazy humans, it already is, it makes little arcs as it connects
and the microinch of Gold goes away and the carbonized conductor... no
longer does.

AlwaysWrong.

You're a goddamned idiot kiethkeithstain. You are a stain on society.
And that stench! Go away, old fucktard.

You're *always* wrong, AlwaysWrong. It's amazing that anyone can be
so consistently wrong.

 

[Jeff Liebermann]

On Wed, 06 Jul 2016 08:12:36 -0700, Jeff Liebermann <jeffl@cruzio.com>
wrote:

Might as well run a stiff
non-conductive brush through the receptacle while you're at it. Pocket
lint tends to be the same dark color as the connector insulation and
is difficult to see. I've seen phones that I swear looked clean when
I looked inside with a magnifier, yet had an accumulation of lint at
the bottom of the connector which was preventing the connector from
seating properly.

Here's a YouTube video showing the pocket lint in the connector
problem and cleaning procedure:
<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R6p0Eg-yq3A>

--
Jeff Liebermann jeffl@cruzio.com
150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558

 

[DaveC]

On 6 Jul 2016, Jeff Liebermann writ:

Here's a YouTube video showing the pocket lint in the connector
problem and cleaning procedure:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R6p0Eg-yq3A

Appreciate the pointer Jeff; that’s the first thing I did. Didn’t change
the symptom I’ve reported here.

Cheers.

 

[Michael A. Terrell]

Jeff Liebermann wrote:

Yeah, it's a bit of a muddle. You have 4 selections to make. Color,
Qty 1x or 2x, Model, and Quantity.

If you pick (for example) white, 1x qty, and for your Samsung Galaxy
S3, and one item, the price is $3.99 for one cable which is a bit
high. If you pick Quantity (4th choice) at 10 pcs, you get a straight
multiplication without discount of $39.90 for 10 cables, also high.
However, if you pick the 10 color assortment, the total price is
$16.99 or less than half price.

Not very clever because there's no way to get a discount price for 10
cables of a single color. Just play with it and keep track of the
total price. Or, find another vendor.

I prefer flat cables, but the same vendor offers a round braided
cabled:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/141408686649
and in different lengths. If you don't like braided cables, there are
thinner cables available:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/201498237735
http://www.ebay.com/itm/331385416604
Look around and you'll find them in flat cable, round cable, with LED
lights, glow in the dark cable, coiled cords, etc. Whatever you buy,
get an assortment. Also, buy a different charger, which I think is
causing the problem.

Dollar Tree stores have recently started selling the flat cables for
$1 plus sales tax, and in a half dozen colors. There are a half dozen of
their stores in my area.