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These are a few my recent iPod repair experiences.
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I got an email one morning from Daivd Reclite who works at Autodesk and lives in Petaluma (94954).
It read
"My daughter had her iphone 3GS in her soccer bag yesterday and it got wet. It does turn on, but the screen is very dim. Since I leave in Petaluma I was wondering if I could drop the phone by today for you to look at."
They brought it up on a Saturday around noon and I went to work on it.
A few hours later I had it working again perfectly. It required a new LCD screen, her backlight wouldn't work.
The part was $45 and labor was $60
Fixed - Total cost $105.
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Another iPhone dropped in toilet story...
I got an email on a Friday afternoon from Marrianne Fox. She is one of two identical twin girls that live in Forestville California (95436). The email read,
"Hello,
I dropped my iphone 3g in the toilet about 5 days ago. I was told to put it in rice and try to let it dry out but so far I have seen no signs of it coming back to life, it still won't turn on and I cannot charge it. The sim card holder also broke and I think part of it is stuck in the phone. I was wondering if you think this is a possible repair? I live in rohnert park and could easily get to santa rosa to drop off the phone. Let me know what you think. Thanks!
-Marianne Fox"
I responded back,
"Got it,
I am able to make 3G and 3GS iPhones work post-immersion about 70% of the time.
I recognize your iPhone is the communication lens you see the world through and when a phone arrives everything else is set aside to solve it's problem. I never keep a water immersed iPhone here longer ONE day. However....... I typically go to "overnight dance parties" in SF on Friday and Saturday night which may influence things if I get it on a weekend. Yes, I am a PLURlifer and was at Oakenfold at the Fillmore last night (Thursday) :)
I begin work on it exclusively the moment it arrives."
We agreed to have her drop it off at noon on Monday with the $60 I need to start work. It was then that I met both of the twins.
When I had it opened I realized that she had done something else. They had forcefully ripped the SIM card tray out. Not only did they loose the tray, but Marianne's sister had snapped off one of the needed.. irreplaceable six pins soldered down to the logic board.
So the mission now took two forms:
1) can I make the logic board and it's supporting parts work?
2) If I achieve objective 1, can i find a way to replace the SIM tray pins or at least the missing "one"
Four hours after I started I had the phone working, then went in to try to repair the SIM connections. This was a complex process. It took quite a while to desolder a SIM tray from a completely useless 3G phone. The temperatures Apple uses for that connection are so high a 950 degree soldering point still wouldn't make the solder flow. I used used a flame based pencil and was able to de-solder one. The removed one wouldn't do the trick. I would not be able to remove Marianne's without destroying her logic board.
Now I needed to zoom up and analyze the project again... the goal was to have a wire whisker touch the SIM at the right point and convey the signal to a particular solder point. I considered making something from scratch, then decided to look at other phones and see how they solved that problem.
One of the phones I looked at was a Blackberry Pearl. In that case RIM used 6 spearate connectors soldered down, but collectively held in plastic clip. The size was almost right, it would be a little large.
I de-soldered one of the clips and laid it over the missing one. I found I could solder it down over the missing one and have it spring whisker hit the right place on the SIM and I could tack it to the corect solder to make a complete circuit. I got things lined up and set the piece, then waited for it to cool.
I took the SIM from my phone and gently slide it in place and connected the display assembly, then turned it on.
It worked, I had engineered a workaround to the problem. This was the second time I had encountered this problem. The first time I corrected it.
Her phone works perfectly, the cost for the Toilet immersion remediation and solder salvation was $120
Fixed - Total cost $120.
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I'm in Sonoma County... Northern California wine country.
If you live nearby, are traveling through or live in the San Francisco Bay Area bring your iPod to me and I can do the work while you wait or go wine tasting for a while. Send me an
email just to make sure I have on hand whatever parts your repair will require.
Call or email me
with questions or to set up a repair. You can also call, I am here most days from 8am to 8pm
Toll Free 1-877-IPOD-PRO (1 - 877 - 476-3776)
Send the device to:
Frank Walburg
2145 Service Court
Santa Rosa, Ca 95403-3139
Methods of payment
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