Loose headphone jack?

[CorvetteAustin24]

SwordofWar, my brand new droid (in early December) had a loose jack from the start. My replacement (also new) has been perfect, and I use the music jack 5 days a week. I even dropped it once pulling it out of my pocket and it ripped the jack out pretty violently, but I plugged it back in and everything is just fine. I'm pretty sure it's just a manufacturing defect, so if the phone is going to have the issue, you will know right away.

 

[dell500]

My droid does the same thing. Bought it at launch.

I'm an avid runner and was using it 2 days ago and had it in my hand, so the static would go away for the time being. I get to mile 3 and the music stops abruptly. I was like "WTF!" So I noticed that the music had been paused, like the headphones fell out. WHich wasn't the case. Anyway, to make a long story short. I had a pair of Sennheiser sport II headphones which were defective when I brought them Verizon. No return. He told me I would get a refurb and I was like "well that's not worth the hassle, cause something other than what's wrong with the phone might be worse."

But since I've noticed that some people are getting good results with exchanges, I'm not sure what to do. My model is a 39/09 and I'm thinking of returning it anyway. The 'n' key doesn't press down all the time. Which they showed me does work, but since I have the warranty I'm going to take it back anyway. Everything else on the phone is fine.

But does anyone have problems when you set contacts to have nicknames and you try and text them with that nickname, it doesn't show up in the SMS software? For example I have my mom nickname as "mom" and I try and text her, but I have to put her full name in... Just wondering.

Also thanks for all the info. Hopefully my next droid will be less faulty.

Peace

 

[SwordOfWar]

Your only option is to get a refurbished exchange if its past the 30 days since you bought the phone.

It is 100% a hardware issue so it's NOT going to go away with any update. Mine got so bad that I stopped using the headphone jack completely because of all the problems it was causing (Audio getting stuck in headphone jack when nothing is in it, music app pausing + skipping songs randomly, left and right side was cutting in and out etc..).

I got an exchange and there is a very slight barely noticable scratch on my screen and a little bit of the rubber seal around the bottom, under the glass is poking out a bit. I'm considering getting it exchanged yet again because of that bit poking out the bottom which is a little annoying. Other than that, the phone actually seems a little bit faster than my old phone and the headphone jack is now very tight and doesn't have any of the issues I once had with the old phone.

So there you have it. It's a hardware issue that will only be fixed by changing it for one that works.

To everyone here: Motorola Droids have a 1 year manufacturer hardware defect warrenty. Take it to a Verizon store and they have to change it out. If they don't want to, then keep persisting and tell them you know it has the 1 year hardware warrenty from Motorola, which Verizon should honor.

As a last resort, you can call Motorola and have them repair your phone, but you have to ship it to them and be without a phone until it gets mailed back to you.

 

[dell500]

Thanks for the reply. I'm gonna try and do that tomorrow. What version is yours? 40-42/09?

 

[buymagicfish]

Hi Everyone,

Please take a look at this other thread I've been posting.
http://www.droidforums.net/forum/te...ions/27053-droid-headphone-jack-self-fix.html

Summary:

Cause of the issue: So I was looking at teardown images and it LOOKS to me like the droid headphone jack isn't even attached to the board at all!! It kind of looks like its only attached to the back end of the phone and it just 'rests' on the board connection areas. They probably do this so it has a little more give but those pins must be lifting off the board as they get older/less flexible/bent whatever.

Take a look at http://www.phonewreck.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/Droid46.jpg

The ZUNE has a ribbon. Take a look at this ZUNE hd teardown pick http://s1.guide-images.ifixit.com/igi/NmCoGApC4PNsLqrZ.large

and here is the ipod touch http://s1.guide-images.ifixit.com/igi/XqLrUHgSEYERiT4u.large

For the apple and m$soft products the headphone jack is physically connected, not just resting on the board.

DIY FIX (although you should take it back to the store, don't bother calling): I took a standard envelope, cut a small triangular wedge from the flap, folded it in half, wedged it in between the outside of the jack and the phone (at the 'bottom' of the phone, the side opposite the screen), and then trimmed the edge with a bit left so I can still get it out if needed. This did the trick. This keeps the headphone unit, which is basically free floating, up against the contacts on the board.

 

[gotwillk]

Hi Everyone,

Please take a look at this other thread I've been posting.
http://www.droidforums.net/forum/te...ions/27053-droid-headphone-jack-self-fix.html

Summary:

Cause of the issue: So I was looking at teardown images and it LOOKS to me like the droid headphone jack isn't even attached to the board at all!! It kind of looks like its only attached to the back end of the phone and it just 'rests' on the board connection areas. They probably do this so it has a little more give but those pins must be lifting off the board as they get older/less flexible/bent whatever.

Take a look at http://www.phonewreck.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/Droid46.jpg

The ZUNE has a ribbon. Take a look at this ZUNE hd teardown pick http://s1.guide-images.ifixit.com/igi/NmCoGApC4PNsLqrZ.large

and here is the ipod touch http://s1.guide-images.ifixit.com/igi/XqLrUHgSEYERiT4u.large

For the apple and m$soft products the headphone jack is physically connected, not just resting on the board.

DIY FIX (although you should take it back to the store, don't bother calling): I took a standard envelope, cut a small triangular wedge from the flap, folded it in half, wedged it in between the outside of the jack and the phone (at the 'bottom' of the phone, the side opposite the screen), and then trimmed the edge with a bit left so I can still get it out if needed. This did the trick. This keeps the headphone unit, which is basically free floating, up against the contacts on the board.

can we get some pics of how this looks like? I tried it once with aluminum foil but I guess the foil wasn't stiff enough so it didn't work.

 

[buymagicfish]

can we get some pics of how this looks like? I tried it once with aluminum foil but I guess the foil wasn't stiff enough so it didn't work.

Yeah I've attached a mockup of the fix (the yellow line represents where I carefully put a maybe 1mm wide strip of thicker paper (cut from a mailing envelope). So far so good.

 

[DCMountaineer]

Does BuyMagicFish's "Magic Fix" void the warranty? If I stuff an envelope down the gap, will I still be able to replace the DROID under the Manu Warranty if the problem resurfaces?

 

[faxman75]

can we get some pics of how this looks like? I tried it once with aluminum foil but I guess the foil wasn't stiff enough so it didn't work.

Yeah I've attached a mockup of the fix (the yellow line represents where I carefully put a maybe 1mm wide strip of thicker paper (cut from a mailing envelope). So far so good.

I'm a little slow. So you take thick paper? What is thick paper and I don't have a ruler to measure mm with lol. I'm guessing you curve the tiny slice of paper and slide it on the exterior of the headphone jack hole, not the interior, correct?

Finally you make the paper so small that it doesn't even complete the full circumfrance of the headphone jack, just half of it like your illustration shows?

I'm completely stumped. I can't fit a tiny thin peice of a post it note let alone a thick peice or an envelope in there.

 

[faxman75]

Alright, scratch that. I suffer from fat stubby fingers and I think I got it. I didn't use too thick of paper, I actually used a sliver from ink jet labels so still thicker than regular paper. Once I figured out the right size to cut it too I realized it was a pretty tiny piece I was cutting and shoving in the gab between that was illustrated in the picture, I cut it so it goes about halfway around it seems damn perfect. The headphone jack doesn't wiggle any more and i'm hoping no more static either.

I made the leap about 2 weeks ago to stop using my ipod and to use my droid as my primary media player. I'm shocked at how I don't miss my ipod as I had a 30gb and was desperately searching for a 120 gb ipod. I realized I don't always need that much music on me every single day and since I connect my phone to my pc daily anyway to add the Stern show, I was nothing to switch out music as well.

Good fix magicfish. I'll let folks know if this ends up not working out or I need thicker paper or something. Also there is no reason this should void a warranty. You don't have to take anything apart. You are simply sliding a sliver of paper in the gap on the outside of the headphone jack. Nothing more.

 

[buymagicfish]

can we get some pics of how this looks like? I tried it once with aluminum foil but I guess the foil wasn't stiff enough so it didn't work.

Yeah I've attached a mockup of the fix (the yellow line represents where I carefully put a maybe 1mm wide strip of thicker paper (cut from a mailing envelope). So far so good.

I'm a little slow. So you take thick paper? What is thick paper and I don't have a ruler to measure mm with lol. I'm guessing you curve the tiny slice of paper and slide it on the exterior of the headphone jack hole, not the interior, correct?

Finally you make the paper so small that it doesn't even complete the full circumfrance of the headphone jack, just half of it like your illustration shows?

I'm completely stumped. I can't fit a tiny thin peice of a post it note let alone a thick peice or an envelope in there.

I cut the paper from a standard mailing envelope, so a little thicker stock than printer paper. the piece I cut off was about 1mm by 8mm (a thin rectangle) and carefully threaded it in between the jack & body gap on the side illustrated above. I ended up using a pair of tweezers. Again, it was half the circumference.

 

[gotwillk]

cool this worked! i actually used a piece of those "sign here" sticker tabs ppl stick on documents that they need to sign. i just found a random one stuck on my table and i found it to be stiffer than a piece of paper so it was easier to slip into that little bit of space. i had to use a bit of krazy glue to get it to stay in place though. if i keep turning the headphone jack around or when i pull out the headphones, it'll eventually get loose and come out.

got a tiny bit of yellow sticking out but its barely noticeable. works perfect now! i can twist and turn the jack with no problem. plug, unplug, all without issue. no static noises either when i move the jack.

 

[aimbot]

buymagicfish you are the **** (shiz) my friend. simple fixes for the m f win.

 

[aimbot]

it would be cool for this to be some kind of plastic insert sent to all defective droids, could help on the amount of returns probably, but i doubt that would be too welcoming.

 

[buymagicfish]

buymagicfish you are the **** (shiz) my friend. simple fixes for the m f win.

My pleasure. I've actually moved on now to a small ring cut from a cheapish (thin material) drinking straw from a local fast food place.

It fit around the headphone jack unit PERFECTLY, and now i dont have a bit of paper hanging out the edge getting frayed. There are 5 droids at my office, they all have the bit of drinking straw keeping the headphone jack in place now