I repaired my own mobile and it made me really happy

G

gourav

Skilled
I am a person from commerce background and I have never had any lab practicals during school or college. But I've always been interested in computers and electronics. When we got our first computer at home, my brother would open the side panel and show me what was what. Eventually I learnt to assemble a computer. The only part that I've never assembled myself is a CPU, everything else I've replace at times.

Last to last year I got a Raspberry Pi and tried tinkering with a few sensors. Didn't get much success. But then the lockdown happened, I learnt Python and got more confident in programming. Then got an Arduino and started tinkering around, learnt how to use a breadboard and wired up a small circuit to switch on a bulb using a motion sensor. I learnt quite a bit through this exercise.

Late last year, my old phone developed an issue with the charging port. This was the second time it had developed the same issue and I wasn't willing to get it repaired again. So I bought a new phone. The old phone was just lying around all this time. Last week I suddenly had an inspiration. I went to Amazon and searched for a charging port for Nokia 6.1 plus. Luckily I found it. The phone was anyway unusable, so I saw no harm in trying to repair it myself. So I ordered the component and also ordered some tools needed for the repairs, which I found after watching a few YouTube videos.

I was quite sceptical about the prospect of it working. However, I tread carefully, making sure not to touch any part inside the phone which didn't need to be touched. I used plastic tools to push stuff around to ensure I didn't damage the PCB. Eventually, I managed to remove the charging port and put the new one in. And voila, to my utter surprise, it actually worked. I had managed to repair my own phone.

It's usually not highly appreciated to be able to repair stuff on your own, since repairs are seen as menial job here in India. However, for me it was really an achievement to be able to deal with small components like these and be able to repair the phone, without any formal training or experience, just using YouTube videos. I hope people at this forum will appreciate this, so I just wanted to share my happiness with you folks.
 
Same problem with my Nokia 6.1 plus ...
Does it require special skills to
1 Open back glass panel ?
2 Expert soldering skills to replace USB c port ?
3 Did you order soldering iron, flux , solder or you already had all this woth you ?
In any case congratulations for a successful repair .
 
Happy that you are happy.

Earlier when we could procure parts from AliExpress, I have opened and repaired Moto X Play, Nexus 5, OnePlus X and Poco F1.

I have replaced display, camera, volume buttons and battery.. but nowadays with Apple like design philosophy of making phones difficult to repair for eg. where they glue the screen or even back to the frame, I am usually not too keen on opening a phone. Hope that Right to Repair movement knocks some sense into Apple and rest will eventually follow through.
 
ankushv said:
Same problem with my Nokia 6.1 plus ...
Does it require special skills to
1 Open back glass panel ?
2 Expert soldering skills to replace USB c port ?
3 Did you order soldering iron, flux , solder or you already had all this woth you ?
In any case congratulations for a successful repair .
Click to expand...
Since my phone had gotten repaired once earlier, the back glass was not pasted back properly, so taking it off was very easy. It was already coming off at the edges. It might be difficult for you though.
There is no soldering required. There are two cables connecting to the charging port board, both are clip on. You might need tweezers/pry tool to disconnect them. Trying to do it by hand may tear them out. The board itself just locks into place and needs 4 screws to hold it down. You will need a star screwdriver though, no philips head sadly.
msankadi said:
send it to him and request him pretty please :p
Click to expand...
Will be happy to help, as long as I don't have to bear liability for further accidental damage :p
xkcd0137 said:
Happy that you are happy.

Earlier when we could procure parts from AliExpress, I have opened and repaired Moto X Play, Nexus 5, OnePlus X and Poco F1.

I have replaced display, camera, volume buttons and battery.. but nowadays with Apple like design philosophy of making phones difficult to repair for eg. where they glue the screen or even back to the frame, I am usually not too keen on opening a phone. Hope that Right to Repair movement knocks some sense into Apple and rest will eventually follow through.
Click to expand...
Yes, hope so too. The 6.1 plus itself was not very difficult to take apart, seemed fairly straightforward. But I do see a trend of less and less repairable devices.
 
xkcd0137 said:
Hope that Right to Repair movement knocks some sense into Apple and rest will eventually follow through.
Click to expand...
Android won't follow suit, as people simply don't care or care very little about this in India. We need an honest to people company to design and manufacture phones in India.
 
xkcd0137 said:
Happy that you are happy.

Earlier when we could procure parts from AliExpress, I have opened and repaired Moto X Play, Nexus 5, OnePlus X and Poco F1.

I have replaced display, camera, volume buttons and battery.. but nowadays with Apple like design philosophy of making phones difficult to repair for eg. where they glue the screen or even back to the frame, I am usually not too keen on opening a phone. Hope that Right to Repair movement knocks some sense into Apple and rest will eventually follow through.
Click to expand...
This has been exactly my journey as well. Have replaced numerous screens for friends and family as well. But after the HTC One M7 arrived, I gave up. That one was a nightmare even for professionals. I think it received the lowest score on FixiT. After that phones have become more and more difficult to open. Replacing parts, when open, is usually a straightforward operation, but opening and these days, gluing back the panel are very tedious tasks for amateurs like me.
 
Back in the good and exciting days of slider and nokia phones I used to repair phones. It was fun shopping for parts etc. and I used to do it for free (except for part cost) & it was just my timepass yet favorite hobby.
But now a days the phones are literally crap! Headache of buying essential tools like Heat Gun/suction Cup Pliers/Guitar Picks/Magnifying Glass/Proper focus light to name a few!
And opening and assembling it back is a nuisance!
 
I've had a similar experience. My Xiaomi mi3 was kinda hardbricked or died after I messed up while flashing a rom and it didn't boot, no led, nothing. So I took it to svc and they just said its motherboard died. I refused to give up, went through XDA and finally found a thread with similar problem as mine.
Then I had to pry it open and connect two points near the sim slot with a wire and had to like jump start it. It felt so good to see it's notification led lit up and finally boot to recovery, even now it's still working!
 
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