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Andreas88
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Ear speaker on iPhone 4 suddenly very low, near mute.

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My iphone 4 is a 16 gb, about a half year old.

I have replaced the front screen- everything went smooth and the new screen worked like a charm. But after three weeks or so, the ear speaker suddenly just became extremely low or in normal noise impossible to detect any sound.

So now im stuck with talking with the speaker on or using a headset. Which is not too cool..

I have done the works as far as i know for the software. Hard restart, and use itunes for resetting the phone to original settings.

None of these matters have worked though. I´m not that technically advanced when it comes to electronic. So i am just wondering if any of you could give any tips how i should fix it.

Is it a hardware error or software? The speaker works, like i can turn it up and down with the volume buttons, but its all extremely low, aka useless. Or is there somehow a software error that may have dialed the whole volume setting down somehow?

Its probably hardware error and my apple guarantee is no longer valid as i have changed the front screen. Should i try to replace the ear speaker myself or admit defeat and pay up for a pro to do it?

Hope you guys have any good ideas!

Thanks

Edited by

Andrew Bookholt

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Ian
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I have had the same problem which I have just solved.

As strange as this sounds the remedy I found was to place my mouth over the ear speaker and suck inward a few times, now my speaker is back to full volume. Hope this helps.....

I had gotten melted chocolate on my phone and wiped it with a cleaning wipe, suddenly my ear speaker was at such a low volume it was almost impossible to hear. I started sucking in on the speaker but not enough cause thought it was silly, so didn't work. I then stumbled upon this site, and Ian thank you so much for the tip, it worked!! I sucked in on the speaker again, this time harder, and voila, the speaker is back to full volume!! Sounds like it just became obstructed. THANKS!

blueyorker,

I have had the same problem. For the last week or so, I have hardly been able to hear anyone on the other end of the call.. I tried the trick with headphones, I tried cleaning all around the speaker and everything else i could find on the net. Finally i read this thread and tried Ian's suggestion about putting your mouth over the ear piece and sucking in a few times... and hey presto, it worked!!! I cant believe it! its awesome!

Jess,

Thanks lan method did worked for me aswell

Abdul Haseeb,

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charles
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Have you taken a closer look at the speaker assembly? Making sure the pins are not bent and that it's secured to the induction flex proximity sensor?

http://guide-images.ifixit.net/igi/qV35f...

The location that the speaker connects to is part of the induction flex ribbon cable.

http://www1.dealextreme.com/productimage...

It's often overlooked that you have to remove this part in order to fix this ribbon. It wasn't very securely attached to the ribbon so I think this should be worth a look. The only downside is you have to remove the logic board to look into this.

http://guide-images.ifixit.net/igi/mXXSH...

I had some buzzing and low volume from my iPhone and reseating the speaker to the cable fixed it.

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boitano
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I sucked in on the speaker continuisly for about 20 minnutes and it woooork!

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Holly
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Wow! Sucking in method worked for me too, on a brand new iPhone 4s. I didnt think a brand new phone would have an obstructed earpiece already Saved me a trip to the apple store. THANKS!!!!!

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Mark Waterfield
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My wife had the same problem with her iPhone 4. The earpiece speaker suddenly went very quiet almost muted so you could hardly hear the caller.

I tried some of the other suggestions such as sucking and blowing on the earpiece but no joy. I was about to order a new earpiece speaker and some tools when I though to try one last go at cleaning the area with a very tiny pin.

I scraped the surface of the speaker and got a few bits of dirt etc out, and then tried sticking the tip of the pin into the speaker mesh and pushing it up, down left and right slightly to see if it had come loose from the connectors. This appears to have worked as the earpiece speaker is now back to normal and working fine.

Thanks for the tips. Great site...!

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cucb
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I spilled my Iphone with sweet juice. I tried toothbrush cleaning and air compression. It didnt work.

Then i wet toothbrush with a little saliva and tried again. It worked.

Dried juice was dissolved and earspeaker volume increased perfectly

hope this will help

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installationbyecs
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Hoooray!!

Thank you for all the advise.

I dampened a qtip with rubbing alcohol rubbed the speaker opening and then dried it with the dry end of qtip several times then gave it a couple of quick blows - and its working again!

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Sherry Strong
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OMG! My iphone 4S ear speaker got very soft after having a protein shake spilled on it --- did not notice it until the next day ---- just tried the sucking thing --- and WOW! It worked perfectly --- back up to full volume --- Thanks!!!!!

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Brianne Colling
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OMG I also placed my mouth over the ear speaker and suck inward a few times and it worked!! THANK YOU Ian!!

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spatakes
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Suck in ? Sound funny. but THANKS GOD you are here! Saved my moods and DaY!. Thanks another 20 times..it worked on my phone. Accidentally spilled Nescafe directly inside the speaker hole..Last 2 night couldnt not even sleep.Last night, like a babies..hehe.

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Brady Burkle
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Sucking in worked for me too... surprisingly. A free and easy fix! Thanks for the help!

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sarvam sarvotham
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This sucking Method Worked like a Charm for me, Before sucking Clean the Speaker with Tooth Brush then Suck 10 times Continuously, it Worked to my Dude too with Same issue, Now Me and My dude got Full volume for EarSpeaker, Thanks Mr.lan Bro

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Adam Swales
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I had some loose chocolate in my pocket (took it from the bulk buy section of safeway while shopping and then a safeway person came passed so i shoved it in my pocket). Then forgot about it, Next time i took my phone out my pocket it was covered with melted choc, it got all in the speaker mesh. then the next day it went all quiet like you guys have experienced. Googled and found this site :) The sucking method is the best fix i have found on the net! awesome.

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augustalan
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Suck on your phone and it will work. I will vouch for that.

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nikhansen
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'OMG

I got a new iphone yesterday and stayed up until 12am (late for me) reconfiguring

syncing ect... then to find out my phone was defective right out of the box, I was reading IAN's solution (Sucking the ear piece)and gave it a shot Lol, I wonder what ppl were thinking I must really love my new iphone 4 to be sucking face with it,,

IT WORKS,!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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Mark
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When a speaker is working but has very low volume it is usually a hardware issue. Speakers work using two wires, One is signal and the other is ground. If one of the cables is lose the speaker will still work but will be very soft. Try unplugging and re-plugging the speaker in and look for broken ribbons.

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