4
Score
blakepro
61
Asked
Loud speaker does not work. how can I troubleshoot further?
My iPhone 4 suffered water damage where it sat in a puddle of rain water for an hour. I dried it thoroughly in rice for a week but when it was dry, the screen and loudspeaker had stopped working.
I replaced both the screen (LCD + Digitizer) and replaced the entire dock port assembly (Port, ribbon connector, WiFi Antenna, Loud Speaker) and the screen now works, but the loud speaker still does not. The first time I turned it on, the loud speaker did make some distorted noise if I turned the volume up at least half way, but it has stopped making any sound since that initial time.
So as it currently stands, I have EVERYTHING working except for the loud speaker. I tried taking it back apart to make sure the loud speaker is seated properly and that all the screws were tight and everything seems to be installed correctly. I just have no idea how to proceed further and am hoping some of you might have experience with a similar problem.
So here are the facts:
-The phone is absolutely dry. that whole rain thing happened about a month ago and I checked everything when it was apart and there is no moisture in the phone.
-The two connector plates that the loud speaker terminals rest on to make a connection seem to have voltage across them if I touch a volt meter to them when music is playing. EDIT: The voltage here seems quite low compared to measuring the voltage that comes across the headphone jack when outputting to headphones.
-I've checked the headphone jack and proximity sensor to make sure they are both functioning properly and they seem ok.
How should I proceed from here? are there further things I can do to troubleshoot this? Is it possible that another part on the phone needs to be replaced other than the loud speaker (which I already tried replacing)
Any thoughts or ideas would be greatly appreciated. Thank you so much for your time!
Update: I have discovered that if I turn the volume up ALL the way and press the phones speaker into my ear and sit in a quiet room I can hear the sound of the phone... BARELY... like, its so faint that you would never know sound was coming out of it.. I hope this information helps in some way.
Update 2: I took my loudspeaker out and plugged a headphone cord into the headphone jack and touched the loud speakers leads to the other end of the cord and it produced wonderful sound that way, so its not the loudspeaker.
Thanks everyone!
1
Score
nick
15.3k
Answered
I would put the logicboard in IPA, chances are the contact is dirty, IPA is not conductive and removes corrosion
What are the risks with doing this? is there any possibility this will harm anything? So what would I do here, just remove the logic board and put it in a bowl of Isopropyl alcohol for a few hours and then dry it really good?
None, it isn't conductive, all it does is remove any corrosion and dirt and it will yield a high success rate
nick,
Okay, so I let the Main Logic Board sit in a 91% Isopropyl Alcohol bath over night and then I connected a massager to the bowl to vibrate the bath sort of like a jewelers cleaner for about 10 minutes. Anyway, I did notice some small specks of who knows what appear in the liquid. Maybe the size of spec of pepper or something. Anyway, I let it dry for a few hours and then I hooked everything back up. Now it actually plays sound... sort of. Its now like it was how I first described where the sound is all distorted and crackly. It only works if I turn it up a bit and then it goes from being silent to very loud/distorted when it finally kicks in. In this new state of "working sound" I have tried switching out both the loud speaker and the dock port assembly and all four pieces have the same results regardless of what combination of parts I use there. So, this is progress. I now sometimes hear the phone ring, even if it sounds terrible. Any ideas on how to proceed from here? Thanks for your help everyone!!
Just another update... The sound is unreliable and sometimes plays (in its distorted way) but most of the time is absent. Any more ideas guys? Thanks for all the help so far!
1
Score
Jonathan
49
Answered
I have a nearly identical problem with my 3GS. I also had water damage. I also replaced the LCD and the dock port (with integrated speakers). Everything is back, except the speakers.
As a side note, I can live without playing music/video on the speakers. However, I cannot deal with a phone that doesn't ring. I am grateful to have the vibrate function working.
I'm not sure if the original problem description mentions this but on my unit, ALL sound is operable via the headphones. So, since the sound is being processed and the speakers are new, I have to assume that the problem lies somewhere between the sound processor and the speakers themselves. It could be a connection. That will just take some cleaning to determine. But I think it must be something to do with the amplification of the signal.
Can anyone identify the circuitry and components of the iPhone between the signal processor and the speakers? I suspect the amplifier is fried, but I just don't know where to start if I want to replace that.
Thanks in advance to any brilliant minds....
JK
1
Score
Jonathan
49
Answered
I just thought of something. When the headphones are plugged into the jack, the speakers are disabled. If there is a short somewhere in that jack... well that could disable the speakers. I'll try to remove and replace my headphone jack with another unit and will see if that has any effect. Fingers are crossed! JK
Hey Jonathan, Thanks for your reply. Please let me know if you figure anything out. I've just about hit a dead end. The only thing I can think of trying at this point is a reflow with a heat gun, but I feel like the risk to the other components isn't worth the potential benefit. My next attempt at a work around is going to be building a little speaker dongle that just plugs into my headphone jack. I have purchased a mono jack plug from radio shack and I have a spare loudspeaker. I'm just going to cut down the loud speaker and soldier it to the jack and make some sort of small enclosure with it (filled with hot glue) I will have the annoyance of a half inch thing plugged into the phone, but at least I will be able to hear the phone ring and enjoy sound from my apps again. (even if it is at a reduced volume level.)
1
Score
Jonathan
49
Answered
We're in the same boat, Blake. I bought a new headphone jack assembly ($12) on eBay. When it arrives and I install it, I'll report back. I expect this will be my "dead end".
Yes, please let me know how it goes. I built the external speaker dongle last night. It turned out pretty good. I just cut down an iphone 4 loud speaker, wired it to a mono jack from Radio Shack, and then hot glued it into a binder clip I customized to fit it all into a small little dongle I can just plug and unplug as needed. You can see pictures here: https://twitter.com/#!/blakepro/status/1... It turned out pretty good. Sound is not as loud or clear as it would be using the real loud speaker circut, and ringtones are significantly quieter, but this is better than nothing and I consider it to be the next best thing. Hopefully my pictures may help you build something similar if you end up needing to. I'm still hoping that I may stumble into someone that has figured out our problem and do a REAL fix at that time, but for now, this is what I'm using.
0
Score
haeckmac
1
Answered
I had the same speaker issues after my IPhone 4 took a bath in my sink. I noticed that when using the volume switches the OSD told me it is adjusting headphone levels, when no headphones were plugged in. Airplay aswell showed headphones when there were none plugged. I could do calls with headset but no sound came through phonespeaker and loudspeaker. I assumed that "something" in the headphone jack "told" the phone there was a headset present when it wasn't. So I did a "deepclean" of the jack with tissues, toothpick, airblower and hairdryer and you know what: it came back to life!
yours @haeckmac
0
Score
Jonathan
49
Answered
When I adjust volume levels on my 3GS, it does not say "(headphones)" when no headphones were plugged in. It says "(ringer)". I tried cleaning the jack as you did, haeckmac, but no change. The speakers are still dead. And yes, these speakers are newly removed and replaced, but they still do not work. Thank you for the post/info. I'm glad you got yours back. I am still waiting for my new headphone jack assembly to arrive. Will report back when installed. I'm not as hopeful after reading your experience, however.
0
Score
jonnyhicks
61
Answered
Hi
I am a newbie here so hopefully I'm not teaching you guys to suck eggs !
I remember having some sound issues with my iphone 4 under an earlier software version. Sometimes there would intermittently be no sound. I noticed that when I pressed the volume up/down buttons the ringer icon appeared on screen with (headphones) as if the phone thought headphones were connected. I used to "confuse" the phone into working again by pressing the volume buttons and plugging in/out the heaphones until came back.
Give it a try it might work.
0
Score
michael
1
Answered
0
Score
Dieter
17
Answered
So it's 5 months later now, did the suggestion of michael work? I am eager to know how this story ended! ;)
No, unfortunately Michaels suggestion did not work. My unfortunate solution was to take a mono headphone jack and wire it directly to a iPhone 4 loudspeaker that I cut down to be as small as possible. I glued the contraption inside of a binder clip and just left the little thing plugged into the top of my phone at all times. It wasn't ideal, but I could at least hear it ring and hear various apps and stuff.
0
Score
Mont
1
Answered
Okay, I don't know if this is going to help or hinder but I just had to replace the charging port assembly (iPhone 3G) and after re-assembling everything worked except the loudspeaker, hence me reading this in the hope of an answer.
I plugged headphones in and I could listen to the iPOD but still the speaker did not work. I tried ringing the phone but loudspeaker still did not work. Then I attached headphones and browsed throgh settings to where you change ringtones and selected a different ringtone. I could hear the ringtone through the headphones but also through the loudspeaker?!?. I took out the headphones and the speaker continued to work, then I re-insterted headphones and the loudspeaker stopped while the headphones played the sound.
Now, for some unknown reason, the loudspeaker works fine!?!?!? (don't ask me, because I don't know).
Heres another weird thing. In regards to being able to hear the loudspeaker BARELY if I press it against my ear... I can hear it regardless of if the phone is switched to silent mode or not. Silent mode appears to work properly though. It makes the phone vibrate as it should and everything so I'm not sure if that is related to the problem or not... Could the loudspeaker be stuck in a silent mode volume level while the rest of the phone is accepting the silent mode toggles correctly?
blakepro,
Gave you a + for thorough post, hopefully someone can provide you with good information!
Collin MacGregor,
iv the same problem, and iv also done the same tests as your self , i hope we get the ans were looking for
jason,
Lets make sure to keep all the info we learn here so everyone can benefit from what we discover. I have scoured the internet and there is basically no information about this type of problem at all out there. (Or if there is, its buried under thousands of posts from people complaining that their second "speaker" (microphone) doesn't work and such...) Or, most of the cases that sound close to this end with the person returning the phone to apple, which wont work in this situation. I have re-confirmed that the speaker on my iPhone started acting up BEFORE the water incident, so I don't believe it is related to that. I'm even considering hard wiring in some leads from the headphone jack directly down to the loud speaker just to get some sound out of the thing.. Problem is, that not all the phones sounds come through the headphone jack. Some are ONLY come through the loud speaker. Plus there are other problems that arise with that type of setup, but it might be my final desperate action if I cant resolve this.
blakepro,
have you checked the nearby fuses etc? I'm no iphone 4 expert but in the 3g there are noise reducers/induct
pollytintop,
I think the only other thing that I would check is the Cirrus Logic 338S0589 IC. Make sure that you have no micro fracture in any of the solder joints. Sometimes applying pressure to the IC can temporarily close the contact and might produce good results. If that is the case you may have to reflow the IC. I seem to recall that this may NOT necessarily affect the headphones. Oh yeah, just rereading your question, I'd try to replace the headphone jack. You could get the same symptoms with a stuck headphone jack. I know you said you checked it, and it might work great as a jack, but may be stuck so that your phone still thinks they are plugged in. Just for kicks and giggles, on the older iPods we used to insert and remove the headphone connector a couple (lots) of time in rapid succession which may loosen it. Just a thought.... http://www.ifixit.com/Guide/Installing-i...
oldturkey03,
Thanks guys. I REALLY appreciate ANY comments. Even if you are just thinking out loud it helps me a lot. The fuse idea is good, next time I have it opened I'll try to get a better look for anything like that. I'm not quite sure what they would look like with all those tiny components but I might discover something there. Also, I've thought about possibly doing a reflow.. I've done a reflow on a PS3 before and am familiar with the process, although I'm nervous it might mess something else up in the process. I'm reluctant to do a reflow at this point, but its not completely off the table.
blakepro,
The Cirrus logic IC is also a very interesting idea. It seems like those chips are all under some sort of metal shield though. Is there a way to remove the metal covers without damaging the main logic board? I wouldn't be surprised if its something as simple as some corrosion that is hiding under there shorting some pins that I cant see or something. There was some minor corrosion on the dock connector (which I have since replaced) so I could exist in other places, but so far most of the comportment have been remarkably clean considering what happened to the phone. I'm not opposed to replacing the headphone jack, but I will say that the phone reacts normally in that it switches volume modes and the volume indicator says (headphones) when plugged in and does not when nothing is plugged in. That being said though, I am certainly not an expert here and I value your thoughts on the matter. I have done the thing where you rapidly plug and unplug headphones just to loosen stuff up and it has not resolved the issue
blakepro,
I may need to do some further testing of the jack. Does anyone know if the actual loud speaker signal travels up to the headphone jack before making its way down to the ribbon cable that eventually connects to the loud speaker? Again, thanks for the comments guys! Please keep the ideas coming!
blakepro,
I believe that the headphone and speaker consist of two separate circuits. Now I am not sure about the iPhone, but the iPod will also not play when plugged into a dock player, which is a good indicator that it is the speaker circuit that has failed. Given that the headphone is not stuck....;-)
oldturkey03,
Thanks oldturkey03, If I plug the phone into a dock player, it will play the sound beautifully through the dock. If I plug headphones in while its playing in the dock, the sound stops playing from the dock and then plays through the headphones. Does that help the diagnosis at all? Seems like that might indicate that sound is at least getting though the dock ribbon cable which also carries sound to the loud speaker.. Although they are obviously separated in some way so that you dont have sound playing through the dock and loudspeaker at the same time. ----- Good suggestions guys! Please keep them coming. I appreciate it!
blakepro,
Okay, that should mean that your audio circuit is working as should. Should eliminate the IC, only leaves the speaker circuit.....
oldturkey03,
someone posted the schematics for the ip4 on here a few months back?ot prolly has it..trace from ic to speakers might be prob? or those little blobs on the board which have some function (on the schematics should say) you say there is very faint sound coming out?? any chance there is some gunk on the board connection (for dock)which is allowing everything else to work but not that? look for corrosion on the pin (again on schematics) might just need re tinning.
pollytintop,
@oldturkey03: Thanks for the troubleshooting
blakepro,
Do feel free to download the ip4 schematics from here ;-)
oldturkey03,
oldturkey03! You are amazing. What a fascinating document! On page 15 you can see where the audio signal comes in for the loudspeaker. It looks like it splits for the line out (port) audio and the other fork goes to a speaker Pre-Amp. Perhaps this pre amp is where the problem is. It would make sense if the amp isnt working that the sound would be minimal since there is no amplification of the sound. This schematic is fantastic for figuring out how its all connected in those tiny tiny components. What I cant figure out here is where the speaker preamp is physically in the phone. Any ideas?
blakepro,
One of the things to look at would be a block diagram like this one http://www.gadgetmend.com/iphone-block-d... and then it would be time to check the datasheets....
oldturkey03,
Here is the most complete list I have about parts and pieces that make up the iphone 4 Applications Processor Applications Processor Samsung A4 "APL0398" 45nm, PoP DRAM Memory SDRAM, 4Gb Mobile DDR, PoP Samsung K4XKG643GB (Samsung dies, 2 x 2Gb) Memory Flash Samsung NAND Flash 16GB MLC K9HDG08U5M-LCB0 Radio Frequency Baseband Infineon 337S3833 HSDPA/HSUPA/ WCDMA/EDGE Transceiver Infineon 338S0626 Quad-Band GSM/Edge Memory Intel (Numonyx?) MCP 128Mb NOR Flash +128Mb Mobile DDR (DDR is Elpida) Power Mgmt. n/a PAM Skyworks SKY77541-32 Transmit Module Quad-Band GSM/EDGE PAM + Antenna Switch PAM Skyworks SKY77459-17 Transmit Module Single-Band WCDMA/HSPA PAM + Duplexer PAM Skyworks SKY77452-20 Transmit Module Single-Band WCDMA/HSPA PAM + Duplexer PAM TriQuint TQM676091 Transmit Module Single-Band WCDMA/HSPA PAM
oldturkey03,
+ Duplexer PAM TriQuint TQM666092 Transmit Module Single-Band WCDMA/HSPA PAM + BAW Duplexer FEM n/a SAW Module Murata Power Management Main PM Device Dialog D1815A 338S0867-A4 Main Pwr Mgmt Connectivity WiFi/BT Broadcom BCM4329 Module WLAN 802.11a/b/g/n, Bluetooth V2.1+EDR, FM/RDS/RBDS Rcvr GPS Broadcom BCM4750 Misc. Connectivity Components Discretes, Passives, etc. $0.80 Interface & Sensors Touchscreen Controller Texas Instruments 343S0499 (F761586C) Audio CODEC Cirrus Logic 343S0589 (CLI1495BO) E-Compass AKM AK8975 3-Axis Accelerometer ST Micro LIS331DLH 3-Axis Gyroscope ST Micro L3G4200D Digital 3-Axis Misc. Interface & Sensor Components Discretes, Passives, etc. $3.80 Display/Camera Display 3.5" Diag, LTPS LCD, 960x640 Pixels LG (or poss. TMD) Touch Screen Capacitive Glass, "Reinforced" Wintek or TPK/Balda Camera 5MP Auto-Focus Camera (secondary) VGA Auto-Focus Battery Battery 1400mAh
oldturkey03,
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