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Comprehensive repair manuals on all portable tablet computers by Apple. Repairs are likely to require heat and careful prying.

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The cause of iPad speaker to break down?

While playing a video on an iPad the sound stopped working.

The sound stopped while the iPad was standing on a table, no interaction with it, no settings changed or buttons touched and it did not fall on the floor. The first cause I could think of is heat, now I think it is dust. There are constructions going on next door and we get a lot of dust blown in our direction. When I blow compressed air on the speaker the sound comes back. But only while blowing the compressed air... Does anyone know what exactly is going on?

After taking a close look at the speaker I gently poked it with a needle to move whatever is blocking. No effect.

By the way, when I insert earbuds there is sound. Just not through the internal speaker of the iPad. Makes sense.

Meanwhile I fixed it temporarily with an external speaker attached with tie-wraps around the M-edge super shell around it. I still hope it will magically recover by itself in a colder climate.

Perhaps putting it in a zip loc bag in the fridge? The dust or whatever is blocking the speaker might start behaving different.

When all this doesn't work I might have to replace the speaker if you think that would be the fix.

iPad 3/4 Speaker Image

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iPad 3/4 Speaker

$24.99

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In many possibilities it could be dust, but I don't know how likely it would be that the dust is in the actual speaker. There are other places that you might need to check for dust, and those are the headphone jack in the 30-pin dock connector port. Sometimes dirt and debris in the headphone jack can cause the iPad to think that headphones are in at all times, causing it to send audio through the headphone jack and not the actual speaker. You can normally use a q-tip or a small brush and gently clean that out. The other possibility is dust or debris in your dock connector, which would make the iPad think that it is docked in a speaker and it will try to send audi out through the dock connector. I have seen this problem various times on iPads, iPhones, iPads, and even MacBooks, and most of the time the speakers are fine, it is just dust in the headphone jack or dock connecter. (If you do clean these out, be very gentle..... very very gentle, as you don't want to break something in the dock connector or headphone jack.)

Hope this helps.

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Yes, Owen, we are on to something! Thank you. When I just blow myself into the dock connector the sound comes back (I ran out of compressed air). So apparently me blowing the air into the speaker led that air to the connector and there it was needed. No need to replace the speaker, I am sure. It sounds just fine.

Now I need to find out how to make the fix lasting. One or two seconds after I stop blowing air in it the sound also stops.

What kind of tool do you recommend to proceed?

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I would find a small brush, like a stiff and long paintbrush, that will clean the dirt, but not break any pins. If you use some toothbrushes, they can, if used too forcefully, damage the port(thought it is highly unlikely). I would just get a brush like that, then gently clean it out. If that doesn't work, you may just need a new dock connector, since sometimes years of repeated inserting and removing of the charger can damage the port. I have seen this before. I would visually inspect the port too to make sure there isn't a large piece of debris causing something to malfunction.

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This info put me on the right track. I blew air into the dock and got some sound for a second. However it stopped completely after repeated attempts. Finally after replacing the dock with no sound still, I blew into speaker holes and some sound! Not consistent though. However when I sucked on the air holes of the speaker area on the case, I got sound, consistent sound. It lasted only as long as I applied suction. I'm thinking it's the actual speaker or some connection related to it in my case. Hope this helps some with similar symptoms.

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I have similar problem with my iPad. I was able to get the speaker to work for a minute by blowing air into the connector port. I think the cause was moisture/stream damaging the speaker or connector port.

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ReindeR Rustema will be eternally grateful.
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