Lightning port too loose?

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iPhone 7 Plus

Released September 16, 2016. Models A1661, A1784, and A1785. Available in 32, 128, or 256 GB configurations in Rose gold, gold, silver, black, jet black, and (Product)Red.

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scottbernardis @scottbernardis

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Posted: 03/27/2018

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Lightning port too loose?

Looking for suggestions or similar symptoms to diagnose.

Lightning cables will just not stay in this phone if either is even shifted to the slightest. Unscientific measure; I used to be able to pick up the dropped phone by the cord alone without disconnect. Now ANY pull or pressure and the cord comes out. I don't see any debris in port, but my eyes aren't perfect. I can't tell if there are pressure levers or contacts that I see inside on left and right, and maybe one is bad?

YES, it still connects to laptop.

YES, it still charges fine.

YES, i tried original cable.

YES, i tried a NEW original cable.

YES, the cables 'pop' in/ fully seat.

NO, there is no case.

YES, i tried with a passthrough case.

help?

Answered! View the answer I have this problem too

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Worked for me. Thank you. I found that the lightning port was about 25% packed with lint. Pulled it out and now it works.

12/10/2018 by Tim Stander

Pretty slick....... thought it was a tech repair or replacement! Just like new!!

03/31/2019 by Joseph Charbonneau

I had this happen before I think because I keep it in my pocket. I used a plastic toothpick and out came the lint. Not a ton. Blew in it. Some more came out and finally pulled more out. Don’t think I got it all but same as y’all charging cable in, Apple car play came right up and it’s not slightly loose!!!

05/02/2019 by Don Curran

Perfect Solution! Thanks.

06/05/2019 by James Kirchen

Boom! That did the trick!

07/10/2019 by tim milburn

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12 Answers

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Prateek Kalra @prateek89

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Posted: 10/24/2018

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Okay, I had been facing the same issue since the past couple of months with my more than 2 yrs old 6s. Today, just moments back & out of curiosity & boredom combined, I took a tooth pick & started scraping the inside of the phone’s charging port. To my surprise, a shitload of debris started dropping out. After about some ten minutes of ‘not so careful’ scraping, the port looked clean. Post which I checked for charging, & the “lose port” problem disappeared. Contrary to my belief as per which, more the debris inside the port, tighter should the connection with the cable upon plugging in become, cleaning gave that rock solid port-cable grip back. Apparently, the base of the port starts getting deposited with debris, & hence, the cable does not fully go in, which results in a fragile connection. Do give it a shot!

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I will try on my iPhone 4. this sounds logical

11/13/2018 by anniebnutz61

I thought I posted this myself long ago, but I was wrong. I scoped it, no dirt. I brushed it, no dirt, i aircanned, no dirt. Then one day a massive hunk of micro-debris, pitch black, came out on its own. I had checked for exactly this and never saw it. 3 pickings and 2 phones later, same method fixed all. Not sure what tool i would recommend to do this. do they still make those flat wooden toothpicks (NOT round)? plastic floss stick?

12/03/2018 by scottbernardis

Yes ! this worked

12/05/2018 by Andrew Jones

Worked for me. Thank you. I found that the lightning port was about 25% packed with lint. Pulled it out and now it works.

12/10/2018 by Tim Stander

Just tried this. Worked like a charm!

01/04/2019 by bonayemi

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Worked for me. Thank you. I found that the lightning port was about 25% packed with lint. Pulled it out and now it works. — Tim Stander
Pretty slick....... thought it was a tech repair or replacement! Just like new!! — Joseph Charbonneau
I had this happen before I think because I keep it in my pocket. I used a plastic toothpick and out came the lint. Not a ton. Blew in it. Some more came out and finally pulled more out. Don’t think I got it all but same as y’all charging cable in, Apple car play came right up and it’s not slightly loose!!! — Don Curran
I thought I posted this myself long ago, but I was wrong. I scoped it, no dirt. I brushed it, no dirt, i aircanned, no dirt. Then one day a massive hunk of micro-debris, pitch black, came out on its own. I had checked for exactly this and never saw it. 3 pickings and 2 phones later, same method fixed all. Not sure what tool i would recommend to do this. do they still make those flat wooden toothpicks (NOT round)? plastic floss stick? — scottbernardis
Worked for me. Thank you. I found that the lightning port was about 25% packed with lint. Pulled it out and now it works. — Tim Stander

Tim Stander @timstander Rep: 133 2 1 1 · Answer 1 · 2018-12-10T08:10:52-07:00

Tim Stander @timstander

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Posted: 12/10/2018

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This is what I removed from the lightning port (not the dime)

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Yep worked for me too. It’s like belly button lint build up. I used a flat tipped plastic toothpick. The port is deep... Keep digging!

04/20/2019 by portland454

CRAZY! I too thought it didn’t make sense that stuff in the port would make it seem loose but it’s true! I used a toothpick, scraped pretty hard for two minutes and it’s perfect! I can’t believe I’ve battled with poor charging for months, thrown away charging cords that I thought were the problem and was about to pay $85 for a Apple “technician” to repaire it. What a rip off! It took a free toothpick from a restaurant and two minutes and DONE! Thanks for the help!

07/07/2019 by Lisa Weis

Perfect! works for me

10/01/2019 by Aravind Aitipamula

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rex.vk3pk Rep: 61 1 1 · Answer 2 · 2018-12-13T01:15:40-07:00

rex.vk3pk

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Posted: 12/13/2018

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IMHO after 50 years of being involved with electronics, the lightning port is not a really good design in the service for which it is intended.

- picking up fluff/grit and hiding it (yes I have had this)

- very little tension on the eight very small contacts

-quite large forces can be applied to the contacts in the charging port by the connector being pushed up & down or from side to side, damaging the innards of the port.

-leads are replaced by after market leads which may not meet the mechanical requirements causing insufficient contact tension ( some after market leads that I have had, have little or no gold plating)

All this will lead to non charging and or the “may not be supported” message.

Solutions.

Do NOT buy the cheapest replacement leads. They will fail early & give you nothing but trouble.

Do NOT put pressure on the leads. Preferably do NOT use the phone when you are charging it.

See if some enterprising manufacturer in China will come up with a after marked rubber bung that blocks the charging port when not in use.

If a new, good brand replacement still gives you a problem, change the charging port (easy & not expensive if you do it yourself).

Lee

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Good advice, always stick to reputable brand leads that have the MFi certification which is the made for iPhone iPad iPod logo certification on the packaging of the charging cable.

These cables have gone through testing through apple and have the proper surge protection unlike the aftermarket cheap charging leads which can damage your phone as they don't provide protection against power surges which happens a lot with car chargers.

02/13/2019 by Ben

I have had great success with Amazon Basics branded iPhone Cables. Its about half the price of original Apple, but mine lasted me 2 years whereas the original cable barely lasted me 10 months.

07/22/2019 by Tanuj

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Scott Rep: 8.2k 15 19 2 · Answer 3 · 2018-03-27T10:04:12-07:00

Scott

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Posted: 03/27/2018

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id start with a dental pick or needle point tweezers, in order to pick out poket lint, which is the number one cause of this. (taking it to a repair shop, they will charge a benching fee for some time, and do it properly.)

further down the road, if picking out the lint doesnt fix the issue you would need to look into the quality of the cable, and replacing the component.

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Where Angels Tread Rep: 25 1 · Answer 4 · 2019-03-02T17:05:35-07:00

Where Angels Tread

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Posted: 03/02/2019

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Prateek. It’s people like you that truly make the world better! Thank you sir. You have solved countless large and small issues, with one simple post.

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Dion Sepolen Rep: 25 1 · Answer 5 · 2019-06-06T10:00:54-07:00

Dion Sepolen

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Posted: 06/06/2019

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The answer of cleaning the port out with a toothpick worked perfectly. I was on the verge of getting a new phone based on this issue alone and chalked it up to obsolescence. I thought for sure the charger port was loose. Cleaning it out stopped the wiggling of the cord and allows for a direct charge.

Thank you for sharing and saving me some money.

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Pavan M Gowda Rep: 25 1 · Answer 6 · 2019-07-12T04:21:21-07:00

Pavan M Gowda

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Posted: 07/12/2019

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Thank you so much for the help. I was afraid I had to get the whole port replaced. The port was full of crap. I used the sim card ejector to clean up the port. Now that I've removed everything the cable fits perfectly. I can't be grateful enough. Thanks a lot.

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Tyler Curl Rep: 13 1 · Answer 7 · 2019-08-12T09:08:07-07:00

Tyler Curl

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Posted: 08/12/2019

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Holy moly! I never would have guessed. The lint was so packed in I thought I was scraping the back of the socket with the toothpick. I tried sticking a needle in to find the bottom was soft. Fixed!

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Rick Rowland Rep: 13 1 · Answer 8 · 2019-08-12T09:21:15-07:00

Rick Rowland

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Posted: 08/12/2019

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Yes, this is more often the case than not… I thought I had cleaned my lightning port socket completely but it still didn’t work. I took it to someone who (1) knew what they were doing and (2) likely had a plastic tool to get it done, and they brought me out my “Like New” device minus the lint for FREE! The amount of lint that they collected was incredible, no wonder the plug did not seat! The plug is now like new.

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r1goodman Rep: 13 1 · Answer 9 · 2019-08-12T11:46:10-07:00

r1goodman

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Posted: 08/12/2019

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You can actually see the back of the port if you look with a light. My wife and I had the same issue and the pointed wooden toothpick fixed both and a bunch of lint came out. But 2 days later, out of my wife’s came even more lint. Other people have reported this happening as well. As a side note, the lint is coming from your pocket…..my wife and I both keep our phones in our pocket…we know another person who keeps their phone in their purse and their charging port was lint free.

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