Re: Soldering advice needed for re-attaching N900 USB to mainboard.
 

Hi Mipo,
how did you get of that metal shield over the parts? That's exactly where I have to solder, if I remember right.

At the moment my N900 is build together and in use. Battery is charged by wires directly at the battery (at the open backside), with a laboratory mains supply. Really not too comfortable... :rolleyes:
(and you have to know how li-ion batteries are charged!)

Re: Soldering advice needed for re-attaching N900 USB to mainboard.
 

http://i51.tinypic.com/5np368.jpg
You're talking about the EMF shielf over the components? From the first looks I've taken at the board, it looks to be soldered on one or both sides, and if Mipo can confirm this, it looks like he had to desolder it before working on the USB port.

I just purchased an n900 off ebay with a broken USB connector, and I've picked up a MOLEX - 47346-0001 off digikey. Im pretty sure it can be drag soldered without removing the metal EMF shield off the other components if you have a sufficiently thin soldering iron. I'll post a quick update when I get a chance to confirm my idea.

Re: Soldering advice needed for re-attaching N900 USB to mainboard.
 

can i solder my pc usb port without any experience of soldering?

can you plz suggest me what company of soldering wire should i buy?

and what is the best soldering machine,which volt and more plz???

Re: Soldering advice needed for re-attaching N900 USB to mainboard.
 

I wouldn't do any soldering without having any experience. these are very small parts and it's not easy. I've failed and I have some experience. at last I didn't damaged anything :).
now I am using my old 5530 as a charger for n900 :D
next time I'll be in Poland i need to contact mipo :)

Re: Soldering advice needed for re-attaching N900 USB to mainboard.
 

Right, the EMF shield. I was able to remove the cover plate of it but the other part of it is soldered to the board.

I think I'll try to get the EMF shield (maybe partially) off with desoldering braid.
good luck for your try! I'm awaiting updates :)

edit: Maybe I'm giving it up. I got a part of the EMF shield removed, by simply cutting it of with a small scissor and soldered cables to the usb socket. But soldering wires directly to the parts seems impossible for me, the just fall off again..

edit2: got it working I guess, then I had to solder again, because the socket was mounted too high on the board, then I made a shortcut by getting lead on the contacts.. :(
charging again with my 2 wires on the battery. maybe next try another day..

Re: Soldering advice needed for re-attaching N900 USB to mainboard.
 

Anyone done a mod to expose the 5V and gnd as large pads on the outside, since it seems the usb connector is so prone to wear & tear?
Or is it possible to get at the charger through another way than usb?

I bought a nintendo 3ds recently, and I'd almost forgotten how practical those 80s and 90s "charge stations" were.
It'd be nice to build a ZIF charge station for n900 with spring loaded connectors.

Re: Soldering advice needed for re-attaching N900 USB to mainboard.
 

Dude, I have the same problem. And guess what? I live in New York City, my phone has been sitting in the Nokia care center for three months now, and the people there are saying they don't know what to do to fix it. And oh yeah they charged me a sweet 120$ before even starting. I realized my mistake, i should have just asked the forum.

Re: Soldering advice needed for re-attaching N900 USB to mainboard.
 

IMHO not at the charger but at the battery, that's how I'm charging since then (image attached) but don't go over 4.2 volts at the battery, or it will explode!

I ordered a second battery and a charge station, costs something around 5€.
A charge station for the whole device would be cool, but my wish is still to have full USB connection, for charging, flashing new firmware, flashing other OSes..

Re: Soldering advice needed for re-attaching N900 USB to mainboard.
 

of course you could mount pads (connected to the battery inside) somewhere outside of the device, even if it'd be hard not to look like a dirty hack :) and charge it with a charger like this. IMO the charger doesn't care if the battery is connected to the device.

Re: Soldering advice needed for re-attaching N900 USB to mainboard.
 

Just a quick note, most lithium ion chargers are pretty standard. I don't have a nokia charger but I use one for my camera (FUJI) and just manually wire the leads to the batteries I'm using. Make sure you get + and - right, and the third temp sensor (or for more proprietary batteries, communications) lead hook it up appropriately. The nokias seem to only use it as an analog temp reading, and the charger terminates properly @ 4.2V on its own.