So once again this silly "Limited warranty" from Nokia reared its ugly head. Due to the fact I was stuck in a country that Nokia decided wasn't worthy of the N900 until now, in my impatience I went and bought one online.

So with my phone at the Nokia Care Centre probably not going to be approved for a free repair, and my future plans not involving a trip to the US, I wanted to know a few things about the USB charging port snapping off after the cable was pulled out 3 degrees too far to the left.

From what I can see, the snap is clean, and has not damaged any surrounding areas where its been sealed on.

I have some general soldering experience. My question is- Given the fact my N900 is turning on and working, is it possible for me to DIY solder the USB port back on to the mainboard, or will incorrect repair eventually result in a blown up n900?

I know that a 5 year old Foxconn worker can fix something like this in about 5 minutes, and probably costs about $5 to nokia, but knowing them they'll be charging me $100s for an out of warranty repair, and given my warranty is pretty much void anyway, can i really do any mroe harm other than perhaps shorting the charging circuit and just not having USB capability?

any help would be great, and if any sydney people know anywhere in chinatown or something that may help me, that would be more awesome.

Regards.

If you want to repair yourself then open it up and take a pic of the mainboard close up macro shot of the part of the board where the usb (removed) is and put it on here and i will tell you exactly the best way to repair ok.

i need to see what is left of the pads and the 5 data tracks.

Read some guide on soldering surface-mount components, practice on some other device first and it will be easy to fix it yourself (if there has been no damage to the solder pads).

Yes it's possible to make things worse if you screw up, but that's the risk every DIY person must be willing to take

Your going to need a fine pointed soldering station preferably weller some flux and some araldite glue and a fine brass cleaning brush you use to clean brass copper with etc.

Here is the actual usb port soldered onto the m/b of the N900.

Oh well no answer so i guess he got scared by the pic lol.
It is actually a lot easier than it looks if you take the right steps.
incidentally the data pads normally rip clean off lol.

Thank you all for the quick responses.

Nokia Chatswood has my phone at the moment. They took it from me, didn't ask for Proof of purchase or anything(this is after i call to confirm that was what i should do from the CareLine), did not give me a job number and then when i called to find out if it was approved, 4 team leaders and 10 call centre workers and 4 days of 50 minute phone calls and I still don't know whether I'm footing the bill, even though Nokia has basically forced me to import a working phone after their debacle with my N97(5 phone replacements. yes, 5, and 2 in the first fortnight), and are now saying im most likely liable for any repairs.

all i know is, making them look horrible online is making me happier.

Either way, before I submitted it, the Port came out at a Diagonal point, and was a clean snap, with it looking similair to this, only slightly "cleaner"(like the seals were still fully on the port)


I hope they satisfy me, as this phone like totally restored my faith in my ability to not buy an iphone(and jailbreak it of course), and to have this happen as I'd just finished updating to PR1.2 it was such a shattering experience and I'm now being f$%Ked on for doing the right thing.

If they don't repair it, I'll post pics when I can go and pick it up. but if abill_uk's requirements are what I need, I just don't have the glue, thats all.

Will bump this back up when I am sure its my only option.

once again, thanks guys- never ceases to amaze me how helpful this forum is.

hope i dont have this problem (again) last month my usb broke but nokia care centre could not repair it and so gave me new n900. every time i charge the phone i am now extra careful. This is surely a design fault and nokia should just replacce your phone under the limited warranty. Is the phone not covered for replacement. The warranty is covered for 2 years?

Looking at that pic at least 2 of the 5 pads at the rear have ripped off so try to persist with the care centre as i can tell you the usb port is indeed recognised as a design fault as texrat one of the mods on here will tell you.
There should be NOTHING to pay under these circumstances so do persist ok.