Chosen Solution
Looks like my wife’s Kindle Fire has helped us join the ever-increasing club of owners that are having issues with the USB power port. We’re having to wiggle the plug ‘‘just right," until we see that it’s actually charging. Sometimes that works… sometimes it doesn’t. Doing a Google search returns a lot of people having the same issue, but other than teardowns, no one is saying that this is fixable in any other way than replacing the entire motherboard. I would love for this site to focus on this component to see if it’s prone to coming loose or if it’s the likely cause of an intermittent connection. Is there any chance someone could take a look and possibly help a whole lot of people with one assessment ?
We repair these A LOT! The jack is unbalanced on the Main Board and is easily detached by normal wear and tear. Soldering the jack back on to the board is a little tricky but the real repair is getting the port sturdy to prevent the issue from re-occurring. We do a full repair by removing the old solder on the board and the jack then reattach using flux and fresh solder. We also reinforce the port so it doesn’t happen again.
Mikebrungs, having scoured the forums over the last few month, the problem is most certainly the micro USB port. You could try disassembling your Kindle to check on the problem. Follow this guide and check the solder connections on the micro USB port. It is very likely that they have either come totally off the motherboard or that they have micro cracks. It might be possible to reuse the old connector and resolder it, or you may have to find a new connector. If you need a new one, you could check mouser.com or digikey.com for a micro USB that fits the dimensions of your Kindle. If anyone would post the exact dimensions of the micro USB port, we could try and find an equivalent part. It is highly doubtful that the port is proprietary. I hope this helps, good luck.
Most of these jacks can be re-secured without replacing. They just don’t flow enough solder through the joints on the board so they break off the board pretty cleanly. If folks would put their kindles away while charging them it would help a lot (also, if they wouldn’t try to plug in the cables upside down it would help too :-) I usually can save and re-use the original jack at least 75% of the time that I repair these. Just search on ebay for kindle fire usb charge port and you’ll find many $15 or less replacement jacks if you need one to repair your own and you’re comfortable with tiny solder work. These aren’t your HAM radio kind of solder repairs though, closer to jewelry soldering, so judge your skills fairly.
I found this site yesterday, as I been having the same problem for over a year. My backround is an electronics design engineer in the powwer area. I have taken my Kindle apart several times, and thought the intermitten problem was the micro USB connector. But I thought it was the contacts that interface with the USB cable. After reading on here some of the post, I took it apart again this morning. This time I took the USB connector out of the frame and looked at it under a microscope. The interface connector pins were fine, but the pins that make conncetion the board above were really oxidized, especially the negative pin. In my opnion thats the real problem. It’s a bad design from the get go. I then wired brushed the pins, and bent them foward a bit, reassembled the unit. It started charging as soon as I pluged it in. This connector would have been ok to use if it were soldered to the board, but mold to the plastic case would had to have been changed to give it clearence to fit in, without distorting it when assembled. Larry E.
Pinch kindle where usb plugs in and apply pressure charging light goes on and kindle light charges.If light goes out when you release pressure use a spring powered paper clip to keep pressure applied while charging.Took a lot of fiddling to come up with this method.
You can take apart the tablet and replace the charger port, it costs around 6 dollars, to buy a new port, you also need a soldering iron 15 watt, clean off old solder put new port solder in takes about 5 mins. To fix, 20 minutes to get it open and take old port out. I have been buying broken tablets fixing them and reselling. I am not a technician. I learn from YouTube. I am stay at home mom. I love electronics.
You could try to open it up and reflow the solder around the USB jack. It may be that these connections have a cold solder joint or 2. There are 4 small pins coming out the back. Also, both sides are soldered down to provide ground to the outside of the USB. If all of the connections are good, you could putt some supper glue around the jack to try to hold it to the board better. Our Kindle Fire was plugged in, charging when it fell about 3 feet onto the hardwood floor. It landed right on the cord where it was plugged in and bend the USB end of the cord. When I took it apart, I found that the USB jack had completely broken off with 2 of the pins still connected to the PCB. With some jerry rigging and fancy soldering, I was able to reconnect it to the board and it worked! I was surprised and my wife was thankful. The USB port is a weak point with this tablet… and most devices these days.
It has no choice BUT to fall out! The darn thing was doomed from the start. Yes, it charges,technically. However, with mine, I have to plug it in carefully and also SECURE it to the port. With tape. Then, -as if in a dramatic crime drama - I must “back away, slowly”, so as not to disturb the delicate connection. It doesn’t always work, no matter how careful I am. I’ve gone back to it hours later, to realise that it had fallen out yet again….maybe due to a cosmic shift in a distant galaxy. I really want to keep it…..but I may need “a bigger boat"so to speak. A boatload of duct tape. ((sigh))
Hi, My wife too had the same problem. Why do wives buy Kindles? I removed the back from the Kindle, removed the USB port and very, very gentley squeezed the ground casing around the port to grasp the cable more tightly. It now works fine ’till the next time? All the best from Paul McLeod.
I just recently started having this problem with our kindle fire. I’ve checked on how to do the repair myself…the cost of parts and supplies. I’ve checked another members business (Quantumcomputerrepair) and they charge $40 for repair. Then I contacted kindle customer support. Now my Warranty has been gone for a long while, but after talking with them they gave me a $15 discount on a new kindle ( my cost now only $18) and it will be here in two days. I can’t buy the parts and supplies for $18 and its a lot better than $40 for a repair to an old tablet. Fixing things doesn’t always mean breaking something open!
I had exactly the same problem. It was solved by using another usb cable. I have a half dozen cables, two of which work on my Kindle Fire 8. They always work without jiggling. I have no clue as to how to visually evaluating a cable prior to purchase to assure that it will work.
I posted a fix on this problem several years ago. You get an intermittent connection because the USB is not soldered to the motherboard. The connection on the motherboard oxidizes. This was a problem on the original Kendel. The newer models won’t do that. The other issue I have seen, is people forcing the plug in backwards. If anyone is that stupid, they deserve the problem. Unless they have a physical issue. Then they should get help.
After dismantling and desoldering and resoldering so many times, I could open the Fire in 10 seconds. I also found a cheap solid solution without buying a new port. I made used of the head phone port. Only one short wire is needed to jump the usb +5volt to headphone port + terminal. Ground terminals are shared or connected on the motherboard. No jumping of ground is needed. Cut an old broken headphone wire. Cut off micro usb charger plug. Connect the +5v/ground to headphone 5mm male plug with a pig tail. Solder and tape up. Done. A multimeter is needed in addition to soldering iron, solder, paste, electrical tape. This new alternate charging port has been working happily over 3 months.
If it’s a 2013 Kindle Fire HD 7 (2nd generation), replacing the USB port is cheap and easy. I posted a video: Kindle Fire HD 7” 2013 USB/Charging Port Replacement
Occasionally it is fixed by just a new cord. The charger port replacement takes a steady hand and a good eye. Check youtube videos. (not a fan of youtube by the way). That XXXX center coupler in the charge port on the kindle just loves to wiggle loose. I have yet to find a simple way to fix it.
I had the same problem. Wiggling did work for some time but after a while the Kindle did not charge at all. I took it apart and noticed that one of the 5 USB contacts was broken off. I think the contact became first loose and with the wiggling finally broke off. I ended up getting a new micro USB port and soldering it onto the board. Really tiny contacts. You’ll need to work with serious magnification to see the individual contacts. There are plenty of youtube videos showing how to do it. With the new port, the Kindle works again :)
surprisingly the most common fault actually seems to be the power cord. At least, that has been my experience. I have had a phone charging in my car with an incessant “bing,bing,bing” noise it makes when the cable hooks up. Bad port, right? Nope. Brought it in the house and plugged it into a newer cable and wiggled it. NO annoying reconnect noise. So. I need a new cord for my car. One little headache solved. For now. The phone and the kindles share the same port by the way. It’s and Alcatel. nuff’ for now bill
im on my second fire. i will never buy another kindle again. their charger is horrible
I have had four Kindle Fires. I have had “port problems.” In each case, a new QUALITY cord has fixed the problem. A new cheap cord has not fixed the problem. ‘(I bought one new Kindle needlessly before I discovered this.) I will probably never buy another Kindle unless they issue a model that can easily install and run all Andrid apps.
I’ve had both problems work my kindle, when it went from being not the right cord that it looked to being cause of the port I had to push the corks in tightly and position it do that the plug was resting on something keeping the edge with the plug in raised of the table till my kid got on it while it was charging and when I pulled out and took it back the pins inside the port had 2 if them bent and all the way to the back after like 3 days off gently poking and digging around in there I got em straitened out but feared I had broke one off (which ended up being only half broken off) I took it apart to look better and see, when I pulled the motherboard out the port ended up staying in the home it sticks out all the pins on the outside are fine it was just like the other guy said didn’t have enough solder on it so now I am going to see if I can modify my solder iron to get that small of a solder, if not then guess I’ll be buying a finger topped one that way I know I don’t end up connecting two of the pins together putting it back in. A trick I found that usually worked even when it was the cord it about half the time made the cord the Kindle didn’t like work but popped up saying it was slow charging, when I plugged the cord in I would put either an end of a thin twist tie in the bottom side (the longer side with the little metal hooks to hold it in) and push it in with the plug it, or if the metal wire running through the twist tie worries u I found the end of a small zip tie worked a little better cause it is slanted to make it easier to plug in and no metal wire down the middle of it.
I was in the same boat previously and was thinking about opening up my hd 8 to resolder the charging port like everyone had mentioned. However, I found 1 cable that seems to be able to charge it consistently while a lot of my brand new cables were not able to charge it. I knew it’s wasn’t the cables since I could use those same one to charge my other electronics that uses micro USB. Also, with the non working USB cable, “sometimes” when I slightly bend it towards the back it would charge very slowly. What I finally concluded was that the pins in the charging port were getting worn out and that it no longer make sufficient contact to charge the tablet. I ended up scrubbing the pins with a needle to remove any oxidation (yellow arrow side) to maximize contact, then I also added a very small piece of paper fiber to the flat side of the “D” port which helps push it to the middle a bit, see orange arrow ( you do not need much at all, and if you feel resistance when trying to plug the USB cable in then STOP and take it out and replace with an even thinner piece of material. I used a needle to kind of push it in or out). Now I could use any micro USB cable and it would charge quickly. I figured I’ll post this for everyone to try before replacing the USB port since the newer 8 hd seems to have the screen glued on and you might risk cracking the screen.
