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Help Bought A Used A500 With Known Problems.

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brock029

Newbie
I bought a Used A500 last night for $80 and figured if I can fix the problems then I got a great deal. I looked at it for about an hour last night just to find out what was going on. Here is the problems I am having with it.

  1. It will not charge, if you plug it in it says the battery is 12 percent, if you remove the power cable it turns off.
  2. Touch screen unresponsive at lockscreen, tried a factory reset it did the clearing cache and data then reboots and just sits there on the screen that says android system in the top left corner and you can see the back/home/wifi/power icons at the bottom of the screen.
  3. The power cable fits very loose in the jack, I popped it open, lifted the jack out from where it sits and plugged it back in. It works just fine until you wiggle the power cable inside of the jack, at that point the device will shut off and if you keep moving the cable you can hear what sounds like a possible short, but only if you wiggle the cable inside of the jack. Somewhere over on the left side of the device you can hear little pops or kind of sounds like paper being crumpled.

I feel like maybe all of the problems are releated to the power issue. I have yet to get another power cable but I think thats where I will start and go from there (Just because I feel like it should not be sooo loose inside of the jack). If any one else has any suggestions I would love to hear them!
 
brock029 said:
I bought a Used A500 last night for $80 and figured if I can fix the problems then I got a great deal. I looked at it for about an hour last night just to find out what was going on. Here is the problems I am having with it.

  1. It will not charge, if you plug it in it says the battery is 12 percent, if you remove the power cable it turns off.
  2. Touch screen unresponsive at lockscreen, tried a factory reset it did the clearing cache and data then reboots and just sits there on the screen that says android system in the top left corner and you can see the back/home/wifi/power icons at the bottom of the screen.
  3. The power cable fits very loose in the jack, I popped it open, lifted the jack out from where it sits and plugged it back in. It works just fine until you wiggle the power cable inside of the jack, at that point the device will shut off and if you keep moving the cable you can hear what sounds like a possible short, but only if you wiggle the cable inside of the jack. Somewhere over on the left side of the device you can hear little pops or kind of sounds like paper being crumpled.

I feel like maybe all of the problems are releated to the power issue. I have yet to get another power cable but I think thats where I will start and go from there (Just because I feel like it should not be sooo loose inside of the jack). If any one else has any suggestions I would love to hear them!
Click to expand...

Pops and shorts are a very bad thing, be careful dealing with that, as it could catch fire.
 
TBH, it sounds like there could be a problem with the jack that the cable plugs in to. I think that your idea of trying a different cable is a good place to start though! As AntimonyER says, be very careful though!!
 
AntimonyER said:
Pops and shorts are a very bad thing, be careful dealing with that, as it could catch fire.
Click to expand...

I'm a computer tech and have dealt with a few shorts before between motherboards and cases ;)

D-U-R-X said:
TBH, it sounds like there could be a problem with the jack that the cable plugs in to. I think that your idea of trying a different cable is a good place to start though! As AntimonyER says, be very careful though!!
Click to expand...

That's exactly what I was thinking, I just need to figure out where to find another one and while I'm doing that I might tear the whole thing down to see if I can find the reason for the short. The only weird thing is, if the cable is just plugged in and your not moving it around you don't hear anything.
 
brock029 said:
I'm a computer tech and have dealt with a few shorts before between motherboards and cases ;)
Click to expand...

As you seem to know what you're doing... it's fair enough that you want to fix it (would work out as quite a bargain then too) :)

Always better to urge caution when dealing with electronics, as not all users have advanced technical abilities ;)

That's exactly what I was thinking, I just need to figure out where to find another one
Click to expand...

Ebay could well be your friend :)

and while I'm doing that I might tear the whole thing down to see if I can find the reason for the short. The only weird thing is, if the cable is just plugged in and your not moving it around you don't hear anything.
Click to expand...

when you're moving the cable, it could be moving the jack, which could be causing something else... :confused:
 
Looks like you found one while I've been writing my response!

Actually wrote it, but didn't post until I just got back to my desk :)
 
D-U-R-X said:
Looks like you found one while I've been writing my response!

Actually wrote it, but didn't post until I just got back to my desk :)
Click to expand...

Haha it happens, I still am just not 100% sure if the weird charging problem is linked to it not even going into setup after the factory reset. But like with computers a faulty power supply can cause the strangest problems. So I think Ill get a new power cable first and go from there. One question with that though, is it supposed to fit snug into the jack and not move at all, if so I don't see how the adapter would get messed up, it almost completely point to the jack.
 
Not sure, as I'm not at home... will have a look when I get in (think that it does fit in quite well/doesn't wiggle)!
 
brock029 said:
...One question with that though, is it supposed to fit snug into the jack and not move at all, if so I don't see how the adapter would get messed up, it almost completely point to the jack.
Click to expand...
I agree, this seems to be a damaged jack and not an adapter problem, unless you consider it a problem (as I do) that the cords are so short that most people wind up accidentally (and violently) ripping the plug from the jack and occasionally breaking either one or the other.

The plug should fit firmly into the jack, with very little play in any direction -- only slightly more play than with a headphone jack, for example.

In case you have not found this yet, it may be useful relative to your task: http://i.techrepublic.com.com/gallery/6279661-620-414.jpg

The whole teardown is described here: http://www.techrepublic.com/blog/it...rvice-3g-ready/2861?tag=content;siu-container. There are also many more very handy photos there.

When you get ready to pop the case off, verify that there is no SD card in the slot. I saw a post where an a500 owner had popped the case with the card inserted and ripped the connector from the motherboard.

Did it sound like the popping sound you noted could have been static from the speakers, due to the power issues?

If you've only got to fix the jack, it seems like a very nice deal. It probably would have been easier had it been the power cord though.
 
Mrhelper said:
I agree, this seems to be a damaged jack and not an adapter problem, unless you consider it a problem (as I do) that the cords are so short that most people wind up accidentally (and violently) ripping the plug from the jack and occasionally breaking either one or the other.

The plug should fit firmly into the jack, with very little play in any direction -- only slightly more play than with a headphone jack, for example.

In case you have not found this yet, it may be useful relative to your task: http://i.techrepublic.com.com/gallery/6279661-620-414.jpg

The whole teardown is described here: Acer Iconia Tab teardown: Easy-to-service, 3G-ready | TechRepublic. There are also many more very handy photos there.

When you get ready to pop the case off, verify that there is no SD card in the slot. I saw a post where an a500 owner had popped the case with the card inserted and ripped the connector from the motherboard.

Did it sound like the popping sound you noted could have been static from the speakers, due to the power issues?

If you've only got to fix the jack, it seems like a very nice deal. It probably would have been easier had it been the power cord though.
Click to expand...

Actually the static from the speakers could be it, ill test it out again and see if I can tell where its coming from. I already checked out the teardown thats how I figured out to open it! lol. ;)
 
D-U-R-X said:
I'm interested to hear how this pans out - keep us posted :)
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Well I might have messed it up myself...I tried to flash a new image using the stock recovery and accidentally used this one Download the official a500 OTA ICS upgrade - xda-developers....So it boots and then shuts off. I tried using one of the full upgrade of 3.0.1 from here [OTA] Full Package and Update (29/09/2011) - xda-developers and keep getting the android guy with the exclamation mark after about 1/4 of the install. I hope this is fixable, any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.:confused:
 
Have only just seen your posts... good to hear that you are sorted. Hope you manage to get the power issue sorted!!
 
D-U-R-X said:
Have only just seen your posts... good to hear that you are sorted. Hope you manage to get the power issue sorted!!
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hahaha ok well it now will fully charge, still having the issue with having to hold the power cable at the right angle for it to make a connection though. So close.
 
FYI... have had a bit of a "wiggle" of my cable when plugged in... there is a little movement but, on the whole, it is solid!
 
Almost have a sweet deal, went and tried another charger at radioshack and you still had to angle the cable just right, guess I just have to order that new jack and Im done.
 
You might get away with resoldering the current power plug back onto the circuit board. I ordered a google tv box from China and when I pluged in the power cord the plug disconnscted itself from the circuit board. I resoldered it back on and was good to go. Didn't need to replace the actual plug, just resecured it.
 
dbldipp said:
You might get away with resoldering the current power plug back onto the circuit board. I ordered a google tv box from China and when I pluged in the power cord the plug disconnscted itself from the circuit board. I resoldered it back on and was good to go. Didn't need to replace the actual plug, just resecured it.
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Thats what I was hoping I could do but nope, the jack is not soldered to the board, it sits in a tiny plastic box and has to parts that pop out of it that go through slits in the box, then after a good amount of wire plugs into the circuit board. ;) This is what the dc jack looks like Acer Iconia Tab A500 Tablet Power Jack Assembly - DC30100DX00
 
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