iPad 1 not charging issue resolved

[johmr]

My 1st post here so here goes.

My iPad recently stopped charging when I plugged into the port. I found a workaround by powering off completely then plugging the port cable in. I phoned the repair people who said I needed a new port to be fitted at great expense so I lived with the problem.

I then bought an iJam to play with Garage Band and the iPad would not recognise the device which worked great on my iPhone.

I found a knowledgable repair guy yesterday who said he has seen about 50 iPad 1's with similar problems. He opened the iPad and removed the 2 screws holding down the connector to the main board at the other end of the port cable and the problem was fixed. Reassembled using a new clip kit to close the iPad as the plastic bits break when you open it up.

He said there is a design fault on early iPads that cause static to build up at these 2 screws which messes the port upand later iPads did not get them fitted. The connector cannot come out as it is pretty well clamped in place by the tight space inside so the 2 screws are not really needed.

The upshot is that my iPad was fixed for about $30 in 20 mins instead of upwards of $100 and a few weeks waiting for parts that others had quoted me. And my iJam and Garage Band work great now!

Hope this helps some others with similar port problems.

john

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[johmr]

PS the guy also said that he had NEVER had to replace a port since he started repairing iPads and he's has repaired many IPads over the past 2 years. He bought 3 ports for stock when they first came out and they are still unboxed unused.

[leelai]

Thank you for posting this, I'm sure it will help some members with this problem. I have seen a few of late with ports which have stopped working.

Sent from my iPad using iPF

[schmidtj]

I had the exact same problem trying to use a Griffin 3 meter cord.
I used the Griffin 2A charger.
The iPad 1 would not charge unless I turned if off first.
Interestingly the cord would not charge a iPhone 3GS.
I exchanged the cord for a new one of the same model and problem solved.
Point being, the problem can be in the cord and not the iPad.

[jlyellz]

Do you think verizon would do this repair? I have same problem, but it only does it every once in a while... I guess when it wants to lol Thanks!

[johmr]

Do you think verizon would do this repair? I have same problem, but it only does it every once in a while... I guess when it wants to lol Thanks!

If its under warranty take it to them to repair. If not in warranty I suggest you find a good local independent Apple tech to do it. You need some special tools to open the iPad (more like "break open") and the plastic clips kit to put it all back together as I said the clips (about 10 of them) all break when you open it. Then all you need is a small screw driver and gentle care to fix this. Sounds very much like the same problem to me. Mine started out intermittent then mostly faulty. It's still working great now.

[amiller77]

Does your repair man repair units shipped to him. Have any contact info?

[johmr]

Apple Mac iPhone iPad iPod Specialists

Contact details on their website