Loose micro USB cables

Why charge when you're using the phone? About the only times I use the USB cable is charging in the car (while navigating) or as a hotspot link. Qi works great on my Samsung phone (*much* better than the Moto it replaced).

AlwaysWrong.

On 5 Jul 2016, Jeff Liebermann writ:

Well, that?s the symptom that drives my search for the cause. Suddenly no charge indicator. Then I move the cable, ?beep-boop? the indicator shows charging. Is this a case of chicken or egg?

Never go for those thin ones. Always fat (5mm?) ones.

Omelette perhaps? When you wiggle the cable, I can't tell from here whether you have a broken wire inside the molded connector, or you have a contact connection problem. Hold the phone and connector in one hand so that the connector doesn't move. Then, wiggle the cable and see if it's still intermittent. That should separate the potential causes.

Also, if it's that bad, I would tear apart the phone and visually inspect the connector. Same with using a magnifier to inspect the contacts from outside the phone. Might as well run a stiff non-conductive brush through the receptacle while you're at it. Pocket lint tends to be the same dark color as the connector insulation and is difficult to see. I've seen phones that I swear looked clean when I looked inside with a magnifier, yet had an accumulation of lint at the bottom of the connector which was preventing the connector from seating properly.

So much for that idea. I've seen a few cables that are mostly insulation with very little copper. Maybe tear apart one of the cables that had previously failed.

The highest quality cables I've found are the Fujitsu cables. Unfortunately they are quite expensive, $1.80 each if you buy a lot of

These are pretty large diameter cables because they use AWG 22 wire. The sub-$1 cables use either all AWG 28, or use AWG 28 for D+ and D-, and AWG 26 for power and ground.

Thanks for the link. The large plastic on the small end may mean that they're less susceptible to being torqued sideways in the socket.

On Wed, 06 Jul 2016 12:58:41 -0700, mike Gave us:

You guys are silly. Cranking on the cable doesn't damage the 'male' cable, it damages the shroud of the socket you have it in.

Indeed. It's my contention that the socket is the problem. Cable plug is easily replaced. Bent/distorted/mangled socket is not.

The pins on the cheap cables lose their springiness and no longer contact the contacts in the female socket in the phone. It's a good design since replacement cables are pretty cheap, but changing the socket on the phone is expensive.

are significantly poorer quality than the $1.80 22 AWG cables that I bought. Plus if you're charging a high current Micro USB device, using a high-current charger, you need the better cables, though the 26/24 are also fine.

Here's a YouTube video showing the pocket lint in the connector problem and cleaning procedure:

On 6 Jul 2016, Jeff Liebermann writ:

Appreciate the pointer Jeff; that?s the first thing I did. Didn?t change the symptom I?ve reported here.

Cheers.

Dollar Tree stores have recently started selling the flat cables for $1 plus sales tax, and in a half dozen colors. There are a half dozen of their stores in my area. :)