When you plug in your smartphone and it won’t charge, one of the first thoughts that will crop up in your mind is that the charger or charging port is faulty.
Once you’ve narrowed down the cause of the mishap to a problem with the charging port, before taking the device to a technician for repair, consider learning how to clean the charging port on the phone first.
The charging port might have gathered dust and lint over time and needs cleaning. But if you don’t know how to clean the charging port on your phone, you might need to make avoidable expenses to get the port repaired or replaced.
Let’s show you how to clean your charging port and get rid of accumulated dirt and debris that won’t make your precious phone get some juice.
How to clean your Android charging port
There are two techniques you can use to clean the port: cleaning with bursts of compressed air and cleaning with a cotton ball wrapped around a toothpick.
Using compressed air
You can blow compressed air into the port to clear dust from your phone’s electronic components. But don’t do the blowing with your mouth as that can damage sensitive electronics in your mobile device but use a blowing can that looks like your typical aerosol deodorant.
The blowing can only contain air and is available for purchase in stores online.
To make use of it, simply point the nozzle of the can into your charging port and then give it a good blast. This procedure helps loosen the dust dirt, making it easy for the particles to fall out.
Using a toothpick
A second method for cleaning your charger port apart from blowing controlled bursts of air is to do the cleaning with a cotton ball wrapped around a toothpick. In this technique, you’ll use the toothpick to scrape the inside of your charging port gently.
To get started, lay around the cotton ball or cotton pad on a flat surface. After that, insert the toothpick into a very thin layer of the cotton pad at an angle of 20 degrees.
Hold down the cotton with one hand and twist the toothpick until a small amount of the cotton wraps around the toothpick’s tip. If you can, repeat the last step with the two ends of your toothpick.
These are the two methods to note as far as learning how to clean the charging port on a phone is concerned.
Why should you clean your phone's charging port?
Accumulated dust particles are among the most common causes of charging problems in smartphones. When lint and other dirt particles accumulate in your TECNO charging port — or other brands — the resultant effect is the battery connectors getting obstructed.
Thus, on inserting the charging cable for your Android or the lightning cable for your iPhone, the dust won’t allow an electrical connection to be made, which means no power goes into the phone battery.
If you know how to clean the charging port on your phone, you can easily fix the problem.
When your mobile device isn’t charging even after doing the cleaning, there are other causes of the problem.
Here are some other reasons why the issue occurs:
Damaged or faulty charging cable
The most common reason why a smartphone doesn’t charge when connected to the mains is charging cables. These cables can have various problems and go through damages with time, which occurs when they’re transported regularly during trips and other activities that require taking our chargers along.
To check if the cause of the charging problem is a faulty cable, replace it with another charging cable and observe if the handset is charging or not. If it’s, that means your charging cable is faulty.
We recommend that you always use genuine charging cables with your Android to prevent issues with the battery.
Damaged or faulty Charging Adapter
Sometimes, the problem lies with the adapter itself, and not the cable. This becomes evident when the mobile device is still not charging even after replacing your charging cable.
The next step to take toward fixing the issue is to check the adapter to be sure it’s not faulty. Start by removing the charging cable and checking the connecting port between them.
Do you spot any rust on the connecting port? Do you notice if it burns out? Consider using another charging adapter to charge the cell phone. If it charges, that means your adapter is defective.
What you can use to safely clean the charging port
To clean your Infinix charging port (or other brands) safely, there are some materials to use and others to avoid. You should only use soft materials for the cleaning.
A cotton ball or a toothpick are soft items you can use safely to get rid of dust from a specific side of the port. These items are also effective because they can fit into small spaces, which will make them less likely to damage the port.
You can also use bursts of compressed air or a bulb syringe. The air from the syringe will loosen the debris in the charging port and extract it, obviating any need to insert any item into the port.
What not to use when cleaning your charging port
When it comes to learning how to clean the charging port on a phone, another key point to note is that blowing air into the port with your mouth can damage sensitive electronics in your Android.
This is because your breath contains water particles that introduce moisture into the port and cause physical damage to the phone.
Another item you should avoid when cleaning a charging port or lightning port is a toothbrush. The bristles on the toothbrush can get stuck inside the port. That will only make things worse.
If you’ve cold feet when looking to clean your charging port, you can seek the help of professional technicians at a Carlcare service center nearby.
Wrap up
If you know how to clean the charging port on your phone, you can easily fix charging problems with your smartphone. To clean the port, items to use include a cotton ball wrapped around a toothpick and compressed air. But if you use a toothbrush, you can damage your phone.
Other related topics: