Istick 20w not charging

[Tess Clark]

I bought a 20w istick in late December, and it's worked well enough until now. The battery is dead, so I plugged the charger into it like usual but it's not charging. I've swapped devices and cords to eliminate the charger as the problem, they work fine on other devices. The charging port seems to have a lot of play, and if I move the charger around I can get the charging indicator to flick on for a few seconds, then it stops.

The insert that came with it states that it's not under warranty since it was purchased through a 3rd party, so I need to make it work if at all possible. Buying another, unfortunately, is not an option because I'm dead broke (as in less than $5 to my name right now).

I have a good quality soldering iron and I'm not afraid to pull things apart (at this point there's nothing to lose anyway) so what are the most likely culprits? Also, how easy is it going to be to slip everything out the bottom of the case without doing irreparable damage? Thanks in advance, I'm going to go insane it it's just dead.

 

[Frenchfry1942]

The first iStick came out at a good time with the holidays coming. It takes a bit to fully get a product out and they timed it well. The low price looked good at first, but there were problems. I tossed it.

Reminds me of something of something that I heard a long time a go that, "if something is cheap in price, it is probably cheap in quality". Another one is, "you get what you pay for".

I didn't remember that and so I ended up spending again to replace it.

Life goes on.

P.S. I am hearing better things of the follow-on iSticks.

 

[r77r7r]

There is a set of photos of a teardown in the HUGE Istick thread- I'll look. The teardown didn't look too hard.

 

[r77r7r]

This might be it.
http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/fo...d1416628220-eleaf-istick-broken_istick_02.jpg

 

[Tess Clark]

Thank you so much. Here goes nothing.

 

[aldenf]

Thank you so much. Here goes nothing.

The USB port on my first iStick broke completely free of the PCB and shorted/toasted the entire chipset.

Take the iStick apart, gently. The USB port is sandwiched between the two PCBs but there's a little room to work. Position the port correctly on the PCB and gently bend the side tabs back into the mounting holes on the PCB. After you get it in place, hit each side with a bit of epoxy or hot glue. As long as the soldered connections were not disturbed, you should be good to go.

 

[Katdarling]

Tess, I also had a problem with one of my 'Sticks and the USB port. Perhaps this might help?

http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/fo...on/601111-eleaf-istick-1027.html#post15152612

 

[Tess Clark]

Thank you for the help, it's dead though. Nothing loose or detached, the USB port is where it belongs, I have no idea what the proble m is. =/

 

[r77r7r]

Sorry to hear.

 

[vincom]

Thank you for the help, it's dead though. Nothing loose or detached, the USB port is where it belongs, I have no idea what the proble m is. =/

u stated the usb port was loose, it shouldnt be so thats where the problem most likely is.
might need to resolder

 

[northhar]

if I move the charger around I can get the charging indicator to flick on for a few seconds, then it stops.

I assume its the charge cable that you are moving around.. If so it may be just the connection.. I had this sort of happen and I found that even though the cable looked and felt that it was in completely it was not... removed and replaced always carefully fixed that.. Hope this helps..

 

[MarvelMyxer]

It may e just me but I have had a ton of devices, from phones to childrens game devices and playstation controllers and all eventually have trouble with the micro usb connection. I am guessing the same is the case for the Istick. I have the Istick 30w and have yet to have trouble but it is still almost new. I know this was no help but wanted to make you feel better about your purchase and assure you it is not just your device having issues. I would search for micro usb connection repair and not focus so much on istick charging port repair.