verizon galaxy nexus repair

[sdc30]

This may be the wrong place but I feel its the most appropriate. So I cracked my screen and replaced it and it works fine now except when I took the motherboard off..I ripped off the coax antenna flex cable because its soldered not a plug .. Does anyone know what I should do from here? I've tried soldering it back to almost no avail (I get very bad service one bar or none at all). Should I look into a new flex cable / motherboard ? Has anyone had experience with this already?.. Thanks in advance

tl;Dr need to fix coax antenna on Verizon galaxy nexus

 

[bosshaug12]

Why wouldn't it solder back?
Does the lead(where the coax was soldered to) look beige now or not shiny at all?

If it wouldn't solder back then you probably pulled up the lead or lifted the pad trying to solder it back.

Post some photos of the affected area.

 

[sdc30]

It *does* solder back and stick but only after some coercing. The wire was stripped back ( the head of the cable ) so I'm trying to gap the area with solder and maybe that's at fault I don't know enough about it. The area is brown, yes. I'll post some pictures around 6pm est

 

[sdc30]

 

[bosshaug12]

http://i44.tinypic.com/t7lh4y.jpg
http://i39.tinypic.com/smu35e.jpg

Ok, I can't tell for sure and don't have a VZW gnex board on hand to compare it too but it looks to me like you've covered some other tiny components(resistors, etc) with solder.
If you have some desoldering braid handy try cleaning that area up but be careful not to move or knock any of those little components off.

It would be best to run a small jumper wire from where the coaxial originally was soldered to to the end of the coaxial you have now if it is not reaching.

Id like to see some photos of that area cleaned up. That amount of solder could be causing the issue but it could also be because the pad is lifted from the mobo.

 

[sdc30]

mm okay. What is a jumper wire? The solder pad may have come off.. I'm not sure.. I'm soldering directly to a little area on the board. I'll unsolder it and post what it still looks like and i guess ill compare it with its supposed to be. I'm not sure why its soldered and not an actual plug like .. mer. There aren't any little components, to my knowledge, that are covered but ill unsolder it again tomorrow and show you, Thanks.

 

[bosshaug12]

mm okay. What is a jumper wire? The solder pad may have come off.. I'm not sure.. I'm soldering directly to a little area on the board. I'll unsolder it and post what it still looks like and i guess ill compare it with its supposed to be. I'm not sure why its soldered and not an actual plug like .. mer. There aren't any little components, to my knowledge, that are covered but ill unsolder it again tomorrow and show you, Thanks.

Hey, just looked up a teardown of the VZW gnex and it does have a plug coaxial cable.
Cracking Open the Samsung Galaxy Nexus: Motherboard - Back | 39 of 64

At the very bottom of the mobo, on the far left side, that little gold circle with a gold dot in the middle is the plug for the coax.

Edit: Also, disregard the jumper cable. A coax is making 2 connections when its plugged in. If it was a soldered on one then a jumper would work. A jumper is just a small wire making a connection from one point to another if its not quite long enough.

 

[sdc30]

Hey thanks, also .. Oh man.. well i guess i definitely F********** ripped that off..i just removed it MORE carefully and saw.. I am so mad.. so whats my next move? a new mobo?

 

[bosshaug12]

Hey thanks, also .. Oh man.. well i guess i definitely F********** ripped that off..i just removed it MORE carefully and saw.. I am so mad.. so whats my next move? a new mobo?

You could go that route if your device is definitely not repairable. I would not suggest it though because for one motherboards themselves are pretty expensive and if you do find just a motherboard for sale on ebay/craigslist you don't know the details about it. You dont know if it is fully functional since they disassembled it last, the skill level of the person disassembling it, wether its come into contact with any water, etc, etc.

Honestly, at this point you should look into replacing the whole phone.

 

[sdc30]

Yeah i guess you're right lol. I was going to replace it soon but I wanted this guy as a backup in case of something and all that.. Crap.. well I guess I'll learn to be more careful when ripping off wires from hundred dollar devices. Thanks

 

[sdc30]

You know on second thought maybe ill keep tinkering with it .. whats the best way for me to clean that area and solder it more effectively?

 

[bosshaug12]

You know on second thought maybe ill keep tinkering with it .. whats the best way for me to clean that area and solder it more effectively?

For cleaning it you will need some desoldering braid. Once you remove all the solder, I would really need to see what the board looks like.

Is the little circle plug on the board still there or is that what was ripped up?

 

[sdc30]

mer The circle plug was ripped up.. otherwise I could order a new wire probably..this is what it looks like

the solder also did not hold I was able to pull it right up :X

 

[bosshaug12]

mer The circle plug was ripped up.. otherwise I could order a new wire probably..this is what it looks like http://i44.tinypic.com/33fbwpt.jpg

the solder also did not hold I was able to pull it right up :X

So is solder sticking to those pads?

 

[sdc30]

The two tiny strips on either side? Yes, not extremely well though. I've tried holding the wire in place and soldering but it wont fix to the board unless I'm doing it incorrectly?

edit: It does stick but its not a very strong hold. I'm able to pull it up relatively easy.

 

[bosshaug12]

The two tiny strips on either side? Yes, not extremely well though. I've tried holding the wire in place and soldering but it wont fix to the board unless I'm doing it incorrectly?

If you cant get the wire to stick to the board than you probably lifted the pad which is not repairable. Then those other 2 solder points, not the strips but the smaller dots top and bottom, the top one definitely looks like you lifted the pad.

Also, don't try to solder the wire to those strips. Your best bet at trying to repair it is to solder the plug back to the board.

 

[sdc30]

Ah okay .. if I can find out where i put it.. Its probably in the vacuum now lol

 

[sdc30]

A friend told me I could trace it up to the test port and solder it ? I'm not sure what he meant though.

 

[bosshaug12]

Maybe if you have a schematic of the motherboard. I'm not sure if there is a test port on the VZW gnex.

What you might be able to do is look at the traces leading up to the solder points and scrape off the top of the board exposing the copper trace and solder to that. Although it probably wouldnt hold very well and would likely break off.

Posted via Android Central App

 

[sdc30]

What is a test port anyway? and you mean scrape / solder to those two tiny strips where I ripped the component off?