FP3+ bricked or sudden death? :(

[duncan.mahon]

Hello Fairphone community,

I have a Fairphone 3+ that I have had a little over 3 years that seems to be ‘bricked’, i.e. is completely unresponsive, no screen coming up, no little charging light, and inability to reboot/kickstart. This happened this morning when the phone was off and in my pocket and after a night of fully charging.

The phone has had no changes to operating systems and nothing savvy done beyond downloads from the app store. Hardware wise I replaced the bottom module with a new one about 3-4 months ago to fix the charging port and this repair worked completely fine.

Any advice on repairs would be much appreciated!

Thanks so much!

Duncan

[yvmuell]

Hi and welcome to the community.

As you say there is no charging LED this doesnt sound good to me and rather like a sudden death.

We have several reports in the forum, 2 examples

Fairphone 3+, Dead in 3 years

Hey @Vange I can totally understand your frustration. The same happend to the motherboard of my FP3 two weeks ago. I already had an Idea why this happened (which I will elaborate on below) and tried to reflow the motherboard as explained here for the FP2 and tadaaa - after I put the motherboard in my oven at approx. 200°C for 10-15 min. it worked again But here comes the sad part of the story: A week later my beloved FP3 fell out of my pocket from ~10cm to the ground, and was …

FP3 Sudden Death

My FP3 just stopped working a few days ago. Went black, no charging LED when plugged in, Battery was half full. This seems to be a common problem. Maybe it is my selective perception, but there are more than a few similar threads in this forum. Of course I do not have a 2nd phone, i am completely depending on my fp3, which just stopped working. A phone which was made to last. Why do I need software updates for 8 years, if the hardware just dies after 3 years? Malte

For sure it never hurts to start with dissasemling and cleaning of contacts with isopropanol

[Tobi_Kuik]

My FP3+ died, no led, after taking it apart and reassemblong…
I made a post about it.

[yvmuell]

this one is dead already and that such happens is more than rare in my eyes, so I would still say, never hurts😉

[FPbonn]

@yvmuell

We have several reports in the forum, 2 examples … at approx. 200°C for 10-15 min. i

If lead free solder was used, you have to heat up the oven at least to 220°C (melting point).

[yvmuell]

Yes “if”… Dont tell me tell those in the thread sharing experience, who I would believe for the time being as they confirmed its working.

[VincentD1]

I got the same problem, read this topic, totaly disassemble the phone to get the motherboard only (no stick, no plastic, only the motherboard and put the phone in my oven when it get at 220°C, waited 15min, get it out, waited it get cooler and rebuild entirely my FP. And YES !!! It worked !!!

[lulumlin]

I have the same issue, read multiple topics on this subject, and decided to try the reflowing of the motherboard, as my FP3+ is out of warranty now and it worked for some people.
I fully disassembled the phone, removed as many things as possible from the motherboard, and put it 10mins at 220°C in my oven.
Unfortunately it didn’t work for me, the SD card came loose, and when I tried rebuilding the phone and powering it on, it was still dead.

[VincentD1]

11 days after, I got the same problem again, I disassemble the phone (don’t forget to remove the sim card and the sd card and put it in the oven again. Unfortunatly it wasn’t magic this time. The phone didn’t work fully but he vibrate again and do other stuff but I’m not sure to make it alive again.

My bad, after crimp it a little the screen work again and every things look ok !

[sikkagukna]

Sorry, maybe stupid question, but which side do you place up in the oven?

Is this upperside?
Mine FP3 is dead, repair is over €200 and this is my last chance.

[Clemens]

Hey there,

I noticed no difference regarding which side of the mainboard faces up. Just make sure to remove the connector cables from the board (still on in the picture). I myself usually wrap it in aluminum foil (makes the oven stink less afterwards) and heat it for 20 minutes at 180°C. Everybody seems to have their own heating parameters, these ones worked for me quite well.

All the best and good luck