FP3 not charging and not able to connect to PC

[faea]

Hi,

My FP3 is not charging, and my PC does not detect the device.

• When the phone is turned on, the yellow light on top is on when I put the charging cable in, indicating that it’s charging.
• Inside the phone, the battery icon does not display the electric icon which indicates that it is not charging.
• Phone is not charging, battery slowly dying.
• PC does not detect phone
• When phone is turned off, phone buzzes when I put charging cable in. Then “boots”, showing large battery icon in screen, but not actually charging. Phone keeps buzzing periodically (Like it keeps losing connection and then it then detects the power from the USB cable again, “booting” again, then shuts off again, then boots again etc. this repeats indefinitely without actually charging.

Things I have tried:

• 5 different USB-C cables
• Cleaning USB port on phone and in cable with airduster and needle
• reboot
• battery pull
• battery pull (waiting at least 30 minutes)
• Taking apart fairphone 3, removing bottom part, cleaning it and putting everything back together again making sure the connections to the motherboard were good.
• of course, my phone is up to date with android 10

All of the above did not solve the problem.
Things I want to try:

• Buy new bottom part and replace the one in the phone, I suspect it’s a hardware problem. (My phone is 1 year old now, can I still get warranty?)
• Call fairphone support, but it’s the weekend so they’re closed.
• Turn it into an official fairphone repaire shop (Does this even exist? Where to go?)

I suspect it’s a hardware problem, but I find it hard to diagnose. Please help.

[anon9989719]

Hi and welcome to the forum

Yes you are still entitled to a repair under warranty unless you have voided it somehow, for example getting it wet.

2.1 The Fairphone smartphone device, the separately bought Fairphone accessories and replaceable smartphone modules (“Modules”) are covered by this Warranty for 24 months from the date of delivery to the original purchaser.
Fairphone 3 Warranty - What is a warranty and how does it work?

For current Fairphone owners: Use these parts to repair your phone only if you’re sure that the damage is not due to a manufacturing defect. In other words, be certain that your phone is out of warranty before you attempt any repairs by yourself. If you’re in doubt, contact us before you order
Spare Parts | Fairphone

Did you notice any discolouration of the dampness indicators, the red square in the image below is an example of getting wet, even a pink colour would void the warranty.

@faea

of course, my phone is up to date with android 10

Well Android 11 is now the default for FP3 and FP3+ not that A10 indicates an issue, but support will no doubt ask you to update as one of their steps in ensuring your are on the same page as them.

The Forum Guide to... Fairphone Support

This guide is a wiki, you are free to edit/update it using the icon in the bottom right corner of this post. First things first: here is the fastest and best way to contact support: Send a request to support Please fill in the required fields for case to be handled faster If you didn’t buy the device directly from Fairphone provide proof of purchase in your request Write down your ticket number Only use one email address when mailing Fill in as much data as possible, then s…

Also try to charge without a SIM and SD card.

It could well be the USB port which isn’t very easy to clean

See this topic and note the last post

FP3 water damage: charging problem and blinking flashlight

@anon9989719 , @Roms : I still can’t belive it, but it seems you were completely right!! What happened: Since I got frustrated, I ordered the bottom module for replacement. Having this as a backup plan I was not afraid to open up the modules and have a closer look inside. But I coudn’t find anything. Everthing seemed completly ok. But today afternoon I had the chance to use a strong illuminated magnifier and had a look at the inside of the bottom module again. And then I saw it: in the back of…

[tial]

Hi @faea and welcome to the forum.
I recently had a similiar case with my FP3 (@anon9989719 already linked to the corresponding thread). I can also just insist now, to check the USB-C connector in detail (especially inside the module!).
In case (after checking and trying everything) you are still thinking about ordering a bottom module and you are living in Germany, I could send you my new bottom module which I just received about two weeks ago for a reasonable price. I didn’t need it, because my repair was succesfull, but returning it to Fairphone would also have been unessecary shipping… PM me, if you are interested.