Replacing Chuwi Hi12 mini-USB charging port?

[Cheryl Arvidson-Keating]

Hi folks, this is my first post, so please be gentle with me :).

I’ve got a Hi12 with a mini-USB charging port. It has been damaged (because, children) and it needs the cable to be in at a really peculiar angle to connect to charge. I can see a future where it won’t work at all approaching rapidly. Can anyone point me to where I can get the correct part to repair it?

I am reasonably confident mucking around with the inside of laptops, but I have never worked on a tablet before, so my confidence isn’t high and I will probably take it into someone who repairs tablets professionally to actually get it done; but I am in really rural area of the UK and it’s extremely unlikely that they will have come across the make before, so if I can find the part, that would make things quicker.

Any advice and/or guidance would be very much appreciated.

I gather from reading through old threads that some models now come with a USB-C port; but this is a mini. Would replacing with a USB-C make any functional difference or would it be not possible anyway?

With thanks.

Chez

[OriginalGriff]

I just bought a Hi12, and the latest version arrived this week: the Z8350 processor version.

This has Micro USB, not USB-C so while it’s possible to change it, that isn’t a standard feature, and you’d need to find a USB-C fast charging cable as well as change the connector inside the tablet. (The difference is that USB-C doesn’t have a “right way up” so it’s easier to insert, not that it’s any more child proof than Micro USB.) And … a quick scan of the internet shows that teh connections are different: MicroUSB has 5 PCB connectors

http://uk.rs-online.com/web/p/micro-usb-connectors/7142344/

while USB-c has what looks like 11

http://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/mill-max-manufacturing-corp/898-43-024-90-310000/ED1391CT-ND/5213140

I’m not opening mine up to find out (that would invalidate my warranty) but almost certainly the connector is a surface mount component, so you will need a pretty good rework station to avoid damaging the tablet any further, but the component itself should be an “off-the-shelf” part you can buy from your local RS, Farnell, or other electronic component supplier. You’ll need good eyes and fingers to change it though! :laugh:

I’d suggest that you find the tablet mender first, and ask him / her – Micro USB is a well established standard and they get broken at a good rate so he probably is used to changing them in phones and suchlike already.

[Cheryl Arvidson-Keating]

Thanks, that’s helpful. I didn’t the changing to USB-C was going to be an option, but thought it was worth an ask. I didn’t know that the micro usb ports were a Standard Thing, so that’s solved the issue. I’ll just speak to the chap I’ve found and see where we go from there. Thank you ever so much!

[OriginalGriff]

You’re welcome!

Good luck – I hope he can fix it.

[Hoc Tro]

Cheryl, could you please post your fix? Mine is lose like yours and it has the Z8300 processor, not the newer Z8350.

Thanks. Tony

[Author]

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