Windy weeks are hard on phones in a quiet way. Nothing dramatic, nothing you'd notice. Then one morning your charger only works if you hold the cable at a certain angle, and you start planning a funeral for a perfectly good phone. Hold on. Before you give up on it, look at the port.
Your pocket is a lint factory
Pockets, bags and cup holders collect fuzz and fine grit all year, and windy, dry days from Barrio Logan to National City push more of it around. Every time you plug in, the cable shoves that stuff a little deeper. It packs into a tight little wad at the bottom of the port, and the cable can't seat all the way. That's usually the whole mystery.
How to check without making it worse
Power the phone off. Shine a flashlight into the port and look for a gray fuzzy clump. If you see one, a wooden or plastic toothpick, used gently, can lift it out. Scrape along the walls, not into the bottom. Skip metal pins and paperclips, since they can scratch the contacts or short something. And please don't blast it with a can of compressed air from close up, or blow into it. Moisture from your breath is not the goal.
When it's not lint
If the port looks clean and the cable still wiggles, try a different cable and a different brick first. Cables wear out way more often than ports do. If a good cable still feels loose or charging keeps cutting in and out, the port itself is likely worn or bent, and that's a repair, not a cleaning job. Back up your phone while it still charges at all, because a port that's about to quit tends to pick the worst moment.
We come to you
Barrio Logan, National City, Chula Vista, downtown, we'll meet you wherever you are. Tell us your phone model and cross streets when you book, and we'll sort out the port. Toothpick optional.