Iphone 5 lightning port charging problem - SOLUTION!

My iPhone 5s has had a gradually increasing unreliability in connecting properly to the lightning charger cord. By twisting the connector or putting pressure on it in one direction or another I was able to get it to charge. But sometimes it would start dinging in the middle of the night as the charging connection came in and out in rapid succession.

The fix was similar to those already mentioned. After being in my lint filled pockets over 20 months lint and debris had built up on the back of the lightning female connector in the iPhone. I used a precision screwdriver (some blades smaller than those used for eyeglasses screw replacement), the smallest I could find, to scrape the flat bottom of lightning plug receptor. I was totally amazed at how much lint I was able to dislodge. I avoided scraping the sides of the connector slot and just scraped the bottom. The bottom of the plug should be white all the way across the bottom of the connector. For those with black iPhones it will be more difficult to see. I'd scrap a little, then lightly tap the iPhone on a white sheet of paper on the desk with the connector facing downward. Voila! Stuff kept coming out. Scrape, tap and scrap, tap until the bottom of the connector was all white. Now the phone charging connection is solid every time I plug in the lightning connector and the lightning connector doesn't wiggle around at all!

P.S. Previously I had tried cleaning the connector with compressed air from can, such as "Falcon Dust Off." This did not work as the lint had become impacted on the back of the plug.

Found this thread while desperately trying to sort out the same problem.

Used a toothpick to clear out the debris - much to my amazement, there was a lot in there!

This solved the problem for me almost instantly - I've also made sure now to order an air spray can, to regularly clean the port.

Many thanks again! This really was invaluable information.

Thanks so much!

Yeah,

I just used a wooden toothpick. I cleaned out a surprising quantity of lint, plugged it in, and voila, it seems my problem is solved. Thanks!

Solved my problem, thanks for sharing.

I used a small interdental brush and it just worked fine. Thanks for sharing, it made my day! 🙂

Thank you for the info, my iPhone is charging again. Now I need to cancel the service schedule for my iPhone.

Thanks everyone! Tried the tooth pick trick and it worked!

Thought I was going to be up for an expensive repair.

The plastic toothpick strategy worked for me at first, but then my iPod Touch started having charging problems again. So I tried a combination of several methods mentioned in this thread. It is charging fine again! Here are the steps I used:

1. Make sure device is powered off.

2. Gently scrape the inside of the port with a plastic toothpick or similar object. This will get most of the big clumps of lint and dust out.

3. Using a flashlight, check deep inside the port. I noticed a lot of dirt caked in the bottom corners of the port. No doubt this was compressed lint and dust that got pushed and pressed every time I plugged it in. It created a "dirt cushion" that I believe prevented the end of my cable from inserting all the way. My plastic toothpick would not dislodge this.

4. Using a metal pin, carefully scrape the compressed dirt to dislodge it. When I did this, quite a bit came loose. I found it useful to revert back to a plastic toothpick to remove the dislodged dirt from the port.

5. Spray the port with some canned compressed air.

6. Rip a very small piece of paper towel and dip it in rubbing alcohol. Remove excess moisture from the paper towel so that it is damp, not soaking wet. Wrap the towel around the end of the toothpick and insert it into the port. Gently clean the metal leads (or whatever they are called). I was surprised to see the amount of black gunk that showed up on the paper towel.

7. Allow a minute or two for the port to dry. Since rubbing alcohol was used, the moisture evaporates quickly so you may not have to wait...but I did anyway just in case.

8. Power on your device and plug it in to check if cleaning was successful.

Toothpick worked great!! Thanks!!

CLeaned the charging port still wont charge. I turned my phone off then plugged the charger in, it turns on but still wont charge. What really bothered me is the lightning cable works perfectly fine on my Ipad but not on the phone... Please help

Mine was doing the exact same thing. Double check the inside of your port. Before I posted the cleaning steps above (two posts ago), I used a toothpick and compressed air and thought I had it thoroughly cleaned. What I didn't notice was a layer of dirt/lint caked in at the bottom of the port. Due to the color of the lint, it was camouflaged so I didn't even realize it was there until I scraped it with a metal pin.

Holy cow!!! How can there be that much lint in that little port??! Thanks for the tip…. It worked great!!

I too was increasingly having problems with the Lightning charging cable losing its connection if wiggled only very slightly.

Pocket lint in the port was indeed the culprit. There are various ways of cleaning out the lint, but obviously its better if it's done gently.

Taking the suggestion of another person in this forum, I used a little brush designed for cleaning tight spots between teeth, one made by GUM.

It worked great, with no charging disconnects when I wiggle the cord. I was surprised how much lint came out!

Used a plastic toothpick - could NOT believe the amount of lint packed into that nasty power navel.

Amazing! You just solved my problem! Million thanks!

Unbelievable the amount of lint it came out of that small port...

(To me the bent paperclip was enough... let's see how it goes with time)