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N80 Charger - They don't make them like they did in my day.

27 replies · 10,542 views · Started 04 February 2007

[SIZE="2"]I have blogged this before, and I have spoken to many people with the same problem, that the new N-series chargers are just not up to their stuff.

I know for many months now I have had to put my phone on charge and wiggle/rotate the charger before it latches on to something and charges. You can tell its just a lose connection because when you push the cable a bit it starts charging fine.

When I phoned O2, my service provider, they were very happy to replace it, but what they neglected to mention was that they did not have it in stock, so when I phoned up 2 weeks later they suggested I buy it from Nokia and they reimburse me.

Now I'm a student, and incurring those costs are not at the top of my list, so I left it, cos it worked... just.

Well last night I had a dream, nothing like Martin Luther King had envisaged, more of a nightmarish world where the front of my N80 had fallen off and I was running around trying to get it put back on without having to pay for it, funny thing was, although the phone was in 2 parts, it seemed to work fine. Should have realised at the time that a remote screen would have been awesome!

Anyway, when I woke up this morning my phone had fallen off my side table, no doubt because I had knocked it in my unconscious hell. Then, when I managed to regain full control of my faculties and look for my phone, this had happened to my charger:
User posted image (Taken with my N80).

You may notice it's a bit nackered. More precisely the pin is no longer straight, and in-fact has tares in it, and of course it won't charge at all. So straight on to the phone to O2 and they said they will still replace it. Perfect! - Who said O2 customer service was crap?

They also suggested if I had the USB data cable, the phone can charge off that. Anyone else know that? I would check, but I can't find my data cable.

But it makes me think, are Nokia's new N-series (and E-series?) chargers really up to the job? I guess they are the probably the first generation of the series, and they are going to be improvements as production costs become lower. However it is still annoying that you would never see an old style charger do anything like that on a 2"6'/75cm drop on to carpet.

Another point, why did Nokia change the design at all? It's not like the old style was broken, and on the N80 at least, there is plenty of room for the larger pin. Also the change in style means that I can't charge my phone in as many places as I used to.

Anyway this has turned in to another epic post, and my second thread in a week, so I'm going to calm down now, and let you guys mull it over.

Do you guys have similar experiences? What do you think of the new charger? Can I really charge my phone with the data cable? If I can find it.[/SIZE]

I have also had problems with my charger, the pin isnt durable at all!! I was provided with an extension/converter thingy, which can be used with an old nokia charger. But if the pin on this breaks again - i'm buggered.

They need to re-design this - its really bad.

My boyfriends has broke a few times now also, if you unplug your phone at a funny angle it seems to break it!!

Kelly

Yep - we have gone through about 2 of them - fortunately Three have been good enough to post us replacements, I think they must be a little dodgy as Three just kinda went ok - and sent one out!

I don't think it does charge from USB, BUT you can get USB chargers, PC World are selling them cheap at the moment (at least in Bedford). They are seriously useful at work ... You can also pick up a usb charger AND data cable, that plugs into both!

I have got into the habit of taping the joints on the chargers to stop any further problems - and it has seemed to have worked!

Gerry

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Yes my charger went, it wasn't the pin, but the cable where it joins the pin has broke, so I bought a third party charger which is better made and more robust than the nokia charger, the cable is thicker and longer, and it seems to charge better (I seem to get a few extra hours out of the battery since I have been using it)...

cost me 40 quid though, will get a replacement from nokia also as a spare that I can keep in the living room 😊..

p.s. the usb cable that came with the phone wont charge it...those CRAZY people at nokia thought that giving us a sh*t battery, and a sh*t charger wasn't enough, they also decided not to include charging by the included usb cable.

Got to love those guys 😊..

Woah! Cash! Was that charger made of? gold?! The new Nokia ones are only £10 on the site.

This seems to be a universal problem though. Nokia really should address this, rather than leaving it up to our service providers, and us, to sort out their problem.

I think I will be popping down to PC World shortly, since I imagine they close at 4pm since its a Sunday, to see if I can find a USB charger. Come to think of it, I got my soldering iron here, I could prolly hack one together if its too expensive. I'll let you know how that goes.

knuckleskin wrote:Woah! Cash! Was that charger made of gold?! The new Nokia ones are only �10 on the site.

This seems to be a universal problem though. Nokia really should address this, rather than leaving it up to our service providers, and us, to sort out their problem.

I think I will be popping down to PC World shortly, since I imagine they close at 4pm since its a Sunday, to see if I can find a USB charger. Come to think of it, I got my soldering iron here, I could prolly hack one together if its too expensive. I'll let you know how that goes.

Cool, well I live in Lithuania now and all electrical gear is more expensive than in the UK.....and its a good quality charger, better even than the original nokia

Ah, ok, I forgive you :tongue:

I can understand why Nokia didn't put charging on the Pop port though, because USB charging wasn't very common when they invented it, and they probably just didn't envisage people doing it, especially since it would degrade data speeds to charge and transfer at the same time.

There presumably is power out on the Pop port, but you are a brave man whoever tries putting power in to that.

I did think the O2 guy was talking out of his ass a bit when he said I could charge it on USB, but I kinda figured he knew what he was talking about :tongue:

knuckleskin wrote:Ah, ok, I forgive you :tongue:

I can understand why Nokia didn't put charging on the Pop port though, because USB charging wasn't very common when they invented it, and they probably just didn't envisage people doing it, especially since it would degrade data speeds to charge and transfer at the same time.

There presumably is power out on the Pop port, but you are a brave man whoever tries putting power in to that.

I did think the O2 guy was talking out of his ass a bit when he said I could charge it on USB, but I kinda figured he knew what he was talking about :tongue:

I am sure I heard somewhere of a new usb charger, not the one with the charger pin, I may be talking bollox though, I will have a look around.

The new charges are crap, and they are made so small(nokia 7270 and 6100 had the normal bigger charger pins)

i just use an old thick Nokia charger (from the likes of 3210) and use the converter u get with the N80 and the phone end, works a treat!

Thats after i went through 4 N80 chargers :s

Keydogg wrote:i just use an old thick Nokia charger (from the likes of 3210) and use the converter u get with the N80 and the phone end, works a treat!

Thats after i went through 4 N80 chargers :s

I tried some of my old chargers and they just were not powerful enough to even start the charge

Just bought an N80 on e-bay to get me back to S60 for the N95 arrives. My charger pin is really loose in the phone and falls out very easily if knocked or moved. The cable is also cracked. Does anyone else have a loose charger pin? Is the nokia adapter for the regular charger a better fit?
Just like to thank everyone for the N80 - N80IE info - I've now flashed my 3 branded N80 to a generic N80IE, much better now!

knuckleskin wrote:[SIZE="2"]I have blogged this before and I have spoken to many people with the same problem, that the new N-series chargers are just not up to their stuff.
....
Do you guys have similar experiences? What do you think of the new charger?[/SIZE]

I've just sent my N80 charger back this last week for exactly the problem you mention Knuck. I have had to pull the cable around the clip of the body glove cover I have, so that it is kept tight and pulling on the jack or it would not charge.

There's no damage on my jack as far as I know, but it's gone off now to "The Tech Guys" which I regret is probably the Mastercare people (I got the phone at The Link).

Coincidence maybe, or more likely judging by the other replies here, the N80 charger with that teenie weenie jack plug and the very thin cable is a cost cut too far by the makers. Hope they read these forums and track return stats...

Hanco

I think its amazing the amount of responses in just this forum in a little under 12 hours. I have spoken to friends in other forums who have similar issues, and since this is only a small part of the forum similar experiences may be happening else where.

I hope this helps anyone who ends up in this situation and can't get a replacement, that you are not alone. I urge everyone who gets a replacement charger to keep their receipt to prove that it is newer than the phone, for when it goes faulty.

For my specific problems I have to post my charger, leaving me without a charger for 3-5 days. I went to PC World earlier and bought one of those USB charger things for a ridiculous £10, but as soon as I get my replacement I will return the USB charger back to PC World.

Maybe I'll try being really gentle with the new charger, although that is tricky when I have to do a 600 mile trip every few weeks, maybe I'll invest in one of Nokia's carry chargers, see if that improves thing.

My charger cable had a slight "jolt" last week when I pulled the phone without realising it was still connected and now it has a dodgy connection. If I pick up the phone to use it when it's charging it keeps cutting out. 😡

So I've posted my old nackered charger off now, cost me £1.70 cos O2 recommended it going recorded delivery + the price of an envelope. It wasn't the full price for the recorded cos to some extent they are Freepost.

After what you said mcsleazycrisps, it stirred something in me, and I seem to remember doing something similar, or at least, it sounds like the kind of thing I would do too.

I'm thinking of maybe modifying my new one with a good wodge of selotape or some hot glue might do, but would simultaneously look hideous. So any suggestions for home-brew strengtheners for the cable?

knuckleskin wrote:

I'm thinking of maybe modifying my new one with a good wodge of selotape or some hot glue might do, but would simultaneously look hideous. So any suggestions for home-brew strengtheners for the cable?

I would suggest finding some electrical cord (like on lamps etc) slightly smaller than the plasic of the pin, take out the inner cables, cut a piece to the length you want maybe a 1 or 2 cm, then superglue it to the plasic part of the pin..

Currys have sent my phone charger back to me with a compliments slip and, written by what looks like a young child

" Dear customer, please note that the chargers are only guaranteed for 6 months"

Well, I've heard of something called the sale of goods act of parliament... this ain't fit for purpose. I feel a letter to Head Office coming on!!!

Everyone: Don't accept the this rubbish about "6 months guarantee" if you get it. 6 or 12, it has to be fit for purpose and even if it breaks on the 13th month, a retailer saying "12 months only for guarantee" cannot hide completely behind that.

Hanco

Hanco wrote:Currys have sent my phone charger back to me with a compliments slip and, written by what looks like a young child

" Dear customer, please note that the chargers are only guaranteed for 6 months"

Well, I've heard of something called the sale of goods act of parliament... this ain't fit for purpose. I feel a letter to Head Office coming on!!!

Everyone: Don't accept the this rubbish about "6 months guarantee" if you get it. 6 or 12, it has to be fit for purpose and even if it breaks on the 13th month, a retailer saying "12 months only for guarantee" cannot hide completely behind that.

Hanco

yea I got the same reply when I took my charger back in Lithuania, but trading standards is a little different over here, well they don't really have one, lets put it like that, a little backward in that department is Lithuania, the drop dead gorgeous girls make up for it though, by a long way 😊

Cash wrote:yea I got the same reply when I took my charger back in Lithuania, but trading standards is a little different over here, well they don't really have one, lets put it like that, a little backward in that department is Lithuania, the drop dead gorgeous girls make up for it though, by a long way 😊

I heard your trading standards over there work with baseball bats?? 😉

Seriously tho... the nokia chargers blow... then its in the lap of the Gods how your OEM one works... I have a great one... and paid nowt for it... as someone bought it me for Xmas (arent I lucky)

Still there is some degree of charging/not charging if your on the phone talking our surfing etc... so still not a perfect fit. :icon13:

kontraband wrote:I heard your trading standards over there work with baseball bats?? 😉

You've been here then I see 😊

Baseball bats or Kalashkinov are the customer support tools of choice 😊...either that or they send out one of the gorgeous support staff, and of course you just cant argue with a drop dead gorgeous girl wearing nothing but a very tight shirt and the shortest mini skirt you ever saw 😉.

Did I mention all the girls are stunning in Lithuania ?? 😊 :turtle:

yes thats right my charger threw the towel in and gave up, so orange sent me a faulty handset as replacement LOL then decided to send my a k800i instead, but now im happy, my k800 charges via the data cable, and also the data cable has a connector for the charger so i can have them both in at the same time, but i dont know why i would need to as the data cable charges on its own, maybe for double fast-ness? LOL

He he !

I called 3 for a replacement (mine works, but its taped up ... and I have to make sure its in the right place) and they told me that I couldn't have one as I was out of contract, I could have a new phone instead (6 months into a 12 month contract, I am not going to correct them!) So just hoping for the N95 to come out soon ... although I would like a keyboard type thing ... any suggestion to a COMPANION to an N80, as opposed to a replacement (despite everything, I actually like it!)

G

i THINK voda has the N95 out now... dunno about 3... good luck with that weird policy they have tho... its a deal!

Just sent my charger back to Nokia today. Knuckles, there's a freepost address on the Nokia web-site. Also noticed the 6-month warranty, be interesting to see if I get a new one.

Doh - when I got around to trying it on to get a new phone, they seemed to have realised the mistake in the contract and wouldn't give me a new adaptor, got an E65 and oddly enough it has the same type as the N80 (not the new style) a little annoyed, especially as a month after I got the E65 (quality phone) they came out with an N95! Still - everything else about three has been fantastic!

kontraband wrote:where the 'this thread is worthless without pictures' icon?? 😉

Photos of my broken charger, or Cash's Lithuanian hot girls? I can only supply you with photos of the metal piece ripped from the plastic bit, but it was taken with the n80, so it won't look amazing.

firstrest: I made my contact through my service provider so I had to pay. I ended up with 2 working chargers tho 😃