⟐ Answer accepted janeiro 14, 2014 at 4:53 GMT-7

3 days ago, while updating my iPhone 3GS, an error came on from iTunes and the phone just turned off, I've tried EVERY SINGLE WAY to get it to work again but i guess im gonna have to do it the hard way by breaking into it.

plus, i opened it and took out the wire #3 and i cant get it back in.

Any suggestions?

⟐ Answered dezembro 18, 2013 at 2:32 GMT-7

Initially I had problems with the display just going dead (like the power suddenly cut off and display got fuzzy then black). What usually happened afterwards was that the apple logo would appear and the only way to get back into the home screen was doing a soft reset. These crashes got more frequent as I tried using the Safari app, running simple web surfing .

Thinking the battery was bad, I replaced it. But it seems I fixed one problem, but happened on another: the battery will not charge by PC, not by wall charger.

It seems that I can trick it into charging if I connect the iPhone to the PC and shut down my computer and then reboot it. However this is short-lived as it only charges up to about maybe 20% and back to square one. The iPhone operates normally but its so annoying that I cannot seem to fully charge the battery, even if I " trick " it into charging.

Oddly enough, I think it's strange that iTunes recognizes it but it doesn't charge. No charge status shown in the indicator icon. (Unless I " trick " it with rebooting PC). I've been able to restore it fully to factory settings twice ( iOS 6.1.6) , but the non-charging battery problem persists.

I got another 3GS with "proven" components and tried to swap them out with the problem one. Using parts from the proven one , I had No luck with changing the dock connector, the battery, nor the display assembly. In other words, the problem remains, which worries me to think that something may be wrong with the system board.

Would there be another way to fix this problem? Is there a way to test the system board for faults?

Your thoughts are appreciated , thanks.

⟐ Commented agosto 21, 2021 at 14:04 GMT-7

Thanks for the replies. I've not been near any water, I hope its not condensation if it is then its hardly a very usable phone considering I live in quite a dry air environment. I just took a picture of my friends kid and it was game over!

After some phone calls and a return visit the shop I bought it from are sending it back to Apple.

⟐ Commented junho 27, 2015 at 12:58 GMT-7

Thanks in advance.

⟐ Answered outubro 24, 2018 at 7:47 GMT-7

When I power it on, I never get the apple logo, and it goes right to a white screen. If I hit the power/lock button it will go black screen. Hit it again and white screen. The mute toggle works (phone will vibrate), and iTunes recognizes the iPhone just fine. Holding home button will bring up voice control. I have tried swiping the digitizer screen to see if I can get some sort of audible response, but no luck. I have tried multiple new LCD and digitizer's, and same symptoms.

I have even restored the firmware 3 times, no luck. Can anyone help?

⟐ Commented janeiro 25, 2017 at 15:04 GMT-7

⟐ Answer edited setembro 14, 2016 at 15:47 GMT-7

⟐ Answered maio 26, 2012 at 0:42 GMT-7

I just got an iPhone 3GS off of eBay with water damage. It hasn't come here yet, but it doesn't look bad from what I've seen. I've read a lot about it, but somebody says do one thing, while another guy says to do another. So I ask:

I use rubbing alcohol with at least 90% concentration, right?

What kind of brush do I use?

Do I just clean it off, or do I dunk it in a pool of the alcohol? Or do I clean it then dunk it? If so, for how long?

Once its clean, how do I dry it? I've read hairdryer yes, an no. Sunlight yes, and no. Can someone clarify on the best practices to cleaning this damage up?

Thanks!

⟐ Commented abril 30, 2016 at 5:54 GMT-7

got my IFIXIT-replacement battery for the 3GS. After installing, reboots occur after about 7 minutes. Tried every tweak, including iReb, jailbreaking.. problem stays.

When switching to the old battery, problem disappears, but (and thats the real problem):

now, I got absolutely no reception. WiFi and GPS are still working. Is there any possibility that i compromised the connectors to the GSM module somehow?

My guesses beside that:

Could it be that Connector No.3 goes "deeper" into its socket than I think and it affects reception?

Could it be that the "Do not remove"-sticker has some conducting ability? I did remove it completely because it wouldn't come off in one piece..

---

Possible Solutions (?) :

Could replacing the GSM module help (which isn't that costly)? Could you give me tipps for re-installiung?

Please help,

Tom from Austria

⟐ Answered março 07, 2014 at 23:18 GMT-7

Then 2 days ago the phone has decided to burn through the internal battery in about 90 minutes, and takes the external battery about the same time to deplete as well. The phone is always warm, and takes about 4 - 5 hours to charge back up.

I've tried restarting, restoring, and removing all apps but the base ones - but nothing has helped.

Is it possible for a battery to die from one day to the next (literally)? Should I replace the battery, or something more?

⟐ Answered março 08, 2013 at 2:05 GMT-7

Which part or parts should I order to repair both of these problems?

Does the "Display" include both the glass and what one would think of as a traditional display? Or are there two parts needed.

Thanks!

⟐ Answered junho 18, 2010 at 15:31 GMT-7

⟐ Answered abril 03, 2018 at 9:42 GMT-7

⟐ Answered dezembro 30, 2016 at 6:21 GMT-7

What else can make it warm?

What is the maximum temperature of the withstand this chip? I am afraid that I was overheat it.

⟐ Answered fevereiro 18, 2014 at 9:18 GMT-7

How long to wait to sync or charge and see what's damaged? Should I open unit or continue rice?

⟐ Answer accepted junho 11, 2013 at 10:24 GMT-7

I was wondering if i jailbreak my iphone will it be locked again? and how can i check if it is factory unlocked.

Note that the IOS is 4.3.5 and BB 05.16.02. that's why i'm worried about jailbreaking it coz if it's locked i will be stuck in this unlockable baseband and i'll have to upgrade to BB 6.15 and loose my GPS which i don't want to.

Any help?!

Thank you.

⟐ Answered maio 13, 2013 at 4:55 GMT-7

My girlfriend had her iPhone 3Gs white watered when she took a speed boat...

I dried it and after reading some threads here (thank you ifixit) I opened it and cleaned it with isopropyl alcohol.

The phone works fine except the power button the audio jack and the wifi.

The power button doesn't work at all but when I turn on the phone (by plugging it with a wall charger) the "slide to power off' bar appears so I think it's like if the button was always pushed down...

The audio jack has a similar problem I think it's like if it was always a earphone plugged in it. I have sound on earphone but not with the speaker except when sb calls me.

I think the best way to fix these 2 problems is to buy a new "iPhone 3GS Headphone Audio Jack Ribbon Flex Cable?? And are the 3Gs one and the 3G the same??

The third problem is that the wifi is grayed out (no wifi). I searched on internet and I found that a fix is to reset the network settings, I tried it and it worked once. But the day after I've the wifi grayed again and when I try to reset the phone shut down and I had to plug the charger to turn it on and the wifi is still grayed out.

I read every thread about wifi on ifixit and it seems to be a bad problem... I don't think that changing the wifi antenna (connector number 6) will fix this issue?? You think it's a problem of the mainboard??

Thank you for any advice or suggestion :)

(Sorry for my english)

⟐ Answered novembro 14, 2011 at 10:18 GMT-7

⟐ Answered junho 02, 2010 at 6:55 GMT-7

⟐ Commented janeiro 19, 2021 at 5:36 GMT-7