I just fixed up an Acer Iconia tablet for @miststlkr. The main problem was the USB connector which had been bent in and it would no longer charge. Other than that this tablet has a pretty good display so worth fixing. Also it’s always fun to fix someone else’s stuff with no expectations. Thanks Mist!
Behold the damage.
I opened it up and dissasembled.
It was very well designed and easy to remove all the tape cables and tiny connectors. I used a visor and reading glasses because I have the vision of a mole. Here’s the mainboard.
I desoldered the USB connector by hand - which was a pain. It was right next to the headphone jack so I didn’t want to use a heat gun and melt it. It took forever to desolder. I had to be very careful not to rip off the delicate surface mount pads/traces on the board. Eventually I had to cut chunks of the connector off and then float out the remaining tiny bits of old connector stuck in the through-hole mounts. I used lots of flux and solder and beer.
Finally it was defeated. The board was pretty battered. Here’s a horrifying photo of the aftermath. Luckily it’s on the inside so @miststlkr or anyone else won’t see it. Oh hai Mist if you are reading this 
Once that was off, Mist and I ordered a replacement usb connector which seemed very-specific and non-standard. Thanks Acer…not. The part couldn’t be picked up at Lee’s. And so we waited for it to arrive in the mail. Then I soldered it to the main board using this super-thin iron tip on my Weller station at home.
It had 4 through-hole joints and 5 surface-mount pads. And here is the new part in place:
And testing with cable:
But will it charge and work properly?
Yes! All done, the tablet is good as new (hopefully). It charges and is no longer headed for ewaste. Woo!
While inside I was pretty impressed by the components. It’s very well built with lots of sleek ribbon cables that fit together really well. Very well engineered. The case is plastic but it seems quite sturdy. I can’t remember how much the part cost but it was around $10 with shipping so definitely worth making this kind of fix to keep the tablet going.
The only thing left to do is to change the desktop background to a cat.
