Tech Tips #1: Phones not charging, think fast!

Evening!

This post is admittedly unplanned but you will understand why once we go into the details.

This is the first in a series of posts that I plan to write call Tech Tips, they are posts about tips and tricks I have personally found useful in my day to day work with technology both at work and at home.

Today I want to talk about the dreaded day some people have run into where the phone has stopped charging when they plug it in! I've had it happen before and I'm sure many others have to. Sometimes its expected with age, sometimes it's unexpected. For example, when someone drops their phone into a bowl of steel cut oats while trying to queue up Strauss Party earlier today...

Below is a picture of the things you will need to clean out most charging ports on most modern smartphones, mine personally has a USB C connector. And under the photo will be the quick and neat instructions and the history (as I remember it) of how I heard to do this little trick!

Required materials:

Rubbing Alcohol
Small microfiber cloth, I recommend something disposable (I grabbed the patch cloths from the gun cleaning kit)
Small object with a pointed end, in this case, I used a plastic toothpick
Phone that is being stubborn and doesn't want to charge

Take the phone in question (it would probably be best to turn it off although I didn't with mine)
Apply the rubbing alcohol to your cloth and try to wring out the excess fluid
Carefully place the cloth over the charging port and use the toothpick (or your tool of choice) and push the cloth into the opening [with USB C connectors you have to be extremely careful as there is the contact point that is in the middle of the charging port, this cuts into the space and is also the surface for all the contact points, so this is what you need to clean] and slide back and forth over the contacts (changes depending on connector type) with USB C they are in the center point so I had to gently insert on each side and rub the contacts
Optional: do the same type of cleaning to the charging cable, it never hurts.

I have had my Moto Z Force for over a year now, the dirt you see on the cleaning cloth is from inside the charging port and the charging cable.

I heard about this trick when I had a Gameboy, they say rather than blow into the port (which gets moisture into the electronics) suck out any fluid water with your mouth, then soak the device in rice. Once this is done gently clean the contacts with rubbing alcohol. The alcohol will dry out differently and not corrode the electronics.

Any thoughts or question please feel free to comment!

Thank you!