HTC One M9 not charging when plugged in Fix

There are 3 main reasons why the HTC One M9 phone will not charge up. It’s either a faulty lithium-ion battery. The Micro USB charge circuit is damaged, or the charging logic has been corrupted. This post will explain how to reset the charging logic and also change out the old micro USB PCB.

The HTC One M9 is a great phone and it was a hand-me-down device for my son. One day he noticed that it had stopped charging. I tried the usual hard reboot which has been successful on other people’s phones. This involves turning off the phone and then press and hold the volume up and down button along with the power button for approximately 2 minutes.  This will reset the charging logic and reboot.

But this didn’t work for us. What I did find out was the phone’s USB charging port had been a little hit-and-miss and would only charge with a certain cable. I had tried a whole heap of different USB cables, wall chargers, and even my trusty Omnicharge portable power bank which has never let me down. But none of them would charge up this phone without some divine intervention.

Pressing on the micro USB cable would sometimes energize the charging circuit and the little red LED light would turn on. But removing this pressure on the micro USB cable would stop the charging process. This is confirmed to be a hardware HTC charging problem.

So after taking apart the phone’s back cover I found that it definitely was a charger hardware fault inside the HTC One M9 phone. The Micro USB port was obviously loose and damaged.

How to fix your HTC One M9 not charging problem.

There are a few videos online on how to open up the HTC One m8 and m9 phones but many involved removing the screen and coming in from the front. I can assure you removing the back cover is a very easy method to replace your USB charging port and should only take around 1/2 hour.

In this tutorial, we will be replacing the micro USB charging circuit. It will be the same fix as if you are going the replace the headphone audio jack assembly as it is on the same printed circuit board. So if you have a problem with your HTC One m8 or m9 phone audio jack this repair will work for you as well.

Tools and Hardware Required

The first thing to do is obtain all of the necessary tools to work on your HTC one m9 phone. For me I used the following tools:

• T6 Torx star screwdriver
• Plastic phone pick. I like to use guitar picks
• Pin or sim card removal tool.
• Tweezers
• Magnifying glass if needed.

The kit shown below will have everything you need. Click for more information over at Amazon. Read on for full instructions.

How to replace the USB charging port on a HTC One M9 phone

Start by removing your Telco Sim card and the Micro SD Sim cards using the sim card removal tool or a small pin. You can then unclip the top black strip on the top of the phone this will pop right off. It’s held on with some glue and plastic pins.

Under this black strip are two T6 star screws. Unscrew and remove these 2 screws. They are very small so don’t lose them.

You can now remove the back cover plate. This is a very tight fit but if you start on the right side around 1 inch from the top you should be able to work yourself around anticlockwise and prise of the back cover gently.

Once the back plate is removed have a look at the micro USB charging circuit. For me, the USB connection had totally become dislodged from the printed circuit board. It could have been a design flaw or the phone charger port could have been damaged at one time. This is why when moving the charging cable around slightly the phone would begin charging.

There are a few cables we need to remove before the micro USB charge port can be removed. Start with the two ribbon cables near the bottom. Use the magnifying glass and locate the white stip on each ribbon cable. By using a pick you can lift up the white tab gently. This enables the ribbon cable to slide out.

Once the large ribbon cable and been removed do the same to the smaller ribbon cable which is located just above the HTC one m9 phone jack.

Next, remove the two antenna wires which are blue and white using a pair of tweezers. These just unplug. They are quite small and fragile so be careful. We can now remove the three T6 Torx star screws on the micro USB charger PCB.

I found removing this little HTC One M9 charging circuit to be a real challenge. Even those all the screw are out this PCB charging circuit is wedged in there really tight and under some other devices. Just keep working at it gently. I believe there may be a small plastic pin that is holding it in place that I couldn’t see but after a few twists, it will come free.

Check out the video below to show you how to remove the back cover on the HTC one m9 and replace the charging circuit/phone audio jack.

Replacing the HTC one M9 charging circuit.

The process of replacing the charging circuit is the same as removal just in reverse.

• Start by placing in the new micro USB charging and wedge it in the good. The three T6 screws should all line up. Tighten them down.
• Plug in the two antenna WiFi cables and make sure they are secure.
• Insert the 2 ribbon cables. They will only go in if the white locking tab is in the upright position. Push in the ribbon cable and clamp down the locking tabs.
• Replace the HTC One m9 back cover starting from the bottom and snap lock it into place. If it won’t snap into position check if there are any black tabs that have been bent or broken.
• Test out your new micro USB charging circuit by inserting a cable into the charge port. A red light should turn on on the front top of your HTC one phone.

Conclusion

This is a very easy fix for your HTC one m8 and M9 phone which you can do yourself. This spare part for the micro USB charging circuit also includes an audio headphone jack. To me, the micro USB port looks slightly different so hopefully, it is a redesign and we will have trouble-free charging in the future.

Remember to ground yourself first by touching an earthed piece of metal or wear an anti-static wrist strap before working on the internals of your phone. Any static discharge could ruin your expensive phone. Good luck and let me know if you have any difficulties replacing this part. Happy to help.