Cell Phones: Repair or Replace?

Americans throw away over 125 million cell phones per year. Even more strange, we have over 500 million retired cell phones sitting around our homes awaiting disposal. This not only is an expensive and wasteful habit, it represents an avalanche of e-waste which will hit our landfills sometime soon when we collectively realize its time for spring cleaning. Cell phones are complex assemblies containing the toxic metals lead, cadmium and berillyum plus a fire retardant that actually may retard the user.

So the question becomes, when these little buggers go on the fritz, what do we do? Search out the nearest trashcan? Or try and save ourselves the hassle of trying to lie our way into warranty protection, or the expense of just buying a new phone.

A friend of mine has repaired his phone several times...he even rode is bike over the thing, but somehow brought it back to life. Check out Jim Rees' web page devoted to repair of his cell phone. If Jim can do it, we can too.

And then there's this article from Lance Ulanoff who gives tips on how to repair things. Read the article and laugh, because most of the time Lance is fixing broken items in under 5 minutes. Is the â€œbrokenâ€ cell phone in your drawer really beyond repair?

We can create an infrastructure for repairing cell phones, we just have to invite a few hundred DIY cell phone repair techs from China to work over here for a few years. They could open kiosks at malls, â€œCell Phone Repair While U Waitâ€. Not quite as slick as the new iPhone, but a heck of a lot cheaper.

Via: EcoIron

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written by drkness, June 11, 2007

one of my friend's cell had a button that was always stuck.. being the geek nearby I opened the cell and fixed the thing.. I've done that innumerable number of times..

guess I did save some trees..

actually quiet surprised the reasons people believe their phones cannot be fixed.. quiet trivial..

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written by Andrew Lynch, June 11, 2007

Check out this website if you want to recycle your phone.
http://wirelessrecycling.com/home/index.html

Not only in China
written by Mohammed Raei, July 02, 2007

Here in Jordan they repair mobil phones too. I guess you can get the mobil fixing techs from almost anywher outside the developed world.

repair Nokia 6100 screen
written by Chien-Liang Shen, September 20, 2007

Hi:
I have a Nokia 6100 cell phone,
the screen was broken by accidence.
The other functions are working good.
I am seeking for repairing my cell phone.
If you can help me out, could you email me,
or call me: 801-836-9070

I am in Salt Lake City

repair broken screen
written by Shaheen Campbell, March 20, 2008

samsung sgh d807, can you fix please.

Cell Phone Repair
written by Alex Lopez, March 29, 2008

Let Remedy Wireless be the solution for all of your cell phone problems. We repair, refurbish and sell new and used cellular phones and accessories. The staff at Remedy Wireless is trained and equipped to handle most of your cell phone repair needs. Our services range from simple transferring of data from one phone to another all the way to difficult board-level solder work. We also offer a Liquid Damage Cleaning process to customers who have gotten their phone wet. In addition to our retail services we offer discounts to wholesale customers in need of large quantities of phones repaired or refurbished.
www.remedywireless.com

fix a cell phone water with water damage
written by katherine, May 09, 2008

ive fixed my blackberry pearl after it sat in the bathtub for hours. all i did was take the battery out and point a blow drier at the phone for a couple hours

lights on my phone are not working!
written by marguerite, June 10, 2008

my phone works i can get my calls and messages but i can't see any of them because the light on my phone is'nt working. the botton lights are working but the skreen is black iv turned my phone on and off but nothing seems to work can you help me please!

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written by Dave, August 27, 2008

I need to know how to fix my screen ok my cell phone it is cracked.

my 8800 phone recevies no network
written by JAMES EMOKA, October 06, 2008

Hello there my nokia 8800 recevies no network and it is not from the antena, i think it needs part replacement or somthing like it im willing to pay any amount....but i dnt want a new one

boaxing 3000
written by dana, December 04, 2008

i just bought a cell phone from hong kong and i live in the states. i cannot get it to open picture txt messages and the camera often will not open when i want to take pictures. all it says is waiting with an hour glass. so i waited for an hour and it still says it... please help

China Phone Hantel M2210
written by Augusto Fernandes, March 15, 2009

Hi

I have been using this Chinese phone "Hantel - M2210 or HT M2210", looks like a clone of Nokia's N73. I have problem with sending SMS's (cannot send sms), though, I can only receive SMS's from anybody. I am using an "Idea" prepaid connection.

If I install this "Idea" SIM card in another phone (sonyericsson or Nokia), then its possible for me to send sms's

Can you help me with regards to solving this problem on my handset ?

Regards,
Augusto

Samsung T509 Screen Broken
written by Destiny, March 27, 2009

I have looked everywhere to replace this phone. I love it and have had it for 3 years. It currently died on me. I was wondering if someone could direct me where to buy the new screen piece, I am sure I can figure the rest out.

Thanks!
Email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it '> This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

lights broken
written by Alexis, April 05, 2009

i have an lg rumor and my light recently went out. I cant see anything and its super frustrating. how much will it cost to get it fixed and can it be fixed????

Screen broken on Nokia 3110, need number
written by Lydia, April 09, 2009

Hubby broke screen on phone (sat on it)we can still see light. Tried installing Nokia PC Suite to take numbers off phone, but it hasn't seem to work for me yet. Tried it with my E51, worked fine.

Any idea of what to do? Living in Ireland and lets just say the stores that sell the phones haven't got a clue. They told the hubby that they can fix the screen, but he will loose all his numbers!!!

Thanks,
Lydia
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

...
written by Shannon Fennelly, April 14, 2009

I dropped my nokia N80 in the pool. i fished it out after several minutes and let it dry for 24 hours. when i tried to turn it back on, the usual blue light that always blinks went dead and glowed dimly. the screen flashed then went off HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!

Won't Charge
written by Kenia, April 26, 2009

hi my phone won't charge and I don't think it's the charger...Its proabably the part where u charge the phone... Because the little thing came off where you plug it in...So how do I fix it? Go to some other professional?
The model is an VX9100M and its a LG phone

SHOP LOCATION..
written by Stacie, May 11, 2009

i was also wonder if you have a shop location here in salt lake and where it is it would be a great help to knwo thank you.

Phone won't turn on
written by Deepali, May 18, 2009

I have a Nokia 3110 and it won't turn on. I try to turn it on but it just flashes a few times and then turns off.
I need help please!

3110 won't turn on also
written by dennis a, June 03, 2009

i have the same problem that deepali has. i was downloading something then my phone suddenly warned mo of phone memory full. my phone turned off suddenly. it doesnt turn on afterwards. only shows the nokia logo and full white screen flashes then dies.

light's broken
written by Erica, September 01, 2009

I'm having the same problem as Alexis and marguerite. No matter what I do, my phone's light will not stay on. the auto keylock isn't on or anything. It's extremely frustrating. Do you know any way to fix it? Please e-mail with an answer if you can.

Electronics repair
written by Brad, September 07, 2009

I actually work for a U.S. based franchise that repairs pretty much any electronic device and we have stores you can bring them in to either repair or we actually make sure that they are properly recycled.
www.cpr-foxvalley.com

My Blackberry Curve 8320 needs some repairs.
written by Jeff, December 15, 2009

My Blackberry Curve 8320 needs some repairs. The outside screen cover is cracked (I have the replacement part). The Track-Ball and the ring that goes over the Track-Ball need to be repaired or replaced. Lastly, the LCD backlight does not light up.

Thank you, Jeff

Help
written by Rissa, January 29, 2010

I have a Lg lotus and I was wondering if there was a way to fix the keyboard... everything else on the phone works but the key board. I can receive texts and calls, the end button works but thats it... I was wondering if i should get some kind of screw driver and try and fix it myself...tips please? thank you!

broken ear piece
written by sophie, April 06, 2010

Please help. I have a Samsung SGH-T629. I can't hear out of the ear piece, but the person on the other line can hear me. When I turn on the "speaker" option, I am able to hear them. I've dropped it a couple of times and must have jogged something loose. Any suggestions of how to fix it would be appreciated.

simlocked
written by Hamidi, May 15, 2010

Hi, I am a SAGEM cell phone user (purchased in France), but currently staying in China, my phone has been showing SIM LOCKED on the screen for quite long time ,and technicians here haven't been able to fix it. I would really appreciate if your company could help me unlock my phone or at least help me with a clue on how to solve the problem. the model of the phone is (SAGEM orange my700X and the IMEI is 358095008230003).
thank you in advance and looking forward to hear from you soon

...
written by Pania, June 06, 2010

I have a Samsung Omnia phone & it randomly switched off so I assumed it just died & for the last 30mins of it being on charged it won't turn on. I really don't wanna get a new phone but if possible could you please tell me what the problem could be? I'm from Australia, Sydney. Hope to hear from you soon. Thank you

...
written by Paige, February 22, 2013

I absolutely adore my AT&T Samsung Evergreen, but one day the screen went white and there were black blotches on it... It still turns on and it got texts while my SIM was in it... Do I just need to replace the LEDs, or is it something bigger? Thank you c:

...
written by Miguel, March 31, 2013

Aright to anyone that can help, I have a ZTE Warp from boost mobile and the well long story short it was one of those nights that for some reason you wake up asking yourself " what happened last night" lol. Okay well when i went to grab my phone the headphone jack was broken off so now i can't connect my headphones to listen to the music and well I'm getting tired of playing music straight from my phone specially at work cause we are allowed to hear music but only with headphones. So if someone can help me by giving me some info on how to wire my phone to some headphones or make it to where i can wire it up to some rca wires so i can play music through a stereo I'd be more then grateful and really appreciative!:-D

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