My iPhone wasn’t charging and I figured it needed a routine cleaning. Of course, I am not a repair expert, but I wanted to find ways to clean the iPhone charging port at home without damaging the insides. I’m going to share my experience and solutions for cleaning the charging port when it won’t charge at all. Turn off your iPhone and iPad before applying the suggested solutions.
How do I know if my iPhone’s charger port is damaged?
This is the question that is on everyone’s mind, but you are too afraid to ask it. I want to leave a caveat here because this is important and I don’t want you to end up regretting it later. The cost of extensive iPhone repairs is high compared to routine cleaning tasks.
This should not be your argument for not contacting an Apple service center.
Your iPhone is a luxury device, and Apple treats it that way.
The service center management will charge you a hefty sum for major repairs, but I want you to get a second opinion. Engineers will not begin repairs until they receive confirmation from you.
Contact Apple repair engineers to see if the lighting port is damaged and needs to be replaced. I had an iPhone that needed a routine cleaning due to debris in the port.
Yes, I take Apple Authorized Service Technicians quite seriously.
- Explore charging port repair costs and cleaning costs online.
- Turn off your iPhone.
Ways to Clean the iPhone 12/13 Charging Port
You don’t have to break bank vault to clean iPhone charging port. All the solutions I have mentioned below minimize damage to the device and are cost effective.
Net Lighting Cable
Don’t jump out and start cleaning the iPhone’s charging port. Your charging cable wears out a lot with years of use. The charging port on the iPhone and iPad is covered on three sides, but the charging cable is always open and has no protection. One side of my charging cable is not working. So I cleaned it for a minute and it worked right after that.
- Lift the cable and place it in a dry place.
- Buy dry cotton balls from the grocery store and take a small piece.
- Now rinse the charging cable with a dry cotton swab.
- You only have to do this for a minute.
- Do not use brute force on it and rinse gently.
A dry cotton swab should come into contact with the gold pins and clean the surrounding area. Don’t let coarse dust particles slip out of your sight and try to remove as much as you can without using too much force.
I cleaned the charging cable a few minutes earlier to find out its effectiveness, and it was fruitful. Cotton balls shouldn’t cost you more than a few cents per pack, so this is a nominal solution.
Clean your iPhone 13’s charging port with a can of compressed air
I usually suggest that someone turn on the blowers and they release high pressure air that pushes the dust particles out. You can use a blower to clean the iPhone’s lighting port if you can control the pressure in the car.
Readers should learn how to properly use blowers to avoid damage to internal components. The safest option is a compressed air tank that doesn’t release high pressure air and does the job at face value.
I want to teach you a technique that minimizes any potential damage and gives us satisfactory results. Compressed air canisters contain liquid. The liquid turns into air when sprayed, so you need to be careful here.
- Raise the canister and keep it upright to prevent liquid particles from escaping from the compressed air canister.
- Use a compressed air bottle in pulsed mode.
- Blow air through one side of the charging port.
- Do not insert the tube inside the charging port and keep a distance of 5 cm.
You must leave the other side for dust particles to escape.
Explosive mode will cause sticky dust particles to move out of place and expel them. You must be careful when using a compressed air tank as it contains liquid inside the container. Hold the can in an upright position, which keeps the liquid in that position and minimizes the chance of leakage.
Clean the iPhone 12 charging port with a plastic toothpick (risk)
I ask you to buy a plastic toothpick and do not use a wooden toothpick for this task. The chances of finding wooden toothpicks in the nearest store are higher than plastic ones. You have to scour the repair shops there and spend time looking for plastic options.
Plastic toothpicks are not rigid and have brittle edges, minimizing the possibility of damage. You have to search the repair shops for a spare plastic lockpick, but it’s worth your time. Let me tell you how to clean the charging port with a plastic toothpick.
- Take a close look at the charging port and determine where the suspicious area is.
Note. Use a flashlight for a thorough inspection.
- Try to carefully remove debris.
Do not use force as the pins of the charging port connector are fragile.
- Clean the port with a plastic toothpick in five minutes.
Remember that you should focus on removing large pieces of debris from the port and avoid cleaning up the sticky mass.
Makeup brush for cleaning iPhone charging port
The toothbrush is the main item in our house, and old brushes are always lying around in the washing area.
On the other hand, makeup brushes work well for two reasons.
The bristles of makeup brushes are soft, as they are designed to apply foundation to the face. Makeup brushes are specially designed to make the process easier so they don’t irritate your face.
I would recommend you buy a cheap makeup brush instead of a toothbrush because they can slightly damage the connectors inside the lighting port. However, if you carefully treat the entire cleaning process, then you will not have to deal with damage.
- Clean the brush using the recommended method.
- Let it dry for an hour or so.
- Use a brush to clean debris from inside the lighting port.
Do not use force when cleaning the iPhone charging port or use worn brushes. A new brush is cheap compared to charging port repairs, so don’t skimp.
Feel free to ask your nearest Apple service center for help and repair your iPhone X/11/12/13 charging port. I had an iPhone that was having trouble charging the device and all it took was regular cleaning to fix the problem. You don’t have to spend hundreds of dollars to repair and clean your iOS device by yourself at a very low cost. You must take the necessary precautions I suggested above to avoid damaging the iPhone’s charging port.