Are you too thinking that why your car charging port is not working? Then you are not alone with this problem. It is a common issue and happens to many motorists. It is one of the most recurring questions that a car mechanic gets. If the car’s USB port is not working or charging your phone, then the problem might be with the port itself or the cable or it could be a wiring issue.
Sometimes it happens that we are using USB ports that are not designed to charge phones. Learn more about common causes and their solutions in this article.
Table of Contents
What To Do If Car Charging Port Not Working?
USB chargers are great because they are standard and you can use them with pretty much everything. However, they may face issues from time to time. Here are the common causes and their solutions-
1. No Power At Charging Port
First of all, if the car charger is not working, then check whether it is getting power at the socket or not. Believe it or not, but it is one of the most common causes for a wonky car charger. The problem could be with the wiring or the fuse could have been blown. There could be some grounding issues too with the car wiring as there can be corrosion on the terminals in salty conditions.
Solutions For Car Charger Power Issues
Check the connection with the help of a voltmeter. But before doing it yourself, you must have some knowledge of how to use them and in which position they must be used. Also, check for power in the center pin of the cigarette lighter socket and also around the interior of the barrel for ground.
In case there is no power, then check for the fuses. In case there is still no power or ground, then the connections to that plug the cigarette lighter/power socket must be bad.
2. Car Charger Port Not Clean
If there is something stuck inside the charging port, then it will not work. It can usually happen when the charger is installed in a vertical position in the console, this position makes it much easier for objects like coins to get inside the terminal. The non-conductive barrier then prevents the charger to make contact with the connecting pins, which causes it to malfunction.
How To Clean Charging Port?
It is possible that any object might be stuck in your charging port and causing a malfunction, in that case, remove the object that you will find anything inside the cigarette lighter socket. It can be food or toys/coins. Carefully remove them with a plastic pick. It is very important that you do not use any metal object like a screwdriver, it can easily cause a short and make your life more difficult.
3. Bad USB Car Charger
It can so happen that the USB car charger may itself be bad and all the while and causing car charging port not working issue. And you have been chasing in the wrong direction!. USB car charger is an electronic device and as with any electrical device, it can fail too.
If you are using a cheap copy of a car charger or some Chinese stuff, then you will face the problem more commonly. They can also go bad if you are overloading them with high amps devices.
Can Car Chargers Be Repaired?
You can attempt to repair the USB car charger. If the issue is with soldering, then you can resolder the PCB of the USB charger. Sometimes the wires inside the USB charger might have become loose, so you can check that too. Anyways, the USB chargers are cheap and they can be had easily. So it is better to buy a new one.
4. Issue With The USB Cable
Check if the cable is loose or broken or has a bad internal connection. While testing this, insert your USB device and then gently tap the connection. If it makes a brief connection, then there is definitely a physical problem. It can either be the cable or the USB port of your phone. If there is a great amount of movement when you gently push the USB cable, this indicates a bent or a broken board of the connecter.
Options For Bad USB Cable
There is nothing much that you can do when the USB cable goes bad, they are built in a way that you cannot perform any repairs on it. If the wire is broken into two, then it may be possible to re-join it but then, it will cause all sorts of resistance issues and your device will not get the proper amount of power. It is better to buy a new USB cable in that case.
5. Blown Out Fuse
Usually, a blown fuse can be a cause of a car’s electrical problems. It can affect things and stuff like interior lights and car stereo, and other features not functioning properly. Fuse is the center point of the car’s electricals, a blown fuse can cause a car charging port not working situation. This can also be an indication of some major electrical issues too. You need to check it soon.
How To Replace Blown Fuses?
If the car USB charger fuse is blown, and it can be a result of a number of different issues. Any metal object that fell into the charger, can then probably burn it. It could also be a short elsewhere, or you might have plugged something that simply draws more amperage than the circuit is designed to handle. USB charger circuits should not exceed 10 or 15A.
How Much Will It Cost To Repair Car USB Charging?
The cost of repairing a bad USB car charging issue is pretty low. Things like a blown fuse or bad electrical connections can be repaired for under 10$. A new charger or cable is also cheap at 20-40$. Cleaning charging post can be done for free!
Conclusion
So it turns out that there is nothing to worry about if you facing a situation where the car charging port not working. The issue is very easy to diagnose and very cheap to repair. If you still have any questions, then comment down below.