Hacking Need Help ... My Kids have semi roke my Vita .....

[SuperDan]

Well it was all going well ..& this isnt a hack prolem at all ... But some how my kid bent the Pins back inside the vita part where you plug your Vita Charger in ... so my vita is aout 30% charged ATM ... But i cannot charge it anymore ....not sure what to do now ? any advice or tips ..would help ... IT'S NOT THE BEST PICTURE.. BUT.. if you look to the far right.. You can see where the Pins are missing... Bent away... I'm thinking maybe I could buy a spare part & replace it... I would guess 25% of the Pins are completely gone

 

[Priestiality]

If you're good with solder or know someone who is you could try to find one on ebay or something with a busted screen/joysticks/etc (something not power-related) and de-solder and swap the charging ports. Alternatively, replace the motherboard. Either option is a lot of work tho. (You'll need to follow this to Step 20, then do the same steps in reverse.) Depending on shipping, and whether you or someone you know is capable of doing the work, it might be cheaper to just buy a new one. If you bring it to a shop you're looking at AT LEAST 2 hours of labor + parts, and I don't know of any place capable of doing that kind of work that charges less than $60/hr.

TL;DR: Replace the port or entire mobo. If you can't do it yourself just buy a new Vita.

EDIT: You might be able to find a replacement port on sketchy Chinese sites like Ali Express or something but it's a crapshoot if it will work and it will probably take 3+ weeks to ship.

 

[SuperDan]

Yes you are right.. I had a search on Google... Watched a few YouTube videos... I've never soldered anything in my life.... Nor know anyone who does... & got a little optimistic when I found the part... On Ali Express.. For $11.. With 20 days shipping... I did not know there product was probably shit... Never used that place before.... I'm now in the frame of mind... To buy one from gamestop.. & try and do a sneaky switch a roo!... Well they have been Ripping me off ever since I moved to USA... Is soldering that hard?...?..?..

 

[Priestiality]

Yes you are right.. I had a search on Google... Watched a few YouTube videos... I've never soldered anything in my life.... Nor know anyone who does... & got a little optimistic when I found the part... On Ali Express.. For $11.. With 20 days shipping... I did not know there product was probably shit... Never used that place before.... I'm now in the frame of mind... To buy one from gamestop.. & try and do a sneaky switch a roo!... Well they have been Ripping me off ever since I moved to USA... Is soldering that hard?...?..?..

I wouldn't say the products are always shitty, it's just you never know what you're going to get due to misrepresentation in pictures and being Chinese knock-offs rather than the actual OEM parts. For example, there's a thread in the PSP section where a guy bought a knock-off PSP charger and it ended up frying his mobo.

 

[ShaunM]

If you have never soldered before I would not recommend replacing that port as your first job. It is 21 pins close together and the original port needs to be desoldered without damaging any of the motherboard traces. If you end up repairing yours I would buy a replacement motherboard and swap them. All you need is a small Philips and the job is not difficult at all. Just take your time unplugging the flex cables.

 

[SuperDan]

I think your way might be the best way shaunM I have repaired & messed around with laptops / PC's from time to time.. So taking my time... & being careful with flex cords shouldn't be such a nightmare? How much is a motherboard? $50 I guess...

 

[ill_be_ur_Krillin]

There's a few vids on youtube showing how to replace it with a regular usb micro port, but yea it requires some soldering skills.

 

[SuperDan]

I saw a few of them.. I didn't know I could solder a Vita Slim.. Micro USB.. To a OLED Vita... That would be pretty sweet... But alas.. No soldering skillz at all... But I'm tempted to try & if I stuff it up.. I could get a motherboard I guess...

 

[Roah]

Iirc the joints that connect to the logic board is underneath the charging port. The pins on the sides are for securing the port to the board. Youll be having a hard time soldering it. Id recommend using heatgun instead.

 

[SuperDan]

We both know that I'm going to mess it up... Lol... But all the same that is great advice