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How do you clean your ports?

S

Shikaka

macrumors regular
Original poster
Sep 12, 2014
242
89
What's the best way to clean dust & pocket lint from the earphone and lightning ports? Someone suggested I use canned air but I wasn't sure if this could push debris deeper into the phone. Any advice? Thanks.
 
It actually does the exact opposite. It blows everything out. In fact you can even see all the dust and lint get blown out when using the compressed air directly into the openings.
 
Good to know about the air. Thanks!

One more question… what can be used to clean the metal tip of the lightning cable? There's some residue that I tried to gently scrape off with my fingernail, but I couldn't completely clean the copper contacts. IPA?
 
I was able to clean the Lightning port of my iPhone 5 by running an unbent paperclip back and forth gently, as compressed air didn't get everything out (I was having an issue where the phone wouldn't charge if you pushed on the Lightning cable's connector). It turns out there was quite a bit of gunk in there (probably lint) that had almost built up a hard layer that was pushing on the connector. Cleaning that out seemed to fix things permanently.
 
I'd start first by blowing out all bags and pants / jacket pockets. I have never cleaned out ports nor had dirty ports.
 
I did a double take reading topic title and all the replies. :cool:
 
sanke1 said:
I did a double take reading topic title and all the replies. :cool:
Click to expand...

Shikaka said:
One more question… what can be used to clean the metal tip of the lightning cable? There's some residue that I tried to gently scrape off with my fingernail, but I couldn't completely clean the copper contacts. IPA?
Click to expand...

Ouch, fingernail :D

Shouldn't need to clean it, it's designed to itself clean. :eek:
 
I rarely (read never) cleaned out my ports. I think I might have blown them out once but that's about it.
 
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B000L9OIQC/ref=aw_wl_ov_dp_3_3?colid=I0B9MXPUPO0P&coliid=I15NWUJMIKP3CF
 
Best Buy has the Air Cleaner also. For some reason the big can is cheaper then the smaller one--:confused:

I also use Electronic Cleaner on numerous connections. A spray can that Radio Shack usually has. Does not impede conductivity.
 
A build up of too much lint is known to cause issues over time with the lightning connector. Using compressed air periodically is not a bad idea. But rubbing anything hard against the contacts seems like a really bad idea.

Meister said:
Why would I clean my ports? Wtf are you doing?
Click to expand...
 
Paco II said:
A build up of too much lint is known to cause issues over time with the lightning connector. Using compressed air periodically is not a bad idea. But rubbing anything hard against the contacts seems like a really bad idea.
Click to expand...
Blowing is always better than rubbing!
 
How do you clean your ports?

Meister said:
Blowing is always better than rubbing!
Click to expand...


Completely agree. That's what I always tell'em.

I usually take something to clean around the port so that nothing can get inside when I stick the rod in it. I would then simply go in and out as fast as I can until the port starts releasing the dirt and you can see on the rod.

I would then finish off and wipe it all so nothing can get back in when the second round comes about. And repeat this until the port looks clean and polished enough.

tAj9jwI.jpg
 
Last edited:
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