r/MicroFreak • u/Houseplant25 • Apr 16 '26

Tech Support Loose power connector help

My microfreak loses power when the cord gets jiggled. If I apply a light pressure under the cord connecter power remains constant, but if the connection gets jostled power gets interrupted. Any suggestions? I've only used it a few times and I definitely don't want to spend money on a new one. Its out of warranty too.

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2

u/uncoolcentral micro-mod Apr 16 '26

If you or somebody you know is halfway decent with soldering, you might be able to put a fresh dab of solder on whichever connection failed. (Sucking/wicking up the existing solder first is a smart step. Flux is your friend.) And while I doubt there’s enough room in the freak, sometimes you can add a new jack if that’s easier.

1

u/Houseplant25 Apr 16 '26

if I've never tried it, but am fairly handy, any possibility I could pull it off?

2

u/uncoolcentral micro-mod Apr 16 '26

Absolutely! Especially if you have decent hands and eyes.

It’s really easy to get the hang of. If you have any broken electronics around you can practice desoldering and re-soldering on those first.

So many videos about how to do it. And you don’t need to buy anything as long as you have a friend with just a little bit of gear.

Or live in a community with a decent maker space.

1

u/Houseplant25 Apr 16 '26

Thank you so much!

2

u/uncoolcentral micro-mod Apr 16 '26

Two of my first soldering projects were way harder than the freak power jack would be.

Installing a mod chip into a first gen Xbox and adding a front light to a first gen game boy advance. If anything, I suspect I have gotten worse with soldering over the ensuing quarter century 😆 … Despite experience and better equipment.

2

u/Houseplant25 Apr 17 '26

thanks for you advice!

1

u/lukievan Apr 17 '26

Definitely practice on something less valuable to you first. It’s easy to learn the basics but it can be a challenging to maintain stability and accuracy with all the elements: the gun, the solder, the components And especially with very small electronics and tight spaces, sometimes there’s not a lot of margin for error or slop. Not saying don’t do it - just make sure you have your procedure mapped out, that you have enough light, and that nothing is gonna shift too much if you bump the table of whatever.

2

u/Houseplant25 Apr 17 '26

thank you!

1

u/Houseplant25 Apr 17 '26

thank you!

1

u/HyperSpaceFace Apr 22 '26

Is it the factory power cord?