How to repair a broken-off Teensy 3.0 USB connector

[PaulStoffregen]

These little USB Micro connectors work great if you pull the cable straight in and out, but bending the cable upward with the board firmly attached to a surface can break the little connector off the board. Usually some of the metal pads will tear off the board, so you can't just solder a new connector in place.

If this happens, here's a way to recover by soldering a cable to the board. All 4 wires can solder to pads on the bottom side.


(click to enlarge)

The USB spec actually requires these 4 wire colors, with this assignment to the signals:

pin 1, +5V, Red
pin 2, D-, White
pin 3, D+, Green
pin 4, GND, Black

Most USB cables should follow this color scheme, since it's required by the USB standard. If in doubt, you can check with an ohm meter from the wires to the connector on the other end of the cable.

[Wozzy]

Filed with "Good Information I Hope I Never Need"

[UnaClocker]

Use a meter. I have a chinese USB cable and all of the wires are backwards. black is +5v, red is gnd, even green and white were backwards.. Scary, and I got lucky that the device I plugged it into had current limiting.

[JoelRyan]

Another alternative that may be a little cheaper and less cumbersome than a cable is a USB Micro-B breakout:
https://www.adafruit.com/products/1833

Or even better, a more robust USB Mini-B breakout:
https://www.adafruit.com/products/1764

[nlecaude]

Thanks !
Saved a Teensy 3.1 today !

[pixelk]

Thank you, I was able to convert one of my Teensy's to an USB stick (ripped the reset button also, for flatness) :

[pictographer]

Interesting. Did you do anything to strengthen the USB A connector besides solder? E.g. cyanoacrylate, epoxy, drill holes, etc?

[pixelk]

Not yet. But I plan on flooding the then-to-be USB Key with hot glue. I think epoxy would be a good candidate but I have none handy. Cyanoacrylate seems too brittle to me.
For prototyping, the GND and VCC is sturdy enough. I can pull on the board or connector with confidence, but won't tilt it until it's secured. The D+ and D- connection are flimsy (I just soldered some resistor legs to the solder points and connector leads) but all the force is taken by the large GND and VCC pads.

[mixania]

Has anyone modded their Teensy 3.x mini USB port to the new USB-C port yet?

[yekohat]

Hi all,
I had a problem with my Teensy 3.1. Solders pads of original USB ports disappeared so I tried to solder on the under-board connection to resolder another USB port.
But solder pads disappeared again :/

I found how to fix this :


This circle is joined to the D- solder pad who disappeared. I scratch it to solder a wire on it (and to others normal connections). And thats working !
Finally I glued a USB Male to the board (I found this nice )



I hope this can help others

[DenS]

Yahoo.. thanks a bunch for this.... in an unfortunate tumble to the floor my Teensy 3.2 APRS Tracker USB connector ripped off the board. I thought i was doomed. Have a new Teensy on order but hated to give this one up for a stupid mistake.
This was just what i needed to get back to finalizing my project.
When it gets put onto a PCB from a breadboard i think i'll add a panel mount USB to protect the Teensy.
THANKS
73
Den
W2DEN

[Monosporto]

Just to be sure: Teensy 2.0 doesn't have this option, does it? Can't find the D+ or D- anywhere

[pixelk]

Just to be sure: Teensy 2.0 doesn't have this option, does it? Can't find the D+ or D- anywhere

It doesn't. You'd have to unsolder the usb mini and replace it with a USB A plug (which is easier than with the micro plug on the teensy 3).

[raster]

How about the Teensy LC? It's got pads on the bottom for GND, D+, D-, and VUSB...

It doesn't. You'd have to unsolder the usb mini and replace it with a USB A plug (which is easier than with the micro plug on the teensy 3).

[linuxgeek]

I rescued one of my teensy LC using this method. It works, I can see the serial output, etc. But I'm not able to program it now, even if I hit the button. Is there anything else I need to do? I hooked up GND,VUSB,D+,D-

My output from my Ubuntu Linux 14.04

Nov  4 21:22:24 ideapad kernel: [  906.874780] usb 3-2: USB disconnect, device number 15
Nov  4 21:22:25 ideapad kernel: [  907.614778] usb 3-2: new full-speed USB device number 16 using xhci_hcd
Nov  4 21:22:25 ideapad kernel: [  907.632080] usb 3-2: New USB device found, idVendor=16c0, idProduct=0483
Nov  4 21:22:25 ideapad kernel: [  907.632091] usb 3-2: New USB device strings: Mfr=1, Product=2, SerialNumber=3
Nov  4 21:22:25 ideapad kernel: [  907.632097] usb 3-2: Product: USB Serial
Nov  4 21:22:25 ideapad kernel: [  907.632101] usb 3-2: Manufacturer: Teensyduino
Nov  4 21:22:25 ideapad kernel: [  907.632105] usb 3-2: SerialNumber: 437400
Nov  4 21:22:25 ideapad kernel: [  907.633136] cdc_acm 3-2:1.0: This device cannot do calls on its own. It is not a modem.
Nov  4 21:22:25 ideapad kernel: [  907.633172] cdc_acm 3-2:1.0: ttyACM0: USB ACM device

[linuxgeek]

I notice that the usb micro points on the Teensy LC has 5 points.

Do I need to connect 2 of these to each other (ie the one that is GND and the one that should be ID)? It looks to me that it's not connected from the schematic.

Do I need to connect the post to ground that is shown on the schematic?

Or am I missing a resistor that I think is in the pathway of the microUSB onboard? I think since I'm connected to D+ and D-, that it looks to me like it would be the same as it is on the micro-b connector.

Teensy LC USB schematic:

[linuxgeek]

Shoot, no one has any ideas of what I'm missing?

One thing I'm wondering is if I used the correct VUSB?
I used the large pad next to D-, but maybe VUSB is the hole? Seems like they are the same though from the pic.



If this is how it works, that you can't program from wiring a cable, that could actually be handy. If you put it in an enclosure, you could wire a cable to provide a usb port externally. But you'd have to open it up to get to the micro-usb port to program.

[pixelk]

Shoot, no one has any ideas of what I'm missing?

You may have damaged your LC in another way. The only needed pins for normal usage are 5V, D-, D+, GND.
Those pins are in the right order to solder a male USB connector to the LC.
I can confirm than unsoldering the micro-USB from a Teensy LC and soldering the USB plug to the pads under the LC work fine (Serial & Prog).
The only drawback on the LC is that, as the pads are not centered, the USB plug is off-center.

[dd26]

The usb port of mine teensy 4.0 was accidentally broken, I tried to solder a new usb port wires to d+ and d- pads but the board isn't recognized by PC.

Could you say me where can I solder new usb port wires to be able to upload programs into the board... ?

I already tried to solder on broken usb port pins, but they are too small...

[defragster]

The usb port of mine teensy 4.0 was accidentally broken, I tried to solder a new usb port wires to d+ and d- pads but the board isn't recognized by PC.

Could you say me where can I solder new usb port wires to be able to upload programs into the board... ?

I already tried to solder on broken usb port pins, but they are too small...

Teensy 4.0 bottom pads are not duplicates of the Device USB found in the connector. Those bottom pads as noted on the T_4.0 card are to the secondary USB Host pins for the Teensy 4.0 - so they will not help.

The only usable USB Device pins exposed are those leading to the now broken off micro USB connector. The USB Device is of the 480 Mbps type and routing spare pins usably wasn't possible on the T_4.0 form factor.

[Frank B]

Did you solder 2 pins only? You need 4: GND, 5V (VCC), D- and D+.

[dd26]

I soldered 4 pins, the led turn on when usb is plugged

[Sindel]

What is the part name (or number?). The connector got detached from the PCB and I need to replace it!

[blakeAlbion]

OMG I thought I was all alone on this one. Tomorrow evening I will try soldering a cable to my poor Teensy. I rotated my circuit board holder with the usb still plugged in. Yank!
I suppose if I had ever soldered on a micro USB socket I might have some clue as to how to fix it. But my eyes don't go to that magnification level anymore.