Why you should use MFI certified charging cables!

While everyone loves a bargin.. and a cheap charging cord you grab at the checkout of any number of stores from a gas station to Walmart seems like you just saved big! Well, here at Mission Repair we are seeing more and more damaged iPhones and iPads that I believe the only issues are charging related. The customers claim no drops, liquid or any other situation that would cause damage has occurred yet their device won’t power on, won’t charge etc…

If you see brown spots or deformed wire covering (shown on the right in the picture below) which is likely from the cable producing excess heat… throw it away immediately!! If you’re in doubt about your $.99 cent cable.. toss it.

So what could possibly be the issue? We work with several shops and share information. One, in particular, is highly skilled board specialists that continue to report various electronic components on the logic boards been burned up or “blown” like a fuse in your home or car. The reason would seem to point to faulty or cheap charging cables.

First and foremost I am not saying you must only buy Apple branded cables. Belkin, Griffin and multiple other accessory vendors sell legit cables that are “Apple/MFI certified” and have the proper IC chips in them to regulate voltage and not overcharge or burn out circuitry in your device. Follow this link tell if you have legit cables. This picture shows the chip at the end of the MFI certified cable, which many legitimate companies pay a fee to Apple to use. That fee alone is (last I heard) in the $5 range plus or minus depending on the volume. That makes a $.99 cable.. well fake. If you’re getting a “deal” on even those $2.99 cables, it’s probably fake as well. Bottom line it must be an MFI certified cable, and legitimate companies will clearly state the information on the outside of the packing. However, in the world of counterfeiting and fakes, even the packaging can be fake. My best advice is stick with name brands you know and trusts over the years. I usually keep Belkin and Griffen cables at my retail locations as they have been very reliable.

Bottom line would you rather pay $9.99 or more for a cable or get the call from your local repair shop that your new iPhone/iPad that you paid well over $500 is now dead. While some of these are repairable, typically this type of repair is $200+. The surge of electricity can literally kill your device and leave you with a $0.99 glittery pink/red/blue charging cable and a $500 paperweight!

I know it’s painful (cost wise) when you need multiple charging cables but based on the past few months/year of repairs it’s not a matter of IF.. but when that day comes you have an issue. The real danger, of course, is not a dead device but the chance the cheap cable starts a fire and puts you and your family at risk of serious injury or loss of something much more valuable than a phone or tablet.

Please be safe and take the time to inspect your cables!

Mission Repair Locations – for iPod, iPhone, Tablet and Computer Repairs

NATIONWIDE MAIL-IN SERVICE

We are still the best in the business at Mail-In Repairs. We’ve been there from the beginning and will be there until the end. There are thousands of customers every month that have their devices repaired and if you’re one of the many that doesn’t want to make a trek out of the house, our exclusive mail in services are for you.

Shipping your device to us? Please place your order on our website and follow our shipping instructions. Need help placing your order? Give us a call at 1-844-459-0105 or email sales@missionrepair.com.

LOCAL WALK-IN SERVICE – OPEN 7 DAYS A WEEK!
We also take local walk-ins with no appointment necessary! Want your device repaired while you wait? Ask us about our express service and view the map below for our locations.

Business Hours:
Monday – Friday: 10am – 7pm
Saturday – Sunday: 10am – 5pm
CLOSED MAJOR HOLIDAYS

Lenexa, Kansas Store
OPEN FOR BUSINESS!
9214 Marshall Dr.
Lenexa, KS 66215
913-353-9233

Mission, Kansas Store
OPEN FOR BUSINESS!
5604 Johnson Dr.
Mission, KS 66202
913-284-0994

Lakewood, Colorado Store
OPEN FOR BUSINESS!
3234 S. Wadsworth Blvd.
Lakewood, CO 80227
720-897-6297

We’ll see you here! Have a great morning, Ryan

Indianapolis or bust!

Hello there-

We just finalized out plans to head to Indianapolis this week to secure our newest Mission Repair location and (maybe?) hopefully get the keys to the place!

We are hopefully locating in Fishers, Indiana…just North East of the Indianapolis downtown mega-center!

Our Fishers location will be strategic; it’s part of our long-term plan of growth of retail locations across the country. This means one thing for sure; our newest locations will be coming on line in a slow and methodical way. Mission Repair isn’t a franchise with different pricing, process or methods; and all of our technicians are trained in house.

I’ll be unavailable at the end of the week and it looks like we need to cram a week worth of work into just a few days. I’ll be here late, I should probably order take-out for dinner!

Have a great day, Ryan

iPhones – get ’em while they’re hot!

Good morning again,

After our fun at the Mission Repair company picnic yesterday, I got into my car, which is here I left my iPhone 6, and had this message:

Funny thing is that it let me take that screenshot. I guess it’s not too hot and tired for pictures! We see this a lot at Mission Repair. Customers have even claimed that their phones cracked due to extreme heat.

Virtually all manufacturers data sheets will list both the minimum and maximum storage and operating temperatures for their internal parts. In fact, many parts will be available in multiple versions designed to operate in more strenuous environments.

So for example an integrated circuit (IC) may be available in the following versions:

Commercial 0 to 70°C.
Industrial -40 to +85°C.
Military -55 to +125°C.

Needless to say, the cost goes up with increased performance. There are even chips specified for use in outer space. So for example a chip which costs $2 in the “Commercial” grade might cost $2,000 for the version rated for outer space! (As you can guess, your Samsung Galaxy S5 isn’t rated for a moon walk, but that’s probably ok.)

Let’s talk about the iPhone for a minute. According to Apple:

Use iOS devices where the ambient temperature is between 0º and 35º C (32º to 95º F). Low- or high-temperature conditions might cause the device to change its behavior to regulate its temperature. Using an iOS device in very cold conditions outside of its operating range may temporarily shorten battery life and could cause the device to turn off. Battery life will return to normal when the device is brought back to higher ambient temperatures.

Store the device where the temperature is between -20º and 45º C (-4º to 113º F). Don’t leave the device in your car, because temperatures in parked cars can exceed this range.

Remember that if it’s 87 degrees outside, it’s 132 degrees inside of your car on a hot clear day.

One needs to keep in mind that the temperature of the components is affected by two sources:

1) The temperature of the environment.
2) Self heating – some components generate a large amount of heat in operation, logic boards in phones are one example.

Please don’t leave your expensive electronics in your hot car like I did – especially when they are turned on – to avoid possible long-term damage and an extra trip into Mission Repair for a logic board repair.

Any questions? Give us a call 866-638-8402.

Take care, Ryan

G-day mate. My boomerang skills are a little rusty.

G’day mate. You’d think that I was down under practicing my boomerang techniques with this beauty that we received at the Olathe Mission Repair location this week:

No, that’s not a boomerang. It’s an iPhone, just bent like a boomerang. There’s been a lot of talk about the iPhone 6 bending…but the urban legend that the previous iPhones DIDN’T bend is now confirmed to be FALSE. With enough pressure, they do bend! 😉

This customer was hoping for a good outcome. The fact is that we can repair this; but we are pretty much going to need to replace the entire phone to do so. I think power switch was still good…but everything else from the screen to the battery to the logic board are all toast and dead as fried chicken.

It was a good try…but even Mission Repair has limitations. If you’ve got a “normal” broken iPhone, we’re much better as repairing those than something like this…but it’s worth a shot…at least we can recycle it properly for the customer!

I’m going to go put a few shrimps on the barbie (that’s code for: “keep blogging Ryan”) and head back to work.

Take care, Ryan