Nexus 5 Power Button Broken - Here's what to do

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Paul22000

Senior Member
Jan 19, 2008
3,522
155
This morning my Nexus 5 was turned off all of a sudden after not having used it for 20-30 minutes. I held the power button and nothing. I plugged it into power and the "Google" screen appeared. It then went into a reboot loop on and off, on and off, on and off. I held the Volume Buttons and it went into fastboot, but then boot looped out again and again. Searching on Google yielded that this was indeed a common problem. See this link below:

http://www.reddit.com/r/Nexus5/comments/2rpfuj/nexus_5_broken_power_button_keeps_rebooting

I called Google via the Hardware Warranty Center (1-855-836-3987, open 24/7):

https://support.google.com/googleplay/troubleshooter/3070579

Unfortunately, my device is past the 1 year warranty period (surprise, just like the others in the reddit link above). Google was helpful enough to call LG on my behalf, explain the situation, and hand me over. LG's warranty period is 1 year as well, so if I wanted to send in my device, I could do so but it would cost me to have it repaired. Unfortunately, they were unwilling to provide an estimate. Sending in the device to have the damage assessed is free luckily. The repair facility is in Fort Worth, Texas, and will take 5-7 days to estimate damage and repair (not including shipping time).

I decided to call T-Mobile to see if I they had the Nexus 6 in stock, just in case. They did. I also asked if they could do out-of-warranty repairs. They didn't, but they referred me to a nearby cell phone repair store. Just up the street from me! I didn't even know the place was there.

I called them and inquired if they could fix it. They said yes, but might need to order the power button if they don't have the correct size. Here's the meat of the post for those of wondering how much it will cost to fix: it would cost $35 if the power button needed adjusting, or $70 (with T-Mobile discount) if the power button needed to be replaced and re-soldered to the board. I took it over to get it inspected to see if they had the correct size power button. They disassembled it in the back, inspected it, and told me that luckily they had the correct-sized part. I figured sure, let's go for it, drove home, waited an hour or two and went back. I am happy to say that the power button is now working good as new!

TLDR:
- Call LG for out-of-warranty repairs at 1-800-243-0000. You have to FedEx your device, but shipping is taken care of.
- If you don't want to mail in your device, call your local T-Mobile store to refer you to a local repair shop.
- I found on Google that some people soldered in a new button themselves, but I didn't want to do that. If you feel so inclined, it apparently only takes an hour or two.
 
Last edited:

Paul22000

Senior Member
Jan 19, 2008
3,522
155
In the UK, Play store devices have a 2 yr warranty.

Sadly I don't think anyone in the US offers a 2-year warranty or I'd be all over it for a Nexus 6.

The only option is $8-10/month insurance (but unfortunately I'm on a $30 prepaid plan, so no insurance for me), or paying Motorola.com for their extended warranty an extra $150.

Anyone else know of a better US-based 2-year warranty for a Nexus 6?
 

sidofido

Senior Member
May 4, 2012
122
18
Hello I have the same problem. I have still the warranty but my phones is unlocked and rooted. Will they replace it? Because it's an hardware failure. It has nothing to do with the root.
 

J_The_Nerd

Senior Member
Dec 12, 2012
68
13
Google are usually pretty lenient with root on nexus devices, after all they are intended for the developer community, but there are plenty of threads on how to return your device to stock on here if you don't want to take the chance they'll refuse.
 

sidofido

Senior Member
May 4, 2012
122
18
I know how to unroot it, but I can't even start the phone. And that's the question. Why should they void my warranty, if the power button is stucked and I can't unroot it.
 

zerosum0

Senior Member
Feb 7, 2015
690
93
Google have said, in print, that root does not affect the warranty IF, as you say "it's not software related". LG does not take the same view.
 

vbz89

Senior Member
Jan 11, 2012
589
171
Bangalore / Singapore
Till when is your warrenty valid? I had a similar problem last December and my warranty was due to expire in Jan this year. I managed to start my phone once by trying different ways to press the power button, and once it was on I jumped on the opportunity and unrooted and untampered it. Since I bought my phone from eBay, I had to visit LG for the repair. They checked my phone and said that they would have to replace the entire motherboard. Since it was in warranty and I was fully backed up, I agreed with it and received the phone in 2 days.
 

noxlord

Senior Member
Apr 4, 2011
220
31
Xperia XZ2
I had to send my N5 for an RMA recently because of power button issues. At first, a few hard taps around the power button fixed the problem momentarily but this trick lasted only about a month. After that my phone was unusable and I had to send the device in for RMA. Google Canada agreed to provide the RMA even if my phone was 3 months out of warranty (probably because power button failures are a known problem).

Now I have a refurb N5 and I want to preserve the power button as much as possible so I use a Nillkin flip case with a magnetic contact. The cover wake/sleep the phone automatically so I never have to hit the power button.

The only real fix to that problem is to solder a new button to the main pcb. Since LG repair centre won't waste time with such a risky procedure they only replace the whole PCB. Small repair shops will change the button.
It's pretty sad that these phones are doomed with a predictable failure like that. It remind me of my Motorola Atrix, a great phone except they all died from the same wifi-radio failure at some point. The fingerprint reader also broke consistently.
 

humzaahmed155

Senior Member
Dec 30, 2011
1,356
299
London
I had the biggest scare of my life last night as I was abruptly woken up by my phone in a reboot loop, I suspected correct, it was the power button. Thankfully is hasn't happened since, but the power button is now more sensitive than I'm used to.
 

hayzooos

Senior Member
Mar 10, 2011
2,088
513
Illinois
Good Lord did this come at the right time. I started having this same exact issue a few days ago. It comes and goes and it's what ultimately got me on to 5.1 from 4.4.4. I didn't think it was a software problem, but 5.1 'fixed' it until yesterday, when the same thing started happening again. There is a cell phone repair place not too far from where I live, so I'll have to give them a shout and see if they can fix it.

EDIT: +1 to the guy who suggested Gravity Screen as well. I found that app when searching for a solution to this same thing and it did work well enough. Habit to hit the power button was strong, but the app does a pretty good job.
 
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exorz

Member
Nov 26, 2008
34
2
I just ran into the same issue the other day.

Has anyone sent their phone back to LG out of warranty? How much did it cost to have the switch replaced?

One temporary solution I saw online that has worked decently well for me is to put a strong magnet by the power button. I waved the magnet over the power button and "pulled" slowly away from the phone as if I were pulling the contacts inside the button apart.
 

nockam

Member
Mar 10, 2009
41
0
I just ran into the same issue the other day.

Has anyone sent their phone back to LG out of warranty? How much did it cost to have the switch replaced?

One temporary solution I saw online that has worked decently well for me is to put a strong magnet by the power button. I waved the magnet over the power button and "pulled" slowly away from the phone as if I were pulling the contacts inside the button apart.

Exorz - have you found an answer to this? My wifes phone started having this problem today. Just got off the phone with LG to send it in for an estimate but I wont know how much for a few weeks...
 

Kuarinfou

Member
Dec 14, 2014
41
25
I had the same issue in February.But there is no Google service in Turkey , so I sent my N5 to LG Turkey Service within 2 years warranty.(Device was not rooted)also wanted to change battery and back cover.They changed battery , cover and power button for free (0$) and they did not change the motherboard.Button is working well now.I don't understand why they want to change motherboard.
 

Scientist07

Member
Jun 20, 2013
43
3
Good Lord did this come at the right time. I started having this same exact issue a few days ago. It comes and goes and it's what ultimately got me on to 5.1 from 4.4.4. I didn't think it was a software problem, but 5.1 'fixed' it until yesterday, when the same thing started happening again. There is a cell phone repair place not too far from where I live, so I'll have to give them a shout and see if they can fix it.

EDIT: +1 to the guy who suggested Gravity Screen as well. I found that app when searching for a solution to this same thing and it did work well enough. Habit to hit the power button was strong, but the app does a pretty good job.

I recently ran into this power button problem with my nexus 5 and wanted to know how to use this app to help with that. I downloaded the app and activated it but my phone still reboots after a few minutes of use. What settings did you use?
 

hayzooos

Senior Member
Mar 10, 2011
2,088
513
Illinois
I recently ran into this power button problem with my nexus 5 and wanted to know how to use this app to help with that. I downloaded the app and activated it but my phone still reboots after a few minutes of use. What settings did you use?

Honestly it's been a while since I used it, a few months at least I think. I know I had it set up where when I picked up the phone, the screen would turn on as hitting the power button was causing it to reboot. At least...so I thought.

After this worked for a little while, then my phone stopped rebooting and would just turn off completely. I'd have 50% battery left and the phone would shut off. I'd turn it back on and it would read the battery was at 1% or something like that. Long and short of it is this...I ended up replacing the battery and it's like a brand new phone again. No more reboots, no more random shutdowns, nada. Battery life is back to where it should be, I can go a full day without needing to be around a charger.

It could be your power button, or considering we're Nexus users (thus, use our phones more and in different ways than most) it's quite possible your battery is taking a dump too. I'd seriously look into getting it replaced. I could've done it myself, but opted to take it into a local store and I think the cost of the battery and the install was $55 or something like that. I was happy to pay it to basically have a brand new phone again.

I'm holding out hope for a 2015 N5 per the rumors, and I'll pick that up assuming T-Mobile Wifi calling is available on it like it is on the N6. If they do a solid and bring that to the N5, I see absolutely zero reason to get another phone for at least another 12-18 months.
 

Scientist07

Member
Jun 20, 2013
43
3
Honestly it's been a while since I used it, a few months at least I think. I know I had it set up where when I picked up the phone, the screen would turn on as hitting the power button was causing it to reboot. At least...so I thought.

After this worked for a little while, then my phone stopped rebooting and would just turn off completely. I'd have 50% battery left and the phone would shut off. I'd turn it back on and it would read the battery was at 1% or something like that. Long and short of it is this...I ended up replacing the battery and it's like a brand new phone again. No more reboots, no more random shutdowns, nada. Battery life is back to where it should be, I can go a full day without needing to be around a charger.

It could be your power button, or considering we're Nexus users (thus, use our phones more and in different ways than most) it's quite possible your battery is taking a dump too. I'd seriously look into getting it replaced. I could've done it myself, but opted to take it into a local store and I think the cost of the battery and the install was $55 or something like that. I was happy to pay it to basically have a brand new phone again.

I'm holding out hope for a 2015 N5 per the rumors, and I'll pick that up assuming T-Mobile Wifi calling is available on it like it is on the N6. If they do a solid and bring that to the N5, I see absolutely zero reason to get another phone for at least another 12-18 months.

Well I don't think my battery is the problem but the power button instead. It started just last week. Found a fix that requires opening the phone and I was trying to avoid that. Seems like I would have to open the phone after all. Thx for the answer though.
 

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  • 9
    This morning my Nexus 5 was turned off all of a sudden after not having used it for 20-30 minutes. I held the power button and nothing. I plugged it into power and the "Google" screen appeared. It then went into a reboot loop on and off, on and off, on and off. I held the Volume Buttons and it went into fastboot, but then boot looped out again and again. Searching on Google yielded that this was indeed a common problem. See this link below:

    http://www.reddit.com/r/Nexus5/comments/2rpfuj/nexus_5_broken_power_button_keeps_rebooting

    I called Google via the Hardware Warranty Center (1-855-836-3987, open 24/7):

    https://support.google.com/googleplay/troubleshooter/3070579

    Unfortunately, my device is past the 1 year warranty period (surprise, just like the others in the reddit link above). Google was helpful enough to call LG on my behalf, explain the situation, and hand me over. LG's warranty period is 1 year as well, so if I wanted to send in my device, I could do so but it would cost me to have it repaired. Unfortunately, they were unwilling to provide an estimate. Sending in the device to have the damage assessed is free luckily. The repair facility is in Fort Worth, Texas, and will take 5-7 days to estimate damage and repair (not including shipping time).

    I decided to call T-Mobile to see if I they had the Nexus 6 in stock, just in case. They did. I also asked if they could do out-of-warranty repairs. They didn't, but they referred me to a nearby cell phone repair store. Just up the street from me! I didn't even know the place was there.

    I called them and inquired if they could fix it. They said yes, but might need to order the power button if they don't have the correct size. Here's the meat of the post for those of wondering how much it will cost to fix: it would cost $35 if the power button needed adjusting, or $70 (with T-Mobile discount) if the power button needed to be replaced and re-soldered to the board. I took it over to get it inspected to see if they had the correct size power button. They disassembled it in the back, inspected it, and told me that luckily they had the correct-sized part. I figured sure, let's go for it, drove home, waited an hour or two and went back. I am happy to say that the power button is now working good as new!

    TLDR:
    - Call LG for out-of-warranty repairs at 1-800-243-0000. You have to FedEx your device, but shipping is taken care of.
    - If you don't want to mail in your device, call your local T-Mobile store to refer you to a local repair shop.
    - I found on Google that some people soldered in a new button themselves, but I didn't want to do that. If you feel so inclined, it apparently only takes an hour or two.
    3
    I read through this thread thinking one of you found a better solution than me, because you always seem to. Anyways I did not see anything that would help me because I am out of warranty and don't own a solder gun. On my last N5 I took it apart and put a small piece of foam between the button and the board. This added a little resistance to button and also helped pop it back out when I pushed it. It worked for over a year. Once or twice I had to go in and move the foam back into place because it worked its way from between the button. It takes less than 5 minutes and cost 0 dollars. Hopefully this will help some of you that don't have other options. I'm about to do it to my "new" N5 because I decided to get my other one wet this weekend.

    ---------- Post added at 02:42 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:11 PM ----------

    Quick Follow up: I just did it to my "new" N5 and it worked well again. It had been power cycling all morning when I tried to wake the screen up, or touched it. Even with the case off (the case covers the power button and puts a small amount of pressure on it, so it makes it more sensitive when the power button issue arises). Now I have the case back on it and it is working like it should. if you are interested below is all I do to fix it;

    1) Take the back off the N5
    2) take the 6 small screws out that hold the top protective cover over the board
    3) go to almost any door in your house and tear a very small piece of the foam off of the weather stripping (a lot of windows have it also)
    4) take a tiny flat head screw driver and press the foam on either side of the power button, between it and the board.
    when I say "either side" I am referring to either side of the small white button that comes off of the board. be sure not to get any foam between it and the power button. this is where the problem actually comes from. the power button doesn't have enough resistance to push it back out and stop making contact with this white button on the board, so it keeps turning phone on and off. the foam acts as a buffer between the power button and board.
    5) put phone back together and enjoy.
    2
    Try Gravity screen with proximity on/off.. no buttons touched.
    2
    Need to replace power button

    I recently had same problem. Tried everything myself but no use. Then tried visiting official LG service center and they told that the entire motherboard needs to be replaced at 8K INR.
    Finally, I found one local repairing shop in Pune who fixed it by replacing the power button only for 300 INR.
    If your are from PUNE & has same problem you can contact - "New Archis Cell Care" at Budhwar Peth.
    Phone: 020-24468879, Mobile: 8888107979.
    1
    My solution to the power button not working

    Here is an alternative solution to the dreaded power button failure on the Nexus 5.

    Basically I tried the already posted methods: cleaning the button on the motherboard with cleaning liquid (used a lot!), and also the method by DT USC posted a few pages back: use a small piece of window insulation rubber between the motherboard and the button on the case, to let it not stick to the motherboard. For me, neither of these worked.

    My issue was actually not that the phone was constantly rebooting (i.e. sticking button), but that the button would just not respond. Not, unless I pressed it very heavily and hope for the best. What I found out was that when I pushed the phone from front and back tight together near the power button side, the button would actually work, whilst letting go from the phone and not push it together, it would not.

    What I then did, was to add that same insulating foam rubber inside the phone, between the case and the motherboard to create a pressure to the button area, so that it would work. And it now does 100%!

    Only downside is that by adding extra material inside the case, it makes a small gap on the side near power button allowing dust to get inside a bit, as you can see below. I don't mind personally really, as there is already a small piece of case disappeared near SIM tray anyway, and a working Nexus 5 is better than non-working.

    Attached a few pics to explain the procedure. Basically what I did was:

    1) Use plastic tool to open the back cover. For the first time I suggest using hair dryer for the below part to soften the glue. I really suggest checking the following video for general information how to work with this phone when opening it up: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OPuCmfhzgbg

    2) Open the 6 screws and remove the black plastic cover

    3) Insert a small piece of foam as seen in the pictures. Make sure to not cover anything important. But it's quite easy since you can just place the foam on the top part of the silver plate.

    4) Carefully align the black plastic cover back and re-attach the screws. You can then see if the piece of foam you used is too thick by observing how big of a gap there will be, and also now is a good time to test the power button itself before putting the back cover back.

    If the issue is a loose connection somewhere that is sorted by adding pressure on the phone as I had, you will now have a fully working power button again.