GPS issues demystified

[fc3211]

TL; DR on the last 12 pages

So 3 years later we still have not come up with a solution to the broken GPS? Let me ask you this. If you contact LG and ask them to perform the repair as an out of warranty repair than what exactly will they do? And how much will they charge?

I say TL; DR because I have laready done like 3 or 4 of these fixes and my GPS still only works intermittently.

There is not a part we can just buy and swap out? Also if greater than 80% of the phones have this same problem than why doesn't LG just step up and offer to repair it. They already had to pay out millions on the LG g4 bootloop and the only reason there was a class-action and so many extra lawyer fees is because they tried to weasel out of repairing the LG g4 bootloops even after they realized that it was a widespread problem.

LG really sucks, may a thousand fleas infest their beds. Im definitely boycotting them from now on also for TV's, monitors, air conditioners. The brand is no longer synonymous with quality. The LG G3 was such a great phone that I gave them another chance with the LG G5 and basically they have betrayed my trust with this GPS problem.

If you read thru this entire thread you will see solutions and then other people saying "Yes! That worked for me!" but then a few days later you see more people saying "I tried it but GPS is broken again". So like basically nothing works as far as all theories that have been postulated are incorrect and do not address the root cause of the GPS problem.

Even if we cant find a solution I just want to know WHAT EXACTLY IS THE PROBLEM? Can somebody just answer me that? WHY? Why is the GPS failing after a few months on almost all our phones? Was this deliberate "planned obsolesence" introduced by LG? I just want to know WHY, WHY, WHY. I am like the autistic guy from the movie "The Accountant" and i need to know WHY. Or else I cant stop thinking about it. I need answers

 

[cyobane]

cleaning contacts works reliably for me, giving me usable GPS for the past 8 months.

Just after cleaning today it's back to acquiring within a few seconds and giving 6m accuracy outdoors. It'll stay like this for about a month before it starts slowly losing strength over a few months until I'm back to losing GPS constantly while driving.

Last time I cleaned was in December, GPS before cleaning was barely functional unless I put my finger on the top right edge of the screen.

I suppose there could be a host of issues causing GPS problems and not all solvable by cleaning contacts

 

[adonai]

cleaning contacts works reliably for me, giving me usable GPS for the past 8 months.

Just after cleaning today it's back to acquiring within a few seconds and giving 6m accuracy outdoors. It'll stay like this for about a month before it starts slowly losing strength over a few months until I'm back to losing GPS constantly while driving.

Last time I cleaned was in December, GPS before cleaning was barely functional unless I put my finger on the top right edge of the screen.

I suppose there could be a host of issues causing GPS problems and not all solvable by cleaning contacts

Looks like its an oxydation problem

Cleaning contacts makes it run fine for a while, then small vibes and oxydation take it to the point another cleanup is required.

There should be a way to keep them clean, some product to be left on contacts foe example...

Inviato dal mio LG-H850 utilizzando Tapatalk

 

[thetool]

I have taken the spring from the viberator motor and soldered it instead of the original contact spring. SO NO WAY THERE'S NO CONTACT!!
Still the GPS barely works. (It does connect but very intermittent)

st.dan - Sadly doen't answer and I'm afraid to do permanent things that may totally ruin the gps. at least now it still works a little.

 

[2daMax]

What worked for me was the contacts cleaning with IPA, removing the mesh film n throughly cleaning it with IPA soaked cotton buds on both sides, cleaning on the cover side all the ground joints, particularly for the mesh.

I tried a new thing. Using a small piece of copper braid, i placed it so that it will be sandwiched between the GPS chip and the cover. I maybe wrong to call it the GPS chip but this chip sits on the pcba side and is close to the anthena connector. The top of the chip is metalic indicating it maybe a ground ....and it correlates to a ground area on the cover side. So i place the copper braid to improve the grounding contact. Copper braid sourced from desoldering tools.

So far after 3 days i am seeing the best gps signals strength and getting a fast gps fix. Perhaps the false fix of shimming the Volume rocker switch contacts temporarily improves this ground connection. I wish i hv pictures but do not hv one to show. Still early to tell but this has been so far the most strong n consistent over the numerous time i tried a solution.

 

[thetool]

Update: managed to fix gps (for now at least) with very good results,
3m accuracy outside!!

As I said I soldered the vibrator motor spring (I had a spare), just soldered well this time and cleaned the contacts.

One very important thing:
The contacts must be flawless!

That means:
1. Use a multimeter, check connectivity between the base of the soldering point to the end of the spring. MUST BE 0.00!!
anyting more than that is bad contact.
2. Clean and rub the spring and the contact points on the back cover with alcohol/contact cleaner.
You should see black stains coming off.
(sometimes must replace back cover)

Do not try permanent "solutions" that involve soldering the MB or cutting antennas as they don't really work well - and there's no coming back.

Sent from my LG-H850 using Tapatalk

 

[DavidLD]

After a drive to the mountains last week when the G5 attempted to take me off a few cliffs and caused Google Earth to lose my position during the most difficult portions of multi-turn interstate highway maneuvers, I decided to try this fix, specifically, cleaning the contact between the GPS antenna button on the MB and the pad attached to the back case of the phone. My phone is a US Verizon VS987. I first tested the resistance between the contact portion of the pad and the aluminum phone back and found it to be OK, so decided to not remove the pad. I cleaned the contact points and then did something different. Since it appears that this may be an issue with oxidation between the contact button and pad, hence the improvement when cleaning, I added a dab of anti-oxidant compound, the stuff that is used for aluminum wiring connections to prevent oxidation and corrosion. Just a tiny amount about the size of a pinhead on the button, not the pad, from the end of a toothpick. I don't know what brand I have, since I have a small amount left over from when I had a standby generator installed. But you can find several versions of anti-oxidant compound on Amazon and a version at your local (US) Home Depot. This anti-oxidant is essentially a mix of an oil or light grease to insulate the conductor from the environment and zinc power to provide conductivity.

I put it back together and turned it on near a window in my second floor office and it found a fix with about 18 of 20 satellites in about four seconds. Prior to this I could hardly get a fix and suffered all of the problems noted earlier in this thread. Outside, my location error is down to about 20 feet, which is as good it ever was at home (my house is surrounded by very tall trees which somewhat limit GPS reception and accuracy).

So hopefully the G5 GPS problenm is fixed, and hopefully for good. I will try to remember this entry and update it in a few weeks after I have determined whether this fix will last or not.

One month later: GPS is back to where it was before my repair, slow to first fix and all over the place during a hike yesterday. So I did it again. See post at bottom of this thread.

 

[RickNY1971]

Seems a lot of people said this was caused by oxidation and that the problem was resolved after cleaning.. Decided to try an old standby on the mesh and the contact pin... There’s stuff called No-Ox-Id “A Special” that is often used on outdoor telecom wires. I threw a dab on both the mesh and pin and I’m seeing 6m accuracy indoors and 4m outdoors. I guess time will tell. Previously only seeing 10-12m outdoors.

 

[zztop2]

Gps fixed at least

I-ve fixed my gps,,,
Till now my gps on the LG G5 was always a really ****, I haven-t been able to use it neve, but never...... too slow, and imposible positions to get a minium of signal.
Last day I- ve broken my lcd, the glass, and bought new lcd with frame. (from aliexpress) 29 euros.
I -ve changed it, (it was the easiest phone I ever change the lcd) and with the new lcd, i wonder,,,, it will be able to get signal gps. YESSSSSSSSSSSSSS, it works now fast and really fine, I-ve used it twice and perfect....... and inside my build works perfect
The only thing I-ve noticed, its that thee bright of the lcd it-s not the same that the orginal frame, but i can use my gps now.... very glad.,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, I prefer it.

 

[ailannet]

Hi all,
This is my first post here, but I just have to share something about this problem. I too have a lot of GPS problems with my LG G5. No fix and intermittend connections. Impossible to use the phone for navigation.
I followed this thread for over a year and the only thing I tried was cleaning the mesh and to rise the board with some plastic. No luck and still problems.
But.... the good news I wanted to share here is a really simple one, but I do have a working GPS connection now. And hope someone else can also try it and let us know how it goes.
2 days ago I changed my battery. In my case it is a large capacity 4000 mah battery. Immediately my GPS reception went up and I have steady results. It could be because I reseated the whole package, but I don't think so because I have flipped the battery out of the phone several times in the past with no results.
So hope that someone can try to swap the battery for a fresh one and check how that goes.

 

[cheeze.keyk]

Hi all,
This is my first post here, but I just have to share something about this problem. I too have a lot of GPS problems with my LG G5. No fix and intermittend connections. Impossible to use the phone for navigation.
I followed this thread for over a year and the only thing I tried was cleaning the mesh and to rise the board with some plastic. No luck and still problems.
But.... the good news I wanted to share here is a really simple one, but I do have a working GPS connection now. And hope someone else can also try it and let us know how it goes.
2 days ago I changed my battery. In my case it is a large capacity 4000 mah battery. Immediately my GPS reception went up and I have steady results. It could be because I reseated the whole package, but I don't think so because I have flipped the battery out of the phone several times in the past with no results.
So hope that someone can try to swap the battery for a fresh one and check how that goes.

May we know were did you buy the battery replacement? and is it really for G5 with just higher capacity?

 

[lutufff]

youtube.com/watch?v=WOBNg_T3fkA

I did what is shown in this video and gps started to lock incredibly less than before. It is very silly because once I opened the body, I saw that the 3 pins were not even touching the antenna on the body. Now, I am able to lock in 3-5 seconds.

 

[ailannet]

May we know were did you buy the battery replacement? and is it really for G5 with just higher capacity?

Hi cheeze.keyk.
I tried to post a link but its not possible for me because I'm new here. (min of 10 posts before allowed to post links.)
Google for: "ebay LG G5 Battery 4000mAh BL 42D1F High Capacity Replacement Extended H830 H820 VS98"

One of the first hits from Ebay will take you to such a battery.

 

[itm]

Just catching up with this post, as I too have a constantly-dropping GPS signal issue with my H850 (UK). I'd like to home in on the non-destructive solutions which don't require soldering - i.e. the contact cleaning and use of copper foil.
Could anyone please clarify:
1) Which parts need to be cleaned - is it the sprung contact button on the PCB and the surface of the mesh pad on the back cover?
2) Where exactly would I place the copper foil? Does it need to be laid on top of the mesh pad in the cover - i.e. sandwiched between the contact on the PCB and the mesh pad?

 

[russy23]

Got the G5 open..replacing power button..with back of GPS not working

 

[russy23]

Ok so g5 back together..a nervous time taking screen off..and now gps works and locks pretty quickly all i did was clean contacts..bad news is fingerprint scanner dont work still..maybe a stock reflash is needed..who knows..gonna have to take back of again anyway as plate isnt secure enough and button wonky..pics attached of gps improvement..same location in garden and fixed in bout 4 secs now

 

[cyobane]

Just catching up with this post, as I too have a constantly-dropping GPS signal issue with my H850 (UK). I'd like to home in on the non-destructive solutions which don't require soldering - i.e. the contact cleaning and use of copper foil.
Could anyone please clarify:
1) Which parts need to be cleaned - is it the sprung contact button on the PCB and the surface of the mesh pad on the back cover?
2) Where exactly would I place the copper foil? Does it need to be laid on top of the mesh pad in the cover - i.e. sandwiched between the contact on the PCB and the mesh pad?

look for the mesh on the back cover and the metallic contact points just underneath and to the side. You'll also need to clean the contact points on the main body side of the phone

This picture shows the mesh:
https://forum.xda-developers.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=4337820&d=1511215571


see the pictures in this other pic and this ifixit post for other contact points:
https://forum.xda-developers.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=4337822&d=1511215571


Get some isopropyl alcohol or some electrical contact cleaner and clean up the contact points. i see a bit of dark (i guess oxidized) residue coming off the mesh when i'm wiping it.

i have to do it every few months to keep things working.

edit (number 11): sorry i couldn't get the images to embed without making them fill the whole page i tried for like 20 minutes to make embeddable images from existing images but i can't get it to resize to reasonable dimensions

 

[itm]

look for the mesh on the back cover and the metallic contact points just underneath and to the side. You'll also need to clean the contact points on the main body side of the phone

This picture shows the mesh:
https://forum.xda-developers.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=4337820&d=1511215571


see the pictures in this other pic and this ifixit post for other contact points:
https://forum.xda-developers.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=4337822&d=1511215571


Get some isopropyl alcohol or some electrical contact cleaner and clean up the contact points. i see a bit of dark (i guess oxidized) residue coming off the mesh when i'm wiping it.

i have to do it every few months to keep things working.

edit (number 11): sorry i couldn't get the images to embed without making them fill the whole page i tried for like 20 minutes to make embeddable images from existing images but i can't get it to resize to reasonable dimensions

Thanks. As for the solution involving the copper foil tape - would I lay that on top of the mesh pad ?

 

[cyobane]

Thanks. As for the solution involving the copper foil tape - would I lay that on top of the mesh pad ?

I would guess so but I haven't tried any modifications like that

 

[yanuk]

Thanks. As for the solution involving the copper foil tape - would I lay that on top of the mesh pad ?

the mesh tape is one of the contributors to the problem because dirt gets trapped on it. I removed the mesh "cloth/tape" and made sure that the pin contacts the casing directly and solved the GPS issue.

Essentially I followed a Chinese Baidu forum (source link:https://tieba.baidu.com/p/4972594399?red_tag=3211971705) and did something similar to this on the PCB
http://imgsrc.baidu.com/forum/pic/item/8c597c2eb9389b504fbbbac78c35e5dde6116e63.jpg
I repeated a similar fashion on the back casing. I used double sided tape to hold the wire in place while ensuring the top part of wires are in direct contact with the casing. My double-sided tapes are non-conductive.

If you follow the link, ignore the first part of the fix where they recommended the 3 pins which was the volume rocker pins. That doesn't work at all