Electron - SIM card loses physical contact over time

General
1

My Electron has been sitting unused for a while, with the SIM card in it. I picked it up yesterday to play with it and it would breadth white and then go into listen mode. The last time I used it I had flashed working code, so I was a bit confused. I tried all kinds of things (Flashing simple code locally) etc. The Flashing itself works, but when the Electron boots, it keeps going into listen mode.

Finally today, I decided to press down on the SIM card, on either side of the center support brace and that fixed the issue. In order to make it permanent (or rather make it work for a while at least without having to hold the SIM down) took the SIM card out, and gently bent it the other way. This seems to have fixed it temporarily. However, my concern is that over time the SIM card will warp again. I’m concerned that this could become an issue for a lot of Electrons out there and feel this needs to be addressed.

1 Like
2

Was it connected to the battery when you stored it?

3

No, there were no connections to the Electron.

4

If you slightly bend up the contacts of the holder with a needle you should get more flex even for slightly bent SIMs.

5

Sure, my concern is that over time the SIM card seems to warp due to the pressure from the pins and the fact that the support brace is in the center, rather than over the areas where the contact pins are. I'm going to leave things as they are and monitor to see if it happens again.

6

I’d not expect the warping coming from the pins, but rather from temperature and humidity changes.

7

Could you provide a picture?

8

Picture of what? With the naked eye I could not see any warp, but because pressing down the SIM card helped I bent the card just a bit in the opposite direction. Even now, looking at the card you can't see it.

I'm only concerned that the card was in the Electron for a month while the Electron was not in use. When I next wanted to use it, it wouldn't go online. Pressing down on both sides of the card enabled the Electron to get online, leaving it, disconnected it.

Yes, that's possible too. However, the device was not in use and safely stored with all of my other unused devices. Given that these devices will likely be exposed to the elements, more so than a cell phone is, this might become an issue. There are various SIM card sockets/holders that have more support for the card with wider braces and/or clamps that might be better suited for IoT devices.

9

I am a victim of the inferior sim holder. After a few months the SIM is grotesquely warped and the Electron blinks blue. I suspected this would be a potential problem when I first saw a TINY band of metal across the SIM. Just the pressure of the contacts warped the SIM. I can understand the desire to reduce cost but don’t make excused for am obviously inferior, inadequate holder. I would like to return the “defective” electron.

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10

What were the temps where this was installed?

Looks like it was was heated up.

Over the years this is the first time I have seen anybody post a picture or mention a warped SIM.

We have talked and warned others about the potential for this to happen in warm environments.

Using the E-Series modules with the chip SIM will prevent this from happening.

1 Like
11

I know of one instance where the temperature was approx 130 def F when delivered from the Fedex truck. Fortunately I don’t think I have many of this type of sim holder testing in the field. My next concern is that the latest Electrons come with a tin SIMs. I have never seen anything but gold before. Will this be my next problem?