Chosen Solution

The Home/Menu button of my Kindle Touch does not work. I can hear and feel the click, but it does nothing. Is there a way to fix it?

Here’s what I did to reactivate my Home button. I surmised there was a buildup of crud in the switch mechanism that needed to be cleaned out. I chose 91% isopropyl alcohol because it was a high grade solvent that would mobilize the crud without leaving a residue or attacking the plastic. Don’t use plain rubbing alcohol because it has oils in the alcohol to facilitate “rubbing.”

  1. Turn the unit off.
  2. Take a napkin soaked in IPA and daub the raised portions, allowing a little to slip into the slots.
  3. Before the IPA evaporates (and it will evaporate quickly!), work the button repeatedly.
  4. Repeat as needed Each cleaning cycle, things got better and after three, operation was great - took 5 minutes for the whole thing!

Is the ’new home button’ attached to the bezel, or to the motherboard in this case? And if it’s just a shorted wire, what is involved with this repair?

You might have to just get a new home button or check and make sure that the connector is securely plugged into the logic board as it may have jarred loose, either that or a shorted home button wire.