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I just preformed a digitizer replacement for the Thunderbolt. One of the ribbon cable Zero Insert Force partially chipped off. Can you tell me (from your personal experience and intuition) if the symptoms look like a broken LCD screen, or the bad connection from the ribbon cable to the main board?
I've heard bad things about trying to do the digitizer only without the LCD, but the partially mangled connector throws me off on what it might be. To be more specific, it looks like the ZIF release bar was weak and 1/2 of the bar broke off. The other half of the bar still 'clamps' down.
Thanks a ton!
That's really odd. I've only worked with cell phone repair for a company for 4 months but from that I might be able to help. First... A few questions... What did you use to melt the adhesive? If you did that improperly this "could" potentially happen so that would make it an LCD issue. It doesn't look like an LCD issue other then that unless the pins on the ribbon cable connector are screwed. Now for what I personally think it looks like... Did you forget to remove the screen protector from BOTH sides of the digitizer? Or did you not clean the LCD and digitizer in alcohol after handling them?
My advice is to take apart the phone again, and turn it on while holding the cable connector in place to rule that out.
Now I haven't repaired the thunderbolt yet so when you say you broke the connector, is it a hinge connection and you broke part of the hinge? Or a snap in connection and cracked it? If option "B" its your LCD without a doubt.
Edit, sorry I didn't read the end. So it is a hinge connection. As long as the entire clip is ALL the way in your fine. If part of it is up and won't stay down... A small amount of electrical tape never hurt.
Edit number 2, absolutely not a cracked screen. If you would have cracked it you would have known, and it would look a lot crazier.
Sent from my ADR6400L using XDA
Yeah the guy above knows a lot more than me but to me it looks like a bad connection.
So I dropped my phone today, and it must have fell on the corner good enough that it cracked the screen from the top-left to the middle-right.
Going to replace the digitizer/LCD as a combo since it's a bit easier than replacing just the digitizer.
Ordered this today:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/350582267363?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1438.l2649
Watched a couple of the repair videos (specifically this one: http://blog.repairsuniverse.net/how-to-fix-htc-rezound-screen/), and they say that there's adhesive on the back of this assembly as well that you need to pry away from (in the previously linked video, they push the assembly away from the housing from the backside and pry away from the housing/adhesive). My question is... am I going to have to replace this adhesive once I pry the assembly away from the housing? Or should the adhesive that's there be good enough to secure it as long as I don't rip it away very badly?
If I do need to get new adhesive, anybody have any links as to what to get?
Thanks in advance, I appreciate it!
I never replace a screen before. good luck
Bump.
Still haven't done this, as I haven't had time on the weekends yet. Got a GNexus to get me by, but I'm missing my Rezound.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0069YNZV2/ref=oh_details_o00_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
doing all this is very tedious work... make sure you get the soft button hinges in correctly or the screen wont sit flat..
agentofchaos said:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0069YNZV2/ref=oh_details_o00_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
doing all this is very tedious work... make sure you get the soft button hinges in correctly or the screen wont sit flat..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Should be less tedious since I got the LCD/Digitizer assembly together, so I don't have to replace just the digitizer.
I replaced the digitizer on mine last year. The process was just a disaster for me (ended up cracking my LCD)...but since yours is coming with the LCD and digitizer already glued together...perhaps you should have some better luck. It won't be necessarily difficult to do...it could just become a pain.
For one...there are clear tabs attached to the digitizer that essentially "draw" the red LED lights from the board down to the buttons on the bottom. These tabs are literally sandwiched between the digitizer and LCD...you'll see what I mean when you separate the broken digitizer/LCD from the housing...there will be 4 clear tabs sticking out from the bottom of the LCD. I did not find any seller that was selling those tabs, and it's quite possible the one you bought won't have them. What this means is...the 4 capacitive buttons along the bottom will still work, they just won't light up anymore. Not a big deal to some. I tried peeling them off my old digitizer and gluing them to the new one...but that didn't come out right at all. And your new LCD/digitizer will already be glued together and you're probably not going to want to separate them just to try and save the buttons.
Secondly, I've used the 3m double-sided roll of tape (like the one linked to above). It'll probably be your best bet...but know that, you could possibly need to redo it after a while of use. I could push on the top of my screen with my thumb, and I would see it kinda "flex" a bit, so the tape wasn't holding all too well. I'd also get fuzz and dirt on the screen of the front camera over time. So do a good, thorough job taping the digitizer/LCD down to the housing.
I lucked out (sort of) because my wife decided to give her Rez a bath and killed it. So I essentially took her digitizer, LCD and housing and use it on my phone.
OH, and don't overtighten the 6 screws for the red back housing! The bottom two screws especially. I did that and it cracked. And be gentle removing the red housing from the camera..sometimes the camera likes to get stuck inside of the camera housing and prying it apart will destroy it.
OpAckTool said:
I replaced the digitizer on mine last year. The process was just a disaster for me (ended up cracking my LCD)...but since yours is coming with the LCD and digitizer already glued together...perhaps you should have some better luck. It won't be necessarily difficult to do...it could just become a pain.
For one...there are clear tabs attached to the digitizer that essentially "draw" the red LED lights from the board down to the buttons on the bottom. These tabs are literally sandwiched between the digitizer and LCD...you'll see what I mean when you separate the broken digitizer/LCD from the housing...there will be 4 clear tabs sticking out from the bottom of the LCD. I did not find any seller that was selling those tabs, and it's quite possible the one you bought won't have them. What this means is...the 4 capacitive buttons along the bottom will still work, they just won't light up anymore. Not a big deal to some. I tried peeling them off my old digitizer and gluing them to the new one...but that didn't come out right at all. And your new LCD/digitizer will already be glued together and you're probably not going to want to separate them just to try and save the buttons.
Secondly, I've used the 3m double-sided roll of tape (like the one linked to above). It'll probably be your best bet...but know that, you could possibly need to redo it after a while of use. I could push on the top of my screen with my thumb, and I would see it kinda "flex" a bit, so the tape wasn't holding all too well. I'd also get fuzz and dirt on the screen of the front camera over time. So do a good, thorough job taping the digitizer/LCD down to the housing.
I lucked out (sort of) because my wife decided to give her Rez a bath and killed it. So I essentially took her digitizer, LCD and housing and use it on my phone.
OH, and don't overtighten the 6 screws for the red back housing! The bottom two screws especially. I did that and it cracked. And be gentle removing the red housing from the camera..sometimes the camera likes to get stuck inside of the camera housing and prying it apart will destroy it.
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Click to collapse
Thanks for the heads up.
Swapped out the screen (didn't get any 3M tape yet, but I wanted to make sure the screen worked properly / multi-touch was recognized everywhere).
Swapped the screens, re-assembled (managed to leave some adhesive where the lcd/digitizer assembly pulls out of on there, so it sticks, but like what happens with you it flexes just a bit. Will probably order some 3M tape one of these days and take off all of the old adhesive and replace it. Glad you mentioned the issue with the camera getting stuck in the housing; that did happen to me, and I had to work it out of there. The tiny LED board did pop out of it's connector, but I popped it back in easily and it still works fine.
I also didn't put the soft-key light tabs in the new LCD/digitizer (like you said, didn't want to pry the new one apart). Doesn't bother me much anyway, as I had them turned off in my ROM anyway lol.
So far it works well. Won't be my daily again yet until I have some 3M tape to put on there so the assembly is secured in the housing.
Just an update. Got some double-sided tape, and scraped off the old, remnants of the previous tape that was there. Cut new strips to fit where the old ones were, and it fits much more securely now. No screen flex or wiggle anymore. Charging it back up, and thinking about flashing a different ROM now that I have it fixed.
All-in-all, it was a pretty easy fix.
Just 35 minutes ago my phone fell from my hands and onto some cable in the perfect way that it broke the Digitizer. Wonderful. So now I have to go about replacing this. It looks pretty straightforward and I will be doing this but I have a few questions I'd like to see if I can get answered. Perhaps this can be used by others as a helpful FAQ regarding replacing the LCD or Digitizer on an HTC Rezound.
1) I know I will be needing the Digitizer only as the LCD portion is not broken, so can anyone give me a good reason why I should replace both and not just the digitizer?
2) I know there are some adhesives involved in holding it together. Are these re-usable or should they be replaced? If they should be replaced, what kind of adhesives are they and where can they be found?
3) What is a good source for these parts? (Adhesives and digitizer)
4) Is there upgrades here I can do? Like a gorilla glass digitizer or something?
5) I've read a guitar pick is a great tool to separate parts, do you agree?
6) Any Gothca's that I should be concerned about
Here is the procedures I will be following:
1) Remove the back cover, the battery, SIM card and SD Card
2) Remove the 6 T5 torx screws around the sides (from the back)
3) Pry up the back by releasing the plastic clips around all 4 sides (note the volume rocker/power button may fall out)
4) Remove the Vibrator motor
5) Remove the two screws holding the MoBo on and lift up from the USB port side and remove the plastic piece from there.
6) Release the small plastic clips holding the Mobo in and swing it up, release the two ribbon cable connections
7) Heat around all sides front and back to loosen the adhesive, from the back work with a guitar pick to loosen the adhesive, repeat this process from the front.
8) Work around with the guitar pick between the screen and the housing from the front and remove the LCD and digitizer from the housing
9) Heat all the sides of the LCD/digitizer to loosen the Adhesive
10) Work with the guitar pick around the sides to release the digitizer from the LCD screen. It seems there is a piece of black tape on one side, you would have to "butterfly" the two screens and peel the screens apart.
11) Done. Reverse these steps to rebuild it. Do these adhesive parts need the adhesive replaced? Does the tape need to be replaced?
I cannot post links yet, but I felt I should give credit where its due. To obtain these steps I used a Youtube video. To view this video, search youtube for: 'How To Fix HTC Rezound Screen by RepairsUniverse.com'
The advice from the experts is highly anticipated!!
Regards,
Eduard Tieseler
The best reason for replacing both is that you won't have to worry about binding them or getting dust between them if you get them together preassembled. As to the rest, I can't say. I know we have a few people here who have done it.
So I found the adhesive strips that I need. It comes as a bulk sheet where you cut them to fit. I am going with replacing only the digitizer. Replacing the LCD screen also would male the process easier however I fear getting a replacement screen that is in worse shape or more poorly made than the original one my phone came with. I know this one has no flaws.
So I have answered my questions already. I'll post here when I done replacing the digitizer with anything that is of interest in case someone else has questions about this procedure.
Thank you for your input shrike1978. Much appreciated.
Regards,
Eduard Tieseler
Sent from my Infected HTC Rezound using xda app-developers app
etieseler said:
Just 35 minutes ago my phone fell from my hands and onto some cable in the perfect way that it broke the Digitizer. Wonderful. So now I have to go about replacing this. It looks pretty straightforward and I will be doing this but I have a few questions I'd like to see if I can get answered. Perhaps this can be used by others as a helpful FAQ regarding replacing the LCD or Digitizer on an HTC Rezound.
1) I know I will be needing the Digitizer only as the LCD portion is not broken, so can anyone give me a good reason why I should replace both and not just the digitizer?
2) I know there are some adhesives involved in holding it together. Are these re-usable or should they be replaced? If they should be replaced, what kind of adhesives are they and where can they be found?
3) What is a good source for these parts? (Adhesives and digitizer)
4) Is there upgrades here I can do? Like a gorilla glass digitizer or something?
5) I've read a guitar pick is a great tool to separate parts, do you agree?
6) Any Gothca's that I should be concerned about
Here is the procedures I will be following:
1) Remove the back cover, the battery, SIM card and SD Card
2) Remove the 6 T5 torx screws around the sides (from the back)
3) Pry up the back by releasing the plastic clips around all 4 sides (note the volume rocker/power button may fall out)
4) Remove the Vibrator motor
5) Remove the two screws holding the MoBo on and lift up from the USB port side and remove the plastic piece from there.
6) Release the small plastic clips holding the Mobo in and swing it up, release the two ribbon cable connections
7) Heat around all sides front and back to loosen the adhesive, from the back work with a guitar pick to loosen the adhesive, repeat this process from the front.
8) Work around with the guitar pick between the screen and the housing from the front and remove the LCD and digitizer from the housing
9) Heat all the sides of the LCD/digitizer to loosen the Adhesive
10) Work with the guitar pick around the sides to release the digitizer from the LCD screen. It seems there is a piece of black tape on one side, you would have to "butterfly" the two screens and peel the screens apart.
11) Done. Reverse these steps to rebuild it. Do these adhesive parts need the adhesive replaced? Does the tape need to be replaced?
I cannot post links yet, but I felt I should give credit where its due. To obtain these steps I used a Youtube video. To view this video, search youtube for: 'How To Fix HTC Rezound Screen by RepairsUniverse.com'
The advice from the experts is highly anticipated!!
Regards,
Eduard Tieseler
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Check out my thread: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2189789
I did it not long ago, and was fine. However, I opted to go for the digitizer + LCD assembly, as I didn't want to have to worry about separating the digitizer from the LCD and worrying about dust.
To answer your questions:
1) It's eaiser, takes less time, and you don't have to worry about dust with replacing the digitizer + LCD assembly.
2) Replace the adhesive. I tried reusing it... and it has some flex on it. So I got some new adhesive, scraped the old stuff off, put the new one, and used a heatgun to move the screen assembly around to get it to fit right, and then pressed it down as it cooled to secure it better.
3) Ebay
4) Not sure on this one... not that I know of anyway.
5) If you get the parts from eBay, then they sometimes come with tools (Torx, philips, and a plastic separator tool).
I also linked the video that I used in my thread, so you can look at that. It's pretty straightforward and easy to do. Took me about 45 minutes to just over an hour to do everything, as I was taking my time.
Well I did this process two days ago and for the most part it went well, but not without its issues.
First off, I should have heeded the advice of others suggesting to get the LCD + Digitizer pre-assembled. I tried to save some money however now there is a dead spot on my phone and I will have to spend that extra money to buy the kit anyways. So for anyone else thinking they can get away with just the digitizer, unless you have dustless neoprene gloves and a clean room (or possibly nitrogen or canned air) and lots of experience, do not attempt to replace one or the other, just get the pre-assembled kit.
I am going to replace it again with the kit in a few more days.
The only thing that came up that I didn't see anywhere else, was when I was pulling the back cover off. The spot where the camera is located was kind of sticking to the back cover. If I would have pulled to quickly or was too rough I would have easily damaged the camera. So my advice would be to work slowly when pulling the back cover off. If it feels like its resisting, it could be your camera. Wiggle it slightly and don't force it. The camera will loosen itself from the back case, but using too much force you could damage it.
Thanks for the info guys! :good:
etieseler said:
Well I did this process two days ago and for the most part it went well, but not without its issues.
First off, I should have heeded the advice of others suggesting to get the LCD + Digitizer pre-assembled. I tried to save some money however now there is a dead spot on my phone and I will have to spend that extra money to buy the kit anyways. So for anyone else thinking they can get away with just the digitizer, unless you have dustless neoprene gloves and a clean room (or possibly nitrogen or canned air) and lots of experience, do not attempt to replace one or the other, just get the pre-assembled kit.
I am going to replace it again with the kit in a few more days.
The only thing that came up that I didn't see anywhere else, was when I was pulling the back cover off. The spot where the camera is located was kind of sticking to the back cover. If I would have pulled to quickly or was too rough I would have easily damaged the camera. So my advice would be to work slowly when pulling the back cover off. If it feels like its resisting, it could be your camera. Wiggle it slightly and don't force it. The camera will loosen itself from the back case, but using too much force you could damage it.
Thanks for the info guys! :good:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I also purchased the full assembly and was able to switch the new parts onto my Rezound. Unfortunately, the earpiece (the part you listen to when NOT on speakerphone) and the proximity sensor did not work with the new set, and I am swapping it for a replacement. However, I've been inside the unit now 5 times, and I suggest in addition to the tools supplied with the sets (t5, small phillips and separator) you also have a small flathead (helps with starting the split the unit apart and also with pulling and reattaching the vibrator motor) and a long tweezers (invaluable when trying to reconnect the ribbon cables.)
Also, reconnect the MIDDLE ribbon cable (which is slightly twisted and longer) first, then reconnect the top, and don't forget to reapply the insulating tape (been there, done that).
Watch the take apart video on Youtube repeatedly until you can do it with your eyes closed, and be careful, the red plastic does break easily, especially on the corners.
Replaced my digitizer with good success, using new adhesive. Upon first re-assembly the digitizer was popping out of the plastic bezel a bit, but everything worked great, touch, display, everything. So I decided to take apart, add some more adhesive strips. Now the digitizer stays flush.
First boot after 2nd re-assembly, got boot with first vibrate, but no screen on. So I pull the battery to attempt again. Now I receive no vibrate response from power button. When plug into charger, orange light comes on for 5 seconds and then off indefinitely. This happens each time after battery pull+wall charger plugin.
I have tried multiple times disassembling, checking both ribbon cables that plugin to motherboard, appear to connect fine. Visually all other aspects of MB appear fine.
Any ideas anyone? Not sure what may have broke. I should have left well-enough alone, but the digitizer was somewhat spongey to touch on right side of screen and I could see white light shine up... TIA
Each time I pull the batt the orange light will come on solid for 5 or so sec, then off for good. One time even started flashing for a bit like it was charging from full depletion (like it does before it lets you power on). Not sure how to diagnose.
Did you make sure to put the yellow protective tape over the ribbon cable connections? When you open it (like a book) and see two ribbon cables. There originally was a small piece of tape over the connection to provide protection from anything being shorted out. Make sure this is back on.
If you no longer have the tape, I think any non-conductive tape would work like plain Scotch tape. Please correct me if I am wrong in that statement.
Sent from my Infected HTC Rezound using xda app-developers app
etieseler said:
Did you make sure to put the yellow protective tape over the ribbon cable connections? When you open it (like a book) and see two ribbon cables. There originally was a small piece of tape over the connection to provide protection from anything being shorted out. Make sure this is back on.
If you no longer have the tape, I think any non-conductive tape would work like plain Scotch tape. Please correct me if I am wrong in that statement.
Sent from my Infected HTC Rezound using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I did not put those pieces of tape back on. In the YouTube video by "injured gadgets," I don't believe they re-covered up those ribbon cable plugins, so I also did not during re-assembly. Should I try that? Or, I assume, my board somewhere has gone bad? (Phone did work just fine after re-assemble, until I decided to take apart again)
And after doing this a handful of times, I figured out that the "earpiece" doesn't come with the digitizer/LCD/housing. It has to be pulled from the old phone and moved to the new one. Once I did that, everything was fine.
hgoldner said:
And after doing this a handful of times, I figured out that the "earpiece" doesn't come with the digitizer/LCD/housing. It has to be pulled from the old phone and moved to the new one. Once I did that, everything was fine.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
hgoldner, when you had forgotten to re-apply the insulating tape over the ribbon cables, did that result in a toasted motherboard? I'm trying to find out if that's what happened to mine? Thx
red3razor said:
hgoldner, when you had forgotten to re-apply the insulating tape over the ribbon cables, did that result in a toasted motherboard? I'm trying to find out if that's what happened to mine? Thx
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I would go ahead and try putting it back on. There was an earlier post where someone mentioned it was important to put it back on, perhaps he can comment on what can happen if its not on (He said he learned from experience). Perhaps you can PM him.
To be honest, I originally only put the tape back on one connection, but after the second time replacing both the LCD screen and the digitizer, I found the second piece of tape and now both are back on.
What can it hurt to see if that will fix it? Its fairly easy to get to on these phones.
Ed
Yes I did try put back on, no worky still. I assume motherboard issues now. So now I ask if anyone that has also failed to put tape insulation back on, has also resulted in motherboard fail?
red3razor said:
Yes I did try put back on, no worky still. I assume motherboard issues now. So now I ask if anyone that has also failed to put tape insulation back on, has also resulted in motherboard fail?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I ran it for about a week or so without the insulating tape. I assume you just mean the translucent, amber tape that goes over the jaw connectors of the ribbon cables on the motherboard? Not putting that on shouldn't have damaged your board... it's really just there to keep the jaw connectors from opening from vibrations.
carngeX said:
I ran it for about a week or so without the insulating tape. I assume you just mean the translucent, amber tape that goes over the jaw connectors of the ribbon cables on the motherboard? Not putting that on shouldn't have damaged your board... it's really just there to keep the jaw connectors from opening from vibrations.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I left it off on one connection for about a week also with no issues. However I did notice roughly a 16th of an inch of copper exposed on the ribbon. I can envision potential issues from that. I'm not sure about your phone, but the jaw connectors on mine would never open on their own. Far too much resistance to open from any vibration or movement. The vibrator motor connection had a better chance of disconnecting on its own than the ribbon cables. I'm sure that tape provides more than just locking the jaw connectors closed. I could be wrong though.
red3razor said:
hgoldner, when you had forgotten to re-apply the insulating tape over the ribbon cables, did that result in a toasted motherboard? I'm trying to find out if that's what happened to mine? Thx
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, I remembered and put it on before I powered up.
Dumped down the innertubes from my Asus Transformer TF300T
Just replaced my digitizer two days ago and I must add the difference is like night and day. I noted in a post that I had tripped and fell on it with my knee...lol ..nope.. I threw the damn thing and it hit the wall. Yahhh.. I know stupid lol... Something really pi$$ed me off tho and I kinda lost it.. .poooof....... Anyway, I had about 30 cracks in my digitizer and amazingly it still worked. Replaced it two days ago and it works great.
That factory adhesive is some SERIOUS stuff. I have performed many electronics repairs over the years and this...well...removing the digitizer and applying the new strips in exactly the right size was a royal pain in the a**! You REALLY gotta get that digitizer glass HOT if you want to be able to loosen it. Light heating WONT do squat to it. And the new strips arent even half as strong as the factory stuff. You really need patience and precision here.
Yes, dust ISVan issue where I live. Canned air came VERY useful. Also its good to have isopropyl alcohol and soft paper towels so you can clean any smudges you make on the LCD before reapplying the digitizer glass. Basically it's best to blow air over it quickly as you press the digi down to the adhesive. That makes sure every bit of contaminant is out.
About the ribbon cables, no I didn't reapply the amber tape to the jawbone connectors. Much of their adhesiveness was lost when I pulled them off. And as long as the ribbon cables are seated in properly and the jawbone connectors are securely locked down, they wont come disconnected. The tape is only there as an additional measure to secure the jawbone connectors from unlocking. Unless you drop your phone on concrete a lot, those cables arent coming loose....even then, dropping it wouldnt knock those loose.. Its more secure than you think. As far as the phone NOT working, the orange tape would have NO effect on that. Maybe one of your cables were partially disconnected and shorted out something on the mainboard. Either that, or it is static sensitive. Its possible if anything is CMOS.
ONLY issue I have since the repair is the top of the digitizer keeps pushing up because of the digitizer ribbon cable and where you have to bend and fold it in that groove to guide it behind the LCD . The ribbon isnt pinching down well and acts as a spring on the digitizer glass....adhesive not doing anything for that.
oh, did you all remove and reapply the clear (4 button tabs) at the bottom to the new glass? got mine in (the lights are pink now ...weeee ) Had to use some Gorilla super glue to restick them. That adhesive at the bottom was super strong and somehow they lost their stickiness when I pulled them off.
Digitizer after I finally got it unstuck from the LCD... wheewww damn. Lots of cracks. Thats what happens when the phone face eats the wall.....
So, my 4 soft keys on the bottom have yet out. Would fixing the digitzer get them back to working? My screens just got cracked like 2 days ago too, and I just want to make sure before i do all this and then find out i gotta take it all apart again. Thanks in Advance!
UPDATE: So, the digitizer I bought developed a massive dead zone. I already contacted the amazon store I bought it from, they're replacing it for me. Why does this matter? Because now I get to update this post with pictures/video! So, yeah, I guess this guide should get a lot more helpful soon.
Update 2: Ok, so, I don't even know how to express my anger and frustration. This girl at work shoved my phone out of my hands and into the leg of a table, completely destroying my phone. So, yeah, sorry, I guess I won't be updating with pictures/video, because the amazon store isn't going to take the screen back now.
Yo, guys. If anyone noticed that I was gone, I'm flattered, since I don't post a lot. But yeah, I havent had my Optimus G in about a month, so I havent been on this forum. In that time, I went through my Second Motorola Atrix HD, a broken Galaxy S3, and even lived through Google Voice on my computer. It's an extremely long story, and kind of ridiculous, so I'll spare the details.
HOWEVER, I did finally just buy a replacement Digitizer and LCD screen, and successfully installed it, and I want to share tips for anyone doing it themselves.
When removing the back, after you've removed torx screws, start prying the back off from in between where the Sim card and MicroSD go. Where the back of the phone and the chassis of the phone are separate is much more obvious in that cavity, PLUS dents/dings from jamming a screwdriver in there wont be noticeable when you put the bay cover back on.
Don't force anything off. Make sure you've removed every screw, unclipped every clip, and removed ribbons from everything you're trying to take off.
Removing the battery is tricky. Be careful not to deform it too much, cause that's dangerous. But there are 2 strips of double sided tape running horizontally beneath the battery. Try to get something between the top one and the battery, then carefully pull the battery off the second strip with your hands. sticking too much stuff beneath it to pry it up is going to cause some trouble, so lifting it with your fingers might be better.
Remove the motherboard. detatch all the ribbons, antennae, everything, then pull up from the left, then slide left and out. This is how I got it out with the least resistance, but there is no science to it. If you've gotten this far, you can figure out how to pull it out without breaking it in half.
Components that need to be removed before LCD+Digitizer removal:
Motherboard
Battery
Camera
Just put them off to the side, you don't want them damaged during the next part.
WARNING! If you plan on saving your LCD screen, DO NOT DO THIS. The high heat will cook your screen and make it unusable. Only do this to remove a broken or unsavable Digitizer+LCD.
Alright, now pull out the heat gun. Alternatively, you can do what I did, and use a hair dryer. Not even kidding, this will work fine, and will be hilarious when you tell your friends about it.
On a high heat, start heating the screen. If you're using a heat gun, just do your thing, you know how it works. Hair dryer folks, keep the dryer very low to the phone, low enough to feel the dryer being pushed up by the air, holding it just high enough so it sort of hovers. (You'll know what I mean when you try it. If you don't, just keep it about half an inch off the phone.) Move the dryer along the edges of the screen, all the way around, thats where the glue is. It should heat up pretty fast.
Using your pry tool, start at the speaker grill and pry all the way around the phone. lifting just slightly upwards. If it's not extremely easy, apply more heat. Work all the way around, then pull the screen off. Be careful, it's likely you'll shatter the screen even more at this part if you're not careful. User Bozwell had an excellent suggestion (post 4), cover your screen in tape, then begin separating the screen to keep from getting glass everywhere. Great idea, Boz!
Alright, so from here on out, it's just reassembling your phone correctly. Piece o cake.
Firstly, put your new screen in. If it came with adhesive, it's up to you if you want to apply it now. I'd think you probably have to, but up to you.
If you're like me, and no adhesive was provided, hold off on doing anything for now. Just put the screen in the hole, and thread the ribbons through.
The motherboard lines up with some contacts on the chassis in a few places, but most importantly, there is a connection on the top left corner of the body, and the UNDERSIDE of the motherboard that needs to be made. I believe it's proximity sensor, but not sure. It's very difficult to tell if its attached, but look at what I'm describing, and try your best to mate them.
Don't forget ANY cables. Like, that's pretty obvious, but even when you're sure you didnt forget any, check again. The camera's ribbon is underneath the screen's, don't forget that one. I reassebled the whole thing, everything was working perfectly, except I no longer had any mobile connection. I couldn't imagine what I'd broken, since that's a whole different area, but going to phone status and checking my signal strength revealed I forgot to reconnect the white antennae (status showed my signal at -200,000 dbm). So, double check, because the more often you have to reopen your phone, the more flimsy it's going to get.
Alright, screw the plastic shielding back on, reconnect your battery, then flip the phone to be face up. Power it on, test the screen to make sure it's functional. If all is well, power off and glue the screen in. What I did, and I welcome anyone to tell me a better glue type or method, is plain ol Super glue along all the edges where the old glue was. Press it in, flip it over, and while it's drying, finish reassembling the phone (should just be make sure everything is screwed in inside, then put back glass back on.
If your screen wasn't functional, I guess try to get it replaced by whoever you bought it from, and leave your phone disassembled for when it gets to your house.
Alright, that's pretty much the thick and thin of it, it genuinely isn't that hard of a replacement. I've done a number of digitizer/lcd replacements, not bad at all. I hope this helped anyone stuck or wondering about anything. This video can be used as a rough example, but it goes really fast.
Good Luck!
replacement of lcd/digitzer
the removal was a nightmare for me. It was hilarious when the glass cracked it was exploding into a million little bitty pieces. I didnt use much heat, and there lied my problem. But yeah mine cracked in a way that it was completely unresponsive.
gruiz3 said:
the removal was a nightmare for me. It was hilarious when the glass cracked it was exploding into a million little bitty pieces. I didnt use much heat, and there lied my problem. But yeah mine cracked in a way that it was completely unresponsive.
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Haha that's crazy, it bothers me how fragile this phone seems to be.
To keep the glass shards from going everywhere try covering the screen in tape before you start.
bozwell said:
To keep the glass shards from going everywhere try covering the screen in tape before you start.
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Click to collapse
Great idea, OP updated!
So, what would I do if the screen itself is ok and it's just the glass (and digitizer) that is broken?
MoFoQ said:
So, what would I do if the screen itself is ok and it's just the glass (and digitizer) that is broken?
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You'll need a real heat gun, I think. You'll have to find a heat just hot enough to soften the glue, but not cook your lcd. Hair dryer method might work if you are extremely careful and very quick, but not sure exactly what the best method would be. Sorry
ripin150 said:
You'll need a real heat gun, I think. You'll have to find a heat just hot enough to soften the glue, but not cook your lcd. Hair dryer method might work if you are extremely careful and very quick, but not sure exactly what the best method would be. Sorry
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I figured...though I've been eye-ing using the screen+digitizer+front housing if and when they get back into stock.
(digitizer only is also out-of-stock)
Hello everyone
The power button of my European Samsung Galaxy S2 broke off when taking out my motherboard. I ordered and received a new power button and am willing to solder it back on, just as they did in this video: ** or in this video for the US version: ** (the motherboards look different for both though, I've got a European one)
Now, the problem is this: there are three connection I need to solder on and despite them being tiny, I'm actually managing well, however only for the middle connection! For some reason, the solder does not stick to the other terminals after trying several times for hours.. the two outer terminals also have a brownish color, unlike the white/silver color of the middle terminal, perhaps that's the reason the solder does not stick? is there rust?? I really have no idea what to do... I am pretty sure there are supposed to be three connection, but really I can only solder the middle one.
Any help/advice would be greatly appreciated!
EDIT: removed the links, but they're the first and fourth videos when searching "samsung galaxy s2 power button replacement" on youtube.
Too much heat applied to the circuit board for too long will.....
A) burn the solder points away
B) cause heat damage to other components
My advice would be......
A) make sure the solder you are using has a flux core (the flux will help to 'clean' the solder points during soldering)
B) VERY VERY GENTLY use a jewellers screwdriver or other pointed tool to attempt to remove the brown discoloration on the solder point.....too much pressure will remove the solder point entirely.....so be careful......
This might be my S2, or it might be my W...but it's definitely CM
keithross39 said:
Too much heat applied to the circuit board for too long will.....
A) burn the solder points away
B) cause heat damage to other components
My advice would be......
A) make sure the solder you are using has a flux core (the flux will help to 'clean' the solder points during soldering)
B) VERY VERY GENTLY use a jewellers screwdriver or other pointed tool to attempt to remove the brown discoloration on the solder point.....too much pressure will remove the solder point entirely.....so be careful......
This might be my S2, or it might be my W...but it's definitely CM
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Click to collapse
I use flux core solder, but i have also used additional flux on the terminals, none of it works :/
I've tried scratching off the brown layer with a toothpick, in case it was rust, but it didn't get off.
I still haven't identified why the outer terminals are brown, is it the EU model or is there really some layer of rust?
EthemD said:
I use flux core solder, but i have also used additional flux on the terminals, none of it works :/
I've tried scratching off the brown layer with a toothpick, in case it was rust, but it didn't get off.
I still haven't identified why the outer terminals are brown, is it the EU model or is there really some layer of rust?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Dunno, if you think you have applied flux correctly then try to clean the three points with a toothbrush and alcohol, and a bit of demineralized water. If that works, try soldering again. Otherwise, check you're soldering the right points
EDIT: What's more, there shouldn't be any oxide /rust, since I assume you desoldered/soldered all the points at the same time. Double check you're soldering the right spot, bro
Inviato dal mio GT-I9100
Thank you for the replies!
I have been stuck with this problem for quite some time now, my first replacement button got broken so I ordered a new one and I've been trying to solder it again and again and it still does not work.....
Then today I did something that revealed the underlying problem!
I decided to have a look at my old broken power button. The three power button contact tips still had some solder on their tips.... HOWEVER the left and right contacts (whose corresponding joints on the board were not working as described) appeared to have flat ends... which I found weird.... so I went with my soldering iron on them and tadaaa... the solder melted and two metal stripes appeared on my table, their back having the exact same rusty color as the two dis-functional contacts on the board! These metal stripes are supposed to be on the logic board in place of the contacts, but as the old power button had been removed by force, they ripped or pulled these two stripes off the board.
See the two photos of them (on the first one you see the back of these, and on the second one i turned them over and put them in their correct position at the joints)
As you can see they are tiny and really difficult to handle. I had difficulties placing them on the board with tweezers, they are very light and got sort of stuck to the tips of the tweezers. Now, I don't know how these circuit boards are built... were these stripes part of a thin layer, from which they got teared off, or were they just glued on the layer below? What lies below a layer of metal contact on a logic board? Any help is appreciated a lot :/
Ok....looking at the pictures, and reading your description of what happened, it looks like the solder points have become detached from the board. This is going to be really difficult to repair.
You have to find some way to trace the circuit path from the button contacts to the next available inline solder point, and then find a way to bridge the break. You can attempt this in one of two ways.
1) solder a VERY fine wire to one of the contacts on the button, then solder the other end to the next solder point along the circuit path....then repeat for the other contact.
2) some years ago, I owned a bottle of electrically conductive paint (called liquid solder I think)
You paint it onto the board over the brown areas that are present, then while it is still wet, replace the button and extend the paint track so that it reaches the button contacts.
In theory this should bridge the gap from where the (now missing) solder point met the circuit board to the button contacts......
Option 2 would be the easier option, but unless you can secure the button so that the contacts don't move, it'll turn into a temporary fix as any movement is likely to cause the paint to crack and lose it's conductivity........
Check this link for solder paint...
http://mobile.maplin.co.uk/module.aspx?moduleno=36275
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Thank you Keith Ross, for the effort to help me,
I have watched a video on youtube, showing how PCB's ar manufactured ("How It's Made: Circuit Boards"), in order to come up with more ideas.
After watching that, I decided to scratch a bit more around and on the faulty terminals, in hope that there will be a conducting layer... however using my DMM I could not detect any continuity on or along the edges of these terminals. Besides that, I have tried again and again to get the solder to stick to those surfaces... but it still didn't work.
Using any adhesive or connecting to a different terminal on the logic board is a bit of a big step at the moment, so I decided to give it to a technician (not from samsung) to look at it. Hopefully he will find a way to mend it back. :/
Really disappointed and surprised that this could happen so easily on the logic board of a SGS2. I'm guessing it's the bad material quality samsung has. :/
While my phone is away, I'll be looking at how to turn on recover mode on my phone without a power button, I already read about how to turn it on without a power button...
How did it go? Did you get a repair?
About finding alternatives to a physical power button........it *can* be done, but I'd ALWAYS advise having a functioning button as backup. You can download this.... https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.siriusapplications.quickboot
and use it to reboot into (amongst other things) recovery, but then you will have to find a compatible 'touch' CWM.......
And to be honest......that reboot app is only going to be of any use if you can access it from a normally booting phone......if you're stuck in bootloop, you're stuffed......
At the end of the day, the only REAL option is to get that button fixed.......
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