Batteries and rear glass adhesive driving me NUTS - Xperia Z5 Compact Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

Okay, story time. Some time ago, the battery in my Z5c swelled up and pushed the battery cover off the back of the phone. I replace the battery myself, & also order new (supposedly OEM) adhesive for the back glass. It does NOT stick on well, popping off one side or the other every few minutes. After fighting it for a while (ordering additional replacement adhesive and trying to re-clean and re-apply it a couple more times), it seems to finally stay in place.
Fast-forward a few months. I see the back glass coming off again. Oh, great, here we go again. I peel it off, and find that the replacement battery is a *little* inflated. Not by much, and not nearly as much as the original battery, but even though it seems to barely be a problem, it's also clear that the battery cover is not skin-tight as it was when it went in. Perhaps it was "enough" that given the tolerances inside, it still managed to push the back glass off. Okay, fine: I bought 2 replacement batteries at the time, so I'll put the other one in.
Fast-forward another few months to a couple of weeks ago. SAME BLASTED THING. Battery barely inflated, back cover coming off, but not really 100% clear whether the battery *really* is the culprit, or whether this adhesive I keep buying is just crap, or if I'm not applying it correctly.
Well, this time I'm running into the same problem trying to re-apply it that I did the first time around: it simply Will. Not. Stay. Put. I've tried the usual tricks I have read about: namely, making sure everything is squeaky-clean, and warming up the adhesive before pressing the back glass onto the phone, and then giving it a little time to cure with something heavy on top of the phone (if I had some clamps, I might try to use those instead). It helps for a couple of hours, but then the back cover just comes RIGHT off again.
Here is my hypothesis: either my phone's chassis is was not quite up to manufacturing standards, or I keep re-assembling it wrong, or something along those lines, because the battery sticks up slightly above the surrounding black frame. And what I can see when the back first starts coming off is that it is slightly "bowing" a bit...the top and bottom are sunk slightly below the plastic frame, but the middle bows out to the point where it rises slightly ABOVE the plastic frame. It's as if either the battery is sitting too high inside the phone, or the frame around the battery is sitting too low.
I have tried taking it all apart again and putting it all back together, but no dice.
Has anybody ever experienced anything like this? It's super frustrating. It seems clearly like a design defect. I just wish I could understand how things are different right now vs. when it was originally assembled at the factory.
Right now I'm sitting here seriously thinking that maybe the answer to this is to layer TWO back adhesive stickers on top of each other, in order to raise the edges of the glass back up enough above the battery that the back won't bow out anymore...
Argh!

...oh, also: and are genuine Sony batteries REALLY this crap in terms of quality?? If so, they should be ashamed and should have recalled many of these phones. I have yet to run into a genuine Sony Z5c battery that doesn't have at least a small build-up of gases within the battery pack after a few short months of use. I have been shying away from third-party batteries by no-name companies, but at this point I'm thinking that those could only be worse if they managed to spontaneously burst into flames.

In case anybody else who is struggling with the same thing ever ends up stumbling across this in the future, I seem to have finally managed to successfully tackle this problem. I finally got more pre-cut adhesive in, and yes: at least in my case, stacking two of them on top of each other has done the trick. (It's not easy lining them up in order to apply them to each other, either...I can tell you that much.)
I don't know if maybe all the adhesive that is out on the market is not "genuine" Sony and so not built to the same spec (maybe the genuine article is much thicker?), or if my particular phone's manufacturing tolerances are just outside the norm (either the battery is sticking up farther than it should, or the edges of the frame are sunk in further than they should be), or what. But using 2 stacked on top of each other instead of 1 seems to be the perfect thickness, allowing for the back glass to remain flush with the plastic frame's edges while also remaining perfectly flat.
I can tell you that at least on my phone, this is still not enough to ensure a tight water seal (pressure sensor doesn't change with increasing outside pressure). But it's hard to know if that's due to the way the back is applied, or some other issue elsewhere that's entirely unrelated.

ARGH. Nope. It lasted a lot longer than previous attempts, but now the upper-left corner, where the camera lens is, is already starting to lift off again.
This is *such* a stupid design.

Try using B7000 industrial glue from Aliexpress or other vendors, it can still be unglued by heat if repairs are needed, but should stay glued better and longer then these precut adhesives which are low in quality...

Thanks for your thread. I can feel your frustration! I'm having problems with the flash LED making weird green shadows in photos (like here https://forum.xda-developers.com/t/camera-flash-bleed.3368004/) I was thinking about opening the back cover to try and fix this and maybe install a new battery and a new camera lens while I'm at it. But now I'm afraid to open it up. I am pretty sure that a this point all "original" replacement parts that are available are fake. Should I ever find the courage: Is the back cover and camera lens made from one piece or must they be replaced separately?

Try to get the OEM adhesive strips and battery.
3m makes all sorts of industrial double sided strips. Get the right thickness if you go that route.

Related

[Q] ..legend internal battery flap/door broken

.. my apologies if this not the appropriate place to post this, but I need help..the little battery door/flap that clips into place which holds the actual battery in place and covers the SIM card (not the black battery cover/antenna) has broken!!.. Now whenever the phone drops or is handled rough enough to cause the battery cover/antenna to come off, the battery slides out of place and the phone turns off.. this happens multiple times throughout the day..i'm ready to throw this phone into the far reaches of this galaxy to say the least... if thats not bad enough, the little chrome peice that surrounds the sensor part of the optical trackpad on the front of the phone has fallen out .. it really takes away from the beauty of the phone!.. any idea where I can find replacement parts for these???.. used or new, it doesn't matter ... If ANYONE can help me i'd be indebted to you for ever!!!
Try contacting HTC.. They make the phones and they should know.. And btw.. Handle your phone a little more careful..
Sent from my Legend using XDA App
Damn, i've always been afraid of that happening expirimenting and having to remove the battery frequently. Don't know anything to help you, sorry
I have the same broken part. Been looking around for this part for a while with no luck. HTC want £44 to replace it, only by sending it in for a repair. They will not sell me the part and I cannot find it anywhere.
I will keep an eye on this thread for more suggestions.
Tape? Although it would have to stick to the aluminum unibody. See if it works! My head's imagery seems like it could.
Yes, my Legend is basically held together with tape. Without it, the battery cover comes of very easily. It's been like this for about 6 weeks now.
I've also been in to my local Vodafone shop to see what they say. They will not repair it as it's a moving part.
Buy your Legend a silicone or rubber case. That should prevent black cover from falling off.
Sent from my HTC Legend
why don't u fill the gap between the black part and ur battery with a soft rubber?
i think it'll solve ur problem
I want this part too. The center clip mechanism has failed due to taking the cover off regularly.
Oh my goodness, I should stop switching SIMs every now and then. I'm scared, actually.
branch8 said:
Damn, i've always been afraid of that happening expirimenting and having to remove the battery frequently. Don't know anything to help you, sorry
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was thinking of placing a secundairy antenna on that part, so you would stil have an small antena if the lid is missing. or maybe even better reception.
If you still have problems with the battery cover/flap, here's what i did on my legend: Take out the battery, look inside the battery compartment, you'll see the four battery contacts/pins, and right next to them you'll see there is a small black square rubber, glued to a metal spring underneath. The spring is heavily glued to the chassis/plastic body. I took a small (but strong) set of tweezers, and pulled the thing off the phone (the spring + the small rubber attached to it), and my phone works perfectly now, with the broken flap. The thing is that the spring is actually pushing the battery out, for "easier" removal, thus making the battery loose contact/fall out on every shake/impact.
I think that the design of this part is the worst about the legend. On mine I have experienced that the grip is weaker and weaker, and now comes off quite easily (unintended).

reduce back cover creak

Not sure who has this problem, but my phone tended to "creak" when pressed at certain points. I decided to figure out why this was happening. Turns out the battery itself has a little more motion than ideal and the phone was making the creak noise with the back cover off when i pushed on the battery.
My simple fix was to cut out a few pieces of paper the size of the battery and put them between the back cover and the battery.
This makes the phone feel much more solid. I'm sure tape would do the same thing. The trick is to find the right thickness between stopping the noise and still allowing the cover to fit on tightly.
mark9876 said:
Not sure who has this problem, but my phone tended to "creak" when pressed at certain points. I decided to figure out why this was happening. Turns out the battery itself has a little more motion than ideal and the phone was making the creak noise with the back cover off when i pushed on the battery.
My simple fix was to cut out a few pieces of paper the size of the battery and put them between the back cover and the battery.
This makes the phone feel much more solid. I'm sure tape would do the same thing. The trick is to find the right thickness between stopping the noise and still allowing the cover to fit on tightly.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I haven't had the same issue, but on my first Dinc 4G, the back case immediately next to the volume rocker was slightly loose, and I could press on it and feel a similar creak to what you're talking about. I traded it in after a week because of a few other issues, and this new one doesn't have that same problem. I didn't do anything to try to remedy it, so I don't know the best solution.
theres now 4 inc4g ltes within my family lol.
the creek is only noticeable on two of them.
My solution to the creaky problem was to take the cover off and cover the little dimple thingies with electrical tape.
Works like a champ.
Sent from my ADR6410LVW using Tapatalk 2
I take a more simplistic approach for all the phones i purchase and issue here at work. Peel off 3 of the small postit notes, stick it on the battery, no creaks, groans or otherwise irritating sounds.

LCD+Digitizer Replacement Tips

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.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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.
Click to expand...
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?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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)

My Truesmart get moisture

Hello,
Something happened to my watch. I opened it to install an SD card. I did as the instructions says, carefully. The rubber gasket was well placed and I tightened the screws the maximum I could, with the provided screwdriver. I guess it would not be tight at all, because, although it has been wet three times and anything happened, Yesterday it was exposed to sweat for a while, and then washed the same way like previous times. Today it worked well all the morning, but around noon, I saw it appeared many stripes on the screen and checking the clock externally I've finally seen condensation into the lens, so I guess, obviously, that moisture has entered inside the watch. I've opened the watch, remove battery and SD card, and then introduced it into rice, using an airtight container to try drying it.
Lens condensation has disappeared, but in the display is still appearing lines.
I wonder what can I do, who should I contact for assistance to repair, where should I send it for repair in case I can't revive the screen, because as I think, this type of damage is not covered by warranty.
I am disappointed with this device because of this. It should not be so complicated to close it and to keep it well sealed. Its design in this particular point is disastrous. I can ensure that the rubber seal was installed properly, and the only thing I can imagine is that the screws do not stay tight properly, but I repeat that I tightened it all the way I could, strongly, until the limit of not to damage the screw heads, and checking for the joints are well sealed. If I finally can fix the watch, the next time I need to open the back cover, I'll pre-tighten it with a sergeant tool before tightening the screws... it seems to be necessary...
Thank you for your help.
It is ruined. Sell it for parts maybe. A shame.
Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk
lanzas said:
If I finally can fix the watch, the next time I need to open the back cover, I'll pre-tighten it with a sergeant tool before tightening the screws... it seems to be necessary...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is a waste of time. There is no way to make the existing case waterproof - not just the two screw openings but also the antenna, speaker, microphone and buttons are all possible routes for moisture ingress.
One look at the SIM cover and its pretend gasket convinced me of this. There is not enough structural integrity to ensure a good seal. The gasket will not be compressed in a way that makes a watertight seal - over tightening might even make things worse by deforming the plastic.
If you ever get it to work again, keep it dry.
lanzas said:
Yesterday it was exposed to sweat for a while, and then washed the same way like previous times.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's not a very good idea to wash an electronic device that has no water / moisture protection what so ever (the seals don't do much good, and there are lots of other gaps in the watch where water can get in). Sometimes devices can recover when dried completely. Maybe put it in a bag of rice, that's great for absorbing moisture... But most likely, it's dead.
It is supposed to be a waterproof watch...
Definitely the screen is broken. The watch works fine, but the screen shows a lot of lines that don't allow clear visualization. No one from Omate answered my email...
I feel cheated... and silly...
You WERE cheated, we all were. Don't feel silly though, you were misled by a pro.
You might possibly be able to replace the display with an iPod Nano display, but I don't know anyone who has and an iPod Nano display might be worth more than your TrueSmart.
Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

Back cover curved??

Hi guys,
I have my z2 for a while now (2 years I think), and he has tried to beat down the floor sometimes and until now, hasn't been victorious.
So the thing is, after the last try, he has the back cover a little openned in the middle (I can see a little of the glue and can stick something between the cover and the phone), and also, has a little opening in the screen, just like the cover. After this, the buttons got a little strage too, need to press power and up too hard to work, down is ok.
I would like to now, if anyone has experienced that, and know what could it be, I haven't openned it yet as it need the adhesive to put the cover back and I don't have access to it in my city, have to order it online.
Thanks!!!
And sorry for the bad english.
It could be the battery swelling as its on it's last legs.
If it was mine I would remove the back cover to inspect the battery, before things got (possibly) much worse.
My Z2 is over two years old and the back cover started to lift adjacent to the charging port. The cause was the pcb spring contacts for the NFC antenna pushing against the cover,which I've subsequently remedied. The physical appearance and size of the battery is all good so I have no safety worries although it will need replacing simply due to its age and noticeable decrease in capacity.
The back cover was only raised about a millimetre but it was noticeable enough and annoying. There is no problem with screen separation.
If my problems were similar to yours I would immediately take off the back cover, remove the battery and fully inspect it for signs of swelling. A new rear gasket / seal is easier to remedy than a complete phone wrecked by a screwed battery.
Good luck :good:
I see, can I use it without the back cover?
Cause it would take something like 2 weeks to get the seal from internet.
Your problem is kind of like mine, but mine isn't in the nfc point, but in the battery point, just above her, I thought about it at first too, I'll see about it then! Tnks!
Google "Xperia Z2 teardown" and you will see that the battery occupies more-or-less the mid-to-lower part of the phone. If your screen and rear cover are bulging from the centre outwards then it *probably* is the battery swelling.
I removed my rear cover about 6 weeks ago and the gasket was mostly intact so after sorting the NFC contacts I just reattached it as-is. It's stayed in place so far, but I also have a CASE-MATE transparent polycarbonate rear cover that adds further protection.
Once I find a genuine Sony battery and replacement gasket at reasonable prices I will get them ordered. So far things are fine.
If you manage to keep the gasket intact like I did it should be fine to reattach the cover until you get a new one.
And even if your battery hasn't swelled it may also be worth replacing that too, considering it's 2 years old.
I see, I also use a case-mate to protect more, cant handle it without it, I guess I'll try to do it then, seriously? I thought that battery would last longer, I'll see into that, now it makes sense, the battery started to die faster a while ago, nice to know.
Thanks!
Just oppened it, It was the battery as discussed above. Thanks!
Now you know what the problem is its easy to sort it out.
Would be good if you post a pic of the battery.
Here it go:
http://imgur.com/a/5Z48h
Got pic from the the battery and the back curved.
Yeah it's obvious from the pics. I think you've caught it just in time.
A new gasket and battery and your Z2 will live maybe another 2 years :good:

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