[Q] Hardware fixes - anyone tried... - Galaxy S I9000 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

I am the proud owner of a new I9000, the b*&tard love child of 2 ebay purchases. Just wondering whether the leftover entrails are worth keeping. Specifically:
- broken USB port. I have a replacement part and looks easy enough to de/solder. Anyone tried??
- vol down button. Looks a nightmare to try to replace. Anyone tried??
- chip in screen. Not worried about it being perfect but its too deep to polish out and when you put a screen protector on it a bubble appears. Any ideas?
- chrome bezel. WOWOW didn't Samsung make it a separate element easy to replace...?? Has anyone done these successfully (first time, every time), or is there any way to make it look good? Other than hiding with a case which I have already done!
Thank you for all, any, or even no help.
H.

ihartley said:
Thank you for all, any, or even no help.
H.
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Click to collapse
look at manuals and guides in My Android collections for your answers

If you're handy with a soldering iron and have a good one (not one of those fire-starting ones that plugs straight into the wall with a handle like five inches away from the tip) then the micro USB and button shouldn't be too tricky to replace. The button isn't that terribly important anyway depending on how you use your phone.
As far as the screen chip, I'd be tempted to use one of the screen protector methods using alcohol, perhaps the alcohol would fill the gap and stay there? Probably wouldn't work, but it might be worth a try.
I replaced the chrome bezel with a cheap, crappy gold one from china (and a gold battery cover) and it's totally pimp. The bezel is actually the very last piece in the phone though. You have to take EVERYTHING apart to get it out, it's a huge pain. I ended up slipping with a knife while I was doing it and cutting the vibrator off so I spent a few weeks waiting for the replacement touch button/vibrator/microphone board to come in.

Related

Replace Digitizer only?

My touch screen stopped working on my phone, but the screen is still visible. I'm assuming it's the digitizer. I was wondering if anybody has done or tried replacing only the digitizer. Does this work, is it better just to replace both? Any suggestions? Thanks.
Save yourself the headache
Just replace the complete screen unit (lcd + digitizer).
The digitizer is held on the screen with some super strong adhesive that is nearly impossible to get off cleanly. Also, there are three (4?) thin ribbon tabs that have to be soldered to the board on the rear of the lcd. Unless you are really confident with a soldering iron, it is extremely hard to do.
I replaced my screen unit in about a half hour. Make sure you go to the wiki and find one of the excellent disassembly guides before you start.
Thanks
Thanks, that's exactly the information i needed to know. I found the fon logix video. Is it only a t6 tool i need, or do i also need a t5. I have seen conflicting info on this? Thanks again.
I got my scren unit from ebay, and it included a torx driver and a plastic case tool. I honestly can't remember what size came in the kit, because I used my own torx set. Im pretty sure its just the one size, though.
Good luck!
You might find this information interesting.
http://forums.wireless.att.com/cng/board/message?board.id=cingular&thread.id=116836
Disregard ............
i always replace only the touch screen. okay i've done it aprox 30 times. But i never broke one.
if you decide to replace only the touchscreen, there are 2 types. thus check which on you have, and i found out that sometimes reassamble, and cleaning can help.
good luck.
torx is 5 and 6, 6 for opening the back of the phone, 5 for the screen part removal of the body and opening it. you need an opening tool!!
adhesive
is there a terrible adhesive between the screen and digitizer, as the second poster mentioned? how difficult is it to deal with?
just cut away with snapoff knives. It wil break in more pieses. (the glas that is) just be carefull, and take your time
Thanks
Thanks for all of the info, i went ahead and purchased the screen with the digitizer and tools. One thing i have noticed though is the d-pad has stopped working also, i'm using a custom rom so i'm not sure if it's just that or it's something else. i will prob re-image after i replace screen.
Abel2007 said:
just cut away with snapoff knives. It wil break in more pieses. (the glas that is) just be carefull, and take your time
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Well, guess I was a smarty pants and bought my stuff before consulting XDA...as such, I ONLY bought the touchscreen rather than the entire new unit. Cheaper, yes, but I had no idea about the adhesive until just now. My only question is, once I remove the old screen from the LCD with a razor blade, how do I affix the new one?
Anyone?
i would love to know this too because i have to also replace my digitizer!
drokkon said:
Well, guess I was a smarty pants and bought my stuff before consulting XDA...as such, I ONLY bought the touchscreen rather than the entire new unit. Cheaper, yes, but I had no idea about the adhesive until just now. My only question is, once I remove the old screen from the LCD with a razor blade, how do I affix the new one?
Anyone?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I used rtv gasket maker the transparent blue one worked well.
you can find it in automotive section. Actually any silcone will work.
also can use double sided tape but needs to be very thin
I've already changing my digitizer, but it doesn't seem to work. So I've change the whole part. cost me $20 more on ebay.
my advice is to change the whole package with the lcd too.

How hard is it to change buttons...

I have always preferred the look of the Euro HD2 with the all white keys as compared to the white/red/green keys on the T-MoUS. I saw on ebay you can buy the replacement keys the other day and am pondering changing my T-Mo keys for the Euro version.
Has anyone done this? Is it a huge process or somewhat simple if you are mechanically inclined? I am a machinist by trade, and know a thing or two about electronics repair as well, and always done my own repairs whether it be a DVD player that broke, or my cars. I just dont want to take my HD2 apart only to find out I have to also replace a circuit board or some kind of "snap together" crap because it inevitably breaks upon cracking open the phone...
Here is a link at the bottom that will be pretty self explainatory. In a word - DON'T ! If you are doing it just to change the color of the keys the risk of really messing up something when you open it and put it back together is pretty high. Nick or break one of those flexi cables and its all over - try to find a replacement part. The risk of over driving one of those screws and stripping the plastic threads is pretty high if you don't have a light touch. If your phone is still under warranty you break the liquid/tamper seal over one of those torx screws and it won't be unless you can find a replacement (they are available though some Chinese/Hong Kong sources).
I've done cable/screen/case replacements on my TYTN's and TILTs and stopped at a Fuze. The Tilts and TYTN's were a piece of cake - plenty of room within the case and the connectors were pretty sturdy. You have to be pretty careful not to manhandle anything keep a static loop on you wrist thats grounded to guard against static. Most of the newer phones that have laminated screens you have to heat them (Fuze) just to remove the screen/keyboards from the case. Fortunately the HD2 doesn't appear to have that problem. On Mike Channon's website he doesn't have the official HTC disassembly guide yet and I wouldn't do anything until thats posted. It will outline how to do everything and how to put it back together. The guide is pretty good but it doesn't show the key removal or a close up phone of how they are attached. With the HD2 I probably would touch mine (still under warranty/insurance) unless it was not covered and I had to replace a component that was necessary for the phone to function.
http://translate.googleusercontent.com/translate_c?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&sl=ru&tl=en&u=http://www.pdacenter.ru/razborka/htc_hd2/&rurl=translate.google.co.uk&usg=ALkJrhg7dfSa9LTNNfVavSyyQcCeWFtAHg
stim141 said:
Here is a link at the bottom that will be pretty self explainatory. In a word - DON'T ! If you are doing it just to change the color of the keys the risk of really messing up something when you open it and put it back together is pretty high. Nick or break one of those flexi cables and its all over - try to find a replacement part. The risk of over driving one of those screws and stripping the plastic threads is pretty high if you don't have a light touch. If your phone is still under warranty you break the liquid/tamper seal over one of those torx screws and it won't be unless you can find a replacement (they are available though some Chinese/Hong Kong sources).
I've done cable/screen/case replacements on my TYTN's and TILTs and stopped at a Fuze. The Tilts and TYTN's were a piece of cake - plenty of room within the case and the connectors were pretty sturdy. You have to be pretty careful not to manhandle anything keep a static loop on you wrist thats grounded to guard against static. Most of the newer phones that have laminated screens you have to heat them (Fuze) just to remove the screen/keyboards from the case. Fortunately the HD2 doesn't appear to have that problem. On Mike Channon's website he doesn't have the official HTC disassembly guide yet and I wouldn't do anything until thats posted. It will outline how to do everything and how to put it back together. The guide is pretty good but it doesn't show the key removal or a close up phone of how they are attached. With the HD2 I probably would touch mine (still under warranty/insurance) unless it was not covered and I had to replace a component that was necessary for the phone to function.
http://translate.googleusercontent.com/translate_c?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&sl=ru&tl=en&u=http://www.pdacenter.ru/razborka/htc_hd2/&rurl=translate.google.co.uk&usg=ALkJrhg7dfSa9LTNNfVavSyyQcCeWFtAHg
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Click to collapse
Thanks for the link! You make some good points though I have the skills necessary. After looking at the pics it seems pretty straight forward. Similar to other devices Ive taken apart. I can skip about half of it because Im not completely disassembling, just need access to the buttons. If I go for it I will post up the step by step as well, minus all the extra crap.
donkeypunch85 said:
Thanks for the link! You make some good points though I have the skills necessary. After looking at the pics it seems pretty straight forward. Similar to other devices Ive taken apart. I can skip about half of it because Im not completely disassembling, just need access to the buttons. If I go for it I will post up the step by step as well, minus all the extra crap.
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Click to collapse
It just seems a big hassle just to change a few buttons, thats just my two cents. But if you really want those white buttons, knock yourself out man!

Raider digitizer glass shattered, anyone know the proper way to install a new one?

Yes, I already broke my phone. Go ahead, grin and chuckle..now that you've gotten it out of your system, anyone want to offer a little guidance? Never disassembled a newer cellphone before. New glass is ordered and has been shipped, just waiting for it to arrive. I'm hoping the process is fairly simple. I do have a specialized set of screwdrivers with all the hard-to-find bits, so that's not a problem ..it even has the tiny blackberry bit.. but from what I can see HTC uses standard micro Philips screws. Yay for standard formats!
Sent from my HTC PH39100 using xda premium
If this phone is anything like hd2 you're gunna want the flat pry tools they sell (search hd2 screen replacement tools). Their not needed but a nice handy thingy to have, other wise you might crack your LCD from flexing it too much.
Sent from my HTC PH39100 using XDA App
I wont grin and chuckle too much, I broke my Atrix after 4 days.
The Vivid screen seems very fragile. 2 of my coworkers have broken theirs within a few weeks of having them. Small drops from waist distance. Its too bad because I have seen the current Samsung models dropped from 6 feet face first and survive
Sent from my HTC PH39100 using xda premium
Yeah, I've cracked mine as well. If you google HTC raider teardown on YouTube.. There's a vid.... Butttt, it's not in English and it's a teardown not a screen replacement tutorial.
It seems as thought HTC has been using reeeeally thin glass in their devices.
Whered you get the glass? It'd be very thoughtful of you to do a tutorial as you do it. I really want to replacement mine but if you remove one on the screws by the battery it voids your warranty
Send it to HTC then? You get a 1 year warranty when you buy the phone.
Honestly, I think Corning had another incident of releasing faulty glass. I've dropped mine numerous times, from pretty high up and I don't have a single scratch on my phone.
travisxcore said:
Send it to HTC then? You get a 1 year warranty when you buy the phone.
Honestly, I think Corning had another incident of releasing faulty glass. I've dropped mine numerous times, from pretty high up and I don't have a single scratch on my phone.
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How much is it for them to fix it?
I have no idea. Shoot them an email (not Support Inquiry, youre gonna wanna send it to Repair Inquiry) and they should be able to tell you. Make sure you fill out the S/N box out now, or their just gonna send you an email back asking for it.
travisxcore said:
I have no idea. Shoot them an email (not Support Inquiry, youre gonna wanna send it to Repair Inquiry) and they should be able to tell you. Make sure you fill out the S/N box out now, or their just gonna send you an email back asking for it.
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Click to collapse
I'll do that right now. Thanks alot
(sorry to hijack the thread lol)
They use a double sided tape that hopefully comes with your replacement screen , I tried to replace a water damaged screen and it really wasn't a fun process
Sent from my HTC PH39100 using xda premium
It didn't fall very far..
Yeah when mine fell I had it in a shirt pocket, bent over to pick something up and it slid out, fell about a foot and a half..directly onto the search button corner on ceramic tile. Crunch. I ordered a new panel from tmart.com .. I got a confirmation email back on the 4th saying its been shipped via usps.. should be here soon. I hope it comes with everything I need - cost me about $50.00 with the shipping and everything. I paid the extra 3 bucks for insurance lol..
bproulx said:
Yeah when mine fell I had it in a shirt pocket, bent over to pick something up and it slid out, fell about a foot and a half..directly onto the search button corner on ceramic tile. Crunch. I ordered a new panel from tmart.com .. I got a confirmation email back on the 4th saying its been shipped via usps.. should be here soon. I hope it comes with everything I need - cost me about $50.00 with the shipping and everything. I paid the extra 3 bucks for insurance lol..
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Click to collapse
So, how was the installation process? And did it come with the adhesive? I'm going to buy it from that site as well
And then it was fixed..! FTW!
Ok sorry for the delay getting back to you guys.. been frantically waiting for the screen to clear US customs (ugh) and arrive, which it finally did today. I was able to get my hands on it at about 3 this afternoon, but I wasn't able to actually look at it until about an hour ago..
So.. I open the package, big grin on my face..and the first thing I notice is that the glass is AT&T branded. Funny, considering I'm in Canada and using Rogers..but hey a digitizer by any other name...and all that. So! I open the bag that my "tools" came in.. There are 2 blue plastic tools, one a prying tool and one looked a lot like a guitar pick. Cool. There are also 2 screwdrivers included, and I'm momentarily excited, until I realize they're just tiny torqx bits. The Raider uses TINY philips head screws, so those were useless. I put them into my tiny tool set..for later consideration.
Back to the screen. Looks like it the real deal, so I watch half of the teardown vid on youtube.. As mentioned in an earlier post it isn't an english-language vid so aside from seeing the locations of the screws and the methods of levering off the internal components, there's no exchange of information going on. I would like to mention however that the video kind of glazes over the locations and removal processes for some sensitive connections, so having only experienced laptop repairs personally.. I was in fairly uncomfortable and unfamiliar territory - but I was determined.
I tried several ways at getting the phone down to its base components, and finally succeeded in locating the panel's ribbon connector interface on one of the phone's circuit boards. I had to remove the back of the phone, pull the batt, sim and sd, and pull the 4 main screws that lock the housing down onto the phone.. From there its a matter of levering off the black plastic shell and whats underneath is a whole lot of tech in a very tight space. There were 3 or 4 wires I had to disconnect, about 15 tiny screws in 3 different lengths, and then when all was said and done I had to pry the busted panel off using the supplied blue lever tool (pretty handy, actually.) and then lift the lcd away from the metal housing enough to slide the old connector out and the new one through.. This was a very tricky process - I drink way too much coffee to hold completely steady for long..lol.. Finally got it all through, but by this time I had smudged the inside of both glass surfaces pretty badly and it took some serious mechanical dexterity to hold the surfaces and wipe them down without wrecking any of the flapping, loose circuit boards, screens, etc.. it was a frightening experience.. I won't lie.. I definitely feared the worst possible outcome given my limited experience.
So.. the panel's ribbon cable is inserted, the white clip back down securing it.. I manage after several attempts to remember how to put the puzzle all back together, and after about 45 minutes of messing with it I had a visually complete phone again. I hit power, and miracle of miracles the HTC logo flashes on the screen.. I'm hopeful..
The phone boots up, looks great (aside from a few smudges I missed on the inside..grr) so I start touching the screen and here's where we have the first problem..lol.. its recognizing that I'm touching the screen..but not really accurately.. it seems to be that there are dead areas.. So now I'm thinking I broke something..lol..
Smoke break.
Took it all apart again, forgot to clean the smudges, removed and re-seated all the connections, and about 15 minutes later I had it back together again. I booted it up and waited.
Success!! It sees where I'm touching accurately now - I think the ribbon must have moved while I was putting it back together, I was shifting things a lot as I was trying to figure it all out, so I must have stressed the cable enough to move it slightly in the slot.. that, or I didn't have it all the way in / straight the first time I did it. Either way, it works fine now. I was successful on the 2nd attempt, and now the only difference is that this glass feels..rougher? less smooth? not sure how to describe it.. it feels different, anyway.. and the at&t logo of course. Aside from that, you'd never know it was in pieces an hour ago..lol.
Would I do this again? ..I hope I don't have to. Its not impossible, but man, if you're going to try this BE SUPER CAREFUL!! lol..
edit: and no - it didn't come with the double sided tape, but it seems to be staying without having to replace it.. it wasn't too hard to remove it from the panel, but getting it back on straight took some finesse.. lol.. it comes apart easier now when you're tryingn to disassemble it..but seems to be holding together fine on its own.
travisxcore said:
Send it to HTC then? You get a 1 year warranty when you buy the phone.
Honestly, I think Corning had another incident of releasing faulty glass. I've dropped mine numerous times, from pretty high up and I don't have a single scratch on my phone.
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Click to collapse
Corning makes the glass on the Raider/Vivid?
I would suspect it to be more sturdy if its corning, my SGS has been without a screen protector and still does not have any scratches. Yes i know SGS is Gorilla Glass and this is not but i would think it would be stronger.
@ bproulx
You should take it apart again and make a tutorial . I hope i never have to go though what you did. Knock on wood.
lol..might take it apart again..
So..I have smudges on the inside of the glass. Stupid sweaty fingers. Now I'm tempted to pull it apart again ..but not far enough to make a tutorial lol.. besides.. I'm glad I didn't have a camera on me - you guys woulda had a good laugh at me breaking into a sweat trying to pry loose the glass panel the first time..lol. I know it was already broken but (a) I was trying not to cut myself on it and (b) I was also trying not to break the lcd underneath. Which I believe also has smudges on it. Oi.. I guess I'll have to get in there and clean it. Probably not tonight tho. I'm just glad the thing still works - I was scared I was going to bust something. There are a LOT of little things in there. For the record the CPU looks neat. Its smaller than a sim card, a little bigger than a micro sd. Pretty impressive.
bproulx said:
So..I have smudges on the inside of the glass. Stupid sweaty fingers. Now I'm tempted to pull it apart again ..but not far enough to make a tutorial lol.. besides.. I'm glad I didn't have a camera on me - you guys woulda had a good laugh at me breaking into a sweat trying to pry loose the glass panel the first time..lol. I know it was already broken but (a) I was trying not to cut myself on it and (b) I was also trying not to break the lcd underneath. Which I believe also has smudges on it. Oi.. I guess I'll have to get in there and clean it. Probably not tonight tho. I'm just glad the thing still works - I was scared I was going to bust something. There are a LOT of little things in there. For the record the CPU looks neat. Its smaller than a sim card, a little bigger than a micro sd. Pretty impressive.
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I've taken apart laptops (MacBooks at all) and successfully reassembled them so I think I'm up to the job. I'm reaaaally thankful that it says AT&T at the top and not HTC like the pic shows (since I'm on att).. Another question though, did you successfully get the "void" plastic piece back over the screw? Because, I want to keep this phone as "under warranty" as possible
Getting better at taking it apart..lol..
Chism87 said:
I've taken apart laptops (MacBooks at all) and successfully reassembled them so I think I'm up to the job. I'm reaaaally thankful that it says AT&T at the top and not HTC like the pic shows (since I'm on att).. Another question though, did you successfully get the "void" plastic piece back over the screw? Because, I want to keep this phone as "under warranty" as possible
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, the little void sticker on mine was less like a sticker and more like... glue, with paint on it.. lol.. it just flaked apart when I tried to lift it.. but I wasn't concerned with preserving it. Maybe if u use an x-acto or something like that you can lift it intact..? Let me know how you do.
I started getting some random touch input glitches yesterday, and today they got worse.. then my son spilled hot coffee on me and I dropped my phone on the carpet where it of course popped apart..lol..and then when I booted it back up I had some *major* touch glitches.. it was seeing input higher up than the actual contact point, and just acting real buggy..the phone was lagging.. so I took it apart again, completely.. took my sweet time reassembling it this time - I even got out the micro-fibre cloth and cleaned all the glass, and voila.. this time - its like new. I can already tell its put together right this time, which tells me something wasn't quite right before - I'm guessing I didn't get the ribbon cable seated properly before.. there are a lot of tiny, offset contacts on the end of that little cable. Anyway, I guess the moral of the story is screw warranties, and the more times you disassemble your phone the better you get at it.. lol.. it wasn't anywhere near as intimidating this time around. Felt kinda easy, actually. I think I just psyched myself into thinking it would be hard to do the first time around.
I do miss my original glass tho.. I'm thinking about contacting HTC and ordering an oem panel lol.. this one feels.. grippy. The HTC one felt smooth as silk.. I dunno this one kinda feels more like window glass. Meh.. better than a broken ghetto phone. At least now I can whip it out in public without hanging my head in shame and peeking around to see who's looking at my ugly screen. I never even tried HTC directly..I just googled the part and went with the one with good reviews..
OMFG...FML..
Sooo.. I got angry at my Raider today.. started doing the weird touch input glitches again after a battery pull, got frustrated and slammed my phone down on the table in anger...and.... smash. Brand new panel is now ten times as shattered as the old one was. AND...now the phone won't even light up. AND..it looks like I may have cracked the actual LCD this time.. just a small crack at the very bottom - wouldn't even be visible with the shell on the phone.. but.. I'm not very optimistic. I get absolutely nothing on my screen when I boot the phone, all I get is one haptic "bump" and thats it. Nada.
Sooo... looks like I need a new phone. Again.
Lame.
There goes $600.00
....sigh.
Anyone wanna donate an old android device to a guy who's now really really sad and has no phone? LOL.. why did I give away my legend????
Not giving up my phone!! LOL!
Ok so I decided to try my luck at replacing the LCD as well as the busted digitizer that I just re-broke..lol.. back to tmart, and ordered both. I really wish I could have found the whole assembly pre-built, but the only company I found selling both as a single unit had a minimum order of 5 pcs. Out of my price range for repairs, although with my track record maybe it wouldn't have been a bad idea? lol.. anyway, I just bought both parts from tmart and am still waiting for one of them to show up. The good news is I was able to replace the LCD already. It really is just held in there with tape. Like.. there's nothing really holding it all together..you'd think with all those screws and tabs they could have come up with a better way?? Ah well. I have a display again, but until I can get the digitizer and install it I'm without input.. so I can just watch the phone boot and then sit on my lock screen. Or boot into recovery mode and use the vol and power buttons to mess about.. But why..lol. I'll just wait.
I'm just happy that nothing else seems to be affected. I had my alarm going off still with no screen, so that tipped me off that everything else should still be ok. I won't know for 100% certain til I complete the repair, but it looks promising. I picked up a used HTC Magic (ugh) from kijiji for $80 and it came with 3 batteries, 3 chargers, 3 usb cables, 3 leather cases, and a bunch of other crap in threes. Just so I'm not completely without a phone in the meantime. Overall not bad for $80 but man is this phone slow. I installed a custom rom **THANKS XDA!!** on it and it improved the performance and look of the OS a little, but it lags a lot even overclocked when just typing a text.. I can't wait to get my phone back!!
Aside from the screens, this phone is pretty tough. I slammed that sucker down pretty hard that day.. Cmon HTC - why didn't you give us gorilla glass on a $600 LTE phone!?!?!?!? I wish I could find an aftermarket panel that was made from gorilla glass. That would totally rock!
Yeah, i really wish they would've put gorilla glass on it. I used to have the atrix and ive dropped it on tile floor at least 3 times... Nothing. Keys in the same pocket as phone.. No scratches at all.
I didn't want to try my luck, so I just got a replacement vivid

Dust under screen - possible to repair or swap screen with another one

Hi,
I ended up buying 3 Droid 4's before I found one I was happy with. So, I now have 2 spare ones:
1) Very nice condition but has dusk under the screen
2) Poor conditon, crackly phone speaker but nice screen
So, I was wondering whether to try and get the dusk from under the screen.
Or maybe I should try and swap the 2 screens around?
Or am I likely to end up ruining both of them, and I'd be better off just selling them both as they are?
Cheers
Once you detach the glue from the glue that's holding the glue in place for the back casing, the phone actually comes apart fairly easily. Though, putting the back casing back on, I've always found that the bottom edge will never sit flush again; easily trimmed off with a razor blade. Otherwise the edge will protrude and catch on things.
The dust might not actually be dust; while shopping for my LG Ally, I bought one that appeared to have dust behind the glass and opened it to clean it, only to find out that the inside facing was actually covered in weird pockmarks. It was the strangest factory defect I'd ever seen.
If it's fairly uniform "dust", you might have the same thing going on. One way to find out. You'll need T5, T4 and possible T3 screwdrivers/bits to break it all the way down to the screen.
The only things I'd say to really look out for:
There are two soft spongey adhesive pads that the keyboard-facing side of the mainboard uses to stick to the rest of the phone. Try not to tear these up when pulling the mainboard out. One is next to the power button, one is the same place on the opposite end. If you do rip up the one on the power button end, the button might not line up properly anymore (it barely does to begin with, thanks Motorola) and it'll be harder to activate.
Don't try to remove the screen glass from the bezel/frame unless you have a solid plan to reattach it. I've heard it's a real nuisance to get it to adhere properly again. Fair enough if the bezel is torn up but the screen is nice, just be aware that things may get really annoying.
I would say just flip the screens around. I replaced a digitizer in a Photon Q and it was a pain (still isn't working for me either).

Great, cracked the screen of my Z3 Compact

This morning I was cleaning my phone (getting rid of the finger prints/smudges) while standing up when it slipped out of my hand and hit the tiled floor. Everything is fine except the screen (which is cracked). Screen works fine but is unresponsive no matter where I press or touch the screen. How much does a Z3 Compact replacement screen cost? I searched around and it seems it is about $100?
Screen replacement costs in Poland +/- 135$
(authorised sony service)
Yes' it's hard to get original one cheaper than 100-120$. You can search for some Chinese replacement cause sometimes it looks quite similar to original one but You must check it before buying. Last time I had a client with Z1c replacement screen which he bought for 40$ and there was no white color, everything what should be white was purple.
Voids warranty, cheap replacement
Got mine from here replacebase dot co dot uk (can not post links ), of course you void your warranty if you do it yourself.
Parts are good quality till now. I advice to order a back glass too, I broke mine when taking it out and had to reorder again (costs approx 6 pound).
Next time just heat up back glass with hair dryer and You wont break it.
Chamelleon said:
Next time just heat up back glass with hair dryer and You wont break it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the input
The problem was a small crack which did not matter until you have to remove it, you can not pull on it when its cracked. Anyway I will use a hair dryer to put it back together (assemble, heat up, press with books).
Thanks for the replies.
I'll be getting the repair done from the official Sony shop/distributor I bought the phone from. Just wanted to get an idea of how much it "should" cost before I approach them.
m4mbax said:
Thanks for the input
The problem was a small crack which did not matter until you have to remove it, you can not pull on it when its cracked. Anyway I will use a hair dryer to put it back together (assemble, heat up, press with books).
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Hello
I have tried to change my backglass 3 times but after a few hours the glass falls off... (Yes, I cleaned the phone removing all the old adhesive - and yes, I had pressure on it over night ) But all the instructions I have found on the internet never mentioned anything about putting the glass on, and HEATING it up, and the putting pressure on it... Where have you found that advice? You could imagine that heating up would ruin the adhesive/making it thinner and thereby not waterproof...? But on the other hand your succesrate probably beats mine...
Foxhunter123 said:
Hello
I have tried to change my backglass 3 times but after a few hours the glass falls off... (Yes, I cleaned the phone removing all the old adhesive - and yes, I had pressure on it over night ) But all the instructions I have found on the internet never mentioned anything about putting the glass on, and HEATING it up, and the putting pressure on it... Where have you found that advice? You could imagine that heating up would ruin the adhesive/making it thinner and thereby not waterproof...? But on the other hand your succesrate probably beats mine...
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Click to collapse
I think it was a comment below the iFixit tutorial. But one big warning here, I did extra maximally stupid and put it to 'press' under my table (with books around it). The table was too heavy and cracked my front screen once again :crying:
+ The rear glass sits fixed and has not loosened.
- Don't put too much pressure or you destroy it yet again like stupid me
m4mbax said:
I think it was a comment below the iFixit tutorial. But one big warning here, I did extra maximally stupid and put it to 'press' under my table (with books around it). The table was too heavy and cracked my front screen once again :crying:
+ The rear glass sits fixed and has not loosened.
- Don't put too much pressure or you destroy it yet again like stupid me
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Click to collapse
Doh!!! ? I have also read on Ifixit and can see there are different opinions about if it is nessesary to heat or not. But I think I will follow your advice and heat the new back before putting it under (less pressure) ?.
Another thing I read on Ifixit is that someone writes that you should put on an adhesive sticker - eventhough the new back comes with adhesive already on...? What is your advice on this?
Most pre-glued adhesive stickers on back are useless. Now everytime I change back in Xperia Z, Z1, Z2, Z3 and compacts I need to remove pre-glued sticker and change it to original one. Many times I had complaint on it from my clients saying that back glass came off. So it's better to order original back glass or just original adhesive.
Foxhunter123 said:
Doh!!! I have also read on Ifixit and can see there are different opinions about if it is nessesary to heat or not. But I think I will follow your advice and heat the new back before putting it under (less pressure) .
Another thing I read on Ifixit is that someone writes that you should put on an adhesive sticker - eventhough the new back comes with adhesive already on...? What is your advice on this?
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Click to collapse
Good
Mine came with the adhesive ON the screen, I used that one, I didn't have a separate one. Be extra careful when 'placing' the adhesive where it belongs because you can not remove it once place (okay maybe slightly). Its important that it fits on the first to first and a half try. More adhesive means thicker layer --> glass will stick out
Anyway, most of the stories you read online are partially BS, the phone will work even when the glass is a tiny bit loose or when the adhesive rotated and is a bit thicker in one place. In my eyes, when you dared to order, you are very much capable of assemble the parts.
In btw, ordered new glasses today, hope my two left hands fix it this time.
PS: A lesson I learned on a friends Galaxy S2, do NEVER EVER try to use force when something sticks or is not as loose as in a video. Google or ask another person maybe you just dont do the trick. A connector didnt want to come off so we used a lever to lift it, CLICK, the place where the lever levered broke the board... :silly:
Edit 1: I think its not necessary to HEAT it, it just has to be a lil bit warmer than in your pocket or when calculating heavily. 30s under a hairdryer will be more than enough i guess.
Forgot to update this thread. I received my fixed phone last week. They replaced the screen and even the "bumpers" around the phone for $98. They even delivered the phone to my home free of charge. Looks brand new, all the minor dings I had on the phone are gone.
On another note, I also bought my first iPhone. Got an Space Gray iPhone 6s 128 GB with the official/Apple leather case for the 6s. Got it last Thursday. Been playing around with it a lot and, overall, I love it. Deciding on whether to keep my Z3 Compact as a back-up phone or just sell it. But geez, does the iPhone 6s load games and other apps fast (thanks to its NVMe storage).

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