My Tab 2 7 had a swirling crack on the digitizer (touchscreen). Looked for a tutorial on how to replace it in vain. Saw the teardown at Tech Republic, but that's it. No mention anywhere that I could find about how to do it. Decided to bite the bullet and ventured to fit a new one. Successful. Wrote down a quick guide thinking it might help someone since I saw a bunch of tabs with smashed digitizers on Ebay. Some claim it's gorilla glass, which makes me kind of wonder why they shatter so readily. I know, gorilla glass only scratch-resistant, but still...
Samsung sticks the digitizer to the bezel-frame with a tough double-sided tape, similar to the kind Asus uses on its tabs. A tutorial for the Tab 2 10 shows the use of a putty knife to scrape the digitizer off its frame, which wouldn't work with the 7, as its bezel-frame almost totally covers the edge of the glass back side. On the other hand, inserting anything metal in between from the front would scuff it badly.
The LCD display was taped to the magnesium frame, but is separate from the touchscreen, which need not be removed when replacing the digitizer.
What you need to do is to follow the steps in the teardown referred to above. As Tech Republic correctly pointed out, the internal layout is quite neat, unlike some of the tabs I've had the chance to disassemble. There are many thin cables, however, and you need to proceed with patience.
You must remove all components, so that only the frame with the digitizer and LCD is left. Eventually, you'd have to employ some source of heat, be it a heat gun, a hair dryer or a heat lamp to soften or to some extent melt the adhesive of the digitizer. Leaving any electronic component in place and the heat might destroy it. You can use brute force to separate the digitizer from the frame, but you'd more likely than not damage the LCD in the process.
What I did was use a heat gun at ~500 F, held at about 1 to 2 inches from the edge of the digitizer, and went back and forth over it, one side at a time, for no more than 30 to 35 seconds. I used a blunt object to push the glass out at spots plainly visible as illustrated in the attached thumbs below, then slid a plastic tool with a flared end to pry it from the bezel along its edge. Be careful how you handle the frame, since it would get burning hot at this point. As I moved from one side to another, I wedged a guitar pick between the glass and the frame to prevent them from sticking back together. You might pulverize parts of the glass as you go along, but in general it flexes quite a bit and wouldn't shatter.
Once you get it out, you need to remove the residual tape on the frame. The digitizer I bought was lined with new tape so I didn't have use any extra adhesive. It doesn't bind as strongly as the original tape, but enough to hold everything in place.
Putting it back is just the reverse. I took the extra step of reassembling the whole thing first with just the digitizer hanging loose, plugged it in, turned the tab on to make sure it functioned correctly before bonding it to the frame.
Basically, the process is nothing new. However, just the fact that someone has done it might give confidence to other DIYers in the future. Feel free to ask if any questions.
http://www.techrepublic.com/photos/cracking-open-the-samsung-galaxy-tab-2-70/6360139?
Thanks im going to give it a go. Any walkthrough tips by anyone else appreciated
Replacing the digitizer on this device is among the easiest ive seen. With no heat or taking anything off except the back I fixed one with only an isesamo
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Has anyone seen a good take apart/repair guide for the Inspire4G. Just got digitizer replacement and cannot for the life of me figure out how to attach the ribbon cable without totally disassembling the phone. Hoping to avoid this.
If this is the wrong forum, please direct me to a better one rather than flaming me.
Thanks
Fairly certain that ifixit.com has a good teardown.
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App
Thanks for the tip, but I find nothing for the DesireHD/Inspire4G there other than a total disassemble for the HD that I've already seen, but really did not help me. I just need to change to touch screen. I appreciate the try though.
Got it apart. And kinda back together. Apparently it is not a good idea to reuse the double sided tape that holds the LCD to the motherboard and the digitizer to the LCD. At least the phone works. Now, must order some proper adhesive tape and redo the whole thing.... Took me about 6 hours for whole breakdown and rebuild. Doesn't really seem to fit back together all that well though. Maybe I'll videotape my next breakdown.
Couple of questions as my phone is in need of a new digitizer too.
Did you have any other adhesive tapes in the process?
What did you use to cut the tape that held the LCD together after you baked it?
Does the phone mostly feel the same now that you have it back together, or does it feel flimsy now?
I'm disappointed that it's this difficult to replace the digitizer.
Jeffsmashkot said:
Couple of questions as my phone is in need of a new digitizer too.
Did you have any other adhesive tapes in the process?
What did you use to cut the tape that held the LCD together after you baked it?
Does the phone mostly feel the same now that you have it back together, or does it feel flimsy now?
I'm disappointed that it's this difficult to replace the digitizer.
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Click to collapse
Just so you know, I was a TOTAL noob in phone deconstruction. That being said, the old adhesive seemed quite sticky after i took it apart so I just reused it. Mistake number one. Once it was back together, i notice it slowly opening up like an accordion. The tape wasn't holding and the LCD, digitizer assembly started to rise up. I have since ordered some adhesive tape from the place I got the digitizer from. Definitely get the tape.
I did not bake it as in the video (i assume you watched the same one I did). I used an old spark plug gauge tool thingie to just cut through the tape. It was still really sticky so after i struggled to insert the digitizer ribbon cable, I just reused it. Don't do this. Get new tape.
I did have some plain old scotch double sided tape. I used it in one spot. Lesson: Don't use this stuff. Get new tape.
Did I mention that I think you should get new tape? All in all, it was quite laborious. I went really slowly so as not to brick it. When it was done the phone worked, but like I said the LCD raised up after a couple of minutes. The adhesive was not working anymore. At least I have gained confidence for the next take-apart. I can't believe i GOTTA go alll the way back to total break down. Aaaarrrgh.
So something like this should do the trick?
http://www.harborfreight.com/32-piece-sae-metric-feeler-gauge-32214.html
Thanks for the heads up... Where exactly do you recommend putting the tape? Does it just go on the black edges of the digitizer, or does it actually go on the surface of the LCD? Sorry if that's a noob question, but I haven't gotten the glass off and I want to make sure I have enough adhesive tape from the Ebay Vendor. Did you have any issues with reusing the mylar?
Sorry for the 1000 questions, I really don't want to shell out off contract prices for another phone...
Mylars were all reusable if removed carefully. I photographed every step so I would know what to put back where. Still waiting for my tape from Repairs Universe. The biggest two culprits are:
1] Tape holding back of LCD to the silver chassis frame and
2] Tape holding SIM FPC to the main board.
You might also tape the PCB cover to the upper board, mine was loose after rebuild.
That I believe that is it for the major tape requirements. Of course the digitizer needs to be taped to the LCD. I'm curious, though, the tape framing the LCD holding the digitizer seemed to have some thickness to it. Almost like foam rubber, quite thin, but thicker than regular cellophane tape.
Good luck. Let me know if you have any tips after your attempt.
Got the tape. Retried to rebuild with new OEM tape. Same result. The phone when completed expands like an accordion. The digitizer/LCD assembly does not stay stick to whatever is under it. I know when to admit defeat. Looks like I'm shelling out 500 for another phone. At least I have spare parts!
yeah i was going to do my screen myself till i seen the tear down & then called afew places around here that does screen replacements and said NO we won't touch the Inspire, i spent the money and let HTC fix it. was worth it they replaced the whole shell not just the screen ... IE lcd / digitizer / Outer case that was scratched and dented... basically a new phone with the guts out of my phone
I attempted to do this and let me just say that I too now have spare parts. I purchased a phone off of ebay. I didn't realize the no contract price went up to around 500.00 I should have gone directly to HTC. Live and learn...
I will be in possession of an HTC Inspire for testing purposes that also has a cracked screen. Not sure how bad it is but I was planning on just replacing the display for learning purposes. However it seems that it may not be worth the time spent.
If I do decide to give it a go I'll post my results here. First thing is to acquire new tape. Did you all purchase it locally or did you buy the adhesive online?
YouTube has lots of videos. Best to watch a few a see the best way. If you are scared to break it best you send it in for repair instead. Get a digitizer and screen combo.
Why would you ever care if you damage the screen while taking it out since you're probably replacing it anyway? I have no clue. But I thought I would give it a try, and now i'm sharing.
So I managed to remove the screen and the frame without breaking anything (granted the screen wasn't working already)
i.imgur.com/cpKVP
What I did was cut off little strips from a credit card or any sort of plastic card. Then heated only the back side of the frame. I figured if I tried heating the screen from the front, the glass and screen adhesive might start separating. Then I worked the strips in between the frame and screen through the holes in the frame.
i.imgur.com/iql8z
You might be wondering why there are places ground down on the frame... I'll get to that...
Just worked at that for probably an hour constantly reheating. Just unsticking the adhesive from the back of the screen and the frame. I finally managed to be able to fit a card in through the bottom.
i.imgur.com/kuDuP
Then I just used that to unstick the rest of the adhesive.
Now, about why a lot of the frame has grinding marks. I have the Verizon GS3, but I broke the old screen. I found a water damaged sprint gs3 on craigslist for $100. so I figured I would see if it would fit, and if it didn't I could sell the screen for maybe 200-250 on ebay. It didn't fit, not perfectly... but I really didn't feel like waiting for it to sell. So instead, I made it fit, I almost got it perfect, and it all worked just perfectly when I had it all together. But I wanted it to fit perfectly, so naturally, on my last attempt, I ground down a little too far and nicked part of one of the ribbon cables. So I figured I'd try taking it apart without breaking it... If anybody has any suggestions on how to fix the ribbon, feel free to say something!
i.imgur.com/MN9Fl
how bad did you butcher the ribbon? you could maybe try circuitwriter conductive pen to draw the contacts back. http://stcwk.blogspot.com/2010/03/how-to-repair-broken-ribbon-cable.html
I got the S3 like 3 days ago, and earlier today it just slide out of my pocket when i was crouched, (I know, i placed an order on a case 2 days ago but thought i would be careful around the house with the phone til than) , Crack lower right corner, do you think you could seperate the glass/digitizer from the lcd screen? to just replace the glass/digitizer http://i46.tinypic.com/5lyx41.jpg
The pen might be worth a try. As for separating the glass from the screen, it's possible, but I really wouldn't recommend it. Just because of how the screen is manufactured, there is a film of glue between the front glass and the screen, it would be impossible to glue it back together without leaving bubbles in between, so it would look way worse than just the little bit of cracked screen you have.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00AHTFNEM
This is the one I bought, for a reference. I'm just curious if anyone else has done it and what problems they ran into. I'm no stranger to electronics, so I'm not afraid to take it apart, I'm just worried that I'm going to end up doing something wrong.
For example, the glass and digitizer are fused together, right?
And do you go around the front or the sides with the heat gun? 750w or 1300w?
Here's a good DIY video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_70-W9JjVjg&feature=youtube_gdata_player
A hair dryer should suffice so I don't think you need such a powerful heat gun.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using Tapatalk 4 Beta
wrathofnero said:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00AHTFNEM
This is the one I bought, for a reference. I'm just curious if anyone else has done it and what problems they ran into. I'm no stranger to electronics, so I'm not afraid to take it apart, I'm just worried that I'm going to end up doing something wrong.
For example, the glass and digitizer are fused together, right?
And do you go around the front or the sides with the heat gun? 750w or 1300w?
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Click to collapse
I posted this thread a few days ago after replacing the digitizer myself. The video referred to by another member was for a phone, and personally I doubt a hairdryer would suffice for the job 'cause cell phones usually use light double-sided tape to hold the almost weightless glass. The tape on the Tab 2, on the other hand, is quite strong. You can use sheer force except there's no gap at the edge, front or back, and you might damage the LCD display in the process. I used a dryer for a few minutes and it did nothing to loosen the adhesive. Good luck.
That is an awesome tutorial. You're right about it giving confidence, as well as answering many of the questions I had. I guess I'm more concerned now over just various tips and tricks.
Is there any fine science to lining it up? How easily can it be fingerprinted and what would you use? Also, I've heard of WD-40 to remove the glue left over. What should I use if this one doesn't include any adhesive?
As you can see, I'm clearly a worrier. Got it honest.
wrathofnero said:
That is an awesome tutorial. You're right about it giving confidence, as well as answering many of the questions I had. I guess I'm more concerned now over just various tips and tricks.
Is there any fine science to lining it up? How easily can it be fingerprinted and what would you use? Also, I've heard of WD-40 to remove the glue left over. What should I use if this one doesn't include any adhesive?
As you can see, I'm clearly a worrier. Got it honest.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Lining it up is a no-brainer since the glass fits snugly into the frame. The lcd is a non-issue since it is separated from the touchscreen. As far as finger prints,I use a 50/50 white vinegar/water solution. Be sure to wipe it off with a microfiber cloth while it's still wet. For left-over glue,I use either Goo-gone and 91% alcohol afterwards, or acetone. WD40 is fine though I am not sure it would not leave any residue after drying out. In case the new one has no adhesive, the better choice would be the outdoor double-sided tape for 5 lbs at Home Depot, or failing that, loctite outdoor epoxy though this one could get messy.
I was trying to change digitizer to my tf300 by following this video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3_JRLd7lPv8 .The video is really bad, considering that this guy will show you a tf300 that has been opened before or something, because its very easy for him to do certain things, that i found very hard,and had to use other techniques.For example, i had really hard time separating the old digitizer and the plastic frame. In order to separate these two parts, i used some heat blowing gun (professional one) which turned to be very effective separating the digitizer from the plastic frame, but the plastic got wraped (as you can see in pic). Also, i don't have an adhesive tape or glue in order to stick the new digitizer to the frame so i m unable to stick the new digitizer to the frame.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/bwz1cw2pu1zrgst/IMG_20131010_135139.JPG
TheoKondak said:
I was trying to change digitizer to my tf300 by following this video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3_JRLd7lPv8 .The video is really bad, considering that this guy will show you a tf300 that has been opened before or something, because its very easy for him to do certain things, that i found very hard,and had to use other techniques.For example, i had really hard time separating the old digitizer and the plastic frame. In order to separate these two parts, i used some heat blowing gun (professional one) which turned to be very effective separating the digitizer from the plastic frame, but the plastic got wraped (as you can see in pic). Also, i don't have an adhesive tape or glue in order to stick the new digitizer to the frame so i m unable to stick the new digitizer to the frame.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/bwz1cw2pu1zrgst/IMG_20131010_135139.JPG
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Click to collapse
You used too much heat. I don't think the warped frame will fit anymore. You might need to buy a new one. You really don't need heat initially though. Since you were gonna discard the broken digitizer anyway, you should've just scraped the glass off. Use this type of adhesive to glue back.
Thanks for you info!I was thinking of puting the frame on a table, put the new digitizer to fit as much as possible, put some towel on, and then heat it again by gently pressing it with the iron.Else, where can i find a replacement part?I don't even know the name of this specific part so i can search for it.
TheoKondak said:
Thanks for you info!I was thinking of puting the frame on a table, put the new digitizer to fit as much as possible, put some towel on, and then heat it again by gently pressing it with the iron.Else, where can i find a replacement part?I don't even know the name of this specific part so i can search for it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's the front plastic bezel. Sometimes it's available used on Ebay. Best place to inquire would be Asus Parts located somewhere in Europe. I wouldn't try what you're thinking of doing unless you can straighten it again using the broken digitizer, as the screen is extremely brittle and the slightest pressure might crack it.
Hello,
After changing the screen of my moto G, the new one is no longer stuck and is moving.... I had to remove the original glue (tape?) with an hair dryer.
My question is : with what I then paste the screen?
thanks a lot
Phil77560 said:
Hello,
After changing the screen of my moto G, the new one is no longer stuck and is moving.... I had to remove the original glue (tape?) with an hair dryer.
My question is : with what I then paste the screen?
thanks a lot
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is a very annoying problem of the chinese displays that come with a frame or pre-applied tape.
The display+lcd assembly is too heavy to be held by any normal 2-sided tape (3M 300LSE for example).
After hours of checking how the original thing was made it turned out that it has a rubber-like gasket that is glued to the frame, which acts as bonding surface for the 2nd glue used to hold the digitizer to the frame.
These are all my own findings, sadly no pne is discussing this problem anywhere or at least I didn't find any.
I've used a transparent epoxy (65-70% resin ~30-35% oxidizer so the compound hardens slower).Use a wooden tooth pick to apply the glue on the frame, don't put to much of it, just a hair-thin line.
Put the screen on and press it well and be ready to clean off any glue that may come out of the edges. The epoxy is easy to clean until it's set, use isopropyl alcohol 99% or some dry contact cleaner with a cotton cloth or kitchen paper.
The drawback of using epoxy is once it's set, you won't be able to remove the screen from the frame by any viable means.This is not a problem tho, since you can buy the whole assembly, should you need to replace the screen again.
Good luck.
:good:
Thanks a lot for your tip.
I'm gonna look for epoxy and try to do as well as you
Thank a lot once more
same issue
Hi,
Thank you very much for having shared your experience with us .
I have exactly the same issue with my Moto G and I've finally found a way out thanks to you. I would try this but I'm afraid of doing it bad. Should I apply the glue exactly in the border of the display? Do you happen to have any video showing it in detail?
Have a nice day
birikif said:
Hi,
Thank you very much for having shared your experience with us .
I have exactly the same issue with my Moto G and I've finally found a way out thanks to you. I would try this but I'm afraid of doing it bad. Should I apply the glue exactly in the border of the display? Do you happen to have any video showing it in detail?
Have a nice day
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hello,
You should apply the glue in the frame, as close as possible to the outer rim and spread it as much as possible on the thin inner lining where the plastic of the frame and the glass make contact.
You can also use universal transparent glue, like JIP or Henkel... etc.These glues are a bit more liquidish and it takes more time to set properly, but they are also more flexible and you can also remove the display with heat, should you have the need to .
Sorry no videos available on this, but with a little effort and reading you'll be fine.
liveroy's advice is great. I've followed it with success, although the screen I bought has the dreaded phantom touch issue (cheap ebay job!) and will have to go back (this issue was apparent even before I glued it to the mid-frame).
Firstly I separated the screen from the mid-frame with two small suction cups, designed for removing halogen light bulbs, on the top and bottom of the glass. This worked well, but I had to use very gentle tugs to ensure I didn't tear the ribbon cable. Because the double-sided tape used was already separating, this was quite an easy part of the job.
I used Araldite 2-Tubes Standard Epoxy, because it has a very long cure time, which allowed me to work slowly. With the screen and mid-frame completely separate and cleaned up, I then threaded the screen's ribbon cable through the hole before glueing. The trickiest bit was putting the epoxy along the frame where the ribbon cable is; to do this I just wedged some folded paper between frame and screen while I layed down the epoxy. I guess I could have just done this bit first and avoided the need for a paper wedge (this was used to prevent prematurely sticking the screen to the frame before all the epoxy's down).
I used the screen's plastic film to protect the screen from the epoxy, and cleaned the excess epoxy with an old bottle of disk head cleaner I found lying about (smelt very alcoholly!) and cotton buds. I used some clothes pegs to clamp the screen to the frame, but I took them off after a few hours. Then I left it for a couple of days. The result was as good as I could have hoped for. I can see a little bit of the dried epoxy in the very narrow trenches between the mid-frame and glass, but this doesn't bother me. Way better than having light streaming through the sides, and it seems like a really solid grip! When in use and getting warm I could still see a bit of lift at the sides, but because it was glued there was absolutely no gap.
Going back to the original need for this fix -
On my phone I believe this is due to a warped, concave logic board, effectively peeling the glass away from the mid-frame when fitted. If it were totally flat then I doubt this would happen. I guess the aftermarket screen manufacturers didn't factor this in when they decided to use "weak" double-sided tape. I've also noticed that, with the new screen in place, the outer back shell of the phone, that you put on last, doesn't quite fit at the bottom like with the old screen - there is now a small a gap where the inner plastic housing is exposed. I think this is because the new mid-frame is straighter than the old, and the old shell has itself bent over time.
Hi,
I'm happy to found this thread. It's the second screen i replace on my Motorola Moto G4 Plus because of this; you can view my comment here : https://www.witrigs.com/oem-lcd-screen-assembly-for-motorola-moto-g4-plus-black#customer-reviews
I will try to use super glue on the top of my screen, hope it'll work. EDIT 20190122 : it worked (be careful to not add too much glue like i did : it was covering camera when pressing !)
Thanks