So last week I cracked the glass on my poor Nexus. It took a horrible drop. Well I can't afford another Nexus and I can imagine having any other phone so I figured I'd repair this one. Read up alot on it and watched a video on Youtube. Ordered all the parts I needed I tackled it today.
Well I decided to do a How-To for any other Nexus owner with broken screens.
New digitizer - $40
Torx screwdriver -$5
Philips screwdriver -$5
Plastic tools - Free
Total - $50
Sure beats the $125 some online sites charge.
I would like to thank ifixit and slickromeo.
1. Gather all your tools and replacement glass (known as a digitizer).
Note: Needed tools are a Philips #00, a Torx T4, and a plastic pry tool (Mine was included with the new screen)
2. Set up a clean comfortable area to work in. You may be here for awhile and you're going to want to reduce the amount of dust that could potentially get on the new glass.
Note: I used a folded over microfiber towel to keep the area clean and also add some padding to the hard counter top to prevent even more damage while working with the phone.
3. Power phone off and remove battery cover, battery, SIM card, and Micro SD card. Set aside in a safe place.
4.Our first obstacle is going to be the antennae cover at the bottom of the phone. There are three plastic clips holding it in place (Circled in red). Use a combination of the pry tool, a guitar pick, butter knife, and any other instrument you need to shove in there. It is a pain in the ass... the video I watched online made it seem like it was going to be alot harder than it was, but if you work from left to right, or right to left, and get the outside one unclipped the other two come off pretty easy. Once you get it off set it aside with the battery cover and other things.
Note: Be careful not to break these tiny, fragile clips as they are the only things holding this cover in place.
5. Scream profanities and wipe the sweat off your brow from the previous step. I know it was frustrating and nerve racking trying not to break your precious Nexus.
6. Ok good job now to start the real deconstruction. I'm going to start with the battery tray and then move down to the antennae. There are three screws holding the tray down, but before we start on those there is this tiny ridiculous little "VOID" sticker covering up one of them. I wasn't able to remove it intake, partly because I don't really care about my warranty, but I'm sure with alot of patience and tweezers one could take it off intake and put it back. But screw that just get it off to get to the screw underneath.
7. Now two of these screws is a Torx and the third is a Philips (All in green). Remove them and put them somewhere very safe.
Note: I have four plastic cups set up to place my screws into. These are going into the first one.
8.Next you need to remove the battery tray. There are seven tabs (yellow circles) around it that you need to release using your plastic pry tool. Once those are released gently pull away form the bottom of the phone to remove the tray. Set the tray aside.
9. Now for the antennae cover. There are two more screws to remove, a Torx and a Philips (Orange circles). These screws are going in the second bowl. After the screws are out, gently lift up on the bottom of that cover and it should remove easily. Be very careful not to damage the circuit board during removal.
10. Next to come out is the logic board. there are two more very tiny screws to remove (White circles). Into the third bowl with those. Next you need to disconnect three connections (purple circles). Then carefully go around the perimeter of it with your pry tool and VERY CAREFULLY remove all the little tabs holding it in place. Then simply push up form the bottom of the logic board and slide it out. Set it somewhere very safe.
11. Now onto the actual case of the Nexus. Remove the six Philips screws, 1 at the top and 5 at the bottom . Again there are a series of little clips, five of em, around the perimeter that need to be undone and then the case very easily separates from the screen. Set the case aside.
12. Very simply pry the LCD screen away form the glass digitizer. There it is... the broken glass.
13. Now take your pry tool and from the back of the glass (not the side you would touch if you were using the phone) wedge it between the frame and the glass to separate to adhesive. Once the pry tool is in you can just slide it around the edge of the glass to separate the whole thing. TA-DA your broken glass is forever gone.
Note: The glass is broken and very sharp. Take extreme caution not to cut yourself.
14. Now we just have to put the whole thing back together. Start with the new glass/digitizer. Peel off the plastic protector to expose the adhesive and very carefully put it in place.
15. Wrap the connector that is part of the digitizer around and secure it in place with its adhesive.
16. Take the whole screen assembly and slide it back into the case. Push to secure the clips then replace the six screws that you removed.
17. Slide the logic board carefully back into place. You may have to hold down/more out of the way a few of the connectors. Take it a little at a time and see where it is getting caught up. You got this far don't lose your patience.
18. Snap the back antennae cover back in and replace its screws.
19. Slide the battery tray into place and replace its screws.
20. Snap the gray antennae cover back on.
21. Replace Micro SD card, battery, and battery cover.
22. Enjoy the beauty of your Nexus without a broken screen.
23. Place Nexus in Otterbox Defender case so this never happens again.
I have pictures that document each step but need to be approved by a moderator before it lets me post em... sorry guys
Hey, awesome job on fixing your screen. I would love to see them, my Nexus just went through the same thing 30 min ago. I had it on my lap, and upon stepping out of the car, SMACK, is all I heard. It landed face down and this is the aftermath. It's much worse than it looks in the picture.
Man, that sucks. I know that feeling.
I'll try to put the pictures up to help you out. Or at least a link to my photobucket.
Sent from my Nexus One using Tapatalk
thanks! I just cracked mine yesterday after the phone fell out of my pocket onto a concrete floor. Ouch. I'm giving this a whirl.
Nice, I'll keep this in mind for the day I accidentally break my n1.
I just wish we could somehow jury-rig the Incredible digitizer to our phones =/
I just recently converted to the n1, bought the phone for cheap off craigslists, but notice burn in on the screen, will changing the digitizier also fix the burn in?
Thank you so much for taking the time to do this write up. I just dropped my phone and smashed the screen on concrete 30 mins ago. All is working but the glass is cracked. I've ordered a new Digitizer/Glass from ebay for £30, I just hope it comes by tomorrow.
you can post picture after 5 posts so it should be good now you have 8 posts
I've just completed the work of replacing the broken glass.
I used your guide throughout, it's a shame you haven't been able to post the pictures as it definitely would have helped. I managed to google some dismantling pictures to help with your talk through as it was hard going some times.
Many thanks again.
Another useful tip: run an air purifier aimed at your work station to minimize the risk of getting dust in the glass.
blueboymj: Any chance you can edit your original post and add your pictures so others can use them? I searched quite a lot for a specific procedure to change the digitizer on my poor N1; This was the best, most accurate guide I found. I've done digitizers on a few iPhones (sorry for the profanity) using the ifixit guides, but alas, the ifixit guides were better for them than they are for the N1.
On a side note: The end cap that gives people so much trouble fell off of my N1 in the initial drop. I pushed it back on, and continued using the phone even though the glass was shattered. Removing it the first time was not so hard, I think it was not back on as well as it should have been. Removing it the second time (another story) was much harder. There are two little plastic "bars" on the end cap (step 4 above) that fit into small grooves on the "antenna cover". (step 7) I think the trick may be to possibly pinch the edges of the end cap, while sliding it toward the bottom of the phone. I looked at it after it was open, to see why it was so hard to remove, and realized I had been inadvertently helping it hold itself closed while trying to pry it open. Maybe one of the videos addresses this; I did not watch them.
Thank you to the OP and the responders for this post!
So where exactly did u order the new digitizier and parts from?
Sent from my Nexus One using XDA App
This thread should be added to the N1 wiki. Thanks for the instructions.
DrewOntheMYT said:
I just recently converted to the n1, bought the phone for cheap off craigslists, but notice burn in on the screen, will changing the digitizier also fix the burn in?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Burn in? Like shadowing on the LCD? Nope.
Thats the LCD, and is completely different than the digitizer. The digitizer is just a clear plastic/glass layer that goes OVER the lcd to detect touch.
I had the digitizer and a new case and was going to have a local phone store replace this for me. However, they just gave me some BS story about how you cannot replace the digitizer without also replacing the LCD screen, which I did not provide.
So I've been without a phone (since they have it) for no reason and have to drive out of my way to retrieve it.
Hey crappy phone store, if you're too scared to do the job just say so, don't try to make up a bunch of manure and say it can't be done.
Anyway, I just ordered the required tools that I don't have and am going to give this a whirl.
OP, if you can't post your pics, can you email them to me?
does it fix the multitouch problem?
Related
hey everyone,
Recently I broke my tilt screen and was forced to purchase a replacement screen along with the necessary TORX screwdrivers and other tools to take apart the phone. After reading through this forum I have decided that using the 4 screw method would be a lot easier than taking apart the entire phone. I was wondering if there was anywhere on this site that demonstrates in detail how to successfull use this method. I have looked around but cant seem to find anything. Any help would be appreciated before I take apart my phone.
Thanks,
Austin
I've taken mine apart a few times, once to replace the screen as you're about to do. that being said, if there is a way to disassemble the screen with just 4 screws it wasn't apparent when I did mine, as there are ribbon cables etc. that need to be disconnected. It's actually not that hard to take the thing apart, I would go thru the whole process if I were you.
i did the four screw method.
Take the battery out.
Just take off the four screws on the left and right side of the back of the slide out screen.
Then using something that you can slide under the plastic housing on the edges around the back and pry it up and over the plastic pieces that snap the casing together. Try not to use a screw driver to pry it up, I used one and I bent the little plastic pieces and things wouldn't snap back together right until I got fed up and ground the bent pieces off.
Now the casing never comes completely off but it can be pulled apart enough to see where the lcd screen connects to the board. Just pop this ribbon cable off and slide the broken screen out and slide the new screen in connect it back to the board.
Snap the case back together and put the screws back in and your done.
Use a plastic diassembly tool and you wont bend anything. Without even trying, took me 10min total and I didnt even have guidance. Just take it easy and with the right tools, no force is needed. Just patience hardest think is trying to push in the ribbons with so little space.
LunaC said:
Use a plastic diassembly tool and you wont bend anything. Without even trying, took me 10min total and I didnt even have guidance. Just take it easy and with the right tools, no force is needed. Just patience hardest think is trying to push in the ribbons with so little space.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just took mine apart t he other day to clean arround the screen! I would advise doing the whole thing. Take your time and always keep track of what screws go where! Oh, and use a magnet to stick your screws to! If you bump the table and one goes flying, you will never find it! Take your time and keep track of where everything goes and you will be fine! Have fun!
Anyone know how to get the front bezel off this thing?
It's begging for a paint job.
Thx!
and perhaps a generous application of rubber cement. I had ONE creek point when i bought it - annoying but livable enough (plus the fact all the bad hours of xmas I was working I never had time to return it in the 30 day period to best buy). now almost 2 months latter theres three...
theres a teardown thread or two on here somewhere but the search button seems to be failing (or my browser....)
- Will.
It must pop off, but I don't want to be the guy to try it...
In the tear down I remember seeing roughly 10 small philips screws holding it from the inside to the metal sub structure. To tighten it you need to remove the back of the device then you will see the screws running around the perimeter. I also remember the screen is held to the bezel with a form of double faced tape.
waremaster said:
In the tear down I remember seeing roughly 10 small philips screws holding it from the inside to the metal sub structure. To tighten it you need to remove the back of the device then you will see the screws running around the perimeter. I also remember the screen is held to the bezel with a form of double faced tape.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Its funny because the guy at Best Buy was trying to pull the back off of the one I returned... No idea why he was trying to yank the back off of it...
I guess if he had succeeded I would have seen the screws..
Funny enough the display model NookColor at my local best buy was practically falling off. When I first looked at the device I nearly did not buy one because of that but then getting one in my hands at B&N changed my mind.
The front bezel is a "tape and cover" paint job. The screen is glued to the frame pretty solid. I had mine apart to fiddle around and to get the back off for a mold. Most of the screws are Torx #5 or #6. Tape it off good and you should be ok as far as the front bezel. The rear and metal frame you can easily get to by proper disassembly.
Here's the zdnet guide,
http://www.zdnet.com/photos/nookcolor-teardown/487636?seq=21
Here's what I did.
You'll need a torx 5. After you unscrews the 2 screws by the sd slot, use your nail along the chamfer corner to lift the back siding up. Then use a credit card to lift the back up and run along the edge to unhinged the back.
techboydino, are you going to make a new front bezel? might be a small after market for such things. I'd pick up a more solid one if the price was right.
actually metal front and back pieces would rock...
- Will.
I would like to see a silicon back cover case that has a kickstand..
WillCameron said:
techboydino, are you going to make a new front bezel? might be a small after market for such things. I'd pick up a more solid one if the price was right.
actually metal front and back pieces would rock...
- Will.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was really considering metal but the fact that most would have to really take special care to actually seperate the bezel from the screen really kind of set me off that. making a case for this is rediculously hard. (compared to my attempts at other devices. if you ever seperated a screen for a cell phone from the glass then you know what I mean. I am trying to replace the back with aluminum and wanted to do a carbon fiber front. so far everything is too thick or just plain looks bad.
Ever heard of masking tape?
3M BLUE painters tape FTW
Glad to find this post!!!
This maybe a little off the subject but does any know where I can purchase a replacement faceplate frame cover.
I accidentally drop my nook color and now it has a nasty crack...
Thank you all in advance!
i took the kickstand off a picture frame...white glued it and had one. Then took it off to fit my new cover...replacement kickstand not put on yet..
nookme said:
This maybe a little off the subject but does any know where I can purchase a replacement faceplate frame cover.
I accidentally drop my nook color and now it has a nasty crack...
Thank you all in advance!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Your best bet is probably to pick up a smoked one off EBay or one with a cracked screen and a good bezel.
Actually post up WTB (want to buy) dead Nook Color in the XDA market and link to it in this thread. I seem to recall a couple readers here who have more than "gently used" Nooks....
The screen on my Rogers HTC Raider is scratched. It is deep enough that I cannot remove by applying polisher. Screen still works but I rather replace the screen as the scratch is visible.
Where can I purchase the screen and replace it myself?
http://www.tmart.com/Replacement-LCD-Display-Screen-for-HTC-G19-Raider-4G_p137438.html
http://www.repairsuniverse.com/htc-vivid-screen-replacements-repair-parts.html
..
Thank you.
tap the thanks button
and good luck
A little advice - I've already replaced the screen on my Raider
Hi, glad someone else is attempting this. I had never replaced a screen in a phone before trying this so for me it was a little hair raising the first time I took it apart. On the back of the phone under the battery cover are 5 screws you need to remove, and one little plastic cover. Under the cover is the connector from the mainboard. Its just a little pop out connection, gently lever it loose before removing the shell to avoid hurting the ribbon.
Once you get this far, flip the phone face-up, and *from the bottom*, gently lever the sides and bottom of the plastic shell away from the screen. Its relatively easy.
Continue working along the edges toward the top until the plastic shell pops free, after that put it face-down again and remove the screws holding the battery holder to the rest of the phone. Pull it up and out to the left to remove it, being careful not to bend the battery contacts as they stay with the rest of the phone. Keep the screws with it, trust me - its easier to remember what goes where this way.
Once you have the battery holder off, put it aside and remove the screws holding the mainboard(s) to the shell. Also you will find three wires with little cup contacts at the ends, gently detach these as well, and when the screws and wires are off, carefully remove the boards. Look closely at the plastic tabs holding them in and you'll see how they come out. When taking them out of the phone you'll need to lift them like you were opening a book - ie. folding them to the right. Underneath are two sockets with ribbon cable connections, one should already be detached - the other can be popped off at this point. If you skipped detaching it at the beginning, now's the time to remove both.
This should leave you with two free boards attached in the middle by a black ribbon. Put them aside and what you have left in your hand is the metal shell, LCD, and digitizer.
NOW..the crappy news. This wonderful, beautiful, powerful, ESPENSIVE phone, is held together by black double-sided tape. Yep. Tape. AND you'll need some more before installing the new digitizer. I ordered mine from tmart as well and it not only comes with the wrong screwdrivers (btw you need a #1 philips bit - VERY tiny!!) but it doesn't come with any adhesive to mount the screen to.
Your new screen should also come with some prying tools, and they are quite handy. The guitar pick one didn't do much but the lever is very handy. You'll need to gently pry the digitizer away from the LCD with this tool being careful not to put too much pressure on the lcd or it might snap. Its only a few mm thick. GO SLOW.. you should have no problems. I've done it a few times now - I'm kinda rough on my toys.
Once you have the part un-taped, its still got the ribbon cable going back behind the lcd. Its connected to a small, thin socket on ther board. You lift a small white lever (remove the tape and save it - reapply it to the new connection) and slide the cable out. You'll need to use your lever again and pry up the lcd enough to slide the ribbon out from behind it. This can be tricky. Again, go slow, be real cautious..the tape is pretty strong. Once you have the panel out completely its just a matter of reversing the process. If you're real careful when removing the original panel, you might be able to reuse the double-sided tape thats in there.. I wasn't so lucky. Mine was covered in glass shards, as I mashed my screen pretty good.
Hope this helps!! I had a rough time the first time, but now its easy for me. I like taking it apart lol..
Let me know how you do! Good luck!
Brian
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).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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...
Click to expand...
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
Click to expand...
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?
Click to expand...
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).
Hi guys,
has anyone of you tried changing the front glass without digitizer and display?
In disassembly videos I can only see people changing the whole thing.
Also, do you think I can manage to repair the front glas as well as the USB port with just an iron instead of a hot air blower (and the usual tools made of plastic)?
Thanks in advance!
kadofl said:
Hi guys,
has anyone of you tried changing the front glass without digitizer and display?
In disassembly videos I can only see people changing the whole thing.
Also, do you think I can manage to repair the front glas as well as the USB port with just an iron instead of a hot air blower (and the usual tools made of plastic)?
Thanks in advance!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I haven't done the front glass on mine yet, but my understanding is that in general you're really better off replacing front glass as an entire unit with digitizer and display. An iron on pretty low through a cloth/towel might well work. It's not just glue that melts, it's a thin strip of rubber gasket material with adhesive (okay, maybe it's thick glue, but it looked pre-formed to me) holding the glass back cover on.
Heating probably helps a bit with softening the stuff, but after the first time you peel it up you won't really need to do that again. I'd recommend picking a corner (say, bottom left as you're looking at the back) and just plan on prying from there every time, so you only have one spot where the plastic gets marred.
Don't spend too much time heating, worry more about having a suction cup tool that you can lift with while you try to work a guitar pick or hobby knife or something in under the corner. Have at least two ready, so you can wedge one in, and work your way around without it just dropping back down on you. You'll probably tear the material a bit but that's okay, just spread it back out evenly around the edge on the glass before you put the cover back on. Also, you definitely should be using a case to make sure it doesn't just fall off in your pocket once you've opened it up a couple times.
USB cable replacement isn't awful, just time consuming. The biggest gotcha is to keep all three of the little gold clips on the plastic "mid frame" ring (that's the first thing you remove that requires screws after getting the back glass up) from fallling and getting lost.
You can PM me if you have any questions about this, I've replaced my USB cable/port assembly a couple times (first replacement was defective). And I'm about to attempt replacing the screen as a whole unit with glass & digitizer on my wife's Z2 Plus, so I'll let you know how that goes.