I've got a lovely crack down the middle of my digitizer and unfortunately we all know that means my touch screen is unusable. The only way I can use my phone is with a mouse through OTG!
Phone repair shops around here want £130+ to repair it and they claim it won't be waterproof anymore. I've repaired my own devices in the past and after some research on parts I've concluded I can repair it myself for just over £100 including parting tool, tempered screen protectors, seals and the LCD unit.
Now for some questions some of you may be able to help me with;
A repair shop claimed that the handsets are vacuum sealed before the back case is sealed into place to retain the waterproof, is this true?
Would correct front/back seal replacement fitment prevent water/dust ingress if the handset does not need to be vacuum'd?
If it does need to be vacuum sealed before final parts are assembled, can anyone recommend or think of a way to do this at home? vacuum sealed bags, etc.
LCD replacement isn't the part that worries me. It's losing the safeguard of knowing my handset would be safe if I accidentally dropped it in the bath/sink/toilet or anywhere else wet.
Cheers!
Related
I've got a quick question about my phone. I just recieved and installed a new touchscreen + digitizer from ebay. But now the digitizer is loose on the phone te original tape doesn't stick anymore. What kind of glue/tape can i use, that won't damage te screen?
I have the same problem... Anyone help us?
OldSkool-II said:
I've got a quick question about my phone. I just recieved and installed a new touchscreen + digitizer from ebay. But now the digitizer is loose on the phone te original tape doesn't stick anymore. What kind of glue/tape can i use, that won't damage te screen?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
...............................
Most phones use 3M tape to hold the screen into place. Some phone repair places just use Gel style krazy glue.
A friend and I replaced the digitizer on his TP2 a while back. We used 3M tape. As you may have noticed, the surface area to apply the tape on is VERY narrow. We cut the tape to size with an X-acto knife. It was a ridiculously time-consuming and frustrating process. If I had to do it again I would select a gel-style glue as suggested by Nighthawk243. Of course, use in very small amounts so it won't spill into the visible screen area when you compress the pieces together.
Alternatively, email the eBay seller and see if they have a one-piece, pre-cut adhesive backing for sale. Waiting for it in the mail may be well worth foregoing the frustration of the aforementioned methods.
hot glue works. It's cheap and it's non-conductive. doubt it gets too hot
here is some tape on amazon. Really cheap and plenty to do multiple digitizers.
Try This!
A friend of mine dropped her Defy on to a stone floor from a few feet.
The screen broke with several cracks from the impact point. Strangely, the phone still works fine although it's a little uncomfortable swiping across the cracks!
I thought these phones used gorilla glass? Is that not the case?
Wasn't there a vid of a Defy being run over on Youtube?
Very disappointing and worrying seeing as I got my GF one for Christmas based on its ruggedness.
Regards,
Richard
PS It was a T-Mob UK version that broke if that makes any difference.
I've seen such a video which featured the Defy being run over and still working, although the screen was pretty smashed...
I've read a few reports elsewhere of screens breaking from relatively small drops. I guess they are ruggeder than most, but not all that...
Gorilla Glass isn't indestructible, just more resistant to it than regular glass. Even in this marketing video the screen was cracked (although still intact enough to resist the water attack afterwards)
You can probably get a replacement glass facing from Motorola. Well they must have quite a few spares around given the hubbub with the failed earpieces (that needs a full glass replacement)
So... any one got an idea as to how difficult it is to swap the glass?
R.
Personally I wouldn't try to change the glass myself due to the water tight seal.
Take it to your dealer and let them deal with it. Even if they charge you for the work it might be worth it not voiding the warranty.
/J
fruktflugan said:
Personally I wouldn't try to change the glass myself due to the water tight seal.
Take it to your dealer and let them deal with it. Even if they charge you for the work it might be worth it not voiding the warranty.
/J
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Good point!
Hope my friend has got some good phone insurance!
Replace broken glass
Here is a video clip of me trying to replace a broken glass. The first part is only the disassemble. Check youtube for more.
Good effort!
It looks like getting the glass out of the front cover is quite hard. I was sure you were going to cut yourself...
Where did you source the replacement glass from? Did it come in a kit with the glue etc.?
R.
Gorilla glass is scratch resistant not shatter proof, there is a massive difference.
Well it wasn't that hard. I found the replacement glass on ebay, search for defy digitizer. Unfortunately there was no adhesive included so the final result was not so very nice. The new glass got a bit dirty from the adhesive I used. Here you can se the final result and the assemble:
The OEM adhesive is available from globaldirectparts, however you have to buy 5pcs minimum. At $5, it's affordable, but not cheap considering it's only a really thin piece of sticky foam. On other forums, people have used silicone-based glue, still maintaining waterproofness.
Many Broken screens
I've broken my motorola defy screen a few times, and collected experiences on www.motoroladefy.eu
vids for how to fix and links to the parts I ordered that worked.
If you go for display with front cover, don't forget to move the earpiece!
my s3 is at&t the lcd is gold now. the phone still powers up but nothing on the screen. a guy at work had a s3 from verizon and dropped it and cracked the glass so he bought a new phone.
will the verizon lcd work in my at&t phone?
bcaughhorn said:
my s3 is at&t the lcd is gold now. the phone still powers up but nothing on the screen. a guy at work had a s3 from verizon and dropped it and cracked the glass so he bought a new phone.
will the verizon lcd work in my at&t phone?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It should. I've interchanged them before with perfect results. And I just looked on Ebay, that font of indisputable wisdom and a lot of sellers are advertising their assemblies as working for either /or (AT&T i737 /Verizon i535). Unless there have been running production changes along the way, you should be good to go. In your place, I'd still Google some more to confirm but they were the same part the last time I looked.
What isn't the same is the motherboard /frames for Sprint. E.g. a Sprint assembly will work electrically, but not fit very well physically in another carrier's model.
You should also be aware that the exterior glass /digitizer /LCD is a bonded unit. The exterior glass is bonded to the digitizer with an optically clear adhesive. If you are prepared to live with the cracked glass, the unit from your friends phone should drop into yours relatively easily. If you intend to repair the cracked glass, the old glass needs to be carefully removed with a heatgun. Your local cellular dealer will probably repair the glass for about $90. Or if you are handy, you can do it yourself (new glass $10 on Ebay, how to videos free on youtube.. rushing and breaking your replacement LCD priceless).
.
fffft said:
It should. I've interchanged them before with perfect results. And I just looked on Ebay, that font of indisputable wisdom and a lot of sellers are advertising their assemblies as working for either /or (AT&T i737 /Verizon i535). Unless there have been running production changes along the way, you should be good to go. In your place, I'd still Google some more to confirm but they were the same part the last time I looked.
What isn't the same is the motherboard /frames for Sprint. E.g. a Sprint assembly will work electrically, but not fit very well physically in another carrier's model.
You should also be aware that the exterior glass /digitizer /LCD is a bonded unit. The exterior glass is bonded to the digitizer with an optically clear adhesive. If you are prepared to live with the cracked glass, the unit from your friends phone should drop into yours relatively easily. If you intend to repair the cracked glass, the old glass needs to be carefully removed with a heatgun. Your local cellular dealer will probably repair the glass for about $90. Or if you are handy, you can do it yourself (new glass $10 on Ebay, how to videos free on youtube.. rushing and breaking your replacement LCD priceless).
.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have a s3 already and have replaced the glass a couple times. 6 $ off of ebay. I swapped the two around the only issue was with the at&t board fitting in the verizon housing. A little trimming and it works great. The new glass has been ordered for this one as well. I was surprised at how easy it was to swap around
Yesterday I tried to change the housing of my defy. After watching some disassembling videos I started. Conclusion: To get the Defy water resistant after the intervention is an illusion. First most of the plastic screw noses were broken. They are really too fragile for a phone which will fit the IP67 standard. For replacing them you have to change the whole front housing. But with changing it you either have to buy a front housing together with the touch screen or you have to replace the touch screen which means you have to glue booth parts (front housing with touch screen) together!
Second the screws are a shame the reusing of them is a gambling game moreover they are setscrews within plastic. Screw heads wear out really fast because to soft material.
In the third place most of the parts are firmly connected with the housing, eg. the LED light, a few seals, some sheet metals, etc. Most of them you have to inherit to the new housing because of the lack within the new housing. With that in mind water resistance is gone, too.
Conclusing: The Motoroly Defy is a disposable device. The repair is too expensive (not even in money) and water resistance isn't guaranteed either. So buying a new phone or a barely used one is far easier than to try a repair of the old one. Too bad, but thats the way of market economy.
the front housing is indeed too expensive to be worth replacing. they replaced mine on warranty after i purposely damaged the touchscreen from the inside without leaving any trace. the rest of the housing is very cheap. about the side screw ears they are indeed too fragile and you may need to reinforce them from the inside by supergluing some paper that acts as fiber and then carefully sandpaper the excess so you can mount it back. you must lubricate the pink rubber seal from the inside with a little silicone oil to make it adhere better to the middle housing. also you have to lube the seal from the back cover to make it regain its elasticity. the lock from the back cover also has to be tighten by pressing with a heated spoon on its solder point. the usb seal usually gets too loose and cannot be fixed without replacing the whole middle housing.
i did all of this to experiment with it but the truth is this is too troublesome for most people and not worth the time or money.
Are You sure that oil used to lubricate the seals will not damage the rubber?
https://imgur.com/a/UrwTe
Where to buy Genuine replacemtn part ?
How hard to repair?
I highly doubt youll be able to find a genuine part, i bought an ebay "oem genuine" and its not original but its good enough. I would remove the whole plastic back to the phone since removing the broken glass is a pain and you dont want to damage the cameras. Its also not a bad idea to heat up the broken glass to soften the adhesive when removing it.
Genuine glass shatters. Fake ones don't. No reason to look for the genuine one.
https://globaldirectparts.com has them.