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How to replace the digitiser - What type of glue should I use ?

I dropped my phone and need to replace the housing. It looks like the digitiser cannot be easily removed from the housing, so I bought one of these as well. Now all I have to do is move the phone from the old housing to the new and install the digitiser in the new housing.
Now it looks like the digitiser may have been glued in place. What type of glue should I use ?

::Pixel.Freak:: said:
I dropped my phone and need to replace the housing. It looks like the digitiser cannot be easily removed from the housing, so I bought one of these as well. Now all I have to do is move the phone from the old housing to the new and install the digitiser in the new housing.
Now it looks like the digitiser may have been glued in place. What type of glue should I use ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
More liked taped in...... I'm sure that lots of people will respond with.. Double sided 3M tape.... but if there's anything better/stronger than that on the market use it. Make sure it''s really thin tape to. I'm gonna be replacing my housing in the next month or so aswell. Goodluck.

As I also will replace mine digitizer, the newton rings are bugging me, it will be appreciable if you can share your experiences of the replacement process.
thanks in advance and god luck

Hey on more thing. I took apart my phone last night and put it back just so I know my way around when parts come in.
If your Digitizer does not work try loosening the top srews 1/4 turn. You have them on too tight.

I wasn't replacing mine so I didn't have to remove the existing one. All I had to do was attach a new digitiser to a new housing.
I was told that double sided tape was the best, so I tried that.
I used the instruction from http://www.pdacenter.ru/razborka/htc-touch-diamond2 which was easy enough.
You need to ensure you remove the micro SD card first.
Also I forgot to move the LED diffuser from the top, so I need to repeat the process at some stage.
The housing I bought had a number of issues
* The two screw point near the bottom of the housing didn't have the metal inserts with the screw threads
* There was no seal between the metal housing and the LCD screen. This could let dust in.
That's about it for a brain dump.

Hi there,
I was also tired from that oil stai and ordered a new digitizer from these guys:
http://xxx.sw-box.com/htc-touch-diamond-2-t5353-digitizer-touch-panel-screen.html
Surely it arrived in 6 days, to my horror it was a generic display,
Had some trouble removing the old one, ended up breaking it
The generic did not fit snugly, I had to sand down the edges to make them round, also had some trouble with the four buttons below getting stuck when pressing down, (shaved of some extra plastic). anyway used double sided scotch film to get the digitizer back in place.
apart from a few difficulties, it works like a charm.
Should have ordered an OEM but what's done is done
Next time I'll do the cover and get a new digitizer
Regards

I would of thought double sided tape too thick to use to stick the digitizer on.
I was thinking of using a very thin sliver of clear silicone.
Anybody tried this or have any other suggestions?
Thanks

I used a very thin layer of supergleu and it worked great!!

My digitizer came pre-glued. I didn't need any sort of glue.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=715724

Silicone is OK
I used a very thin layer of black silicone and placed a book on top of the digitizer to keep it pressed flat into the case as it dried overnight. No problems since then...
The missing metal screw inserts can simply be pulled out of the old housing ; insert screw halfway and gently pull with plyers. Carefully hammer into the new casing; insert screw 3/4, put something thin and metal on top to prevent the screwhead from getting damaged and carefully hammer into the void. Make sure it goes in straight.

I've got exactly the same issue with my new housing, no bottom screw threads and no foam for the lcd to rest on. Am trying to pull the threads out with pliers but I think the old case is going to break first or strip the threads.
This is isn't an easy job

have finally finished this epic!!!!
had to break the bottom screw threads out of the old front housing and took a good while hammering them into the new housing so I didn't break it.
used a small sliver of clear silicone to glue the digitizer in which seems to work well so far.
Have not put any foam or anything for the LCD to rest on, time will tell what effect this has.

I need to change mine as well. Where can i buy a good quality digitizer and case preferably pre-glued?
I found a few on ebay but i am not sure of the quality.
Thanks

Today i searched also for shops which have digitizers and housings. I have found 2 shops, but one of them is a german shop (http://www.mobileok.de) which does not deliver outside of germany and austria. But the other one does: http://www.sw-box.com/

what kind of glue? it's the third time that i'm re-gluing it, but dust keeps coming inside....

I guess, it is not possible to hermetical seal the housing. I had dust in my original housing too. There are a lot of small gaps everywhere not only between digitizer and frame. But it would be easy to disassemble the device from time to time, remove the dust and reassemble it again. Save your energy in the effort to make your device dust proof.

HTC One M7 screen and housing swap - WIN

OK - the burning question many people have had has been answered - Can I replace my screen?
The answer is yes, but it is not for the fainthearted.
My poor HTC One came to grief recently hitting a marble floor and while useable came off second best.
Investigation with local phone repairers yielded little. I could only find one company in Melbourne that wanted $295 to fix the screen on a $700 phone.
Looking around online I could only find teardown clips and the ifixit rating of 1 which isn't terribly confidence inspiring.
So this left me with a three options
1. Cut my losses and by a new phone
2. Cough up for a repairer
3. Have a crack at it myself
I started off searching for replacement screens on e-bay and after a bit more searching came across etradesupply.
Not only did they have all the parts they also gave me an idea, if I am changing screen, why not colour? I always liked the black one a bit more but was too impatient and bought the silver one.
So I went for it and ordered the screen and digitizer as an assembly
etradesupply.com/oem-htc-one-lcd-screen-and-digitizer-assembly-with-front-housing.html[/url]
and new rear housing
etradesupply.com/oem-htc-one-rear-housing-black-with-htc-and-beatsaudio-logo.html[/url]
I also ordered a few tools and about 5 days later my parts arrived.
Over this period I watched the youtube tear down clips and also reviewed the iFixit guide and wondered what had I got myself in for.
So I decided tonight was the night to go for it.
I started by trying to pry off the bottom speaker with the intent of working around the old housing. My delusions of grandeur of an elegant fix disappeared quickly as the zero gap was an impenetrable fortress that could not be penetrated until I hacked the base off breaking the bottom off where the polycarbonate seam is.
After a good half an hour of hacking and prying my case was off showing off the sheer complexity of the interior.
THIS WAS NOT LOOKING PROMISING
So as I looked over this and thought ok, lets start unscrewing and this is where I hit my first obstacle. My precision screwdrivers were not precise enough so a quick trip to the local hardware store and I was in business.
I decided to try and take the path of least tear down. Looking at the clips I felt I could achieve the outcome without a complete tear down. My advice to anyone else thinking the same is DO NOT DO THIS.
While I got there in the end, the antennas are fragile and any tension will snap them as I discovered. Not a big deal as a few seconds with the soldering iron fixed it, but it is easier to simply detach and re-attach them.
So after taking off various bits of tape, screws, ribbons and prying the battery out of the case which is well glued with adhesive I was almost there. If you watch the tear down clip, be prepared to rip every last item out and disassemble as per the clip. All the way down to the vibration motor.
It was about here I was ready to abandon all hope, I had disassembled and had thought I had reassembled and when I did a test boot, nothing....
I pushed, prodded, poked and tested all the connections and still nothing.
I disassembled and ensured every tricky little ribbon was connected and like a patient in a medical drama when it has had two shocks with the defibrillator, when I tried again it kicked in to life.
Screen works - Yes
Wi-Fi works - Yes
Bluetooth works - Yes
Audio works - Yes
3G/HSDPA works - Yes
Test call works - Yes
All of a sudden when I thought I was off to buy a new handset my HTC One had kicked back in to life. My transplant had patient was alive but still critical.
So I started the process of taping up the ribbons, screwing in all the screws and getting it in shape for the final part - attaching the rear housing.
I lowered the rear housing on to the exposed wires like Darth Vader's mask lowering on to Anakin at the end of Revenge of The Sith and just as I thought victory was mine there was a moment of dread.... it didn't fit
I delicately pried off the housing and took a look, the convoluted assembly around the charger socket was the culprit. After some re-evaluation and re-organisation of the plate, the rear housing was secured and the death star, oops no the HTC One M7 in black was fully operational
So about 3 hours after I started my task is complete, black is a much nicer look, however, the zero gap isn't as zero as it was before but will do.
I think if I were to do it again I would do it in under two hours, but the repairer estimates of 3 hours isn't outlandish.
If you cracked your screen and want to replace it, then I would say go for it and buy the assembly and housing as I did.
If you simply want to change colours for no other reason that you want to, I would caution against this. The work is serious and has risks. It is a repair of last resort.
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one minor thing to point out, the Sim Card Tray ships seperate so anyone thinking of a colour transplant will need to add that to the list.
Showed off my repaired One today, my workmates who are all in IT were mighty impressed, thought I had no chance of getting it done after looking at the tear down on iFixit

Dredd73 said:
one minor thing to point out, the Sim Card Tray ships seperate so anyone thinking of a colour transplant will need to add that to the list.
Showed off my repaired One today, my workmates who are all in IT were mighty impressed, thought I had no chance of getting it done after looking at the tear down on iFixit
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thanks for the writing.
I was hoping to take apart the top and bottom speaker grill so I can close the gap.
How are they put together? Is it as simple as adhesive tape? or screwed?

dsan45 said:
thanks for the writing.
I was hoping to take apart the top and bottom speaker grill so I can close the gap.
How are they put together? Is it as simple as adhesive tape? or screwed?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Good Question, the answer is a definite no.
With a serious amount of heating the adhesive will yield, however, the top grill is also used as a mounting point for one of the screws. I would also be concerned that the amount of heat needed to break the bond would get to damaging levels for some components such as the speakers which sit underneath.
They SERIOUSLY made this phone as lowest self service as possible. The pics from my old grill's show this.
I would also think you would need something more serious than adhesive tape to bond to the plastic.
View attachment 2159676

dsan45 said:
thanks for the writing.
I was hoping to take apart the top and bottom speaker grill so I can close the gap.
How are they put together? Is it as simple as adhesive tape? or screwed?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thinking about your question a bit more, if you are trying to close a gap by taking a component off and reattaching then I think you would be doomed to fail.
Without knowing where the gap is I'll assume it is in one of two spots, either between the rear housing and the grill or the screen and the grill. If this is the case then i'll try to explain what is occurring, a likely cause and why fixing is unlikely to work.
The design of the One M7 is basically a front assembly which is a chassis that the components screw on to. The back of the case is simply a shell that clips in to place.
If the gap is like this:
View attachment 2160617
It is a gap between the chassis and the back of the device. With the chassis being between the rear case and the grill all you would be doing is reattaching the grill to the chassis and not closing the gap and would almost certainly make the gap bigger not smaller as you would be adding more substance between the grill and the chassis/midframe
If the gap is like this:
View attachment 2160618
Then this is more likely to be the screen being pushed up from within the device itself. A likely cause is the battery sitting underneath is out by a mm or less and is pushing the screen up. The battery sits underneath the screen and there is literally no margin whatsoever between the screen, battery, motherboard and midframe so if something is out by a few μm to mm then the path of least resistance is for the screen to push up.
I know this from having completed not just a tear down but also a reassembly how fine the margins are. After my repair there is a very small gap in the screen and bottom grill which I just have to live with. Overall with a new case and a repaired screen I am much better off but it is not quite as good as something from plant. The repair process requires removing tape and disrupting some of the foil and all this increases the margins ever so slightly
I think HTC may have got themselves in to trouble with the marketing of this as Zero gap, it is pretty damn good, but Zero Gap means that a consumer will tolerate nothing less than Zero gap and thus we have an expectation problem. I have a lot of respect for what HTC have done with this device and still think it is a magnificent device but perhaps it is a bit too ambitious and the yields are killing them.
One final comment, a number of people have stated that their "Cracked Screen" was replaced with a new device. I personally believe it is nigh on impossible to remove the screen without some form of damage to the back of the case. The amount of pressure required to separate the front assembly loose would mark it with the amount of adhesive between the two plus the lack of margins mean that the repair is effectively what I did (i.e. a new front and rear assembly with a contents transfer)
Knowing what I know now, if I were to severely scratch or damage the grills I wouldn't entertain replacing them, it will only make the matter worse. I also know I could possibly open mine up and remove the internal pressure that is the likely cause of the gaps but again would risk making it worse for a small aesthetic gain.

I saw this thread on whirlpool as well, but the images here really give us a better look at the work you did. I also looked over the iFixit tear down and I have to say what an amazing job! You really did well, definitely not for the faint hearted!
Does this now mean that we can send you our broken One's for a repair job?!?

bwhinnen said:
I saw this thread on whirlpool as well, but the images here really give us a better look at the work you did. I also looked over the iFixit tear down and I have to say what an amazing job! You really did well, definitely not for the faint hearted!
Does this now mean that we can send you our broken One's for a repair job?!?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
hehe not quitting my day job just yet.
Best not to break it in the first place. I've got the HTC cover on order!

Dredd73 said:
Thinking about your question a bit more, if you are trying to close a gap by taking a component off and reattaching then I think you would be doomed to fail.
Without knowing where the gap is I'll assume it is in one of two spots, either between the rear housing and the grill or the screen and the grill. If this is the case then i'll try to explain what is occurring, a likely cause and why fixing is unlikely to work.
The design of the One M7 is basically a front assembly which is a chassis that the components screw on to. The back of the case is simply a shell that clips in to place.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
wow thank you for your thoughtful answer.
It sounds like you are in this business!
My gap is the first example you posted where their is a slight opening at the top. It seems like more I try to do 'anything' it is
most likely that I will ruin this device.
I tried fitting in my double sided tape inside the gap but really.. it woudnt get in there. So I guess it is best where it is now.

dsan45 said:
wow thank you for your thoughtful answer.
It sounds like you are in this business!
My gap is the first example you posted where their is a slight opening at the top. It seems like more I try to do 'anything' it is
most likely that I will ruin this device.
I tried fitting in my double sided tape inside the gap but really.. it woudnt get in there. So I guess it is best where it is now.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No problem, I hope it saved you the grief of making something minor worse. Even though my repair job has a slight gap it isn't noticeable in black compared to Silver/white which is unforgiving.
While I am no phone repairer, I've always liked taking things apart and trying to fix them. The HTC One is possibly one of the fiddliest things I have taken on. I guess I didn't take it on by choice, only by bad luck and a hard floor!

http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=43334075
HTC One Teardown (Really not that bad)
Don't know if you have read this earlier thread from 7 July on HTC one dismantle process
Sent from my HTC One using xda app-developers app

oh wow, just in time... i have a cracked HTC One and my parts from e trade supply came only today.. ETS parts look very promising and came neatly packed .. very neatly and properly packed.. gonna do my playing with the phone tomorrow, wish me luck
@op, thanks for your post.. have not read it fully .. was so excited to see a DIY fix thread
---------- Post added at 12:20 AM ---------- Previous post was at 12:01 AM ----------
ok so i did do the same order as you, the front panel and the back case .. choose silver and have silver.. thanks for your writing.. its exciting, hopefully i will share my experience here soon.

pradeepvizz said:
oh wow, just in time... i have a cracked HTC One and my parts from e trade supply came only today.. ETS parts look very promising and came neatly packed .. very neatly and properly packed.. gonna do my playing with the phone tomorrow, wish me luck
@op, thanks for your post.. have not read it fully .. was so excited to see a DIY fix thread
---------- Post added at 12:20 AM ---------- Previous post was at 12:01 AM ----------
ok so i did do the same order as you, the front panel and the back case .. choose silver and have silver.. thanks for your writing.. its exciting, hopefully i will share my experience here soon.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Best of luck. The parts from etrade supply seem to be OEM, the items marked as b-stock are seconds by the looks of things (probably screens with dead pixels etc)
If you go through it methodically you should be OK, make sure you have all the right tools such as screwdrivers, prying tools etc.
I would also perhaps recommend trimming the plastic cover on the battery, this seems to unstick and I think cause some bulging my .5mm when you reassemble. It is a bit like trying to re-wrap a present after you have unwrapped the paper, you can do it but it is never a perfect fit.

Thanks for the refit instructions, this is probably the first tread which talks about fitting it back. I got the A Stock items, did not choose the b stock. I went through the video and blog of ets and ordered every tool that they used in it
Sent from my HTC One using XDA Premium HD app
---------- Post added at 01:33 AM ---------- Previous post was at 01:30 AM ----------
And my phone already had the bulging of the screen little in the front.. I mean the top speaker and screen were not flay, Which probably was also a reason why it broke easy.
Sent from my HTC One using XDA Premium HD app

pradeepvizz said:
Thanks for the refit instructions, this is probably the first tread which talks about fitting it back. I got the A Stock items, did not choose the b stock. I went through the video and blog of ets and ordered every tool that they used in it
Sent from my HTC One using XDA Premium HD app
---------- Post added at 01:33 AM ---------- Previous post was at 01:30 AM ----------
And my phone already had the bulging of the screen little in the front.. I mean the top speaker and screen were not flay, Which probably was also a reason why it broke easy.
Sent from my HTC One using XDA Premium HD app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Cool, one last thing, make sure you have some good tweezers that are flat and not sharp. There is a ribbon which I think can only go in with tweezers and requires a bit of pressure to go in. You will also need them to assist re-attaching your antennas.

i have not opened my tweezers from ETS yet! thanks for the note.

Dredd73 said:
Good Question, the answer is a definite no.
With a serious amount of heating the adhesive will yield, however, the top grill is also used as a mounting point for one of the screws. I would also be concerned that the amount of heat needed to break the bond would get to damaging levels for some components such as the speakers which sit underneath.
They SERIOUSLY made this phone as lowest self service as possible. The pics from my old grill's show this.
I would also think you would need something more serious than adhesive tape to bond to the plastic.
View attachment 2159676
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
But could you just place a little glue at the gap and squeeze it shut, instead of taking out the whole grill and reapplying?

fluxthesky said:
But could you just place a little glue at the gap and squeeze it shut, instead of taking out the whole grill and reapplying?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Perhaps these pictures may help, the grills do not attach to the rear housing, they attach to the midplane of the phone so the only way to close the gap is between the rear shell/housing and the midplane.
Trying to glue the midplane tighter to the rear housing is not something that I think would work nor would I recommend it. The types of glue required would potentially damage components that sit close to the edges and would cause complications if there was a screen crack later down the track. There is also potential if the wrong glue is used to damage the plastic housing. As you can see, if you were trying to close the top gap with glue there is the camera, speaker, light sensor and power switch which are all very close to the edges and would not benefit from a strong solvent based glue
View attachment 2170276
As commented in a previous post, the upward pressure is going to be where components meet the rear of the case, I've tried to highlight this in this picture. Any attempt to close the gap will be due to trying to flex/bend the edge to glue/adhere to the edge. A contact adhesive or tape will simply not win in the long term and a solvent based glue might stand a chance but the amount required risks gluing components. I'd rather have a small gap than damage something like the power switch.
If someone wants to give it a try, feel free to post results, but having gone through a re-build I wouldn't do it if I were faced with a small gap knowing what I know.

paul_59 said:
forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=43334075
HTC One Teardown (Really not that bad)
Don't know if you have read this earlier thread from 7 July on HTC one dismantle process
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, I don't think there was a post on any forum anywhere on the subject that I hadn't read prior to my dismantle.
I guess the big difference between my post and this post is my post is about creating a repaired working phone as opposed to a tear down which is treated as a one way ticket.
I did entertain heavy duty heating, however, since I as not saving the case I opted to spare my components any unnecessary heat stress. Also most tear down's seem to put a lot of flex on the mainboard which is also something I wanted to avoid.
To my knowledge I don't think I have seen anyone else post an actual repair, just a tear down.

ok so my phone is now in a busted state!
i opened the front & the back fine, took quite an effort to pry up and separate the front and the back case, i took it out without any breakage. I started with the bottom speaker grill, heated & took of the bottom speaker grill and then pry'ed in the gap between back case & the front panel. The hard part was the move the separator from the bottom to the sides, in other words, starting to separate the side was hard, once a gap is created on the sides it was pretty easy to take the phone out by moving the separator around the phone.
one mistake i did was to not take out the sim card & sim card tray before starting to separate.
I then started with removing the components from the motherboard - i wanted to do a front panel replacement (essential screen replacement).
when removing the LCD connector cable, i broke the lock/connector which is on the motherboard. i was trying to release the lock to take out the connector and pressed hard on the connector itself rather than the lock - attaching a pic to make it clear - i broke the black part marked red, the lock was supposed to be removed by pulling up the part marked green.
I have assembled back everything with the new front housing and phone is semi partially working - i have almost removed and reconnected everything 4 times.
The vibrator kicks in action when i put the phone on but nothing on the display(broken display port to blame). One time i heard the phone boot (speaker sound) and that was when i tried to put it back in my old front panel to check.
Other than that the phone is identified as HTC Android USB phone in the device manager when connected but does not show on my computer as a portable device. It charges. heats when i try to put it on.
So to conclude the phone is dead now, don't have much of ideas to get it back working - but have a hope that it would if i replace quite some parts
Any advise is welcome!

pradeepvizz said:
ok so my phone is now in a busted state!
i opened the front & the back fine, took quite an effort to pry up and separate the front and the back case, i took it out without any breakage. I started with the bottom speaker grill, heated & took of the bottom speaker grill and then pry'ed in the gap between back case & the front panel. The hard part was the move the separator from the bottom to the sides, in other words, starting to separate the side was hard, once a gap is created on the sides it was pretty easy to take the phone out by moving the separator around the phone.
one mistake i did was to not take out the sim card & sim card tray before starting to separate.
I then started with removing the components from the motherboard - i wanted to do a front panel replacement (essential screen replacement).
when removing the LCD connector cable, i broke the lock/connector which is on the motherboard. i was trying to release the lock to take out the connector and pressed hard on the connector itself rather than the lock - attaching a pic to make it clear - i broke the black part marked red, the lock was supposed to be removed by pulling up the part marked green.
I have assembled back everything with the new front housing and phone is semi partially working - i have almost removed and reconnected everything 4 times.
The vibrator kicks in action when i put the phone on but nothing on the display(broken display port to blame). One time i heard the phone boot (speaker sound) and that was when i tried to put it back in my old front panel to check.
Other than that the phone is identified as HTC Android USB phone in the device manager when connected but does not show on my computer as a portable device. It charges. heats when i try to put it on.
So to conclude the phone is dead now, don't have much of ideas to get it back working - but have a hope that it would if i replace quite some parts
Any advise is welcome!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Bad Luck, to get so close.....
The ribbon you are referring to simply pulls out and doesn't have the same clasp, this is the one that is also the hardest to re-insert. Have you got a good picture of what your the socket now? you should be able to push it in unless it is completely smashed.
When I was doing mine I just pulled the ribbons out without realising some are meant to lift open. To me if you are getting to boot and device recognition you got most of the way there.
The mainboard is about the only item that is non replaceable via OEM. I can only assume it is things like IMEI etc that would stop this. My only suggestion is to keep an eye out for someone selling a broken M7 and see if you can swap mainboards.

Sanded, polished, etched the back case of my phone.

THE STORY:
Since I bought this phone I wanted to do something to the back cover, I just wasn't sure what. Plus I wasn't really set on the idea of doing something to risk damaging a perfectly good (and new at the time) phone. That was until about 2 months ago when I managed to put a small hairline crack in the digitizer. Since the phone was no longer undamaged, yet still 100% functional, I figured why the hell not customize it.
I read awhile ago on XDA about some users discussing what the phone would look like with a polished look but no one was willing to take the plunge. This seemed like a good/fun project now that I didn't care if I screwed it up.
First I used 1000 grit wet/dry sandpaper to remove the anodization. While this method was working, it was painstakingly slow to get to bare metal. The interesting thing about 1000 grit though, it doesn't remove the anodizing right away yet takes out a lot of the minor blemishes due to everyday use. This could in turn be used carefully to remove any dings you have without removing the anodizing. In this photo it is hard to see, but the top half near the camera hasn't been sanded, while near the HTC logo it has.
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Since 1000 grit was taking too long, I switched to 400 grit. This seemed to be a decent middle ground. It wasn't too coarse to tear up the aluminum but just enough to take off the anodization a little quicker. You can see I managed to scratch the camera lens cover a bit... don't worry FYI: anodizing can be removed via a chemical bath, but who would be willing to put their whole phone in a vat of liquid....
Now that I was down to bare metal I switched to 3000 grit sandpaper I picked up from O'Reilly's Auto Parts. This smoothed out a lot of the larger scratches from the 400 grit paper and gave a good dull, almost brushed, look to the aluminum.
Now that I had a mostly blemish free surface, I used Turtle Wax Polishing Compound to smooth out any remaining small imperfections. The final step was to use Mothers Aluminum Polish to get a nice mirror finish.
I was pretty satisfied with the result, however, I had to do more...
I recently stumbled across this article on Hack A Day which gave me the inspiration to do the same.
For everyone's information, after polishing the back, this is what your phone will look like after 2 weeks of typical use (for me at least).
Before I started the etching process I had to give the back cover a good re-polishing. Once that was complete I decided on the design I wanted. Typically in most DIY etching, people use some kind of paint or resist to block the areas they don't want etched. Luckily I have an awesome brother-in-law who recently got a hold of an old plotter. So I whipped up a design in Illustrator and he took care of getting me a vinyl cutout to use. Of course I had to go with the two sites I frequent the most as my design... (yes, I know it's a little off center. I got in a hurry ha-ha)
Instead of going with a vinegar and salt solution for my etchant. I decided on a mix of Copper Sulfate, Sodium Bisulfate and table salt. I used a 45% Copper Sulfate, 45% salt, and 10% Sodium Bisulfate mix.
The Copper Sulfate comes as a chunky blue rock/crystal. So I hit it with the mortar and pestle to make dissolve better in water.
After mixing everything in hot water it was time to etch. I used an old 12 volt 1000ma wall wart I had sitting around for my power source. I wired the phone by wrapping it with 1 foot of bare copper wire and tightly wrapping the wire with electrical tape to make sure it would contact the aluminum. I wrapped another wire around a cotton swab tip and connected it to the negative terminal of the wall wart. After making sure the phone was powered off. I connected the positive terminal of the wall wart to the bare wire attached to the phone, making sure it was in contact with the aluminum by testing it with a voltmeter.
Once satisfied with the etch, I cleaned the surface off with a damp paper towel. All that was left was another polish with the Turtle Wax and the Mothers Aluminum Polish. Here is the final result.
A couple of notes:
1. The phone "seems" to get warmer than what it did before (only while watching videos or playing a graphics heavy game). I haven't checked/compared the actual stats, it's just what I have noticed while holding phone.
2. The white plastic that separates the top and bottom will get a little grey from the sanding and polishing. Goof off seems to be a great remedy to make them white again.
3. The scratches on the camera lens protective cover were buffed/polished away while using the Turtle Wax Polishing Compound. Also, the scratches were never over the center portion and did not impact the picture quality while they were there anyway.
4. The speaker phone mic will get compound/polish in it, however a light tap on a table, with the mic facing down, while the compound is still wet removes most of it. Any residual stuff left in the small hole can be removed (CAREFULLY) with the tip of an exacto blade.
5. I have not had any issues with my signal, nor any issues with the mic on the phone since doing this.
I shouldn't have to say this, but anyone who tries this, be careful. You can seriously mess up the phone and I am not responsible if you follow my examples and something goes wrong. Do this at your own risk.
If you would like to do this and have questions or need help, let me know.
-Crack

Looks great mate. Don't know if I could be bothered with all the work myself, but props to you for creating such a unique result.

I wonder if it is posible to polish a black one?

zumyman46 said:
I wonder if it is posible to polish a black one?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My brother-in-law's is black... He wants to try all this out, I may report back if he decides to go through with it..

Chrome One...It actually looks amazing.

kinda looks like the m8. Can you put a clear coat or something to seal everything so that it doesnt scratch so easily?

I remember I saw on a truck show there is a sealant that could be used on chrome wheels to keep them shiny and scratch resistant but forgot what the product was called. Without some type of sealant you will get scratches back in no time flat like the I phones do. This is a great idea of if you want a chrome look and the etching is icing on the cake. You are only limited by your imagination. Could really make your phone yours.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk

That's awesome mate it looks great in chrome
Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk

UltraNoob said:
kinda looks like the m8. Can you put a clear coat or something to seal everything so that it doesnt scratch so easily?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I thought about this since this phone is mostly an experiment before picking up the new M8. I forgot who made it, but there is a spray paint that gives the "appearance" of an anodized metallic look in different colors. I know that sounds counterintuitive since I removed the stock anodization, again, this is mainly an experiment. I was thinking of doing some kind of a fade between two colors and then a clear coat.
robgee789 said:
That's awesome mate it looks great in chrome
Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I almost wanted to keep it just chrome without the etch, and I almost stopped after seeing the dull brushed aluminum look because I liked it so much..

robgee789 said:
That's awesome mate it looks great in chrome
Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Are you talking about plastidip??
Sent from my HTC One using xda app-developers app

Wow, I've never even imagined the One with a "chrome" look like that. It's gorgeous. Unfortunate that it gets scratched up like that, though.

Wow this is epic. How long did the entire process take all together?

tnx FOR SHARING..
I will start polishing very soon. Tnx for great idea and i will post picture result

Good Job!!

First look. After sandpaper i accidentally damage camera lens. But,i try a tip from youtube with toothpaste and now is maybe better than before everything. Just perfect solution for camera lens.. Now i only need to start polishing with some polish paste and we will see resoults soon..

Crackanug said:
My brother-in-law's is black... He wants to try all this out, I may report back if he decides to go through with it..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Will work the same. Anodizing only creates a hardened surface a few microns thick. The sand paper will rub through this quickly leaving the base aluminium colour underneath. The anodize process is what is used to surface harden and create different coloured aluminium surfaces. If your brother in law expects to have a polished black surface afterwards, he won't.

diselhead said:
First look. After sandpaper i accidentally damage camera lens. But,i try a tip from youtube with toothpaste and now is maybe better than before everything. Just perfect solution for camera lens.. Now i only need to start polishing with some polish paste and we will see resoults soon..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Looks good so far. :good:
CaelanT said:
Will work the same. Anodizing only creates a hardened surface a few microns thick. The sand paper will rub through this quickly leaving the base aluminium colour underneath. The anodize process is what is used to surface harden and create different coloured aluminium surfaces. If your brother in law expects to have a polished black surface afterwards, he won't.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If I recall, those microns sure put up a good fight against the sand paper...

Crackanug said:
If I recall, those microns sure put up a good fight against the sand paper...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
65-70 HRC..................yes...............very hard surface after anodizing. :fingers-crossed:
Sandpaper is also not the best medium for breaking through it either, but definitely the safest to prevent damaging the aluminium below it.

renehd2 said:
Are you talking about plastidip??
Sent from my HTC One using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hot damn this looks gorgeous just plainly polished. The chrome/mirror look is niiiice - might have get scrubbing this afternoon.

I kind of want to sand my One down and hit it with some automotive grade basecoat and a few coats of clear coat. Anyone have any experience? Will it give me the beautiful glossy finish I think it will?

[Repair guide] OnePlus One Full Disassembly/Screen Replacement + Re-assembly Tutorial

The pictures are quite big. Resize the browser window width to shrink the pictures to a more manageable size.
Disclaimer: Perform the following repairs at your own risk. This thread is for educational purposes only. You will void your warranty if you proceed. But that's implied, right?
Disassembly
Many of you will already know how troublesome sending a phone back to the manufacturer for repairs is. This is especially the case for OnePlus, whose after-sales support isn't exceptional, and compared to the price of the OPO itself, their repair costs are by no means affordable ($201 and an unknown amount of days). I've read that a number of forum members have repaired their screens themselves using parts from the internet, but it wasn't all that well documented. So as a mobile phone repairer by profession, I thought it would help a lot of people with broken screens for me to write up a detailed walkthrough/tutorial teaching them how to fix it themselves. Let's get to it!
New: a video! (credits to @stephenlotus)
Note that this guide can be used to replace any modular component; the StyleSwap cover, camera, charging port, you name it - just disassemble your phone until you reach your desired step, replace the faulty/damaged part, then re-assemble it!
Actually obtaining the replacement part? Well, that's another story
Equipment/Materials:
Precision screwdriver set (cross-head/Phillip's head, flat-head)
Sharp craft knife/Stanley knife
Plastic pry tools
Fine-tipped tweezers
Stainless steel pry tools
Thin, rigid cards/guitar picks
Hairdryer/industrial hot air gun (recommended)
Air blower (use this to clean the cameras and lenses before closing it up (not your breath))
A full screen assembly (not just the see-through glass digitizer)*
A roll (or a couple of different widths) of double-sided 3M repair tape or pre-cut 3M tape (see second post)
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*The screen can be bought from various sellers on the internet starting from about $80 for the more repair-friendly version, depending on postage and stuff. Given the exclusive nature of the OnePlus One, any seller that sells a "Genuine/Original/OEM" screen assembly is 95% guaranteed to be an original screen. It isn't profitable for third party manufacturers to produce aftermarket replacements or re-manufacture working LCDs with broken glass (glass broken but LCD still works, remove broken glass and re-laminate a new one onto it). The market is small, because most people would still prefer to RMA their phones.
Also note that this guide assumes you will be re-using the old frame/chassis. If you plan to replace it too, then you will need to remove the earpiece grille (if the new screen doesn't have it) from the old screen, and it's best to move the foam lining from the old frame to the new frame too.
I don't think I'm allowed to disclose sites that sell "original" OnePlus accessories/parts, so get Googling!
Actually, I can now. Mwahahahahaha!
You can buy the screen assembly from sites like eBay and AliExpress. I recommend getting the fully assembled screen, complete with capacitive key backlights:
www.aliexpress.com/item/for-Oneplus...zer-assembly-by-free-shipping/2022582516.html
The one without the button backlights is cheaper, but you'll have to take it from your old screen:
www.aliexpress.com/item/Free-Shippi...mbly-For-Oneplus-One-1-A0001/32245677673.html
Do not get the glass/digitizer only, unless you're up to the challenge, your LCD still works and you want the great savings:
http://www.aliexpress.com/item/Orig...or-OnePlus-One-Free-shipping/32243992827.html
Note: there's absolutely nothing wrong with my OnePlus One (well, except for very mild touchscreen issues). If I were to wait until I actually break it (which is never in a million years), I'd never get around to writing this tutorial. Your experience may vary, depending on severity of damage.
Step 1: Eject the SIM tray.
Step 2: Remove the StyleSwap cover. Using a plastic pry tool, start by lightly wedging it underneath the SIM slot (do not pry), and run it across the gap to release the clips. This ensures minimal/no damage to the battery and/or scratches to the StyleSwap cover, unlike using OnePlus' "Press and Peel" method. Never forget.
Step 3: Using a knife with a sharp tip, remove the rubber screw caps covering the three screws in the middle of the camera lens cover.
Step 4: Unscrew all the screws, and put them in a safe place where you won't lose them.
Step 5: Using a plastic pry tool, pry off the camera cover from the corner near the power button or volume button. Caution! The battery flex may be stuck to the cover, so don't lift it up all the way. Detach it from the cover before fully removing it.
​
Step 6: Using the aforementioned method, do the same for the speaker assembly. Remove the rubber screw caps, unscrew all the screws and store in a safe place. Note how the screws covered with the caps are smaller.
Step 7: Pry off the speaker assembly, starting from the USB port.
Step 8: Use a plastic pry tool to detach the battery flex connector if it hasn't detached yet, then carefully wedge a stainless steel pry tool underneath the battery, starting at the bottom left corner. This side has less adhesive, so it's easier to start on this side. DO NOT PUSH DOWN INTO THE CHASSIS. Delicate flex cables reside here. Keep all pushing of the pry tool as horizontal as possible.
Step 9: Once the left side of the battery has lifted enough, change directions of the pry tool. Use the left side of the chassis as a leverage point, and lift the battery out of the battery well. Be careful not to puncture or deform the battery. You can use a pry tool to cut the adhesive on the right side off the battery.
Step 10: Unplug all the flex cable connectors off the logic board. There are 4 along the bottom edge and 1 to the left of the camera. DO NOT USE THE LOGIC BOARD AS A LEVERAGE POINT. There are delicate surface mount components on the logic board that can easily be damaged accidentally and are nearly impossible to replace. Hold down the logic board, and pull the flex connector up and away from the board.
Alternatively, if you want to cut to the chase and just replace the screen without removing all that other stuff, you can, by only disconnecting the LCD and digitizer flex (rightmost flex along the bottom and the wide flex in the top left corner respectively) and skipping to Step 19. Just remember to remove the plastic block in Step 16 and also be careful not to overheat the earpiece area.
Step 11: Unscrew the screw holding down the logic board. It is located next to the power button. Do not lose it for mix it up with the other screws. It is different in every dimension.
Step 12: Using a sharp knife, peel the button flexes off the chassis, making sure the bottom edge comes off first and be careful not to cut the flex.
Step 13: Push the digitizer flex away from the logic board so it doesn't get caught, and lift the logic board up from the chassis in an arc motion, starting from the top left corner. Rotate it clockwise while doing so.
Step 14: There is still one connector still connected to the logic board on the underside, and that's the cellular antenna connector. Pull the antenna slightly out of its groove.
Step 15: Detach the antenna connector from the logic board using a plastic pry tool. You can use the logic board as the leverage point here, but make sure there aren't any delicate components nearby.
Step 16: Using a pair of fine-tipped tweezers, remove the plastic block that sits next to the digitizer flex connector.
iFixit's teardown does not cover this. If you don't remove it, the flex connector will be caught and will not come out.
Step 17: Carefully, using a flat-head screwdriver, remove the earpiece. This prevents the diaphragm from being damaged later on, when the hot air gun is used.
CAUTION: the earpiece's diaphragm and voice coil has the tendency to fall apart and separate itself from the rest of the earpiece. Be careful.
Step 18 (optional if doing a screen replacement, just don't damage them in the process): Peel the speaker/antenna/vibrate motor flex and USB port flex from the chassis, and remove them.
Step 19: Evenly heat the bezels of the screen using a hairdryer on high heat setting or a hot air gun on a med-high heat setting (~300 °C/~600 °F) on low airflow setting. This softens the adhesive holding the screen in place, making removal easier. Caution! The chassis can become very hot, as it is metal. Do not heat one area for a prolonged period of time, as it can permanently deform the plastic bezel surrounding the screen (or damage the LCD/digitizer, if it's a working one you intend to reuse).
This step I do not have exact instructions for, because my screen isn't broken. I had to be careful not to break it, as it was my only screen. You can use a knife to pry off broken pieces of glass.
WARNING: If you are removing a working intact display and intend to keep it that way, do NOT separate any of the LCD layers from the glass. As it is laminated, separating it will result in permanent damage to the display assembly.
I don't know what this copper does. It doesn't seem significant. New screen assemblies don't seem to have it. Also note that the screen is removed as a single piece assembly.
Step 20: Scrape off the copper bits and the old adhesive from the chassis using a tool of your choice, making sure to not damage anything else.
Step 21: Clean up your work area to prepare for re-assembly! Be careful of broken glass bits.
Obligatory exploded view pic:

Re-assembly
Now might be a good time to fix your grounding issues! If your touch issues arose from the increase of the device's temperature, you may have to cover the whole metallic back of the LCD with tape too.
Note: if the screen still has issues even when isolated as below, then the screen itself may be faulty.
To re-assemble it, it pretty much is just going through the steps in reverse order. When the phone is fully disassembled and nothing is adhered into place, now's the time to test your replacement screen assembly. You can do so by fitting the screen into the frame without using any adhesive, connect it to the logic board along with the battery and turn it on, or if you're lazy like me, just connect it up like this:
It is not recommended to keep the phone powered on for any longer than a few minutes like this, because the logic board effectively has no heatsink.
Step 1: As mentioned before, the old glue can no longer be reused, so we'll have to apply some adhesive tape, cut by hand. If this were a mainstream phone, it'd be pretty easy to get machine-cut 3M tape that fits the bezel perfectly, to ensure an optimal fit.
Sadly, this isn't the case, so we'll have to resort to rolls of that tape of various widths. You can buy these from eBay by searching "3M double sided repair tape".
Update: pre-cut tape is now an option! You can get it on AliExpress .
I personally used 1 mm for the side bezels and 3 mm for the top and bottom, but experiment to obtain maximum coverage. Make sure you don't cover any sensor holes. Usually, this tape in roll form isn't adequately thick, so double up and use two layers.
IMPORTANT: Check that there aren't remnants of broken glass on the bezel when you install the screen or tape. They can cause the screen to easily break.
Also check that you've moved the earpiece grille and capacitive key backlight pads (if the new screen doesn't have them) over from the old screen to the new one. And if you really want to, move the foam ring surrounding the front camera hole in the glass to. It prevents light from the LCD's backlight from leaking into view.
Step 2: Thread the flexes through their respective holes, and fit the screen into the chassis. Lightly heat the bezels (not too much; you don't want to damage the new LCD) to soften the adhesive, and place the screen face down on a clean, flat surface. Push down on the chassis with moderate force.
Step 3: Replace the rubber plastic block that sits in the digitizer flex slot.
Step 4: Make sure the proximity sensor, light sensor and front camera holes are clean and aren't covered by tape.
Step 5: If they were removed during the disassembly, replace the speaker/antenna/vibrate motor flex, then the USB port flex. Watch out for that weird bit that sticks out on the left ide of the speaker flex. Don't forget to reconnect the cellular antenna down the bottom.
Step 6: Put the earpiece back into the chassis. It should be oriented such that the two contact points are next to the digitizer flex.
Step 7: Reconnect the cellular antenna at the logic board. Do not push hardly unless you're absolutely sure it's aligned correctly.
Step 8: Tuck the antenna back into its groove.
Step 9: When reseating the logic board, ensure that the flex connectors stay clear from it. You don't want to have them end up underneath the logic board. Check that the board is flush with the screw holes.
Step 10: Make sure the front camera is also sitting flush. If it isn't, the camera cover may not fit, and the front camera will not be centered.
Step 11: Reconnect all the flex cables, and replace the logic board screw.
Step 12: Stick the button flexes back down onto the chassis.
Step 13: Straighten all the flex cables by lifting them up and stretching them towards the logic board, the stick them back down.
Step 14: Put the battery back in, then reconnect the flex.
Step 15: Replace the camera cover and screw it back into place.
Step 15b: Replace the tamper seal/water damage indicator (you won't get warranty either way, but might as well)
Step 16: Put the speaker assembly back in, and screw it into place.
Step 17: Replace all the rubber screw caps.
Step 18: Replace the StyleSwap cover, and put the SIM tray (with card) back in. Although the tray fits either way (like in Sony's Xperia Z series phones), the side with the gold contacts should face up when the phone faces down. Inserting it upside down will result in the phone not reading the SIM card, and risk damage to the internal SIM reader. LG, HTC and Apple's phones' SIM trays are designed to only fit one-way.
Step 19: Turn the phone on, and enjoy the results of your efforts!

Added to OnePlus One index thread:
[INDEX] OnePlus One Resources Compilation Roll-Up
Transmitted via Bacon

How difficult is this repair for someone who has no experience repairing phones?
I broke my screen 2 days ago and I'm wondering if it's worth trying to repair it, this guide seems pretty solid but some steps look like you might easily break the phone entirely.

naithantu said:
How difficult is this repair for someone who has no experience repairing phones?
I broke my screen 2 days ago and I'm wondering if it's worth trying to repair it, this guide seems pretty solid but some steps look like you might easily break the phone entirely.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you have no experience it'll probably be pretty difficult for you, unless you have a good technical/mechanical mind.

timmaaa said:
If you have no experience it'll probably be pretty difficult for you, unless you have a good technical/mechanical mind.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I guess it should be possible to do it myself then, or at least give it a try
I'll probably order a new screen tomorrow, will post here in a month or so when the screen arrived

Query
Excellent guide and I have all the bits removed from the old frame.
I thought I would be an easier route to use a brand new frame, instead of trying to heat the old LCD off.
I have tested everything on the bench and it powers up and we have touch screen
But I have now stopped the reassembly to check the following out. The new frame although having the required sticky parts does not have the black parts, which I assume is insulation.
Do I need this? what can I replace it with, is insulation tape ok although slightly thicker or maybe thin scotch magic tape? The guide mentions a good time to fix the touch screen issues, in the 4 days I had it prior to the drop, I don't think I had an issues, but does this need to be done, and am I right in reading that's also just cover the metal of the screen with insulation tape or scotch magic tape again?
I have attached an image of the black tape I refer to on the frame
Thanks,
Stephen.

CyberActive said:
Query
Excellent guide and I have all the bits removed from the old frame.
I thought I would be an easier route to use a brand new frame, instead of trying to heat the old LCD off.
I have tested everything on the bench and it powers up and we have touch screen
But I have now stopped the reassembly to check the following out. The new frame although having the required sticky parts does not have the black parts, which I assume is insulation.
Do I need this? what can I replace it with, is insulation tape ok although slightly thicker or maybe thin scotch magic tape? The guide mentions a good time to fix the touch screen issues, in the 4 days I had it prior to the drop, I don't think I had an issues, but does this need to be done, and am I right in reading that's also just cover the metal of the screen with insulation tape or scotch magic tape again?
I have attached an image of the black tape I refer to on the frame
Thanks,
Stephen.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If it was originally in the phone, it's always a good idea to replace it, or use a substitute in place of it. I don't know how it'll affect the phone's functionality if it isn't replaced, because I've never tried it. It's best to play it safe and tape up those corresponding areas with electrical tape. Scotch tape may be too thin.
Dang, 4 days??
Also, does your replacement screen have the earpiece grille pre-installed? When I disassembled mine, the earpiece was not part of the frame, but stuck to the screen.

vantt1 said:
If it was originally in the phone, it's always a good idea to replace it, or use a substitute in place of it. I don't know how it'll affect the phone's functionality if it isn't replaced, because I've never tried it. It's best to play it safe and tape up those corresponding areas with electrical tape. Scotch tape may be too thin.
Dang, 4 days??
Also, does your replacement screen have the earpiece grille pre-installed? When I disassembled mine, the earpiece was not part of the frame, but stuck to the screen.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok making some progress
Turns out the black that's under the flat connectors is there on the replacement frame, just a different colour.
I am starting to think that the black that's under the main board could be some sort of heat sink tape? I am referring the black that's actually stuck to the logic board on the top and also on the frame below the logic board and linked to the rear facing camera.
I have tried to remove the old screen with a hair dryer but have failed miserably. So I can not see for myself what the black under the screen was like can you remember if it was like what I believe to be heat sink tape or was it just adhesive or insulation?
Thanks for the heads up about the speaker grill, that is attached to the old screen, I managed to break that out as that's where the screen was smashed.
I have also noticed there is some conductive tape that bridges the frame and back of the screen together, that's not on the replacement parts.
There is also an adhesive o ring stuck to the glass in the front facing camera slot that's not on there replacement part.
Hopefully will get it rebuilt soon
Thanks Stephen

CyberActive said:
Ok making some progress
Turns out the black that's under the flat connectors is there on the replacement frame, just a different colour.
I am starting to think that the black that's under the main board could be some sort of heat sink tape? I am referring the black that's actually stuck to the logic board on the top and also on the frame below the logic board and linked to the rear facing camera.
I have tried to remove the old screen with a hair dryer but have failed miserably. So I can not see for myself what the black under the screen was like can you remember if it was like what I believe to be heat sink tape or was it just adhesive or insulation?
Thanks for the heads up about the speaker grill, that is attached to the old screen, I managed to break that out as that's where the screen was smashed.
I have also noticed there is some conductive tape that bridges the frame and back of the screen together, that's not on the replacement parts.
There is also an adhesive o ring stuck to the glass in the front facing camera slot that's not on there replacement part.
Hopefully will get it rebuilt soon
Thanks Stephen
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, that tape is very similar to the type that's found on the inside of the iPhone 5's midframe. Apparently it's a "heat dissipation shield" film. You can probably buy it on eBay then trim it to the same shape as the original.
I don't know what that copper stuff that bridges the LCD to the frame is. I scraped off the bridging bits, and nothing seems off on my end.
Replace that O ring if you can. If you use the front camera, the backlight from the LCD might leak into view. I know it does on the Nexus 5.

Great stuff, slowly getting there, I will get that orderderd and cut to size, these are what I am looking at:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/iPhone-4-...K_Replacement_Parts_Tools&hash=item418dc2333a
and / or
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1x-iPhone...nk-dissipation-adhesive-sticker-/171636569146
Was it this same stuff that was on the frame surface behind the LCD? or was that just insulation?
Also you mentioned the touch screen fix, what is involved in that?
Thanks Stephen.

CyberActive said:
Great stuff, slowly getting there, I will get that orderderd and cut to size, these are what I am looking at:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/iPhone-4-...K_Replacement_Parts_Tools&hash=item418dc2333a
and / or
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1x-iPhone...nk-dissipation-adhesive-sticker-/171636569146
Was it this same stuff that was on the frame surface behind the LCD? or was that just insulation?
Also you mentioned the touch screen fix, what is involved in that?
Thanks Stephen.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The stuff behind the LCD is more of a foam tape/film than a graphite tape. It feels similar to the one found behind the Nexus 5's LCD, but darker and smoother. And of course, the Nexus 5's isn't big enough.
The touchscreen fix involves putting tape on the chassis underneath the digitizer flex. If the issue was heat related, the metallic back of the LCD may need to be taped up too (apparently along the perimeter, creating a rectangle).
See above picture, circled in red: it looks like there's some heat dissipation tape underneath the LCD too.

Ah ok, any suggestions on what I could replace the stuff behind the LCD with then? I have searched for the nexus 5 stuff and I can no locate any of that either.
Thanks,
Stephen.

CyberActive said:
Ah ok, any suggestions on what I could replace the stuff behind the LCD with then? I have searched for the nexus 5 stuff and I can no locate any of that either.
Thanks,
Stephen.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
At the moment the best way to obtain it would probably be to take it out of your old frame. It's really hard to find OnePlus One specific parts these days.

guess I will have to go buy a heat gun over the next few days as I tried using a hair dryer and was not able to get even a little bit of movement on lifting the lcd from the frame.
I will post back over the new few days how it goes. fingers crossed.

I followed this guide and it was perfect!
The only downside is that when heating the screen i've managed seperate the plastic bezel from the screen it's self which is now out of shape as well. I'm hoping if i just heat it back up a little I can reform it back.
Just waiting on delivery of some repair tape.

hi guys i just send my one to repair for over 150€ because i thought it could only be changed as a wholle.. screen functions online half of the screen touchscreen doesnt work becuase of a small crack on the side.....SO DO I NEED JUST A NEW TOUCH DIGITIZER??? is this also with the corning glass on top?? mits not right??

Finally got everything I needed to go ahead with the screen replacement. This teardown was extremely helpful. I did have one snag and I haven't tested yet. When removing the earpiece it disassembled into two pieces and unwound but I gingerly repositioned the copper thread and left the earpiece in during the heating and old screen removal.
The new screen is outstanding and completely changes the experience of using the One Plus One. I only wish they had done better quality control in the first place.

Thanks for this guide. I'm going to order a new screen/digitizer today. I guess in about a month I'll be attempting this. When I broke my OnePlus I ordered a new one that day, so I plan on selling the second one if this repair is successful. If it's not, then I guess I lose $70 and some time. Wish me luck!

This is interesting. If appears a new battery technology would be nice guide.

Gold Frame, Black Phone

Hey guys,
I just wanted to share my phone modification with everyone, in case any one was interested. I bought a N910F gold frame and put it on my T-Mobile Note 4. Here are the pictures of the results. Let me know if anyone is interested in doing this with their phone, and I'll be glad to explain the process (it's super easy). You can do any frame you want (white, black, and gold), although I haven't see a pink one for sale.
Pictures

That looks pretty sharp. How much was the frame?

Face_Plant said:
That looks pretty sharp. How much was the frame?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Unfortunately, there's only ONE seller of the N910F frames that I could find, and that's a company called fonejoy. Their price was £45 (or $70) which was pretty steep considering the Chinese ones [which fit the Verizon model] are about $50. Also, my original frame is in mint condition (no scratches or anything), so it's resale value is around $40, if I were to sell it. I can also just put the old frame back on when I'm done with the phone and want to sell the phone itself, and the phone would be in mint condition, which increase resale value (over a scratched up frame). That's how I justified the purchase- but honestly, I just really wanted it.

Looks pretty sharp !

How hard was it to replace the frame? The chamfered edges on mine are starting to accumulate a ton of micro scratches so I'd like to replace it eventually

holycow1 said:
Hey guys,
I just wanted to share my phone modification with everyone, in case any one was interested. I bought a N910F gold frame and put it on my T-Mobile Note 4. Here are the pictures of the results. Let me know if anyone is interested in doing this with their phone, and I'll be glad to explain the process (it's super easy). You can do any frame you want (white, black, and gold), although I haven't see a pink one for sale.
Pictures
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've actually removed my frame to remove dust under the camera that affected pictures, now the screen and frame aren't that flush. How did you re-glue it back together? What adhesive did you use?
Sent from the first Samsung Galaxy ever

That can happen. What I did was I used a hair dryer to heat the top corners before removing the rest of the phone from the frame. If the screen is no longer flush, what I'd recommend is taking your phone apart again and using that hair dryer to warm the adhesive between the screen and middle frame. When the adhesive is warm, put the screen down on a soft surface and apply the pressure on the top portion of the boards (don't press too hard, just in case). Then when you're putting the frame back on, use the hair dryer to heat those top corners again and press together. Then put the screws back in.
You could also need more adhesive- I took my other phone apart to try to fix the GPS and the glass wasn't perfectly flush when putting it back together. I took it to the Samsung repair depot in TX and they put it in their oven and took it apart properly but when they reassembled it, it still wasn't flush (they didn't add more adhesive).
If you do need more adhesive, they sell it on eBay (search N910 adhesive) but they sell it in packs of 5 or more... and it's $9... kind of a rip off.

Face_Plant said:
How hard was it to replace the frame? The chamfered edges on mine are starting to accumulate a ton of micro scratches so I'd like to replace it eventually
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Frame is not that hard to remove... My recommendation is to use a little heat (hair dryer) for those top corners. You do need a plastic pry tool (or a guitar pick would work).
The easiest way that I've found is to start at the back and lift up the plastic part then move to the side of the phone and use that pry tool to just work your way up and around the phone. Don't start at the bottom, for some reason its harder to start at. Once you have the top, it will open like a clam shell. Use a little heat when putting it back together- again on the top corners.

holycow1 said:
That can happen. What I did was I used a hair dryer to heat the top corners before removing the rest of the phone from the frame. If the screen is no longer flush, what I'd recommend is taking your phone apart again and using that hair dryer to warm the adhesive between the screen and middle frame. When the adhesive is warm, put the screen down on a soft surface and apply the pressure on the top portion of the boards (don't press too hard, just in case). Then when you're putting the frame back on, use the hair dryer to heat those top corners again and press together. Then put the screws back in.
You could also need more adhesive- I took my other phone apart to try to fix the GPS and the glass wasn't perfectly flush when putting it back together. I took it to the Samsung repair depot in TX and they put it in their oven and took it apart properly but when they reassembled it, it still wasn't flush (they didn't add more adhesive).
If you do need more adhesive, they sell it on eBay (search N910 adhesive) but they sell it in packs of 5 or more... and it's $9... kind of a rip off.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Awesome! I guess if it gets out of control I will try that. It's OK for now. I might try the taking apart again to warm the glue up. Thanks!
Sent from the first Samsung Galaxy ever

LTE Connectivity Bands
Does the change in chassis from the 910t to a chassis of a 910f affect the lte bands accepted? I'm not sure if that is built into the logic board or the configuration of the metal chassis antenna which would be changed.

Kokorone said:
Does the change in chassis from the 910t to a chassis of a 910f affect the lte bands accepted? I'm not sure if that is built into the logic board or the configuration of the metal chassis antenna which would be changed.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No change in bands- all antenna terminals are the same.

Does anyone know if this frame would work for the AT&T version of the Note 4?

kodath said:
Does anyone know if this frame would work for the AT&T version of the Note 4?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I can't tell you 100% sure, but I believe so. The only frame that is radically different is the Verizon one which fits the Chinese frames found on eBay.
If you take off the frame and take a picture of it, you can compare it to the T-Mobile frame side by side. I can send you a picture of mine.

Thanks for the reply!
I will go open mine when I get home, can you post a picture of your original frame on here? It might help others out as well!

kodath said:
Thanks for the reply!
I will go open mine when I get home, can you post a picture of your original frame on here? It might help others out as well!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Careful when you're opening it. Read my previous posts in the thread regarding heating corners and where to start.
Original T-Mobile frame:
{
"lightbox_close": "Close",
"lightbox_next": "Next",
"lightbox_previous": "Previous",
"lightbox_error": "The requested content cannot be loaded. Please try again later.",
"lightbox_start_slideshow": "Start slideshow",
"lightbox_stop_slideshow": "Stop slideshow",
"lightbox_full_screen": "Full screen",
"lightbox_thumbnails": "Thumbnails",
"lightbox_download": "Download",
"lightbox_share": "Share",
"lightbox_zoom": "Zoom",
"lightbox_new_window": "New window",
"lightbox_toggle_sidebar": "Toggle sidebar"
}
For reference, here's the Chinese frame (which I believe fits the Verizon model):
Notice the microphone holes at the bottom and the antenna locations are the major differences, and in fact causes the two not to be interchangeable.

Thanks for the reply, I will give it a try, it looks the same as the T-mobile one.

Black and white looks sick... saw someone did it. Cant remember where though.. i think it might have been a video. By zedomax.

holycow1 said:
Unfortunately, there's only ONE seller of the N910F frames that I could find, and that's a company called fonejoy. Their price was £45 (or $70) which was pretty steep considering the Chinese ones [which fit the Verizon model] are about $50. Also, my original frame is in mint condition (no scratches or anything), so it's resale value is around $40, if I were to sell it. I can also just put the old frame back on when I'm done with the phone and want to sell the phone itself, and the phone would be in mint condition, which increase resale value (over a scratched up frame). That's how I justified the purchase- but honestly, I just really wanted it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Any chance you would be willing to sell your original frame? My white note 4 is pretty banged up (Tmobile)

Kokorone said:
Any chance you would be willing to sell your original frame? My white note 4 is pretty banged up (Tmobile)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah 800$ give you the whole thing lmaoo jk

Kokorone said:
Any chance you would be willing to sell your original frame? My white note 4 is pretty banged up (Tmobile)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I really want to keep my frame for resale purposes, but here's an eBay listing for a white frame: http://www.ebay.com/itm/191521919910 ($35 incl. shipping)
It comes from a Sprint Note 4, and there's a misconception out there that the Sprint frame is not compatible with the T-Mobile phone when it really is. The Sprint frame is actually incompatible with the Verizon model.
Good luck!