Database Users

Replacing the digitizer is very stressful.

I smashed the screen on my Tab a few weeks back. While I didn't take a video of the replacement, here are some notes and tips on my experience:
If the glass is cracked but you can still see the display fine (i.e. no rainbow or black ink spills) then it is just your digitizer that is broken. Your top priority at this point is to not break the LCD because the digitizer is relatively cheap (~$35 shipped from China, $60 from the US). This also goes for the picture being fine but the touch not working at all.
Buy a replacement digitizer. I got mine from ebay ( http://www.ebay.com/itm/270938561127 ).
Gather tools:
A clean towel to use for your work area to prevent scratches and scuffs
A little plastic prying tool (likely to come with your ebay order)
A thin and sharp utility knife/razor
A three prong screwdriver. The seller I used sent a few other screwdrivers but not the three prong one. I used one I got from a Nintendo DS repair a while back.
A heat gun will make this a lot easier. I guess a hair blow-dryer might work in a pinch.
I did not see any good videos for the disassembly. The one I watched ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=thTt6G27NV8 ) really screwed me over because it didn't show removing two screws first.
Here are my written steps for replacement:
Use a needle to pry out the two caps on either side of the USB charging port
Use the three prong screwdriver to remove those two screws
Insert the pry on the bottom middle between the plastic frame and the glass. Push down firmly so it wedges in up to the L shape.
Slide the pry along from the middle to either end and around the corner. You will feel the frame pop away from the innards.
Continue working the bottom half of the frame apart until you can insert tweezers or something else under the unit and lift it up and out of the frame.
Be careful to lift the bottom half then pull it out away from the top. Otherwise, you will crack the audio port which extends from the unit and fits into the hole in the top of the frame.
Set aside the frame and place the unit on a clean towel. If you have a broken screen, you are going to be dealing with lots of tiny slivers of broken glass.
On the circuitry side of the unit, you will see three big flat ribbon cables. The middle one is the digitizer. Use tweezers or the pry to *gently* lift up the tan colored plastic locking hinge on the far side (opposite the cable). It will pop up and the cable will easily slide out. Go very slow and carefully here. Don't mess with the black plastic because it will chip right off.
Now comes the painful part. Removing the old digitizer. Take a cigarette break if you need one. Maybe a Valium. Basically, almost all of the black trim part of the glass is thick strong glue binding it to the unit. You need to separate this glue to be able to peel the glass digitizer away.
Hold the unit upright with one hand and use the heat gun to loosen up the glue holding the digitizer to the unit. Run it along one edge for less than a minute until the glass is a little too hot to touch.
Quickly insert the razor as close to the glass as you can and about 6 centimeters in. Slide it along the side that you heated. Don't make any prying motions or you'll just crack the glass more.
Continue with the remaining three edges. Heat then separate. You may not make much progress the first time around, but by the second time, you should see the glass starting to peel away. It took me about 5 to 10 minutes per edge and it is grueling work.
Once you can safely peel the entire glass digitizer away from the unit, use the razor to lift up and peel off any of the flat black tape/glue that was left behind. Most of the unit where the glue goes is gray. On the sides there are two parts where you see black plastic. It is okay to leave glue residue as long as it isn't bunched up.
Vacuum up any stray glass slivers. Make sure you set aside tools screws and screw-hole-plugs before vacuuming.
Installing the new digitizer
Use an LCD spray and cleaning cloth to clean your LCD. Don't leave any dust or fingerprints as it will look bad once everything is put back together.
Remove the back covering of your replacement digitizer revealing the glue. Obviously, try not to touch the glue.
Align the digitizer above the unit, make sure the camera hole is on the correct side. Very slowly lower it down and try to have it perfectly in alignment when it touches. You will be able to nudge it a tiny bit, but the glue is strong and if you get it crooked, you are going to have to try to quickly lift it back up without cracking your new digitizer.
Once you have it in place, remove the front protective film and free the new cable. Wrap the cable around to the back and very gently insert it between the contacts then push the locking hinge down.
Testing and reassembly
Power it on and see if it works. Just push down the little metal bump closest to the edge where the power button would be on the frame.
When happy with the test, turn it off again and hold the unit above the frame.
Check the orientation then insert the top part first to fit the audio port into the hole. Line up the rest and then push down on all the edges to snap it into place.
Breathe a deep sigh of relief.

Appreciate the time you put into this, hopefully I never end up in a similar situation.
Could have used some more return key though lol
Sent from my Ceramic White LTE Galaxy Note using XDA Premium App

Wish I would have read this first. I broke the housing by the 2 bottom screws. Dayum! I haven't touched it since. Supposed to get the digitizer Friday. Wish me luck!

Its really easy to replace the digitiser on WiFi version. Use Stanley knife and hair dryer to loosen it off and remove middle flex cable. Videos on youtube
Sent from my GT-P7510 using xda app-developers app

Any picture of these 2 screws cause i do not see it on a p4 here.
I still have one here with a cracked glass but it all still works even the touch screen.
But i do not see the screw so a pic would be nice

Opuske said:
Any picture of these 2 screws cause i do not see it on a p4 here.
I still have one here with a cracked glass but it all still works even the touch screen.
But i do not see the screw so a pic would be nice
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
They are covered by plugs on either side of the charge port. Gotta pry the plugs out first.
Sent from my EVO using xda premium

Ok so i am on a mission this weekend then to try and do that then

Opuske said:
Ok so i am on a mission this weekend then to try and do that then
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
One tip: be really careful not to touch the inside surface of the glass. I ended up with a fingerprint on the inside that drives me nuts every time I clean the screen. Wear gloves if you've got them.
Otherwise it was no sweat. I used this as a guide but with a hair dryer instead of a heat gun.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KUI2gDQbdDY&feature=youtube_gdata_player
Sent from my EVO using xda premium

Quick question
I really found this post very helpful, but I do have one question. What if when I was trying to pry the tab up to pull out the digitizer, I cracked the black plactic on the other side. Would this cause the new digitizer not to work when I finished replacing everything and put it back together?

Best tutorial on the web (much better than those godawful youtube videos).
Thank you!

Did u get an answer??? I need to
AylaAtreides said:
I really found this post very helpful, but I do have one question. What if when I was trying to pry the tab up to pull out the digitizer, I cracked the black plactic on the other side. Would this cause the new digitizer not to work when I finished replacing everything and put it back together?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did you get an answer??? I did the same thing...

DEinspanjer said:
I smashed the screen on my Tab a few weeks back. While I didn't take a video of the replacement, here are some notes and tips on my experience:
[*]If the glass is cracked but you can still see the display fine (i.e. no rainbow or black ink spills) then it is just your digitizer that is broken. Your top priority at this point is to not break the LCD because the digitizer is relatively cheap (~$35 shipped from China, $60 from the US). This also goes for the picture being fine but the touch not working at all.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just when I thought I knew the difference between the LCD and the digitizer I read your post. You said if the glass is cracked but you can see the display just fine the digitizer is broken. When you say "see the display fine" I presume when the device is on you can see whatever it should be showing? Correct me if I am wrong. Silly me I would have thought if the glass was cracked you need the LCD. Are the glass, LCD and digitizer 3 separate parts?
Anyway on my Note 10.1 2014 edition the display suddenly went black while I was using it. All indications are the device is working because I hear notifications if I sent email to one of the accounts registered on the device. Given this limited info which part(s) do I need. The glass is pristine in that there are no cracks or scratches. Do I need the digitizer, lcd or both? How can I determine what I need for sure?
Thanks in advance,
~metafizik

The digitizer is the touch sensitive glass, the LCD is under that and it makes the pictures.
If you crack or damage the LCD, you will frequently see something that looks like an ink spill or a rainbow pattern.
If you crack or damage the digitizer, you can still see pictures fine, but some or all of it might no longer respond to touch.
In your case, it sounds like your LCD is not working, but unfortunately it is hard to say whether that is the only part that stopped working since it wasn't due to damage to the screen.

DEinspanjer said:
The digitizer is the touch sensitive glass, the LCD is under that and it makes the pictures.
In your case, it sounds like your LCD is not working, but unfortunately it is hard to say whether that is the only part that stopped working since it wasn't due to damage to the screen.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you for the information. I agree there is no telling what might have caused the problem especially given some other problems that proceeded this. I had recently replaced the battery and even with the new one it was draining way too quickly. I concluded it might be the ROM I was running had become corrupted because Google services was using the lions share of the battery instead of the screen. I downloaded and installed a factory Lolipop image and it was running fine for about half a day when the wife started playing around with live wallpapers we had never tried when it went black.
At this point I am reluctant to spend $ replacing the Lcd given it might be something else altogether.
Thanks again,
~metafizik

Accepting offers on my 32GB Note 10.1 2014 edition. As described above the display has gone dark but system is otherwise working fine. Includes very nice MoKo Wireless Bluetooth Keyboard Cover Case and the tablet's battery is new.

Replace LG Nexus 4 Glass Front Only

Is it possible to replace the front glass without replacing the digitizer and LCD? I have saw many, many glass only replacements on eBay for it. I want to do it myself. Is it possible? I know it is possible for the galacy necus but as the 4's LCD is on top i was wondering on bidding for a cracked screen one on ebay and fixing the glass only.

As far as I know, the digitizer and glass are glued together pretty tightly, and it's extraordinarily tough to separate the two without damaging either; plus, if separate them you have the constant worry of dust getting in there. It's usually worth it to just buy a glass+digitizer that are glued together.

Johmama said:
As far as I know, the digitizer and glass are glued together pretty tightly, and it's extraordinarily tough to separate the two without damaging either; plus, if separate them you have the constant worry of dust getting in there. It's usually worth it to just buy a glass+digitizer that are glued together.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have seen videos of people seperating them on the galaxy nexus. Also, if the glass is cracked is the digitizer gone too? because the touch doesnt work and its cracked.

I have done a teardown of the Front display before. It is not easy. Yes the Digitizer and LCD are Glued together and I HIGHLY recommend NOT attempting to seperate them without the proper setup to do so. Once they are seperated it takes a SPECIAL glue to glue the Digitizer to the LCD and it has to be aligned correctly or you have to go through the process again. ALSO the LCD+Digitizer display is GLUED to the Bezel with an RTV type substance. I HIGHLY reccommend spending the extra few dollars to get the 3 piece setup. With that the repair is VERY Quick and easy. Takes about 15 min or so. (Half of which is getting the Back cover off without breaking anything).

Ohgami_Ichiro said:
I have done a teardown of the Front display before. It is not easy. Yes the Digitizer and LCD are Glued together and I HIGHLY recommend NOT attempting to seperate them without the proper setup to do so. Once they are seperated it takes a SPECIAL glue to glue the Digitizer to the LCD and it has to be aligned correctly or you have to go through the process again. ALSO the LCD+Digitizer display is GLUED to the Bezel with an RTV type substance. I HIGHLY reccommend spending the extra few dollars to get the 3 piece setup. With that the repair is VERY Quick and easy. Takes about 15 min or so. (Half of which is getting the Back cover off without breaking anything).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
But one question. Is the digitizer broken if the glass is broken and it doenst recognie touches?
EDIT: I will buy a broken nexus 4 off ebay for a few bucks and replace the glass so I want to know if it works if you get it. And there is a 80$ difference between the glass and the 3 piece assembly

jacobreed222 said:
I have seen videos of people seperating them on the galaxy nexus. Also, if the glass is cracked is the digitizer gone too? because the touch doesnt work and its cracked.
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Click to collapse
The Top Glass is the Digitizer, the LCD is just that. I think the iPhone4s/5 has the Digitizer integrated into the LCD and I think this is a process that may start to become commonplace as LG announced that they have a LCD Display with Integrated Digitizer in production now.
jacobreed222 said:
But one question. Is the digitizer broken if the glass is broken and it doenst recognie touches?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yup You can see the digitited touch grid if you look at in the right angle in bright light.

Ohgami_Ichiro said:
The Top Glass is the Digitizer, the LCD is just that. I think the iPhone4s/5 has the Digitizer integrated into the LCD and I think this is a process that may start to become commonplace as LG announced that they have a LCD Display with Integrated Digitizer in production now.
Yup You can see the digitited touch grid if you look at in the right angle in bright light.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So youre saying I am out of luck with these:
http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_trk...=nexus+4+glass+replacement&_sacat=0&_from=R40
So why do they sell them anyway? zFor non broken glass?

jacobreed222 said:
So youre saying I am out of luck with these:
http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_trk...=nexus+4+glass+replacement&_sacat=0&_from=R40
So why do they sell them anyway? zFor non broken glass?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The Glass IS cheap but they do that so they can trick you into wasting your money. It is not an easy process to do. I have done a replacement on both the fron and back and it was very time intensive. (The front I just ordered the 3 piece and it was quick.) For anyone who has had little to no experience doing display repairs I reccommend the 3 Piece set. If you have SOME experience and have GOOD tools get the 2 Piece. ONLY get the Glass Digitizer IF you have Some professional tools and experience. Also the Special Glue for gluing the Digitizer to the LCD is about $20 by itself so that $15 Digitizer works out to ~$35-40 not to mention if you scratch or break the LCD by accident then you end up having to buy that too. I am not trying to be preachy here but trying to give you the REAL risks and obsticles associated with the repair on the N4. It is a VERY easy phone to repair in general EXCEPT the display. Just get the 3 Piece display and sell the broken one on ebay. It will sell because Professionals (who have the right tools) will grab them and refurbish them and then use them for repairs.
Take a look at this Vid, It's for the iPhone 5 but the process is the same for the N4 and N7.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PbZwypAINYE

Ohgami_Ichiro said:
The Glass IS cheap but they do that so they can trick you into wasting your money. It is not an easy process to do. I have done a replacement on both the fron and back and it was very time intensive. (The front I just ordered the 3 piece and it was quick.) For anyone who has had little to no experience doing display repairs I reccommend the 3 Piece set. If you have SOME experience and have GOOD tools get the 2 Piece. ONLY get the Glass Digitizer IF you have Some professional tools and experience. Also the Special Glue for gluing the Digitizer to the LCD is about $20 by itself so that $15 Digitizer works out to ~$35-40 not to mention if you scratch or break the LCD by accident then you end up having to buy that too. I am not trying to be preachy here but trying to give you the REAL risks and obsticles associated with the repair on the N4. It is a VERY easy phone to repair in general EXCEPT the display. Just get the 3 Piece display and sell the broken one on ebay. It will sell because Professionals (who have the right tools) will grab them and refurbish them and then use them for repairs.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
OK

jacobreed222 said:
OK
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey,
I have nexus 4. The outer glass is cracked, but lcd works perfectly. However the touch is unresponsive. If i buy just the outer glass from ebay and replaced using UV glue. Would the touch function will work? Its strange that all the other smart phones touch function work, if you break the outer glass; but on nexus 4 it stops working. looking forward to hearing your opinion. thank you.
saj

saj420 said:
Hey,
I have nexus 4. The outer glass is cracked, but lcd works perfectly. However the touch is unresponsive. If i buy just the outer glass from ebay and replaced using UV glue. Would the touch function will work? Its strange that all the other smart phones touch function work, if you break the outer glass; but on nexus 4 it stops working. looking forward to hearing your opinion. thank you.
saj
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's what I was asking in the first place. Let me know if you figure it out.

jacobreed222 said:
That's what I was asking in the first place. Let me know if you figure it out.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think the digitizer is so attached to the glass when the glass breaks it breaks the digitizer as well, hence why every n4 LCD that cracks has no touch response, the digitizer is glued to the glass and not the LCD as it is on the galaxy nexus making it a billion times easeyer to just buy a whole LCD unit
Sent from my Nexus 4 [NEO @1.836 GHz] on [PSX v4.1 4.3]

IRX120 said:
I think the digitizer is so attached to the glass when the glass breaks it breaks the digitizer as well, hence why every n4 LCD that cracks has no touch response, the digitizer is glued to the glass and not the LCD as it is on the galaxy nexus making it a billion times easeyer to just buy a whole LCD unit
Sent from my Nexus 4 [NEO @1.836 GHz] on [PSX v4.1 4.3]
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It probably is easier to replace the whole unit, however it's too expensive for some people; cheapest unit I've found runs for around 120 USD, 10 times more expensive than just the glass. Specially now that Google lowered the prices, and a 120-130 USD screen doesn't make much sense when you can have a new phone for just 199 USD.
In my case, I cracked the lower corner of the screen and the lowermost buttons don't work (ie: home, back and switch app buttons). Otherwise, the screen works perfectly.
From what I've read so far online, it's fairly hard, although not impossible, to replace just the glass on a screen such as our Nexus 4's. The main difficulty is that the LCD, digitizer (the thing that takes your finger's input, in case you're wondering –as I did– what that is) and the glass are fused together. From what I gather (I am, by no means, an expert on this... take whatever I say with a grain of salt) this means that this partes are glued together with very strong adhesive.
I haven't found any videos or guides for our Nexus, but the process should be very similar to this one for a Galaxy S3. For the time being, I resorted to just rotating my phone when I need the back and home buttons. However, when it's time to buy a new phone I'll try to replace the glass on this one.
If anyone of you guys want to try this, I hope you take a video of the process and share it with the rest of us, unlucky/clumsy Nexus 4 owners.

ivancamilov said:
It probably is easier to replace the whole unit, however it's too expensive for some people; cheapest unit I've found runs for around 120 USD, 10 times more expensive than just the glass. Specially now that Google lowered the prices, and a 120-130 USD screen doesn't make much sense when you can have a new phone for just 199 USD.
In my case, I cracked the lower corner of the screen and the lowermost buttons don't work (ie: home, back and switch app buttons). Otherwise, the screen works perfectly.
From what I've read so far online, it's fairly hard, although not impossible, to replace just the glass on a screen such as our Nexus 4's. The main difficulty is that the LCD, digitizer (the thing that takes your finger's input, in case you're wondering –as I did– what that is) and the glass are fused together. From what I gather (I am, by no means, an expert on this... take whatever I say with a grain of salt) this means that this partes are glued together with very strong adhesive.
I haven't found any videos or guides for our Nexus, but the process should be very similar to this one for a Galaxy S3. For the time being, I resorted to just rotating my phone when I need the back and home buttons. However, when it's time to buy a new phone I'll try to replace the glass on this one.
If anyone of you guys want to try this, I hope you take a video of the process and share it with the rest of us, unlucky/clumsy Nexus 4 owners.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I also found a series of videos for galaxy nexus to replace only glass

I've found this tutorial for repairing n4 cracked screen, but I don't know if what he's replacing is only the outer glass or the whole digitizer and glass together.
vickev.com/#!/article/repair-your-cracked-lg-nexus-4-e960-screen
and by the way, did someone find the glass with the digitizer for a good price? Not considering those tricky ebay announcements of outer glass, as Ohgami_Ichiro has already alerted.
found this one, but 85,85 € is kinda expensive.
spareslg.com/lcd-e-touch-lg-nexus-4-lg-e960-acq86270901.html

Erich M said:
I've found this tutorial for repairing n4 cracked screen, but I don't know if what he's replacing is only the outer glass or the whole digitizer and glass together.
vickev.com/#!/article/repair-your-cracked-lg-nexus-4-e960-screen
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It is LCD+digitizer+glass assembly replacement. Not easiest but one of easy ways, costs about $120.
Erich M said:
and by the way, did someone find the glass with the digitizer for a good price? Not considering those tricky ebay announcements of outer glass, as Ohgami_Ichiro has already alerted.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
For example ebay.com/itm/Original-OEM-NEW-Front-Touch-Screen-Digitizer-Glass-Lens-LG-Google-Nexus-4-E960-/181230445260?pt=US_Cell_Phone_Replacement_Parts_Tools&hash=item2a322d22cc
$38
Erich M said:
found this one, but 85,85 € is kinda expensive.
spareslg.com/lcd-e-touch-lg-nexus-4-lg-e960-acq86270901.html
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It is glass+digitizer+lcd+housing assembly.
There are also glass+digitizer+lcd+housing+battery assemblies.

If you replace the digitizer only the screen will not respond the same. My galaxy s3 has touch issues now cause I only replaced the digitizer. Now need to buy a whole assembly
Sent from my neXus⁴ using Tapatalk 2

Nexus 4 LG E960 Screen replacement
Well, I was pretty keen on getting a chinese glass/digitizer. The one I had in mind was on ebay.
I was a bit concerned about waiting up to 2 or 3 weeks, but I thought at £28 it would be worth it, as long as I could fit it successfully when it arrived. The alternative was £100 approx from spareslg.com. I was a little concerned about the integrity of the LCD as I was getting some "flowing" around the cracks on the glass. I thought (as was posted earlier) tha it would be no harm in trying to remove the broken glass now, and prep the what was left of the screen for the new glass. If it went well I would know that the LCD was ok. If it went badly however I would loose the opportunity to sell the second hand screen for £20 or so (also posted earlier). I decided to go ahead and strip down the phone.
Getting to the nitty gritty, I warmed up the screen with a hairdryer, inserted a pry tool between the bezel and the glass and started to loosen. I had replaced a glass on a Samsung Galaxy Ace successfully before and this procedure felt very familiar. The procedure actually felt much easier. The glass lifted away from the lcd within three or four minutes, and I continued to heat and ease the glass for only 6 or 7 more minutes. As I was raising the glass while working towards the top of the phone, I noticed that the LCD was leaving the frame as it didn't appear to be held by much, if anything. I thought I would remove what was left of the screen assembly from the frame and continue separating the two parts outside the frame. It was at this point that I noticed that the the LDC panel appeared to be dividing into two parts; like two wafers. Wishful thinking made me hope that what I was seeing was a digitizer membrane or something; but I soon resigned myself to the possibility that the LCD was history.:crying:
I didn't bother to clean off the glue residue, I reassembled the phone and switched it on. The picture below shows that the LCD was ruined. What looks like glass is in fact the movement of the pry tool on the adhesive on the LCD. No flash was used either.
The second photo shows the split LCD. The final photo shows the digitizer grid in the old glass.
If I had the same problem again, I would probably try again. I'd be particularly careful around the edges, not allow the LCD to rise out of the frame (and possibly tear) and take it much more slowly, and possibly use a wire separation tool if around.
Ohgami_Ichiro posted earlier that the costs of digitizer only repairs can go high. If you add fancy glues and tape then it would have cost me at least £50. New at £100 minus sale of old, £15 ?(so net £85) That could be £35 difference, £45 if you skipped the UV glue.
It might not be the last time this phone breaks though!! so savings may increase!
I have no choce now, £100.
Bye the way can anybody recommend a good open case, mine had barely 1.5 ml above screen edge.
Hope you've enjoyed the how NOT to.

Hi dear friends,
Sorry for late answer but i recommend you to take lcd digitizer and replace with cracked one. Becouse generally such chinese complete assemblies (lcd+digitizer and housing) are problematic as lcd quality bit lower than original one. So what to do is; to take digitizer around 20$ (there also which 10$ cost but really lower sensitive digitizer ) and replace it yourself. What else you need for this replacement?
-First you need something thin and sharp like as your grandfathers shaving blade for pry lcd and digitizer. (cost 1$ maybe)
-Then you also need glue cleaner for clean old glue particles, (costs 5$ with uv glue totally)
-uv adhesive for glue lcd with digitizer and (costs 5$ with adhesive cleaner totally)
-3m sticker for attach new digitizer to housing. (2-3$ for piece)
and totally cost max 30$. Maybe you will work more harder but at least you will get phone which which works with original screen with better view. :good:
---------- Post added at 02:42 AM ---------- Previous post was at 02:36 AM ----------
Just i need to warn you to definitely use heating gun or hair dryer(at max. temp.) while seperate cracked digitizer from lcd. Otherwise you will crack your lcd too. With my best wishes!!!

E970 screen on nexus 4

I got my hands a E970 screen with a cracked digitizer. I hoped to use it to replace my cracked E960 screen,with a cheap 30 buck digitizer. So I carefully checked the pin-outs and it looked good. I then plugged it in and what do you know,worked just fine. So for what its worth,if its useful to anyone else,the LCD screen from an E970 will in fact work in an E960. Unfortunately it didnt work out. The screen,like the nexus 4 display,was glued t the front frame. I tried getting it out and ended up destroying the lcd. However,I did experiment with heating the front and separating it with a molybdenum wire. That part seemed to go smoothly. If anyone else has to do this,heres my best suggestion. Get some sandpaper,perhaps 80 grit and glue it to a board. Then sand the edge,moving parallel to the plane of the screen until you have ground away the frame and exposed the edge of the glass digitizer. Repeat on all four sides. This way you should be able to get to the adhesive under the digitizer without further cracking any glass. Remember,the front of the digitizer is cracked,so the lcd is vulnerable. I would get a piece of window glass and cut it to about the same size as the glass digitizer. Then used adhesive transfer tape to bond it to the front cracked glass.
Keep in mind,Ive not separated one successfully yet,so this is a combination of a report of my experiments and my educated guess on how to proceed in the future. It goes back to a previous attempt I did on a broken LCD. I conjectured that if I were to separate the plastic digitizer from the FRONT glass,I could more easily peel it away from the LCD. SO I took separated about a mm of the digitizer from the front glass. Then I ran a qtip dipped in acetone along the edge. The acetone was drawn into the gap by capilary action. I then waited a few minutes,repeated the acetone dipped qtip procedure,and then carefully slid the corner of the foil coated plastic package of a nicotine patch through the gap. The packet is very very thin,way thinner than a credit card,but very stiff. It easily removed another mm or so of the adhesive,and better still,left a gap,so that your not forcing the display to bend. This went well until I got near the last half inch of a shard of glass,about 1/3 of the way up the display. At that point,I applied a bit of upward force and that shard,about two inches long,with a sharp point,held only by a the last half inch by perhaps 1/3 inch section of adhesive shattered the LCD under the point. The lesson learned is,a cracked digitizer is going to have this lever effect on the shards that crack the lcd with a tiny amount of force due to the combination of the long lever arm and sharp point. So the glass is to hold that all together and keep it from doing the lever thing.
My experience tells me that ,yes,those techniques you see on the internet with the credit card and the heat gun MIGHT work,but your going to need a lot of skill. And that skill is developed by trashing DOZENS of LCDs. And its still not going to be 100%. Probably no more than 50%. My guess is that these were developed by people who repair these for a living. If you do,then you probably have a big box of broken displays. Some only have broken digitizers,some broken LCDs,and you think "If I had a way to reuse some of these parts,I could make a bunch of extra money" so you start with the broken ones,and then when you get something that works,even 50% of the time,you can make 50 bucks or more extra profit per screen you can fix,from parts that were previously worthless junk to you.
But I want something 100%,not for my nexus,but because more and more phones are made like this,and in the future they all will be. So I want to make a procedure that will fix it all the time. So far,I suspect that you have to choose one part to save. Either the frame or the LCD digitizer stack. I may try working around the edge with a plastic tool and heat with a glass bonded to the front and see if I can get the glass free of the frame without destroying the LCD,but Im not optimistic,first Id like a sure fire way to save an LCD.
My feeling is that if you bond the front glass to a ridged substrate,you can then use the sandpaper to grind the edge away. If you do it parallel to the plane of the screen,it should be very gentle on the display,avoiding any damage. Then you can perhaps with the aid of heat,cut the digitizer away from the frame. Im thinking at this point,you need a screen separator.
So Im going to make one. My plan is that I will make a device from plywood. It will have a backing and a part that slides. The part that slides will have a heated piece of aluminum with a thermostat that holds it at 175F and an inductive heating coil behind the aluminum. This "carriage" will slide back and forth,and there will be an guide that will constrain its motion to one axis. The "carriage" will actually be made from two blocks,one that will be in the guide,then a second that bolts to that,using some studs,and washers and wing nuts. Between these two plywood layers,I will uses sheets of paper as shims to adjust the height so that a 0.08mm molybdenum wire (I have 100' of it I got off ebay) is at the right height to separate the screen. The screen will be stuck to the glass with adhesive transfer tape,the edges ground away,then mounted to the separator with adhesive transfer tape,and shimmed to the right height. I can then heat it to temperature (the glue *I* use SHOULD be strong enough to hold it in place,if not,I just buy one of the higher temp adhesives. I can then separate the digitizer from the front glass AND the frame. At that point,the LCD should be free of the frame. Now,if the digitizer is OK,I can simply ,carefully clean the adhesive off of it and repair it using a 12 dollar front glass.
Some people use optically clear adhesive that is uv cured,because its easier to get a bubble free bond without a vacuum oven or autoclave so I will just use an optically clear adhesive transfer tape. I however have access to a vacuum oven at work,so I'm good to go. Even if I did not,I suspect that there are other options. I might try one of those vacuum storage containers they sell at target that go with those "food saver" vacuum packers. (I want one anyway to freeze food in,very handy. Buy 40lbs of chicken breasts when they come on sale for 1.89 a lb and freeze them! Pays for itself in no time) My hope would be that ,perhaps of first heated to say 180F or so,then placed on paper to avoid melting the plastic container ,you and a vacuum pulled,it would remove the bubbles. But I have access to the oven so I don't care much about that.
If not,then I can probably make sure the wire is on the other side of the digitizer and separate it from the lcd instead. Then the same procedure can be used to bond the LCD to a new digitizer/glass assembly. But first I need to find some more broken LCDs to play with. But hopefully my experiences will help others in their quest. The end result of what I have determined though is,Im going to have to make the separator,becuase while its obvious that its POSSIBLE without it,its just not reliable or practical.

Nexus 7 faster method for separating and glue removal from LCD and digitizer

Hello,
I got a Nexus 7 tablet with a broken digitizer for free, I started watching info and videos on the net on how to separate that digitizer from the god LCD.
The heat gun solution looks a bit too hard to control. I chose to try to make my own heat plate.
I have made the heating plate based on stuff found around the house, also I borrowed some stuff from work until I will receive the controller I ordered from Ebay.
Basically, I got an aluminum plate cut from a scrap piece, drilled holes to hold those lock down clamps, everything is just made to resemble those professional separation machines.
There are 2 small round heaters underneath, each around 200W, more than needed for this application.
I tried heating the assembly up to 85 deg C and the lcd metal back cover starts to lift up, separating from the lcd glass itself, oops, had to press down on it and lower the temp to around 65 C ,now it sits in place.
I bought 2-3 broken digitizers with screens from a guy that repairs tablets, just to practice before I really try to do the change the digitizer on my tablet.
I will put pictures of the removed and cleaned LCD’s, the digitizers were just used to practice the LOCA glue removal, I throw them away after. Too much glass pieces.
Here is the name of the video: Nexus 7 LCD separation from digitizer, fast LOCA removal. Please turn on CC on the video to see more info.
The separation of the lcd is done with some guitar wire 0.007”, not sure if smaller diameter it will do better or not.
I had a problem on one practice screen, I cut thru the front polarizing film on the lcd. that’s why I started the separation from the lcd connector side, wire gets better there between the digitizer and the lcd.
One great thing I found is by using silicon grease, it makes the sawing much easier and you only need one pass to separate the lcd.
After separating the lcd, cleaning up the loca glue is also easy, thanks to my other interesting finding I did, by using essential oils.
There are so many out there, like tea tree oil, oregano oil, tried them, they all do a good job.
I finally used the citronella oil because it was only 4$ for 15ml, probably you can do lots of cleaning from one bottle and also repelling the mosquitos around you.
As you can see, apply small drops, spread uniformly with your finger, then wait, after 4-5 hours the glue comes off very easy.
If any excess oil, absorb-it with a paper towel. If it’s too much oil, not good also.
The good thing about oil is that it will have much less ( more like zero) chances to go inside the LCD panel and make spots, like the alcohol can do.
Finished the cleaning with some 99% isopropyl alcohol ( from the pharmacy).
I’m sure after this, some people will try to sell “ miracle” loca glue remover. Hope this post will remain here to give some great info to those searching.
This is valid for any kind of lcd loca glue cleaning, is it a phone or tablet, it will work.
I think I will try to reapply the uv loca glue to the new digitizer, I will wait for the ordered glue to come.
With all the things I purchased maybe is not economical for one tablet, but the experience I got is priceless, I’m happy to share with others.

Best digitizer separation ( 1 pass) and fast loca glue removal

Hello,
I just realized I have posted before on the Nexus 7 first gen forum, then I came back here to share my experience with my 2013 model.
I got a Nexus 7 2013 tablet with a broken digitizer for free, I started watching info and videos on the net on how to separate that digitizer from the god LCD.
The heat gun solution looks a bit too hard to control. I chose to try to make my own heat plate.
I have made the heating plate based on stuff found around the house, also I borrowed some stuff from work until I will receive the controller I ordered from Ebay.
Basically, I got an aluminum plate cut from a scrap piece, drilled holes to hold those lock down clamps, everything is just made to resemble those professional separation machines.
There are 2 small round heaters underneath, each around 200W, more than needed for this application.
I tried heating the assembly up to 85 deg C and the lcd metal back cover starts to lift up, separating from the lcd glass itself, oops, had to press down on it and lower the temp to around 65 C ,now it sits in place.
I bought 2-3 broken digitizers with screens from a guy that repairs tablets just to practice before I really try to do the digitizer change on my own tablet..
I will put pictures of the removed and cleaned LCD’s, the digitizers were just used to practice the LOCA glue removal, I throw them away after. Too many glass pieces.
Here is the name of the video: Nexus 7 LCD separation from digitizer, fast LOCA removal. Please turn on CC on the video to see more info.
The separation of the lcd is done with guitar wire 0.007”, not sure if smaller diameter it will do better or not.
I had a problem on one practice screen, I cut thru the front polarizing film on the lcd. that’s why I started the separation from the lcd connector side, wire gets better there between the digitizer and the lcd.
One great thing I found is by using silicon grease, it makes the sawing much easier and you only need one pass to separate the lcd. Apply in small quantities beside the lcd before you pass the string.
After separating the lcd, cleaning up the loca glue is also easy, thanks to my other interesting finding I did, by using essential oils.
There are so many out there, like tea tree oil, oregano oil, tried them, they all do a good job.
I finally used the citronella oil because it was only 4$ for 15ml, probably you can do lots of cleaning from one bottle and also repelling the mosquitos around you.
As you can see, apply small drops, spread uniformly with your finger, then wait, after 4-5 hours the glue comes off very easy.
If any excess oil, absorb-it with a paper towel. If it’s too much oil, not good also.
The good thing about oil is that it will have much less ( more like zero) chances to go inside the LCD panel and make spots, like the alcohol can do.
Finished the cleaning with some 99% isopropyl alcohol ( from the pharmacy).
I’m sure after this, some people will try to sell “ miracle” loca glue remover. Hope this post will remain here to give some great info to those searching.
This is valid for any kind of lcd loca glue cleaning, is it a phone or tablet, it will work.
I think I will try to reapply the uv loca glue to the new digitizer, I will wait for the ordered glue to come.
With all the things I purchased maybe is not economical for one tablet, but the experience I got is priceless, I’m happy to share with others.

Thanks for the tip!
How did you assemble new digitizer with the LCD back together? Did you use LOCA glue? If yes, where did you get that?

Hellou,
Thanks for the tips.
Do you know where to find aluminium bar at size 7-10" diagonal in RO?
Thanks

Appreciated your tips re grease and oil. I've done this several times, so I know it can be done with some patience. The big question is, where do you get a separate digitizer that works. I've tried at least 5 that partially worked (dead bands, mostly), but found none that totally did. If you have a source, it'd help greatly. Thanks again.