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I NEED iPHONE GLASS --- NOT LCD OR TOUCH SENSOR... is there anywhere I can get this?

K

kidnamedmoe

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jan 28, 2008
5
0
I saw the $5 easy fix, but i dont want to do that, i actually want it to look like it never broke..

i see on ebay, amazon, and other misc. companys online selling the ENTIRE screen (LCD, touch sensor, and glass) all together for $150-$200, (why on earth they are that expensive, i have no clue if apple charges you 200-250 for a WHOLE NEW PHONE.

Anyway, I thought maybe that it was wholesaled as one part, but then I saw other ppl selling the LCD part alone for 100 or so.... meaning, its NOT one part, and they can be seprated..

anyone know where I can get the glass part? (with tinted black ends and the hole for the button and ear peice)... JUST THE GLASS..

let me know ASAP!
 
kidnamedmoe said:
I saw the $5 easy fix, but i dont want to do that, i actually want it to look like it never broke..

i see on ebay, amazon, and other misc. companys online selling the ENTIRE screen (LCD, touch sensor, and glass) all together for $150-$200, (why on earth they are that expensive, i have no clue if apple charges you 200-250 for a WHOLE NEW PHONE.

Anyway, I thought maybe that it was wholesaled as one part, but then I saw other ppl selling the LCD part alone for 100 or so.... meaning, its NOT one part, and they can be seprated..

anyone know where I can get the glass part? (with tinted black ends and the hole for the button and ear peice)... JUST THE GLASS..

let me know ASAP!
Click to expand...


if you have a legit AT&T iphone bring it to the genius bar at an apple store and they will give you a new phone for $250

you won't be able to fix it yourself and have it look respectable for less than that
 
BESIDES THAT... i got a referb for $300.. so i feel like i'm just buying a whole new phone..

$250 is a bit steep for an easy fix (replacement)..

I am pretty handy, and i think i can manage taking apart this phone..

again, anyone know where I can get the GLASS ONLY

jeffmc said:
if you have a legit AT&T iphone bring it to the genius bar at an apple store and they will give you a new phone for $250

you won't be able to fix it yourself and have it look respectable for less than that
Click to expand...
 
have you ever opened that thing up?
trust me $250 and no headache is worth it
 
my iphone is dead as a door nail, has a charging issue. Its hacked so I got no warranty. If you want the glass I am sure we can come up with a fair price and I can ship it to you. let me know.

Justin
 
i'm pretty good with opening stuff up, and tinkering with it.. (i've opened several digital cameras and other phoness... so i'm guessing it shouldnt be that hard...

how much are we talking for you phone Tweak3D? (i've found the LCD and screen cheapest at $127 shipped)

email me: kidnamedmoe at aol dot com

jeffmc said:
have you ever opened that thing up?
trust me $250 and no headache is worth it
Click to expand...

Tweak3D said:
my iphone is dead as a door nail, has a charging issue. Its hacked so I got no warranty. If you want the glass I am sure we can come up with a fair price and I can ship it to you. let me know.

Justin
Click to expand...
 
kidnamedmoe said:
i see on ebay, amazon, and other misc. companys online selling the ENTIRE screen (LCD, touch sensor, and glass) all together for $150-$200, (why on earth they are that expensive, i have no clue if apple charges you 200-250 for a WHOLE NEW PHONE.
Click to expand...


Apparently you've never had to deal with replacement parts before. A run-of-the-mill Dell laptop might cost around $1000. Try replacing the LCD display on it. They'll charge $1000+ just for the display. If you parted out the laptop and priced it through their replacement parts purchasing it would probably be between $3500 and $4000.
 
lol, u must be shopping at the wrong places, i've replaced a laptop LCD b4, took me 10 mins... cost me 175 bucks... for a 15" compaq...



avaloncourt said:
Apparently you've never had to deal with replacement parts before. A run-of-the-mill Dell laptop might cost around $1000. Try replacing the LCD display on it. They'll charge $1000+ just for the display. If you parted out the laptop and priced it through their replacement parts purchasing it would probably be between $3500 and $4000.
Click to expand...
 
Has anyone succesfully replaced glass only?

I shattered my glass but everything still works. I have the glass only replacement. All the youtube vids say you can't replace only the glass. Has anyone done it anyway and been succesful? What about just scraping the glass away and putting new glass back on?
 
Why not just buy the iphone oem glass replacement and follow the tutorial on how to replace it with plastic, and instead of useing plastic use the oem glass part. That should work.
 
I got mine off of ebay for like $45 shipped from hong kong. It is true the glass and LCD are separate, but glue holds the glass to the LCD. Haven't gotten to put it in yet as I still need to have the time to pull the phone apart, and want to do as little damage.

Looks as though the prices went down, http://search.ebay.com/search/search.dll?from=R40&_trksid=m37&satitle=iPhone+glass&category0= and you can get glass and LCD for under $70 would be worth it incase you bust the lcd tring to remove the glass.
 
has anyone tried to seperate the two, or anyone with just the glass broken and a working LCD tried to replace the glass at all? I am interested in this because I have just bought an 8gb iphone for 200 that has a scratch/crack just at the top of the phone yet not over the lcd. Anyone with anymore information who has attempted this?
 
The problem with replacing just the glass is that the glass is epoxied onto the LCD/Digitizer making it a single piece. If you get replacement glass you will have no way to successfully removed all your old broken glass from the font of the phone without messing up the glue that is there. Even if you get all the glass scraps off you will have all that dirty epoxy to deal with. Say you even got all that off without messing up the sensitive thin films of the digitizer which are now exposed... How would you epoxy the new piece of glass on without locking dust inside the LCD digitizer? not to mention getting glue all over the innards. Its simply not realistic. I think apple did this to eliminate any chance of dust getting between the screen and the glass. I know I dont see allot of complaints of this so this encapsulation must work but it makes replacing the glass screen impossible.

The iTouch on the other hand.... completely different design. I expect iPhone 2.0 to be closer the the iTouch in this regard.

cheers
 
have you read any of the articles about people replaceing the glass with plastic? They use a product called "goo begone" that removes glue easily, I am not sure how well this works, but then after they get that off they say that the screen peice should just "pop" in place. Not really sure how it is secured....
 
So, i finally got my phone fixed.... (got another refurb from apple)

I called corporate apple, instead of going to the apple store (i kept getting turn down to get it fixed for free)

when I called, i told them it was a hair line crack, that might have happned from heat expandtion, they told me to bring it to a store, and i told them, they wanted to charge me.. so he made a note on the computer with a claim number, that they HAVE TO replace it..

it worked..

do i feel bad about lying? no, becuase the price of an iphone is still, in my head, a rip off--- and the new 3g phone is coming out next month, and they are probubly gonna get more of my money (cuz i'm a sucker)... so it all works out..
 
dont even think about it!

I got some iphone glass on ebay for around $20 and used the pdaparts guide to taking the iphone apart.

all went well until it came to separating the glass from the digitizer.

i destroyed the digitizer and screen in the process. ugh. what a mess.

even now, with the screen half shattered and the digitizer split in two, i can't figure out how to remove the glass screen.

the glass is really attached to the digitizer!

now i'm going to have to buy a digitizer/glass combo.

damn.

-jay


iphone glass repair only impossible!
 
half way and scared

I'm in the middle of this process right now and am scared because it is going fine. Luckily my introduction to the fragility of the digitizer was non-catastrophic, I chipped a piece off the very edge, but no cracks.

I've heard people talk about using goo gone, but with the research I've done and by talking to people who have tried actually using it, it doesn't sound like a good choice. Goo Gone is an oil-based solvent, which might work on grease and some gums and tar, but the glue between the digitizer and the glass is a rubbery layer that needs to be eaten away chemically, so something else must be tried. I'm having great success with Goof Off, which is Xylene based but have also heard that acetone or dicloromethane are good choices for use on glass. I really think that using a commercial grade paint stripper or solvent is the way to go. If you disconnect the battery first, there shouldn't be a problem with the device getting shorted out. While I haven't soaked it completely, I am using cotton balls to hold the solvent against the broken spots and then prying them up slightly with a razor blade to get the solvent below it. After about 15 minutes of this, the glass pieces started coming off easily. I'll need to be patient but it is working. I have it soaking right now in the hopes that the larger pieces might be loosened enough for removal by tonight.

By starting with the part of the glass that is NOT above the digitizer, I was able to apply more pressure without as much risk, these pieces broke off in strips, partially exposing the digitizer and allowing me some access at the glue there. I will keep working from the periphery and use time and solvent instead of prying, because I noticed that the entire digitizer and screen will pull away from the body, before the glue will release. I also have a commercial paint stripper that I am testing on glass and an LCD panel first to make sure it won't destroy whatever it touches and I will use this if I need more strength.

If you google the topic of glass adhesive solvent you will get a lot more information than by just looking for people who have worked specifically with the iphone. that's where I read about the dicloromethane and the acetone.

What no one actually thinks of though, is that we will have to create a new bond to the new glass. I haven't heard anyone talking about what the best product to use would be. The stuff feels like rubber cement, but has perfect clarity. Any thoughts?

good luck. remember, lay out a crisp $100 bill on the table first to remind yourself to be patient, that's what you are getting paid for doing it yourself.
 
Good luck to you!

I wish you good luck and please keep us updated on your progress.

I cracked the glass screen on my iPhone yesterday by dropping it on the driveway. The touch sensor and lcd panel seem to be just fine, so for the moment I will simply be putting some clear plastic tape on it to hold it together.

Ultimately I may upgrade to an iPhone 3G when they come out, but would still like to fix this one. The only downside I see to attempting to repair the glass only is that you may end up being forced to purchase the whole lcd/touch/glass assembly. These seem to cost around $180 these days. Has anyone found a much less expensive source for these? The glass only can be had for $20.

BTW, nail polish remover is mostly acetone.

Also curious about the adhesive issue, i.e. what to use or whether it is really needed at all.
 
messed up but working

well. I got all the glue off and tested the digitizer. well, it's messed up. everything works but the pressure from prying the glass off seems to have started to pull the digitizer from the LCD. it looks really cool, but not right. kind of like there are clouds under the glass. 3D clouds.

so just a hint: don't pry. it is definitely worse in places where I pried more.

a problem I see is that with a $200 iPhone on the market repairing one for $100 doesn't make sense. on the flip side. the display setup will probably drop in price soon.

we really need to find something that properly dissolves the glue so we don't have to press/pry with damaging force. I kept the glue I pulled off so I can try a few solvents on it. it appears to be weak or really thin silicone so I am going to try a few test pieces with crystal clear silicone and liquid nails which has a similar product. but rubber cement might work fine too.
 
Thanks for the update, and an appeal to the board

Thanks for the update.

The critical question probably is:

Does it look better now than it did with the broken glass screen?

A followup would be:

Is it worth $150 more to get it perfect?

Please post a follow up if you learn anything further about a solvent for the glue.

Some questions: Does the glue come off on the glass pieces, or does it tend to stick to the surface of the digitizer? If some sticks to the digitizer, did you scrape it off the digitizer with a razor blade?

Did you actually try "Goo Gone"? I have used this stuff with some pretty good success in the past.

A question for the board:
Does anyone have a broken lcd/digitizer/glass plate assembly left over from a repair job that they would be willing to donate to the cause of figuring out a way to take them apart non-destructively? I don't care if the lcd is broken in addition to the glass or not.

Thanks,
JohnBinSC
 
2 tries in.

Well to answer your first question. It does look a hell of a lot better than it did with the broken glass. there were a few bubbles in the glue but these were minimal. It definitely wouldn't pass as new, but the fix looked good, except that the button got some glue on it, so I had to rip the entire thing back apart and am back to a thinking phase.

I went with another Liquid Nails product: Perfect Glue #1. I didn't want the glass bonding to be too strong and was looking for a low viscosity solution to minimize the bubbles and undulations in the glue base, before setting the glass. I'm mostly satisfied with the glue and it acts and operates just like the original. I'm going to reduce the ambient temperature and try to increase humidity to increase set time. I was in full sunlight (for visibility) and the set time was less than 5 minutes for the thin layer we need. It does take a long time to cure, so removal of the glass was easy (just slid it off, didn't pry).

The problem is that to properly get out the bubbles and to even the glue base, it requires a lot of jiggling of the glass, pressing back and forth to even out the glue and eliminate as many bubbles as possible. This means the glue moves around and any excess either comes out the side (fine) or goes into the ends (not fine).

One nice fact that might not be widely known is that the digitizer is glass too, not plastic. I was worried about it being plastic and easily scratched, but the two surfaces in question are both glass making razor blade work much safer.

the glue comes off with the glass and stays on the digitizer. Using goof off or acetone you can easily remove the excess from the digitizer with a razor blade or cotton swab soaked in your solvent. Remember: DON'T PRY THE GLASS UP.

I haven't personally tried goo gone on this, but have used it before with mixed results on other projects and have talked to one person who used that as the solvent in trying to remove iPhone glass, with little success. So I don't know definitively, but from what I've read, goo gone is a safer method, but not a high strength solvent. The acetone will even eat into the plastic if you don't watch out.

So I'm planning my third attack on it. I need a way to get a thin, even layer of glue down on the glass/digitizer, which is thick enough to allow for movement and wiggling to remove bubbles and pockets, but not excessive enough that it is pushed into the button, earpiece, etc. I was thinking that using a foam paint brush to level out the glue base would be a good tactic. then I could apply small dots in the corners to hold them down and press the glass directly down into place. Anothe idea was to slide the glass on sideways, with a heavy bead of glue on one side of the digitizer, so that it is spread in front of and under the glass as it moves across. the problem with this is that I'd have to figure out a way to adhere the ends after placement (a syringe could work maybe. I found that sliding the glass back and forth is a great way to smooth out the layer of glue and clarify the screen. And remember, you need the glue to be between 1/64th and 1/32nd thick for the metal bezel to fit back on properly.

Any suggestions or impressions? Thanks for the great thread people, this if frustrating but fun stuff.
 
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