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Broken glass question.

M

macwh0re

macrumors member
Original poster
May 31, 2008
66
7
Hey guys, recently I dropped my 3GS and cracked the glass. It is a very faint crack, but a crack none the less. It was working fine for a few hours, but then the touchscreen stopped responding. The buttons work, and I tried a restore..still nothing. I plan to fix it myself.. I have some light experience in replacing the glass, but I'm unsure of what I need to replace if the screen is unresponsive. Do I need the glass, or the glass and the lcd screen? Thanks for the help :)
 
jav6454 said:
DIY is a pain to do and you can break something which means more parts or a visit to Apple, the positive side is that it is a cheap fix. Usually within $50.

Apple's fix is expensive $199, but if they mess it up, you get a new phone.
Click to expand...

I think I'll take the risk and do it myself. I'm using my 3g in the meantime so I'm in no rush, and would like to save that extra $150 for my iPad :) Thanks for your help
 
It would be easier to buy an entire new LCD with digitizer, but if you're more of a hands on person then you could just buy the replacement glass and try to fix it that way.

My friend, who isn't so tech savvy, did it himself. I explained what he had to do, and his phone is working perfectly.

He paid $50 for the part (his was for the 3G though)... I foundthis but it's quite expensive (I guess cause it's 3G? You could probably find the part for cheaper.
 
acfusion29 said:
It would be easier to buy an entire new LCD with digitizer, but if you're more of a hands on person then you could just buy the replacement glass and try to fix it that way.

My friend, who isn't so tech savvy, did it himself. I explained what he had to do, and his phone is working perfectly.

He paid $50 for the part (his was for the 3G though)... I foundthis but it's quite expensive (I guess cause it's 3G? You could probably find the part for cheaper.
Click to expand...

As far as I know you have to replace the the glass+digitizer in one go. at least this was the case when i cracked the glass on my 3G about 6 months ago. I'm not sure if it's changed, but there is no way to separate and reuse the digitizer from the cracked screen?

Fabian
 
fabian9 said:
As far as I know you have to replace the the glass+digitizer in one go. at least this was the case when i cracked the glass on my 3G about 6 months ago. I'm not sure if it's changed, but there is no way to separate and reuse the digitizer from the cracked screen?

Fabian
Click to expand...

You could always do it.

It's a little harder, that's why I suggested getting the entire thing already put together.
 
I literally fixed my 3G myself yesterday. I dropped mine at work back in November and didn't want to pay the crazy amount apple wants. I Finally searched on eBay for iPhone 3G replacement glass and digitizer. Found one for about $28, watched a YouTube video on how to do it, and in about 20 minutes or so after receiving the part it was back together and working as new. Don't be afraid to do it yourself, just BE CAREFUL. A suction cup will become your best friend (like ones used to hang stuff from windows), use it to pop the screen off after you remove the two screws from the bottom instead of trying to pry it off with a screw driver or a flimsy pry tool.

PS,
Don't do what I did and crack the LCD when trying to get it out. I wasn't being careful and broke the bottom of mine. But another quick search on eBay and I found one for about $28. So I have a new LCD, new digitizer, and new glass all for about $55 and 30 minutes of my time.
 
It is a relatively easy repair, as long as you're careful. One of my coworkers did it several weeks ago, and I'm going to be doing one probably next week. The only really bad part is if the glass is REALLY broken (which luckily yours isn't), the suction cups don't work particularly well and you have to spend 30 minutes picking out glass slivers from all over the place. But $20-something for the glass, digitizer, and tools and a few minutes of your time, and you'll be back in business.

$199 for this repair is highway robbery, plain and simple.
 
You need to realise a few things.
When replacing just the glass (digitizer) you must remove it from the inner frame that holds other parts. It's glued on and can sometimes be a pain to remove if you don't know what you're doing.

Another thing, the LCD is not part of the whole thing. It can be removed quite easily as it's only screwed in under a metal plate.

When removing the glass from the frame it's best to use either a hair dryer or a heat gun (on a low temp) to ensure you dont break the frame itself or leave any glass behind (it will break more as you remove it).

One thing to be careful of would be the earpiece as it's quite delicate.
You could also try buying a complete front without the LCD if you don't feel you could remove the digitizer properly. It's worth a shot to begin with though and if anything goes wrong you can just buy a complete front.

There are plenty of guides around on the net you can follow and youtube is especially handy. Take your time and you'll be fine.

Good luck.
 
acfusion29 said:
You could always do it.

It's a little harder, that's why I suggested getting the entire thing already put together.
Click to expand...

I think we're on different pages...

For me, the glass != the digitiser. You used to be able get "glass only" parts on ebay, which were missing the digitiser.

So yes, of course you can replace the screen/LCD separately, but you can't replace the screen/digitiser separately.

Fabian
 
Slightly OT, but anybody got a cheap source for the power button? Dropped my 3G in the lake (actually, a female friend did) and lucky me...only the power button stopped working. :D
 
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