Category: Mobiles and SmartPhones Repair and Service
Contents of this article
- How to remove the case
- How to remove the battery
- How to replace the Glass
Samsung Galaxy S3
How
to replace the front glass
If your phone already has a protective screen applied to
it, you are ready to begin. If it doesn't, cut a piece of packaging tape the
size of the screen and apply it to the screen. This will help you remove the
broken glass later.
With a plastic opening tool, pry open the back case. It
will come out very easily.
Take out the battery. There are no cables attached.
If your provider/version of phone takes a SIM card,
remove it by pushing it in a bit until you hear a small click, and then slide
it out. Sprint USA does not use SIM card.
At this point you can already go to the next step, which
is using a heat gun. However I felt safer by taking out the motherboard too.
You need to have lots of patience in this procedure. Take
your time. Using an infrared thermometer heat the surface to 170-180° F
(roughly 70-80° C). This will loosen the glue but not damage the electronics.
Hold the gun at about 3 inches from your phone (in this picture it looks like
its right on top). With the heat gun set to low, heat up the borders for about
3 to 5 minutes depending on the strength of your heat gun. You must be careful
when using the heat gun on this device. If the device is heated up too much
then it may melt the digitizer and cause discoloration. If you start to see any
discoloration then shut off the gun immediately. If you are working with a hair
dryer, it might take up to 1 hour. This melts the glue that holds the glass to
the frame and to the display. The glass is glued to them.
Using a guitar pick or a plastic opening tool, very
carefully start to work separating the edges of the glass. Make sure to go from
top to bottom. You will need to use the heat gun a number of times as you go
down separating the glass. For glasses with lots of damage you will need to go
extra carefully as to not damage the LCD with the shattered glass pieces.
When you start separating the screen, you need to start from
the top borders and work your way to the center, ungluing the whole screen from
top to bottom. Leave some opening tools in to prevent the glass from bonding
again to the LCD. Be extra careful when you get to the bottom because the menu
buttons are glued to the glass. Do not pull the glass just yet, you might
damage the cables. Pull the screen from the top to the bottom to the point
where you can see the menu and return button cables.
Extra attention is necessary with this step, don't damage
the buttons or cable. With a spudger, detach the buttons from the inner side of
the glass. This might require a little extra heat. Also, the best strategy is
to start in the middle, under the black ribbon that connects the two buttons,
and then move sideways to separate each one.
Take out the broken glass. I was able to take it all in
one piece. If your glass is very shattered you will need to pick up the small
pieces with tweezers, one by one or stick tape to the glass before you take it
out. You can also use screen protectors.
Take this small metal piece from your old glass, you will
need to put it in the new one. Clean up the glue that remains on the borders. A
small microfiber with a bit of WD40 or windex can help you take all the glue
off. Be sure to not use too much WD40 or windex. When cleaning out the glue, do
NOT attempt to scrap glue out of the cracks between the LCD and the frame. A
very small amount of force toward the center or from underneath will crack the
LED. Cut up two small 1mm pieces of the sticker tape and glue the buttons to
the phone to keep them in place. It's very important to make sure the buttons
line up exactly with the picture.
Put pieces of the sticker tape along the inner frame of
the phone. Clean up the digitizer with lint free wipes or a clean microfiber
towel. I used some lens cleaner to leave it spotless and smudge free.
Take out the plastic from the new glass, make sure you
dont touch the inner side of the screen. There are thin protective plastic
layers on both sides of the glass. Peel them out before placing the glass on
your phone.
Check the glass against the light to make sure it is
streak free before applying. If packaging left noticeable marks clean with
glass cleaner and let dry before applying Peel off the paper from the sticker
tape and put on the new glass. Press on the edges to secure adhesion.
