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having trouble replacing touch matrix... need help, pictures included

so my touch matrix cracked, got a replacement on ebay that looks perfect. i got it to work but everytime a do, a few days later it stops working until i fix it again. i can't seem to figure out how the flexible PCB connects to the back of the LCD module. it looks like HTC just puts a piece of tape over it.
however, i noticed when taking off the old LCD touch matrix that there was some sort of possibly conductive adhesive that made it very difficult to pull off. i got it off but one of the contacts got stuck on there and it i had to scrape it off with a scalpel.
see picture below for exact details. if anyone has any experience in doing this and getting it to work, please let me know, it's so frustrating not having touch on this phone.
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I think you might need to have that professionally repaired. I used to refurbish phones for Motorola but I've never taken anything this advanced apart before. It sounds like you shouldn't have scraped off that conductive adhesive. The digitizer you bought should have been a relatively simple installation but you should have taken your time peeling off the old cracked digitizer. That adhesive is pretty strong and thats why they use it.
You might want to look into getting your hands on some of that adhesive and just replace it all. Sometimes the oils from your skin from handling such a sensitive ribbon cable could have damaged it as well.
P.S. Unfortunately, most of the people here are software genius's, not hardware experts unfortunately.

it's not too advanced. i figure if they at least offer the part as a replacement option on ebay it can't be too hard. and in the mass view, it's only 4 contacts and relatively easy to replace if you have a minor knowledge of electronics.
i keep taping it down firmly and even putting extra tape on top so that the pressure of the case will press down on the pcb to have a firmer connection.
note: i was very careful to observe ESD precautions, so that isn't it, plus there's no semiconductors that could be damaged in the touch matrix.

dudah85 said:
it's not too advanced. i figure if they at least offer the part as a replacement option on ebay it can't be too hard. and in the mass view, it's only 4 contacts and relatively easy to replace if you have a minor knowledge of electronics.
i keep taping it down firmly and even putting extra tape on top so that the pressure of the case will press down on the pcb to have a firmer connection.
note: i was very careful to observe ESD precautions, so that isn't it, plus there's no semiconductors that could be damaged in the touch matrix.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hmm... have you tried good old fashion superglue? I mean not neccesarily putting it on the end of the cable where the conductors are, but on the cable right near the conductors to keep it from moving around and then placing a few strips of tape to sandwich the cable with the housing pressing it down tight?

yes i have but i fear what happens if when pressing it down if it gets on the pads, then i'm just totally screwed. it's a tough situation, i wish there was a contact at HTC that could tell me how it's done.
i'm going to also try contacting their support/repair office and see if they can provide any insight.

dudah85 said:
yes i have but i fear what happens if when pressing it down if it gets on the pads, then i'm just totally screwed. it's a tough situation, i wish there was a contact at HTC that could tell me how it's done.
i'm going to also try contacting their support/repair office and see if they can provide any insight.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The superglue option is very risky but it could save your @$$ if you only put very little on the ribbon and then hold it in place untill it dries and then press down once the glue is already dry.
On another note, contacting their support office would probably be your best bet.
Everything you have done, even though not done wrong, it a far greater risk than I would have ever taken... I would have sent it in to be repaired of the digitizer had a crack in it or or the dot matrix got scratched. But thats me.
Unfortunately there aren't too many technicians here on this forum since it is almost completely firmware and not hardware here... Then again, there might be a few. Where I live it's kinda late at night so maybe they're sleeping or something. Lol.

i'm neither a hardware nor a software expertm but i may be able to help... i saw the manual somewhere... www.mdatweak.com/downloads/Wizard_Service_Manual.pdf... try that... maybe it'll help you...

For those who attempt to change broken LCD/digitizer

I have an torn apart Samsung Vibrant.
I am no technician but have disassembled several other phones and found this is the hardest so far.
I leave you some pictures, it might help some one.
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Let me know if you need some info, I will have to wait a few weeks until my new parts arrive so the phone it's going to stay that way...

Replacement Vibrant keyboard ribbon cable here...
So I got a Vibrant and promptly broke the display, I'm not sure how I did it, perhaps I sneezed too loudly or something, it doesn't matter - of course I'm going to fix it right? I repair electronics to board level, perhaps 25% of my time is spent on surface mount digital circuits, so I figure how hard can a cell phone be right?
Wrong! Oh so very wrong, grasshopper.
The digitizer and screen are held together with such veracity that I was afraid of breaking the plastic bezel piece around the screen as I pried the two apart. Even with help of a heat blanket (used for softening plastic electrical pipe for bending) I was unable to pry the two apart with any ease. I spent a couple hours over a couple of days only to finally separate the broken glass from the bezel and back plane only to find that I'd also torn the control cable from the keyboard assembly!
I've been looking for this little 5mm wide cable with 20+ flexible traces for a while now - here it is for $14! You have to but two but who really cares!
Look on globaldirectparts dot com under Samsung-T959 part# SMSNG6085870 Navigator-Flex-Cable.
Let me know if you want my extra cable assembly. I'll sell it to you for the same price I buy it for plus shipping to my house and then dropping it into a padded envelope and sending it to your house....can't be much.
Oh what a glory day!

icansolvetheproblem said:
So I got a Vibrant and promptly broke the display, I'm not sure how I did it, perhaps I sneezed too loudly or something, it doesn't matter - of course I'm going to fix it right? I repair electronics to board level, perhaps 25% of my time is spent on surface mount digital circuits, so I figure how hard can a cell phone be right?
Wrong! Oh so very wrong, grasshopper.
The digitizer and screen are held together with such veracity that I was afraid of breaking the plastic bezel piece around the screen as I pried the two apart. Even with help of a heat blanket (used for softening plastic electrical pipe for bending) I was unable to pry the two apart with any ease. I spent a couple hours over a couple of days only to finally separate the broken glass from the bezel and back plane only to find that I'd also torn the control cable from the keyboard assembly!
I've been looking for this little 5mm wide cable with 20+ flexible traces for a while now - here it is for $14! You have to but two but who really cares!
Look on globaldirectparts dot com under Samsung-T959 part# SMSNG6085870 Navigator-Flex-Cable.
Let me know if you want my extra cable assembly. I'll sell it to you for the same price I buy it for plus shipping to my house and then dropping it into a padded envelope and sending it to your house....can't be much.
Oh what a glory day!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did you try to replace just the glass? I thought the glass was glued to the digitizer? And you have to replace them together. Kinda like the earlier iPhones. I thought anyway. ?
I cracked my Vibrant in the first month. Nice. Its in the corner so I cannot see it when the screen is on. But its just bad enough too ruin my resale value and Tmo wont swap it out becouse of physical damage. Nice again.
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App

Vibrant Display Repair
The OLED display and the digitizer / face are a single assembly it's true. The two of them are sandwiched together and bonded with some sort of resin along the edges. This assembly with processing electronics arrive as one piece. Samsung has kindly applied an extremely sticky glue to this entire assembly which in turn keeps it tightly held to the inner body assembly and trim bezel.
The only problem with this is that the flex cable connecting the keyboard (they call it the 'navigator') is stuck IN THE GLUE between these two items (the rear housing and the display) and from what I can deduce is nearly always going to be torn when one tries to separate the display from the bezel and inner backing assembly.
If you order a replacement OLED display be sure and order this flex cable assembly if you're interested in fixing your phone.
Cheers!

Yep all went well except for that cable!
So if you still have the 2nd, let me know. Screen works, but the bottom keys do not. Extremely frustrating!

[How to] Repair the LCD cable clamp you broke while replacing the digitizer

I am certain that I'm getting the post syntax incorrect, let me know and I'll adjust it.
Anywho, I found out too late that when removing the black goo from the LCD's flex cable, you need to:
1. Heat it gently
2. Pull the goo from the INSIDE EDGE to the OUTSIDE EDGE.
3. Not break that paper-thin, fragile, incredibly tiny sliver of plastic that is the difference between an LCD that will turn on and an LCD that will not!
So, I managed to do none of these things. I went ahead and replaced the digitizer and tried various (failed) methods of mitigating the damage I had wrought, finding no help on the internet, only commiseration.
Tonight I had a flash of inspiration, and what the heck, it worked. I carefully used a needle to separate the tiny wire tips protruding from the clamp (my poorly-considered sideways goo-removal bent a few until they touched each other) while wishing I had a microscope, then I prepared a short length of PLASTIC DRINKING STRAW, folded it in half lengthwise ("long-ways"), and gingerly placed it beneath the overlying digitizer cable so that it compressed the LCD cable against the contacts beneath. I put the phone back together, and here I am today.
Now, I probably should have laid a bit of tape over this so that it won't shake free. I'll wait until it shakes free to do that, then report back.
I fully expect this post to elicit discussion of the dozen ways in which to better achieve this repair, and why my method is the worst of the bunch.
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I guess yours isn't the worst fix!
moktarino said:
I am certain that I'm getting the post syntax incorrect, let me know and I'll adjust it.
Anywho, I found out too late that when removing the black goo from the LCD's flex cable, you need to:
1. Heat it gently
2. Pull the goo from the INSIDE EDGE to the OUTSIDE EDGE.
3. Not break that paper-thin, fragile, incredibly tiny sliver of plastic that is the difference between an LCD that will turn on and an LCD that will not!
So, I managed to do none of these things. I went ahead and replaced the digitizer and tried various (failed) methods of mitigating the damage I had wrought, finding no help on the internet, only commiseration.
Tonight I had a flash of inspiration, and what the heck, it worked. I carefully used a needle to separate the tiny wire tips protruding from the clamp (my poorly-considered sideways goo-removal bent a few until they touched each other) while wishing I had a microscope, then I prepared a short length of PLASTIC DRINKING STRAW, folded it in half lengthwise ("long-ways"), and gingerly placed it beneath the overlying digitizer cable so that it compressed the LCD cable against the contacts beneath. I put the phone back together, and here I am today.
Now, I probably should have laid a bit of tape over this so that it won't shake free. I'll wait until it shakes free to do that, then report back.
I fully expect this post to elicit discussion of the dozen ways in which to better achieve this repair, and why my method is the worst of the bunch.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Apparently, it's not such a bad idea after all! I'm just wondering how to adapt it to work on an EVO 4G. There's no ribbon to put it underneath, but I get the idea... one would think those incredibly thin/weak plastic clamps (which should be relatively simple to replace) could be purchases for 10 to 100 times what they are worth (say, $3USD?) and problem solved. I put an HD2 screen in an EVO 4G, worked fine, until I didn't glue it in properly, and it popped out. My g/f brought it back to me, saying that I needed to fix it right! I went back in, and that damned wide flex ribbon cable, just the angle I was at, along with my son jumping about the table I was working at, I inadvertently broke that clamp, in three pieces! Damned frustrating too! I gotta get me a dedicated desk for my PC/CELL/TV repairs... with lights, magnifying glass, and a locked door...

Well folks, I have outdone myself today. I was digging through my old tech to harvest the buzzer motor out of an old Boost Mobile Motorola i425 phone. After ripping it apart for the motor, I decided to pick through the rest of the parts to see if there was anything worth keeping (I bet you know where I'm going with this by now), and after harvesting the speakers, I noticed that the LCD cable looked suspiciously similar to the one on my poor Droid X.
3 hours later, I have fully repaired my Droid X. It was pretty tricky though, but I discovered that if you bend the metal bits at either end of the connector down, you can slide the clamp in and then bend them back upright.
Parts reuse FTW! Thanks Motorola! i425's are apparently $5 on eBay now, btw.

You saved my life (and the one from my Sensation). Such a simple and working idea! Thanks!

FPC Battery Connector for main logic board

Hi guys, is there anywhere I can get a fpc battery terminal for the logic board as per image attached? one of the brass prongs got caught in the battery and pinged off to my horror!
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Gutted is an understatement!

@turbotux If it's *just* the connector you want, and you're happy/able to solder it to the board, you can get it here.....
http://www.fonejoy.com/genuine-sams...edge-j1-j5-battery-connector-3711-008737.html
I personally wouldn't touch a hand soldering job like that, and I have been regularly using a soldering iron on all sorts of kit for over 20 years. The connectors are invariably microscopic and the potential to cause other, accidental damage is too high.
But if you want to try it....fair play and good luck (I think you'll need it).

Having actually had a 'close up' look at the connector, the solder points are bigger than I thought they would be (I've hand soldered smaller contacts). It would be possible to hand solder, but you'd need a *very* fine tipped soldering iron. And preferably one that produced a lower level of heat than a 'regular' soldering iron.

keithross39 said:
Having actually had a 'close up' look at the connector, the solder points are bigger than I thought they would be (I've hand soldered smaller contacts). It would be possible to hand solder, but you'd need a *very* fine tipped soldering iron. And preferably one that produced a lower level of heat than a 'regular' soldering iron.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you so much for the response, it appears the solder points are big enough, look it's broken each way so it's worth a try I guess.

turbotux said:
Thank you so much for the response, it appears the solder points are big enough, look it's broken each way so it's worth a try I guess.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah....you have a broken phone right now so why not try it? Just be *REAL* careful....There are a number of surface mounted components in close proximity to your work area....
Damaging them through accidental contact with the soldering iron (or even simple heat transfer along the board) is a BIG possibility....
---------- Post added at 04:40 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:31 PM ----------
One final bit of advice (though you probably already know this) 'tin' or coat the solder points on the new part before going near the board. It'll help minimise the length of time the iron is in contact with the board.

I have a soldering iron with a 'home modified' reversable tip. You can see in the picture, at one end is the standard 4mm tip while at the other is a 1mm tip that tapers down to practically a needle point. This is the end that sees the most use, and it is that size of tip that you're going to need.

Just to update, I managed to solder it and it still did not work unfortunely so I've bought another n910f handset, these things happen. However the cause of this I think is down to the extended battery I had pulling on the whole module, I'm going to be running the stock batteries I have from now on.
A worthy purchase however is the extended battery I've picked up for those long cycle rides which should easily see me through, for interest its a 14000mAh Logic3 which I picked up from Maplin for around £40 and compared to its 30000mAh Chinese predecessor it totally kicks ass.
A expensive lesson learned here....

I've gone a slightly different route with my S5 and wife's N4. I have 3 batteries for each and an external charger for both types.
The spare batteries are standard capacity, but they're made by Anker.
Batteries get rotated so there's always a good battery in the phone, one that's charging and a fully charged one waiting for use.

keithross39 said:
I've gone a slightly different route with my S5 and wife's N4. I have 3 batteries for each and an external charger for both types.
The spare batteries are standard capacity, but they're made by Anker.
Batteries get rotated so there's always a good battery in the phone, one that's charging and a fully charged one waiting for use.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah the safe approach, I'm going down this route also, thanks for all your help

Yeah....It also minimises wear on the micro usb socket built into the phone...which is one big weak point on these devices.

My new V20 arrived with its camera glass cover part loose with weak adhesive-advice?

As mentioned at my long post at https://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=73478114&postcount=45 , I noticed my LG V20 arrived with the following seemingly minor hardware issue..
When my V20 arrived I noticed the rear camera glass cover mound (similar to https://www.amazon.com/Unifix-Camera-Repair-Replacement-Silver/dp/B06Y3K831B but includes the LED cover that only uses adhesive tape visible at https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/61vhxTdE-gL._SL1150_.jpg & below) was loose with weak adhesive, my compressed photo of it at (https://preview.ibb.co/cV6Qu5/V20_CAMERA_GLASS_COVER_ADHESIVE_LOOSE.jpg & below), but everything works & I don't think it's worth returning it especially if B&H doesn't have anymore https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1285961-REG/lg_lgus996_ausasv_lg_v20_4gb_ram.html so what do you think I should do regarding a better adhesive for it, if I can't find anything should I try a clear heated glue gun like https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B073Z5QNTD or just double sided tape as visible at https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/61vhxTdE-gL._SL1150_.jpg to make it easier to replace should it ever break (although my case offers it some protection)?
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- Thanks for any productive advice

3m thin double sided tape
Autostore, wally world, target, kmart
Specifically get the thin version. It is what is used. Cheaper replacement kits use knockoff 3m thin tape.
P.S. easy with the links, killer.

elijah420 said:
3m thin double sided tape
Autostore, wally world, target, kmart
Specifically get the thin version. It is what is used. Cheaper replacement kits use knockoff 3m thin tape.
P.S. easy with the links, killer.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
LOL I love links..what's the problem with relevant links (don't have to click through them)..
My sister actually brought me over tonight some thin 3M double sided tape she had like at https://www.amazon.com/Scotch-Removable-Double-Dispenser-667/dp/B00006IF63 but when I removed my new LG V20's camera glass cover part with my fingernail on the top edge, the adhesive on it already seemed stickier than the tape (which given the small intricate holes would not be easy to cut out at this point) so I didn't put the tape on tonight & used the adhesive it already had to secure it firmly down with some lens cleaning cloths. It's not hanging or very loose anymore but I can move it around a bit with my fingernails, is that normal?
She also brought me Elmer's All Purpose Gluestick like at https://www.amazon.com/Elmers-Purpose-Sticks-0-77-ounce-sticks/dp/B000U6FJQE which seems easier to work with if the camera lens is avoided but not very strong & 3M Restickable Tabs for mounting like at https://www.amazon.com/Scotch-Restickable-Tabs-Inches-R100VPC/dp/B007TUMWNM but she said that is significantly thicker than the tape. She also brought me a hot glue gun she borrowed from someone (needed it for something else)..
Mine only moves a bit now if I shake each side specifically with my fingernails (which I'll be cutting soon & would be difficult with short nails) but I can currently still remove it with my fingernails around its edges.. This LG V20's camera glass cover part no longer seems like it's going anywhere unless it's hit in the right crevice-angle or possibly dropped with enough top impact, is everyone's 100% unmovable even with fingernails inside its edges?
-Thx for any constructive advice

Do not use glue.

elijah420 said:
Do not use glue.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Rationale for recommendations are also appreciated by anyone for this situation.
So far I haven't used anything except try to secure it better with its shipped adhesive with a soft lens cloth. https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/search?Ntt=LG+V20+US996 assured me this V20 was new before it shipped & when I received it I saw no evidence it was ever used except I noticed the camera glass cover part was oddly loose later hanging down a bit which obviously alarmed me hence my post especially after reading people had reported their camera glass easily broke. I had recently used glue elsewhere on a project so I immediately considered if it should be glued but decided to investigate the matter further before introducing anything extrinsic there.
I had wondered if there might be an advantage to the camera glass cover part being less rigid with such "flexible" adhesive to potentially absorb any shocks better but wasn't sure if that was just wishful thinking. I merely secured it down in its place with its own adhesive enough now that I'm not too worried anymore especially with the protective case but it doesn't seem entirely normal that I should be able to remove it along its edges with my finger nails in such a pliable way without getting some feedback from owners.
I speculate you might be familiar with reports that the camera glass part breaks easily & I'd obviously prefer to avoid damaging this otherwise cool-unique device.

Enough with the bickering here thanks...
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