Glass only repair S5 - anyone done it?

Going Forward

The glass is seperating from the screen, so I bought a repair kit.

That was before I realised it's not as easy as it sounds!!

Seeing as I now have the kit I'm going to give it a go (if it breaks it breaks), just wondering has anyone here done it?

duridian

I think the AMOLED screens of the Galaxy S are nigh impossible to do a glass only repair without quite a bit of specialised tools, and also a lot of patience and skill as the touchscreen/glass and the display are bonded together with UV glue.

TBH it is only viable if you repair phones for a living, and have the equipment.

The usual recommendation otherwise is to buy a complete front assembly and replace all of that rather than attempting glass only.

See what's involved in this video to see what I mean.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PfJ2ap2pmgo

Best of luck, with whichever route you decide.

P.S. I have personally successfully replaced an AMOLED assembly on a first gen Moto X, which uses a similar type of screen, and despite having a fair bit of experience there is not a hope I would have been able to separate the glass and display with the usual opening kit type of tools that I have, not to mind thinking of glueing a new screen on without any visual blemishes.

Going Forward

duridian wrote: »

I think the AMOLED screens of the Galaxy S are nigh impossible to do a glass only repair without quite a bit of specialised tools, and also a lot of patience and skill as the touchscreen/glass and the display are bonded together with UV glue.

TBH it is only viable if you repair phones for a living, and have the equipment.

The usual recommendation otherwise is to buy a complete front assembly and replace all of that rather than attempting glass only.

See what's involved in this video to see what I mean.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PfJ2ap2pmgo

Best of luck, with whichever route you decide.

P.S. I have personally successfully replaced an AMOLED assembly on a first gen Moto X, which uses a similar type of screen, and despite having a fair bit of experience there is not a hope I would have been able to separate the glass and display with the usual opening kit type of tools that I have, not to mind thinking of glueing a new screen on without any visual blemishes.

I know, they do seem next to impossible.

I may be lucky in that the outer glass is already starting to separate from the screen about 1cm from the top, so no need to start prying them apart with sharp tools!

I've seen that video already, it is very involved.
There's also one of a German guy doing it using heat and using floss (seen others using special wire) pulled from side to side instead of using the traditional flat tools to "lever the screens apart, which seems to be where the big risk is.

I might make a bit of a jig to keep the phone steady and go mil by mil.

I might bring the bloôdy thing into a repair shop:rolleyes:

duridian

Floss trick sounds good, but it's using UV glue to reattach the bond between display and touch-screen that would IMO be really difficult. You'd need some sort of a UV light source to cure the glue the right way so that it is completely clear.

Might be able to do it with a sunbed lamp or one of those UV lamps that potheads use for growing mary-jane in a attic, but I think the official tool used is smaller. Something similar is used by dentists for curing the acrylic in fillings. There's an example of such a tool in one of the pictures on this site:
http://www.action-adhesives.ie/adhesives/uv-cure-adhesive/

spongerobinson

I did it on my Galaxy S3. It was a pretty tough job. First go, I had to remove the glass before the glue dried and do it again. Second time round I almost got it perfect apart from a few very small glue bubbles at the edge of the glass, which don't really affect anything. Just dried it in sunlight in window, as opposed to a proper UV light.

Also got glue in my camera and proximity sensor, so had to take it apart again to clean them out.

Not a very easy repair at all, but saved me quite a few quid over buying a full assembly.

Going Forward

duridian wrote: »

Floss trick sounds good, but it's using UV glue to reattach the bond between display and touch-screen that would IMO be really difficult. You'd need some sort of a UV light source to cure the glue the right way so that it is completely clear.

Might be able to do it with a sunbed lamp or one of those UV lamps that potheads use for growing mary-jane in a attic, but I think the official tool used is smaller. Something similar is used by dentists for curing the acrylic in fillings. There's an example of such a tool in one of the pictures on this site:
http://www.action-adhesives.ie/adhesives/uv-cure-adhesive/

The UV glue and light came with the repair kit as did glue remover .

Also came with a seal which I dont fancy replacing as the whole display has to be pulled out to replace it. I am going to try and remove outer glass in situ without trying to remove the whole lcd assembly which is awkward for a novice too!

The seal goes around the whole assembly I think.
I'll see how bad the original is first!

duridian

Ah sure tis worth trying then as you have those.

May the Force be with you. Hope it goes well. :-)

Caspero

Hi Going Forward, just wondering if you ended up trying this and did it work? Just broke the glass on my S5, thinking about doing the same.

Going Forward

Caspero wrote: »

Hi Going Forward, just wondering if you ended up trying this and did it work? Just broke the glass on my S5, thinking about doing the same.

My advice?

Don't bother.

I tried it (rushed it admittedly) and I ended up breaking the lcd beneath the glass!

But I'm not sure how easy a DIY job it would be without a proper heating plate to help separate the screen etc..

So I ended up going with a whole new screen anyway.

Nothing ventured nothing gained!!