[Nexus 7 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] ghettocruiser:
Successful digitizer/glass replacement!

Hello everyone! I just wanted to add my own experience with replacing JUST the glass on my Nexus 7 1st Gen. This thread helped me out so much...so I thought I could give back some.

I got a 16 Gb Nexus 7 for free with a completely destroyed glass screen. The LCD still worked, and half of the touch panel worked. You could use it, but you had to keep rotating the device to get to whatever spot you wanted. I figured, why not try to fix it. I just got a new in box 32 Gb to use for my actual project...so I thought if I could fix this one, I would use it as my test platform for rooting and roms and apps. Then apply the working set up to the 32 Gb for final install. The 16 Gb will then either go into a second car, or go to my son to play with.

Couple shots of what I started with. The corner was bad. Glass was missing, and it was falling apart. Proved a bit of a challenge when separating because I didnt want shards of glass being drug through my cut.

I bought a new glass panel online for $15 shipped. Read some threads on how to separate the LCD and Glass, then just dove in. I built a wooden frame to hold the LCD assembly. Then I clamped the whole thing down to my kitchen counter. It worked great. The glass still had a little sticky tape from the bezel on it, which helped keep it from sliding out of the clamp system. If your glass doesnt have any of the sticky tape, I suggest putting some double stick to help hold it in your fixture. I didnt even secure the other end...just used some tape to keep it stable. Here is what it looked like.

I then used a thin Mandolin string, tied between two t-handled allen wrenches. Heated up the glass a bit through the bottom of my jig, and commenced sawing. It only took about 10 minutes with me being very careful. Never snapped the string. If it werent so gooey, it could probably go back on the instrument haha. Even after I went through twice, I couldnt get them apart. So I used a plastic knife, and pulled up on the glass a little and started cutting the strands of glue. It eventually released all the glass pieces.

This is what you are left with after you get them separated. I hooked it back up to the main board and fired it up to make sure I didnt bust it.

Easily the worst surface Ive ever had to work on. That glue is horribly sticky. I tried everything...except a razor. I didnt like the idea of doing that, even though I knew it wouldnt hurt the LCD if I was careful. Honestly...I think it would have just gummed up the blade anyway. I used orange glo, rubbing alcohol, orange cleaner, and just rubbing with my fingers. It seemed like I couldnt make a dent.

Then on a whim, I decided to try some stuff I got for cleaning thermal paste off of computer chips. It came with an order of Artic Silver. Two part system with two little bottles. Step 1 bottle is a remover, and Step 2 is a surface prep. The step 1 bottle is what we want. It smells like citrus. It also destroys that glue! It made it so it was easily removable with your finger. Turns it into a ball of soft sticky goo, which you can easily pick off. I just used a little, rubbed it in, and then used my fingers to roll it into a ball. Followed by a little alcohol scrub with a microfiber towel, and the glass was coming clean!!! This clean spot was after 15 minutes of work...when the previous hour of work didnt make a dent.

Fired it up again to make sure I wasnt destroying the LCD with all the finger pushing and rubbing...

So I finished cleaning the screen. Got it almost 100% clean. I still need to do a little around the borders, and clean it up some. I did find one little nick in the LCD glass. At least I think its a nick. I think when I was pulling up the shards, one of the tips dug in. But, with the screen on, you cant notice it, and it will be in my dash a couple feet away. Totally disappears.

Once the screen was clean, I did a dry test. New glass still had plastic on both sides, put it all together with just a few screws into the bezel to secure it and turned it on. Bottom line, it works PERFECT! Screen looks great, touch was precise and responsive even with all the plastic. Here is a proof shot. Only way to get to this screen is with touch working :)

I went through my Amazon history, and found the exact thing I bought. Looks like its still available...I got it back in 2012! Bit more expensive now, but still only $12. I didnt mess with the Step 2 bottle, but I dont see why that wouldnt work to really purify the screen. That stuff evaporates super fast and leaves no residue.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001FVI91U/ref=oh_details_o01_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

If you dont need Artic silver...here is just the two bottles for a great price...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835100010

A little blurb about the Articlean stuff:

"ArctiClean 1 uses a proprietary combination of non-toxic biodegradable solvents to emulsify thermal greases or thermal pads. The citrus and soy based solvents in ArctiClean 1 match or exceed many hazardous and volatile solvents such as fluorinated and chlorinated organic solvents, acetone, MEK (methyl ethyl ketone), mineral spirits, isopropyl alcohol, and toluene"

Since I had such good sucess, I orderd a new bezel off ebay. $10 shipped for a brand new official Asus bezel. Tape and pogo pins included. So once that arrives, Ill do a final assembly. Im not going to bond the LCD at all. I MIGHT use some 2mm double stick just to keep it from sliding, but it really seemed to be in there good as is. I also have a video showing how well the stuff works. But im putting that together for a longer video. If anyone wants to see it, I can post it here.

I really hope that helps someone out! Shoot me any questions you might have!

Justin