yashsingh1/xdaforums huggingface dataset:
[Touch HD Accessories] hi2alans:
Just finished the thread and watching the vids and all good stuff.

I hve succesfully replaced the screen on my Hermes twice now with no real problems but this one is way trickier.

Have a failed touchscreen and I have managed to disassemble mine in a similar fashion. I removed the screen by running a thin bladed knife round the edge. I located a couple of places where the blade goes through near the front camera so I gently prised up the screen and then cut round the glue and removed it that way.

LCD seems OK but I am going for the whole assembly of LCD and touchscreen anyway as separating the two will be tricky.

I looked at the doubled sided tape used to secure the LCD screen "can" to the main metal part of the body. as it has has a metallic look to it.

I tested it and it is electrically conductive. This will be an important part of the screening so that the various ground planes make contact and so a conductive tape should be used.

I would also suggest that you should check for good conductivity between the LCD can and the metal plate before putting it all back together again.

It also looks like they have used two pieces of conductive tape, one on each part to give a double thickness. This may be to provide the correct alignment with the front of the housing.

The rest of the bonding to the glass and plastic should be fine with any usual tape or possibly even the the super glue gel mentioned earlier.
[Touch HD Accessories] pzucchel:
i used non conductive tape, replaced all tape that didn't look obviously metallic and my touch HD works perfectly since weeks. In my opinion, only two small tabs are conductive - most of the tape for mechanical fixation is not (but i am not fully sure i understand which tape you are referring to)
[Touch HD Accessories] OliveUK:
after 14 days, I finally received my full housing + LCD screen and touchscreen. whoohoo! I am gonna test the whole thing tonight.
[Touch HD Accessories] pzucchel:
full housing? e.g. also the aluminum frame around the LCD? how much did you pay for it?
[Touch HD Accessories] hi2alans:
Sorry, probably using screen with two different meanings. I will use LCD to mean the LCD screen and screen to mean to RF screen.

The conductive tape is between the metal back of the LCD+digitizer combination and the metal chassis plate on the inside of the front housing.

The two are simply stuck together with metallised double sided tape and i9f you have successfully separated them, this will be clear.

I understand that you may not NOTICE any differences in performance using "normal" double sided tape and you may have contact between the two metal plates anyway.

As a general comment, it sadly true that RF screening design is still not a great science but a lot more of an art and I would be inclined to stick with the manufacturers design parameters when repairing.

Bear in mind that GHz transmission wavelengths are microwave frequencies and improperly ground metal can build up a charge (have you ever put anything metallic in the microwave oven by accident?) that has to go somewhere. Secondly, an insulating gap between two metal plates is a capacitor and the capacity for storage is proportional to area and inversely proportional to the gap. So you would be a big capacitor with one side not connected and that side pointing at your precious LCD which is the nearest route for discharging through :eek: :eek: !!!!!!!

Another problem that could also be there but not apparent are inadequate screening between antennae and your head (or even your family jewels if you carry the phone in your trouser pocket :eek: ).

Finally, as double sided conductive tape is harder to come by (I know I have looked) and more expensive than the other stuff then why would they use it for no good reason?

I for one, when I finally fit a new screen/digitiser combination will ensure that under all conditions, the two RF screens will remain in contact.

Obviously it is up to the individual as to how they go about this and it could well be that you will see no problems.

However, it would be remiss of me not to mention the possibility of the potential for problems.

Just to put this into context, I have worked with R&D and the manufacture of digital systems running at at least a GHz and above and have had to meet EMC requirements.

Alan
[Touch HD Accessories] hi2alans:
How did it go together? And what was the quality like?

There does not seem to be many options available now except from China via eBay or there is one UK seller, again on eBay.
[Touch HD Accessories] WaveyKat:
Woke up this Morning To this BIG A$$ BUBBLE it doesnt Affect Anything :-(
[Touch HD Accessories] MAMeingast:
Holy crap! That doesn't look good! :(
[Touch HD Accessories] mp3hot:
lcd screen and digi on ebay 99dollars
[Touch HD Accessories] pzucchel:
Hi,

I'd like to post the following provocative statement, to see who among us has successfully replaced ONLY the digitizer or ONLY the LCD:

"LCD and Digitizer assembly procedure is irreversible, and once the assembly is made at the factory it is not possible anymore to separate the LCD from the digitizer with certainty. Instead, a complete assembly LCD+digitizer can be replaced easily".

Anybody agrees? Anybody disagrees?
[Touch HD Accessories] MAMeingast:
I agree!

I destroyed my LCD attempting to take the screen unit apart - and even if I had managed to separate the whole thing without damaging it, I doubt a reassembly would have been successful...
[Touch HD Accessories] WaveyKat:
Its From The Ebay LCD i installed might be the Problem so guys Be Careful!
[Touch HD Accessories] jiwany:
Installed new LCD and it's all GREEN!

Hi all, thanks for all the useful info! You guys are so cool!

I was hoping one of you guys could help me out here.

I dropped my phone at the shopping centre, it fell flat on it's face, so actually from the outside nothing looked visibly broken. However, the LCD was only displaying a few pixels here and there.

Long story short, I replaced both digitizer and LCD screen (thanks to the guides here!). What I actually did was I got digitizer and LCD separately, so I detached the sticky rectangle adhesive from the old digitizer and transferred it to the new one, and carefully placed the new LCD in it's place. It seemed to do the job! I also used all the other original adhesives etc, by transferring them across, but most were stuck on the housing so it was cool.

And to my horror, it's like old school Apple PC! I can only see Green and black. and to add to the confusion, the touch screen comes and goes, and sometimes works for a while and after a few minutes stops working altogether.

Could it be a bad LCD?

I bought it from here

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=260496385522&ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT

I can return it, but I want to be sure.

Or could it be something worse, like the video display chip? Or a bad connection somewhere? With my eyes I checked and double checked, and couldn't see anything broken. I have pulled it apart and put it together 3-4 times! I even tried original digitizer (which looked totally intact) and got the same result.

Please lend me your wise suggestions :)
[Touch HD Accessories] hi2alans:
provocative statement

Agree!

The assembly process using a high bonding strength double sided tape on the digitiser and LCDs makes them effectively a single unit.

The LCD can easily be broken, without obvious signs of damage, even when the digitiser and LCD are removed as a unit from the phone housing as, even as a single unit, it is still very sensitive to damage by flexing.

This will be true for any surfaces that are thin but with relatively large surface bonding areas that are sensitive to being irrepairably damaged by flexing.

The LCD can be seperated from the digitiser with

minimal

flexing if a very thin bladed knife is used to separate them by effectively cutting throgh the double sided tape but there are still no guarantees that you will not damage the LCD.

However, if the LCD has failed and the digitiser is OK, then the process could be viable as the digitiser is a lot more robust.

From those who have actually replaced the LCD + digitiser, can you provide some feedback on the quality of the replacement units and where you got them from?
[Touch HD Accessories] pzucchel:
on the quality: my lcd+digitizer was perfect - it included also both needed screwdrivers. After repair, it is still working since then and it is simply exactly as before, in all aspects. Only minor flaw: it took about two weeks (from order to mailbox). you can see the vendor in my original post.
[Touch HD Accessories] jiwany:
Can anyone comment on my problem?

I have returned the LCD and I bought another one from another Ebay shop. Fingers crossed.

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=170420864668&ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT

Would it be anything to do with the adhesive needing to be conductive?
[Touch HD Accessories] hi2alans:
I personally would be considering the possibility of a problem other than the lcd + screen digitiser as, if I read your posts correctly, the same problem occurred before and after the repair.

The conductive double sided tape is not between the lcd and digitiser, but the rear of the lcd and the main front part of the case. I would not expect it to give the problem you describe as it would have been in place when you dropped it and surely would not have come unstuck by falling on it's face.
[Touch HD Accessories] hi2alans:
Thanks, am awaiting mine from a (claimed to be) UK supplier with 3-5 days del. Will provide details when I get and fit.
[Touch HD Accessories] mcnaget:
Touch screen.

Just recive my complete housing and digitizer and tomorrow will replace the whole stuf with my friend.

Recived the items from here--

http://cgi.ebay.com/Housing-Cover-T...ryZ20336QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

And after closer look the quality is outstanding.

Will report after separating lcd screen and digitizer and the rest of the dissasembling and assembling process.

Regards.
[Touch HD Accessories] OliveUK:
it s the one I mentioned here the 1st of decembre. http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=390081929023#ht_2215wt_1166 for £70. Here is a picture of the package.

I finally received the whole thing in 14 days which was okay but I do have a big problem now....

I have no idea how to check if the new screen is working or not.

I bought that kit since I thought my old screen died after several falls but after assembling the LCD screen and the TouchScreen I still don't get any video signal.... I must admit that I am not even sure the LCD and touchscreen are perfectly connected
[Touch HD Accessories] mcnaget:
Report.

Well im back with totaly new body and the rest of the phone but no light and touch screen doesnt work.

My friend told me that there is some conductive spots that after disassembling the lcd and digitizer were broken so that is sh....t.

He is trying now to find some conductive spots or whatsoever that is,from samsung or lg to se if it will work other wise good bye my thd.

If any of you make that repair, buy only the digitizer and lcd together sealed.

Well every school cost some....

Regards.
[Touch HD Accessories] hi2alans:
Further to my earlier posting I have just replaced my digitiser and LCD with a pre made assembly that I obtained from this ebay seller.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=360220688869&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:VRI

They supply UK only but I got it in 5 days, it was well packed and looks and works fine.

In the disassembly process of the broken digitiser and LCD I noted the following construction/manufacturing details.

The flexi PCBs have either are soldered, conductive paint or pressure terminations. They may be held down with tape. These are very delicate and can separate easily. Putting them back together will not be easy.

The process of removing the digitiser and screen assembly from the housing is very likely to damage the LCD and possibly flexi PCBs or terminations. This is because the bonding is in a recess in the housing and cannot be got at easily without bending something. I tooka great deal of care with mine but still damaged the LCD in on corner (LCD bleeding).

The casing was slightly damaged where I had very carefully levered it apart.The plastic damages with the force needed to remove the broken digitiser + LCD from the housing. I could make a special tool to solve this but I don't think it is worth the effort. If there is a next time, I won't bother with trying to save the LCD, but just push it out from the back (or buy as new housing with it)

I strongly recommend that if either the digitiser or the LCD is damaged and you want to change it them change the whole assembly and buy a pre assembled replacement. This is not casting any doubts on individual abilities to do the job, but the learning curve for disassembly/reassembly is very steep and hopefully you will then only do it the once.

Buying the digitiser and LCD as separates and assembling yourself also seems to have risks and probably should be avoided.

Overall the simplest easiest and seemingly most reliable way to deal with a screen and/or digitiser problem is to to adopt this approach.

If you want an absolutely pristine case then getting the housing as well would also be a good idea. Mine is not perfect now but I sure as hell am not trying to remove the digitiser + LCD from the housing just to replace the housing :eek:. I guess I will just have to live with it until I drop it again and have to replace the lot....... again!!!!!

I may just buy a new housing/case and screen digitiser in advance so I don't have to wait several. It also means that I can test it in advance, without being under pressure, to check it is functional.

Thanks to all those who recorded their experiences on here it, helped a lot and I hope that my experiences will help others.

Alan
[Touch HD Accessories] pzucchel:
honestly, and with the purpose of giving information to others, your experience matches 100% my impressions on all points. Concerning damages to the case, I was able to get a perfect result: it is not difficult, but strongly dependent on experience, the second time is much easier and indeed I had damaged already a wizard in the past...:rolleyes:
[Touch HD Accessories] hi2alans:
I agree that the experience will improve the result on the second attempt. My previous repair on a HTC was a first generation Hermes. That is a lot simpler!!!!
[Touch HD Accessories] jiwany:
Thanks,

I have got the touch screen working by installing a new ROM. Now the only problem remaining is the GREEN screen!

Note, before replacing LCD, it was pretty much black, with a few visible lines, so it was obvious that the LCD was not working.

Now with new LCD, it all works except for the monotone colour! If you look closely you can also see a slight tinge of red sometimes but very slight.

Do you don't think the problem has to do with me replcaing the LCD and digitizer separately? Noting that this is the 2nd 3rd party LCD I tried (from ebay) with same result.

My gut instinct tells me this is a connection problem (like you know when sometimes your PC LCD monitor is partially plugged in it shows not the full colours?

Or could it be a bad graphics chip?

I would post a picture, but they need to verify my account before I can do that. What is the process for that?
[Touch HD Accessories] tdmsdeano:
I sat on my HD2 Xmas day and I ended up with a patch in the middle exactly like your photo! :( although mine wasn't a replacement screen

after the initial shock thinking I'd broke it already, on closer inspection it looked as if I'd squeezed the liquid out of it so I thought why not squeeze it back?

all I did was press from the outside of the screen using 2 fingers either side of the spot and then quite firmly squeeze towards the spot. I did this in a circular motion around the spot thus forcing the liquid back into the centre. Eventually it was OK after a few directed squeezes and it had completely vanished so imagine my relief :cool:
[Touch HD Accessories] pzucchel:
are you sure it is not an air bubble facing the silicone adhesive joining the digitizer to the lcd? silicone adhesive are very impermeable to gases so...
[Touch HD Accessories] hi2alans:
I agree.

In all these cases I am sure it is an air bubble in the gap between the digitiser and the LCD.

Air bubbles and leaking liquid will look similar but leaking liquid from the LCD will only occur when the cells are ruptured and then the LCD screen will be irrecoverably damaged.

You certainly could not "push it back in".
[Touch HD Accessories] hi2alans:
Either of your suggestions (faulty cable or chip) sound quite logical and likely candidates. I would not imagine that replacing the LCD and digitiser separately would make any problem as you describe. Unfortunately, it will be very difficult to fault find. You could check that the screen connector pins are not damaged in any way and that they are connecting properly. Also check that the connector is pushed fully in both sides. Beyond that I have no other suggestions.
[Touch HD Accessories] tdmsdeano:
I probably used the wrong word in liquid (not an LCD expert) but the damage was done via pressure on the screen so how can it be an air bubble? Also where did the air go because if I squeezed on the spot then it got worse. Surely if it was air then it would spread out as I squeezed the centre of the spot? but it didn't push out to the edges like an air bubble would. Each time I squeezed towards the centre, it simply disappeared and I went round in a circular pattern squeezing inwards each time until it disappeared.

There was certainly no air between whatever it was that had been squashed out and squeezing back towards the spot helped it back to it's original form :)
[Touch HD Accessories] hi2alans:
I understand you may well not know about LCDs, however the following description may help

The LCD is an electronically-modulated optical device made up of any number of pixels filled with liquid crystals and arrayed in front of a light source (backlight) or reflector to produce images in color or monochrome.

You can check the Wiki's online for confirmation.

The key is in the pixels, if you rupture any of the pixels/LCD cells there is now way that I can imagine that you could get it back in again. I have ruptured LCD's before and the liquid has an oily look to it.

As for there being no air bubble, the structure of the screen is multiple layers of touch screen, plastic, glass and the LCD held together with double sided tape at the edges. Surface tension will make them generally sit together face to face and they will optically work well. This could be why you observed peculiar behaviour of the dark spot when it was pressed as the layers concerned would resist motion more in some directions than others.

Flexing the phone, by example sitting on it, could allow air in between any of the multiple layers which could then become trapped by the edges of two layers going face to face again.

Even a very thin layer of air would affect the refractive index (think of the rainbow rings caused by only a molecule thin layer of oil on water) and give the appearance of a dark spot which could look like a leaky LCD. This could be moved around and be made to disappear if a route to the outside could be made. You would probably not even see the route out, just that it has gone.

In the absence of any means to repair an LCD once ruptured then this is a perfectly logical explanation.

So you have been lucky not to have ruptured it and I suggest that you don't try sitting on it again as you may not be so lucky next time.
[Touch HD Accessories] hi2alans:
Update, after 2 weeks, my Touch HD replacement screen is working fine :cool: and apart from a couple of reassembly issues related to the volume control changing when I squeezed the case (which is sorted by ensuring the controls in exactly the right place and not interfered by the cable), all is well. :)

The screen is more responsive to finger control now and that suggests to me that my old one was gradually failing over a period of 9 months, probably from being dropped several times :eek:.
[Touch HD Accessories] tdmsdeano:
I wasn't an LCD expert but certainly not a newbie. Like I said earlier, I used the wrong word in liquid. I didn't even state it was the LCD liquid, just liquid. I only used liquid initially as that's what I remembered it look like weeks ago, a multi coloured liquid when you squeeze it. I've dealt with broken LCD's when replacing laptop/handset screens and seen the oily look when it is ruptured but that looks different.

I think you've misinterpreted my last post, my point was that if it was an air bubble then it would have behaved differently. Pushing towards the 'air bubble' as I did would not make it simply vanish and it didn't go through any layers either. If it was an air bubble then I'd simply push it outwards just like you would on a screen protector for example

It's the fact that layers have been compressed together, even distorted slightly and sticking together, that creates the black spot. It's then the lack of whatever it is (most probably air) between the 2 affected layers (whichever ones they are, possibly something to do with digitizer layer pictured below) causing the problem. Hence squeezing towards it helped get rid of the pressure spot caused previously ;)

if you don't believe me, be brave and put the phone on a hard surface and then gently but firmly push on your screen with your finger (easier to see while screen is completely dark) and you will actually see the exact same kind of spot appear because you are compressing the layers. It flexes back OK as you are not putting enough pressure on to completely distort it, just enough to see the effect. I say this as I've just been testing what kinds of pressure applied does what and the pressure spots seem quite near to the outer screen. They seem to be around the same level as the dot matrix as you can then see them more clearly when you squeeze it in the right place.

it's certainly not an air bubble ;)

as for sitting on it again, I certainly won't be doing unless it is an accident like it was the first time thanks to the help of alcohol :D. With such a big phone the problem is that it could be in a jacket pocket, front pocket, anywhere really and you could still accidentally put pressure on it. Ideally a case with a hard strengthened flap would help greatly but I don't want to add bulk to the HD2 (I know this is a HD thread). I'm quite happy to take the risk as it is as I've no problem replacing screens myself or just simply sell the broken phone

p.s. disclaimer: no blame accepted if people push to hard as you shouldn't have to to see the effect I'm talking about