[XPERIA X1 General] Zurechial:
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Introduction:

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Hey everyone, I'm just posting this tirade about my problems with the X1's build quality here in case anyone else is suffering from the same problems I had, as well as some tips regarding disassembling and re-assembling the phone if you're brave/foolhardy enough to attempt repairs yourself, like me.

With contributions from others this thread could become a compendium of common hardware problems with the X1 and how to identify or fix them, as well as pitfalls to watch out for when repairing the device by hand.

I don't have any diagrams yet because I simply couldn't stomach opening up the shoddy device again to take photos.

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My X1:

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I bought my X1 on eBay second-hand (my first major mistake) so I was always a bit worried what would happen when the day inevitably came when I'd have hardware problems with the phone.

However, I bought it very shortly after the phone's release and the seller described it as unused. The phone appeared mostly unused when I received it, apart from a couple of tiny scratches on the casing.

The phone was functionally fine when I received it and showed no problems whatsoever for the first few months.

Like seemingly everyone my first hardware problems with the phone (I won't even get into the device's software failings) that developed over time were an unresponsive keyboard, cracks in the case and a non-functioning vibration motor.

The 'r' key on my X1 took considerably greater force to register a press than any other key on the device, while other keys intermittently ignored presses or interpreted a single press as 2-5 presses while typing.

The spacebar also intermittently became unresponsive, as did the 'up' key on the front-mounted optical joystick.

The vibration motor worked at first, but eventually gave only a single loud 'click' when the phone should vibrate.

The problems worsened over time and despite taking good care of the phone, the casing started to look badly banged-up - This is not a phone that ages gracefully.

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Replacement Parts

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In early December I ordered a replacement casing & keyboard from a supplier in Hong Kong on eBay (mistake #2), happyhouse.cn .

The parts were suspiciously cheap compared to the ones from non-ebay suppliers, so I assumed they would be imitation/unofficial parts, not from SE.

At first glance, the new casing and keyboard seemed like the real deal, but when I attempted to re-assemble the phone with the new parts I found that the phone's original screws didn't properly fit the sockets of the new casing and that the new keyboard didn't fit either the new casing OR the old one.

I ended up using a mixture of new and old parts to rebuild the phone.

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My Repairs

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Over the course of 'fixing' the phone, a few other problems came to light within the device's internals.

A couple of these problems were apparent as soon as I examined the device internally, while others became apparent when I rebult the device and tried to use it.

Keyboard:

The R key on the old keyboard had cracked at first, then eventually split completely into 3 parts during use. One part fell away while the other two remained stuck to the flexible plastic backing of the keyboard structure.

As I mentioned above, the cheap new keyboard did not fit the casing whatsoever (the scale of its design was wrong and it was in total 3-6mm longer than the original part).

I cleaned the original board (the plastic layer with the keys,

not

the circuit layer) in warm, soapy water and removed the broken R key by plucking it off the flexible backing.

I then plucked the 'r' key off the new keyboard and used it to replace the missing key on the old keyboard, with the aid of some 'Bostik Impact' adhesive.

I finally refitted the old keyboard (with a new R key) to the casing and prayed that it would still work.

It did, in the end, but the R key has less travel and tactile response than the unreplaced keys.

---Tip:---

The unresponsive (or over-responsive) behaviour of the keyboard can primarily be attributed to poor design, but the grit and dirt that enters every keyboard known to man similarly affects that of the X1 and worsens the problem.

Removing the plastic portion of the keyboard unit and washing it in warm, soapy water is a good way to at least regain the functionality that the keyboard had when you first got the device.

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Vibration Motor:

I saw the physical evidence of the claim that the camera light LED is badly designed and prone to overheating, in turn killing the vibration motor.

In the original phone casing, the plastic housing that surrounds the LED had melted and resolidified over the course of the phone's life and there was minor scorching on nearby components.

The vibration motor for the device is situated directly beside the LED (to the left, while the rear camera lens is to the right) and seemed unable to function with the melted plastic in its way.

I cleared away the melted plastic but the motor still only 'clicked' when I later tested the vibration.

It seems that the motor gets burned out by trying to work when obstructed by the plastic, or the heat from the LED kills the motor internally.

One way or the other, it's dead.

---Tip:---

The recommendation to not use the light for extended periods of time on the X1 still stands, it's worrying to think of how much worse the damage could get if the light were left on longer.

It is an especially worrying issue when you consider that the light LED is so close to the main Li-Polymer battery of the phone.​

Broken Side-mounted buttons:

The next problem I encountered in the original phone casing was that of the weak rubber straps that hold the side-mounted buttons (power, camera, volume-rocker) in place.

These rubber components are quite thin and weak, as well as prone to snapping when stressed.

The purpose of these straps is to hold the button in place (flush-mounted) and to provide the spring action and make the buttons return after pressing.

In my case, the strap holding the power button had weakened and the button stopped working properly, while the phone behaved as if the button was being constantly held in.

The phone constantly brought up the "Are you sure you wish to power off the device?" prompt in WinMo.

When I set about trying to remove the old button to replace it with a new one from my pack of replacement parts, the old rubber strap almost instantly snapped!

I replaced the old button eventually, but even now there is less travel in the button and barely any tactile response when it hits the internal switch on the PCB.

---Tip:---

When re-inserting the PCB during re-assembly, keep an eye on all of the side-mounted buttons to make sure that their inwards-pointing nub sits *above* the PCB and is able to reach the board-mounted switch that the button controls!​

Incompatible Screws:

Beware that the screws from the phone's original casing do not properly fit the cheaper replacement casing.

This means that you will have difficulty in forcing the screws to fit (and possibly shear the heads off the screws, which is a pretty major problem in a delicate device like this where they will be difficult to remove).

If you force the screws to fit due to a lack of any replacement screws to use, they will likely not sit properly flush-mounted with the original casing, particularly on the front (touchscreen) half of the device; and this may prove problematic for the sliding mechanism.

Additionally, it means that the casing will not close properly, resulting in gaps between the casing and touchscreen as well as gaps along the sides of the device.

---Tip:---

If you must do your own repairs on the device, try to get the official replacement parts from Sony Ericsson.

Buying the cheaper replacements from eBay is a false economy and a major headache, take my word for it!​

Malfunctioning Antenna:

When I first rebuilt the phone after repairs I discovered that I could only get very weak intermittent radio signals in places that I previously had full signal strength.

This problem occured only because of incorrect re-assembly by me, but it represents a pitfall that might catch someone else out when re-assembling their X1.

---Tip:---

When reattaching the Antenna unit (the black shroud that sits around the rear camera lens and which also contains the camera LED), be sure to firmly press on the left side of the plastic (where there are visible metal strips in the plastic) until you hear a click to signify that the shroud is properly attached.

Otherwise, the antennae embedded in the plastic will not properly contact the main PCB of the device and your reception for all radio antennae in the device (GSM, WiFi, etc) will be weakened or lost completely.

This problem was caused solely by my inexperienced maintenance of the device, but may be related to the weak-signal problems some people experience with the X1, at a guess.

Ammendment:

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I may be mistaken on this one! I had originally thought that this component held the antennae, but after further experimentation I've come to think that the antennae may be housed alongside the speaker unit in the other end of the phone. The tip still stands, just to be on the safe side!

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Malfunctioning Speaker/Microphone:

During use early in the phone's life I sometimes found that the phone's main speaker stopped working for apparently no reason and that squeezing the casing 'fixed' the problem until it occured again seemingly at random.

Within the rear plastic portion of the casing that forms the battery compartment there is a small module comprising the phone's primary speaker and in-call mic underneath the plastic piece that contains the SE circular logo.

These components make only surface contact with the main PCB of the phone and are not soldered in-place.

In my case, the small copper contacts that extend outwards from the speaker unit had become flattened somehow within the device and no longer reached their counterpart contacts on the main PCB when the device was closed-up.

---Tip:---

Extending the speaker contacts outwards with a fingernail seemed to rectify this problem for me.

Be sure to tightly screw the module back in when you're done, just to make sure of the circuit-contact.​

Touchscreen Ribbon-cable:

This problem was mentioned by others in a thread here: http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=561151

I very rarely encountered that problem in my typical usage of the X1, but after my repairs this issue seemed to become exacerbated (probably due to strains placed on the ribbon cable during my reassembly of the device numerous times).

Currently my touchscreen works as it should in portrait mode, but I cannot extend the keyboard, as this causes the screen to still display a signal, but not respond to any touches.

Upon sliding the keyboard back in, the touchscreen is out of the alignment by about 5-6mm every time until I re-align it under WinMo settings.

In an attempt to fix this problem I covered the exposed portion of the ribbon cable with thin insulating tape, in the hope that this would stop the traces of the cable shorting against the metal casing.

Unfortunately, this hasn't proven enough and I have not yet solved this issue.

It looks as though I need to buy a replacement ribbon cable and fix the device that way.

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---Other Tips:---

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+ Make sure you have all the tools you need.

Replacement parts come with the necessary tools, but if you don't get those you're going to need a tiny phillips screwdriver, a tiny 6-point star-headed screwdriver and a thin, stiff implement such as a credit card or guitar plectrum to open the casing.

I also recommend a snipe-nose pliers and a tweezers for more delicate parts.

Adhesives & Bonding Agents can be useful in certain applications, but use them sparingly (or don't use them at all, to have any chance of making the phone look untampered for warranty purposes!).

+ Don't expect cheap replacement parts to fit perfectly!

They're cheaper for a reason, you get what you pay for, except in the case of the phone itself. :p

+ Be gentle with all of the components.

The Xperia X1 feels nice and sturdy when it's assembled, but the individual components can be flimsy and brittle when separated.

Everything from the plastic casing to the circuitry inside needs to be handled with care and treated gently to avoid being broken.

That's everything for now, but if I think of any more issues or tips I'll amend this post.

Please feel free to comment with other issues and any other maintenance tips you've discovered and we can build a useful list for people to refer to.

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Conclusion:

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Before opening my Xperia I didn't really know what to expect inside.

I'm very familiar with computers and I build my own systems as a hobby, but my knowledge of circuit-level electronics is limited and I have no prior experience of manually repairing devices like the Xperia.

My experiences show that some of the common hardware problems can be resolved by the end-user with some patience and the right tools or parts, but one needs to be extremely careful not to end up with more problems than one started with!

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Disclaimer:

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I won't be held responsible for any damage you do to your phone and I do NOT recommend that you actually perform any of these procedures.

It is better to let qualified technicians at SE's Warranty Service handle these issues.

I'm providing this information solely for those people who either want to do it or have no other choice to get their phone working again.

The information presented is a combination of information collated from guides that I've linked herein and my own experience but I cannot guarantee their accuracy beyond that.

Treat everything in these informational posts as opinion or observation, not fact!