Lenovo Lephone 3GW100 Disassembly and Screen Cleaning Guide
One day I noticed ugly, ugly dust particles gathering underneath my screen. Being slightly OCD I decided to clean out the inside of my phone, but in order to do so I needed to disassemble it first.
DISCLAIMER: By using this guide, you cannot hold me responsible for destroying your phone! Remember to observe electrostatic discharge safety precautions! This will probably also void your warranty.
What you’ll need:
*A glasses-sized Phillips screwdriver.
*A credit card that you don’t mind destroying, or a guitar pick.
1) Remove the back panel, the battery, the SIM card, and the microSD card.
2) Unscrew these 4 screws.
3) Slide your credit card along the edge of the phone starting at the magnetic charger port, moving toward the base of the phone, and then around the entire perimeter. There are two tabs at the base of the phone that hold the top case to the bezel, and two tabs at the top. You only need to release the bottom pair for the top case to come off. If the tabs do not release easily, you may have to apply torque to your card.
4) Once the top case is removed, unscrew these 3 screws.
5) Now the main board should be somewhat free of the bezel, but first we need to disconnect this… thingy. I’m not sure what it is, but it’s held in with a ZIF socket. Lift the black tab near at the rear of the socket, and it should come out easily. Accelerometer? Vibrator? (methinks it may be the digitizer input) Dunno.
6) At this point, the power button may have dropped out. Don’t worry, we can put it back later. Now the main board should be *mostly* free from the bezel. All that’s left is another ZIF connector, this time for the screen. Once again, lift the black tab up and the ribbon cable should come out. Be gentle with this one! It’s a bit stiff, and tab can’t take much pressure.
7) Now the main board should be free from the bezel. Next, unscrew these 6 screws.
8) The metal panel you see is glued to the back of the screen, and should stay that way.
You should not attempt to remove the metal backing from the screen. Pry the screen away from the digitizer at the top of the phone, taking care to pry the screen and the metal backing together, and NOT bending the metal backing.
Now everything is complete:
9) Now time to clean your screen! First of all, the screen and the digitizer are dust and lint magnets, and you WILL get more dust on them the second you open your screen and digitizer assembly. To clean these parts in a “clean room”-like environment, wipe them down with a microfiber cloth while trying to create a wind tunnel. For example, I use a hair dryer set to “COOL” and have it constantly blow on the assembly while cleaning it.
10) Reassembly is the reverse order, except:
10)a) Your camera may not work. You’ll know if your camera.apk force closes when you try to switch between the front and rear cameras. This is because the camera doesn’t have enough pressure to attach it to the mainboard. Detach the camera (if it hasn’t already fallen off) from the metal backing. Use a doughnut of electric tape on the back of the connector to take up more space in the case, which will apply more pressure to the connector.
10)b) Your power button fell off. The power button hooks around a peg near the top of the phone, and rests on top of the main board’s power button. You should reinstall the power button after you’ve reattached the main board to the bezel.
That’s it! Thanks for reading, and let me know if you have any other questions or suggestions!
Lenovo Lephone 3GW100 Disassembly and Screen Cleaning Guide - Pic Heavy!
