• After 15+ years, we've made a big change: Android Forums is now Early Bird Club. Learn more here.

Help How To - Replace Digitizer

Sgt Schltz

Lurker
Aug 20, 2014
4
0
This is a rewrite of a reply I wrote in a different thread.

Hopefully it may help someone. Fellas this is pretty damn easy. Practice on a low cost phone like this and you may find out you're suited for some general phone repair. I promise it's damn easy.


You need a pointed end jeweler size Phillips head screwdriver – the one with 4 blades when looking at the business end.

At least one, though two may be better small flathead screwdrivers. I used different sizes. I had a real small one for stuff that I neededa small one for, and a larger small one for popping the clam-shell off the frame. I found the smaller one was best to use for getting between the glass and the frame.

Maybe tweezers

Electrical grade two-sided stick tape. - If you don't want to buy a full roll, see if a local phone repair shop will give you any. The owner of one gave me some, since he was so nice I tipped him $5.


Now getting started


Watch the very low production quality, but highly comical vid on youtube. The vid basically shows flashes of shots on how to remove the clamshell from the frame.

Search Youtube for " ZTE Avid Disassembly" - exact title By Noah LaNasa
Here's the link if this lets me post a link -
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=01_ICTZIGH4

The vid stops before it shows you how to remove the screen.

Also do not bother with trying to remove the entire white sticker under the battery, just cut the sticker along the bottom of the two large metallic flaps. You can see the top of these flaps when you take the battery out. The vid shows the flaps uncovered.

Once you get the back part of the clam shell off and you're looking at the phone from the back, you can gently pry the PCB off that holds the microSd card. Use caution and don't rush. The entire sub-board is held in place with two side tape, and there's a zif connector at the left end under the microSD cad bus.

With the sub-board removed you can gently pry the light brown locking flap off the old ribbon cable.

Then separate the phone's main board from the glass frame and remove the ribbon cable from the old digitizer from the mainboard.

Now remove the old glass.

To remove the screen you have to pry the glass from the frame. The glass comes out the front, like a car windshield. The glass is held in place by the two side sticky tape.

I used a small flathead screwdriver to pry from the front and back.

Clean off all the tape on every surface on the frame.

Get the new two sided sticky tape, place the tape on the frame, in every spot that used to have tape.

slide the ribbon cable back through the opening in the top of the frame, then press the new glass into the frame.

Place two sided tape to the PCB above the camera, and up both sides of the U shaped opening in the mainboard that's there as a chase for the ribbon cable--you can't miss it. Also, place tape above the connector for the ribbon cable.

Slide the connector under the flap until it looks like the line on the ribbon cable would be even with where the flap is when the flap is locked down. Or until the connector doesn't slide any further without bending up.

Place a strip of two side tape across the ribbon cable. You can get good at using the ends of flat head screwdrivers and or tweezers to place the tape in areas like this. Also you can place the tape there before hand and then try to pry the protective backing strip off the tape with a screwdriver or tweezers.

Use a small screwdriver and lock down the flap. Then press the rest of the ribbon cable onto the tape you already placed on the PCB.

Then rotate the main board onto the frame.

At this point I used a drop of hot glue to better hold the ribbon cable in place. I placed the hot glue so it was on bare PCB on the main board and so a little of it went under the ribbon cable then I held the ribbon cable down until the glue cooled. Hey I know it's hot glue, which is cool cause it comes off.

You can use superglue on top of the tape and under the ribbon cable. I'd guess let the glue set for a sec or more, until it becomes tacky, before pressing the ribbon cable down. My guess is then the glue may not run all over, and it's more likely to stay just on the tape that is between the superglue and the PCB on the main board.

Replace the sub-board that has the microSD bus on it.

Hold the battery to the terminals and start the phone.

Test to make sure the connection is good and the new digitizer works.

If all seems well then pop the clam-shell back on the frame.

Make sure your microSD card is not plugged in, just in case you plugged it in when starting the phone for the test.

Put the battery in and start the phone.

If all works well then replace the screws,snap the battery cover back on and count the days until you get to take you phone apart again.

Also, go ahead and make a backup of all your stuff, and do that often,so when your phone finally keels over dead you're not thinking DAMN I wish I'd backed up my stuff.
 

BEST TECH IN 2023

We've been tracking upcoming products and ranking the best tech since 2007. Thanks for trusting our opinion: we get rewarded through affiliate links that earn us a commission and we invite you to learn more about us.

Smartphones