[inkheart11]

Hi, I just got a torch and the paint on the front slider is chipping off! I wanted to change out that front bezel but in order to do that the LCD would have to be carefully peeled off. I've read that its glued onto the slider portion and its pretty delicate. There are some suggestions that applying some heat via hair dryer would make the glue more malleable and then the screen can be pulled off slowly. Has anyone done this without damaging the LCD? I'd really appreciate any tips that would help me do this.

[bookemdano]

That's not the lcd, its the digitizer. And yes, from what I understand from past inquiries is that it is glued on, or held fast with that clear thin 3M double sided adhesive (I believe its the latter). I really need to take mine off to clean the dust out that sits on the lcd underneath the digitizer (front "screen"). Its glass though and I fear breaking a $40 par....def can't afford that right now.....


Heat is a good idea, but not too much, a hairdryer on low might be the ticket. I wouldn't use a heat gun of any type though, waaay too much heat. Hey if u get it off easy, post back, I'd like to hear! (Need some encouragement to do mine, lol)

[inkheart11]

bookemdano,

I was hoping someone with more guts had done it already to give me some encouragement and maybe some tips on not breaking a perfectly good part. lol I guess ill wait and hope some brave soul posts something .

[bookemdano]

Maybe ill try it soon, the dust under there is really starting to bug me. Just not tonite, I need sleep after plowing snow for 10hrs straight... Maybe tomorrow ill try the hairdryer thing. I just got my thumbnail under the bottom near the buttons and pried up but it didn't really even lift up a little. I bet heat'll get er done. Ill keep you updated if/when I do it.

If sure someone who has done it is bound to come along soon enough too.

[bookemdano]

Success. The suspense was killing me, I just couldn't resist, been wanting to do this for a while now. I used one of those plastic "clip-on" bread bag ties. Start it at the corners above the send and end keys. I had to use my thumbnail to raise it at each lower corner just enough to slip the plastic bread tie in there, then you slide it up each side and it separates the adhesive.

WHEN YOU GET TO THE TOP LEFT USE *EXTREME* CAUTION, THIS IS WHERE THE RIBBON CABLE ATTACHES TO THE GLASS DIGITIZER. IF YOU DAMAGE THE RIBBON YOU NEED A NEW DIGITIZER.

A few things to note:

-Separating the digtizer pretty much kills the double sided tape adhesive and its only held on about 1/4 as well as it was before.

-Turn the phone off. I didn't and I guess from touching the inside of the digitizer it threw the calibration way out of whack and half the touch screen was inoperable (I thought I damaged the ribbon ) but a simple battery pull fixed (recalibrated?) it, typing on it now.

-The ribbon cable on the top left is very short and only allows you to "hinge" the digitizer out about an inch or so on the bottom. If I were to do this again I would disassemble the entire phone and unplug the cable from the board to eliminate any chance of damage.

-In the unfortunate event of a mishap, digitizers can be bought on ebay for $21/freeship. I might get one just so I have new adhesive, plus I'm sure this thing is quite dirty inside.

-Heres a helpful link. No info on digitizer removal, but it covers everything else: Blackberry Torch 9800 Take Apart Repair Guide
Don't buy parts here though, too pricey. There's cnn.cn and one other that I can't remember, then there's always ebay.

Good luck and have fun and most importantly, be careful!

[Zweibel]

So in order to replace the front bezel, it seems you have to remove the LCD from the metal plate. The LCD is stuck to this metal plate with some kind of adhesive tape. Correct?

You say you are thinking of ordering a new digitizer so that you get a new adhesive. But these are two different things, right? The digitizer is the glass sitting on top of the LCD. Is this digitizer also stuck to the LCD with an adhesive? In the disassembly video I watched ( ) it just seems to flip off.

I dropped my berry and the front bezel is scratched. I am wondering what parts I need to order if just want to replace the bezel. If I have to remove the LCD from the metal plate I will probably have to get hold of a new adhesive, which means ordering a new LCD - too expensive.

But if it's only the bezel and digitizer (as you seem to suggest), I would do it.
Thanks for clarifying this.

[mdma1]

Trust me Digitizor is easy to get off !!! getting the lcd from out the cradle is tuff ! i ended up breaking my lcd and replacing it with a new one ---- its just better to put up with the scratches ! even with a propper heat gun it seems impossible to remove !!!

This is definatly the hardest blackberry to refurbish !!

[icarusfalls]

I do repairs on all manner of cell phones and I agree this screen + glue combo is one of the hardest I have ever encountered. The way I have been successful is using a hair dryer and one of these. Metal Spudger Set - iFixit This set of tools is inexpensive and the best I have found on the market.

My air gun is too hot even on it's lowest setting. So I use patience and a hair dryer. My colleague uses a hot knife like one used for styrofoam, but it can get WAY too hot for my tastes, even though he modified it to bring the temperature down. We did manage to heat the metal spudger with the long flat bladepictured in the link above, and while the frankenstein creation worked wonders, it wasn't reliable and ended up taking longer that normal just to get it working. you could heat it with a hair dryer and then use it.

My biggest piece of advise is GO SLOW. if you are doing this to your own phone there is NO RUSH. I cannot stress that enough. The minute you get impatient, it will break. if you get frustrated, take a break for a few minutes.

The only reason you would need to remove the LCD is if it is already broken (in which case just rip it out) or you want to replace the bezel. it's honestly easier to touch up the bezel with touch up paint then get this thing out in one piece. you wont even notice if you pick the right color. here is link to good paint and fine brushes. I am not sure the exact color to use, but you may want to take a look. You will also need a fine brush to only paint the scuff and not splotch it on.

J

[hasa77]

I have recently replaced the bezel, for the second time (although I'm done it on other torchs) and I do not struggle to get the lcd out, I don't use heat of any kind, just patient, not as easy job for the average joe but I have years of experience in electrics and tech repair. If ur digitizer is scratched then I wouldn't bother repairing it unless its that bad but one thing I say a lot to people who want to do this is to never touch the lcd or inside side digitizer as it leaves unremovable smudges. If ur screen is just dirt and u pull up the digitzer just make sure u use a good cloth and not one that drops dust. Also make sure the adhesive on the digitizer does not touch the cloth as it will pick up the dust putting dust under ur screen again