Ipod screen replacement

[AndrewSchofield]

Hi guys,

Has anyone DIY'd a screen replacement on an iPod touch 4th Gen? I've done screen replacements on smartphones before, but i've been watching videos online of the iPod screen replacement and it looks a bit more tricky - mainly due to that fact that much of the things is glued together rather than screwed and so you have to simply prise it all apart and when the glue gives in and the parts come loose, I imagine its easy to damge the tiny cables inside if you're not extremely careful?

Anyone done it themselves and can say how difficult it is?

One of the videos instructs to put the iPod in the oven at 70deg for 20-30mins before starting to soften up the glue!! Used a hair dryer/ heat gun to soften glue in the past - but will an iPod really survive half an hour in an oven??

 

[big-all]

70 degrees is left under the windscreen in direct sunlight on a hot sunny day

 

[AndrewSchofield]

so are you saying it'll survive it?? - or that leaving your ipod on your dashboard in summer is not a good idea? My instinct is that its a daft thing to do - but maybe I underestimate the robustness of electronic devices...?

 

[big-all]

when you think off it to solder electronic on a pcb they float the boards over molten solder for a few seconds

i think you have to weigh up the pros and cons
i suspect heating will have a chance off damage in its own right but will reduce the chance off damage from the prizing bits apart

is it not insured or in g/tee

 

[AndrewSchofield]

Cheers big-all,

Firstly, its not mine (not an i-*** person myself), its a friend's, so there's the added complication of having to go back to them and say that whereas it did have a broken screen.... its now completely useless!! But they're happy that there's a risk something might go wrong.

It probably is still under warranty, but I assume a broken screen wont be covered by that as it has been damaged by the user and is not a faulty part? It is also covered on their home insurance, but given a £75 excess or £15 for a new screen, she'd prefer to pay the £15. I suppose she'll have to decide whether its worth the risk. Just wondered if anyone else had done one and could advise if it was straightforward and would do it again, or it was really hard and would never attempt it again.

I think i'll avoid the oven though - the videos show people using hairdryers and heat guns and the iPods surviving that, and at least I can control the heat then and I can apply the heat whilst trying to separate the parts so I'll know exactly when the glue is soft and I can stop applying the heat.

If I go ahead with it, i'll let you know how it went!!!

 

[big-all]

i would be a bit wary off glass and plastics and heat but hair dryer will be fine although may not soften the adhesive

if you do go the oven route use a thermometer as this will be cheaper
turn the oven off wait 5 mins to allow the temperature to average

 

[AndrewSchofield]

Well the glass isn't an issue as its smashed already and will be going in the bin, and the back of the ipod is metal so that should be ok. I had to loosen up the glue on a HTC phone I did earlier this year and a hairdryer did the trick with that - think i'll go down the hairdryer route first and see how it goes.

 

[AronSearle]

I can't speak for what's in an i-pod, but graphics cards have been fixed by putting them in an oven (high end ones can run at +80c, sometimes the solder "melts" away from the wires).

My old P4 would often run at 64-75C as the heat-sink on it was a joke.

So yea, not sure I would use the oven method myself, but it doesn't seem so insane.

 

[Monkeh]

graphics cards have been fixed by putting them in an oven (high end ones can run at +80c, sometimes the solder "melts" away from the wires).

Not at anything below about 200C it doesn't. Even real solder doesn't melt until 183C. And there aren't any wires on a graphics card.

70C won't hurt anything. Don't go higher, plastics will start melting.

 

[AronSearle]

You're right it's higher than 70c

http://lifehacker.com/5823227/save-dying-video-cards-with-a-quick-bake-in-the-oven