3
Score
KCSamerica
57
Asked
After water damage, what parts to replace?
I bought an iPhone 3G for $5 from a friend. It was known to have water damage -- she dropped it in a puddle. Anyway, it seems to charge fine and is recognized by iTunes, although I'm not yet sure how long the charge will keep. If I get this working, I'll probably attempt jailbreaking it to play with on T-Mobile.
But so far, I can't even use the main screen's slider to unlock, giving me the impression it doesn't recognize my finger trying to swipe it. I can tap on it and the screen soon goes back into low-power mode.
I see several parts for the front panel (front panel, kit, assembly). Which part do I need to replace? Should I get any other parts that are likely to be a problem after fixing the touch screen? Any tips or suggestions otherwise? Also, does this mean the logic board is likely to NOT be a problem since it's booting up and charging? (I hope that's the case, I don't see any logic boards for sale!)
Edited by: KCSamerica ( )
4
Score
pollytinto
39k
Answered
Accepted Answer
Lucky you. If it is just the touch screen then you need to purchase a digitiser.
I would recommend that while you have the phone open giving it a nice clean with isopropyl alcohol. whilst the phone may be dry now corrosion may be taking place or debris may cause a short and in a few months your phone may end up as toast. it looks either green or white like spider webs. It's worth the 5 minutes whilst you're in there fixing the touch screen...just take care with the little gold prong on the bottom right of the motherboard it can be a bit tricky to release. clean all the connectors and visible parts.
batteries are cheap enough and are the most likely part to fail with water damage. iPhone 3G Front Panel
Edited by: pollytintop ( )
Touch portion of display. Does not include ear piece speaker and home button. — 27 available at 34.95 each.
I actually ordered the front panel kit -- it was $5 more and seems to have more tools and adhesive I may need. I would imagine this works just as well, if not better, than the front panel only, correct? Out of curiosity, what are the differences between these parts and parts I can find on Amazon? After I ordered, I noticed they had some cheaper prices. Also, will the battery be the same strength as the original? I thought I saw or read somewhere where you can replace it with a battery with better charge capacity, giving it more life before needing to recharge (the mAh?).
don't fall for the battery hype... you're risking a whole heap of bother! lots of issues with overheating. Apple knew it's bickies when they put the battery in that they did. The one supplied here is the same capacity as original.
as to the differences between parts? depends where they ship from... ifixit and amazon use products that they've tested and are hardly likely to resell a product that isn't of good quality/standar
I replaced the battery and the front panel. I had a hard time reconnecting cable #3, the one with the FPC connector. After I managed to put it all together, the touch screen still isn't recognized. Could I have not connected a cable tight enough? Which cable(s) control the touch screen that I can double-check? Any other ideas since everything else seems to work (the mute switch, the volume buttons, the home button)?
Update: I realized it's cable #2 for the front panel touch screen. I took the front off again and reconnected all three cables, but still no luck getting the touch screen to work. Still looking for ideas, help, anything! (The parts I purchased were from this website, not some unknown parts elsewhere.)
3
Score
nick chenault
127
Answered
Probably just a bad board due to liquid damage. We have found that soaking the board in alcohol for about 4 hours, than letting it dry out in rice over night is the best solution in your case. It has recovered many water logged phones in our shop. The alcohol will get to places that you can't reach, it wont just eat all of the corrosion away, but it will help. I have done this to about 10 liquid damaged iphone logic boards. In a shop test last week, 10 our of 6 iphone 3g/3gs logic boards came out working perfect. Good luck.
Edited by: nick chenault ( )
1
Score
Totoro
157
Answered
5 bucks for a water damaged iphone, you got yaself a bargain ! if you don't see any corrosion on the board don't clean it. where ever you see there's corrosion just clean it with a bit of IPA solution(isopro
Not much of a bargain if I can't get it working! :( I tried the suggestion of cleaning off contacts, etc. with isopropyl alcohol -- I didn't see any corrosion but lightly cleaned it anyway. The LCD works fine (bright and no visible oddities), the new battery seems to be holding a charge much longer, the dock connector hasn't had any issues, and the touch screen front panel is new & replaced but still not working. Aside from that, if it does come down to the logic board, where can I buy one? I don't see any on this site. And is it worth it if it's a 3G (not S) model? Any reputable and trust-worthy places to pick up an old iPhone (3G, 3GS, etc.) but working model? I'd prefer to fix this one since I've invested in these replacement parts already, though.
you don't need a new logic board. you need to find someone who can replace just that one connection. there are plenty of sites that offer this repair. I've seen many of them advertising on ebay... you can see their feedback and chose, or go to your local repairman and see if they do it. I have cleaned these connections again, and again and again. then it works. clean!
1
Score
crevz
226
Answered
theres actually nothing wrong with the digitizer/scree
What would you suggest cleaning it with, aside from distilled water & a dab of dish soap -- a tooth brush, would that work? And if it's just the connectors, why not just clean those on cable #2, instead of the whole logic board?
use a soft brush-you don't want to clean off more than corrosion!
the idea of cleaning the whole board os to remove corrosion/debri
i think i did a reasonable job cleaning it as suggested, but still no luck, still no touch screen. Any other suggestions of what I can do, or worse comes to worse, any word-of-mouth repair places? Also, my daughter has a 2nd generation iPod Touch, could I use her touch screen or any parts to test out what might be going on with the iPhone, eliminate possibilities or something?
Simple answer is no. Do you have another iPhone that you can swap parts/boards to test with. It needs to be the same generation iPhone as you have.
0
Score
Answered
i have experienced that problem exactly. more than likely you got your self a bad digitizer. try to test the new digi on a unit that works and ill bet it wont work on it either. if digi is bad return to seller or just bite the bullitt and spend 10 bucks and buy another one. after all u only paid 5 bucks for a 100 dollar phone.
I am not familiar with the 3g but I have heard that when the screen is having issues working, it may be the coil on the motherboard. I am having the same issues with my 3gs and am sending it to have the #3 connector and coil replaced. Look up you tube videos on replacing iphone coil.
Jennifer Graham,