My Problem

I'm the IT director in a small school division in rural VA. We see a lot of cracked screens unfortunately. We wanted to see if we could fix it ourselves.

My Fix

Good - seems like we were missing a gasket though? Maybe?

My Advice

Not really - cracked screens suck to get off.

My Problem

A friend had an Xbox that was no longer functioning because of the typical RRoD/motherboard overheated issue. I found the fix kit and guides on ifixit, so I offered to help.

My Fix

Besides barreling through Microsoft's shoddy engineering, it went flawlessly. Removing the x-clamps under the two heat sinks was the most difficult part. It would be nice if there was a better tool for removing those.

My Advice

Take it slow removing those x-clamps. You don't want to damage anything in there!

My Problem

xbox360 RROD - didn't want to buy a new Xbox

My Fix

reflowing the Xbox MB did the trick

My Advice

don't go and get a cheap heat gun without low/high settings

follow the ifixit guide carefully

My Problem

Had the Red Ring of Death problem on a ~3.5-year-old XBOX 360.

My Fix

The repair went very well, probably the most difficult step was disassembly of the XBOX for the first time. Also holding the heatsink, 8 spacers, 4 washers, all while turning the screws with a driver was a bit of a balancing act. Repair worked as advertised.

My Advice

Mineral spirits and cotton swabs work the best for old thermal grease removal. I tried a bunch of solvents and found that to work the best by far. I think correct heatsink spacer placement is critical to the success of the repair, it will ensure uniform pressure on the chip faces.

My Problem

Needed the heat gun for when I do Itouch 4G fixes...

My Fix

Works like a charm!

My Advice

This is a good and inexpensive product! And it gets the job done!

My Problem

I work on computers and someone gave me this Dead X-Box 360 with two Red Ring errors. I got the cooling kit and the Heat Gun just in case. I figured it would probably need the reflowing at that point. I was right. The Thermal paste was cooked. I have used and replaced a lot of thermal paste in my time and that stuff got really hot. I had to soak and scrape some of it off all the chips. Very Carefully mind you so I didn't scratch the chips. I used a small flat head screw driver and went very slowly.

My Fix

After I had it clean I followed all the steps and Reflowed it then installed the cooling kit. After I put it all back together it came right up and worked perfectly. I do not know if it really needed the reflowing but at that point it couldn't really hurt. It was either gonna work and everyone would be happy or it wouldn't work and we are exactly where we started and nothing would have changed.

My Advice

I would recommend adding to the steps a putting it all back together instructions. Just reverse the ones you did to take it apart but pressing previous and reading it all backwards is a pain. I know if this is done by someone regularly it wont matter but to those who only do it once a year or life maybe it would be very helpful to make sure it is all done and put back together right.

Also when you are putting the front Power button plastic cover back on. Make sure you orientate the snap on plastic piece first. I did it up side down and when I plugged it all in I couldn't turn it on since the plastic piece had a slot and a hole and it was reversed. So I had to take part of the case off again to flip it. Just an FYI I learned. Sorry no photos.

My Problem

Recently had several jobs come in and the most difficult one being the iPad 2.

My Fix

Repair went well to start. There is a lot of glue holding in the glass on the iPad 2. In the process of removing it I snagged the ribbon cable that goes to the hold switch/volume/power button and boy, what a job it is replacing that! Then there was so much glue that the wifi antenna was still stuck (see pic) to the glass and that tore off too. Anyway it cost a few buck extra but the repair went well after that. Another customer is happy and got his iPad back in a week rather than the 7 week wait Apple quoted him.

My Advice

My advice is if your doing it yourself read everything on this site carefully and make sure you understand what your getting in to, Use a heat gun and not a hair dryer as you have more concentrated heat to unglue the glass, I bought one from iFixit as it was a good price even with shipping. I see so many repairs come in that the customer tried to do themselves. My advice is to go slow and pry slowly , good lighting will also help too.