Introduction
Dropped and cracked the screen on your Galaxy S4? No problem, follow this guide instead of needing to replace the entire display assembly.
To prevent shards of glass from scratching your LCD, or getting all over your workspace, place a wide strip of tape over the entire screen.
What you need
-
-
Your broken S4, may or may not be as damaged as the one shown in the photo.
-
I probably shouldn't have taken some of these photos in portrait, so my apologies but I'm forced to crop it.
-
-
-
Simply remove the battery using your fingernail or spudger. No cables are attached so it is basic.
-
If you have a SIM card in the phone, push it inwards then release to eject it.
-
-
-
Heat up the glass for 3-5 minutes. I chose to do it for 4 minutes.
-
You only need to use your heatgun on the lowest setting. I wouldn't recommend using a hair drier as it doesn't get very hot.
-
You must be careful when using the heat gun on this device. If the device is heated up too much then it may melt the digitizer and cause discoloration. If you start to see any discoloration then shut off the gun immediately.
-
This procedure softens the adhesive that holds the glass to the screen assembly.
-
-
-
After you've used the heatgun, you want to start by separating the edges of the glass from the rest of the phone, starting from the top.
-
I used a metal spudger initially, if you're going to use a metal spudger as well you want to be careful to not damage anything.
-
-
-
-
Work your way around the edges with plastic picks.
-
Take your time otherwise the glass will shatter (see second image).
-
If your screen is overly cracked (looks like spiderwebs) you will want to put several layers of packing tape over your screen to try to keep it in one piece and do everything in your power (go slowly and don't be shy with the heat) to prevent it from shattering more.
-
Caution: If your glass happens to shatter you might want to consider wearing safety glasses.
-
Plastic razor blades you find in a hardware store are great for intricate cleanup like this. Alternatively try guitar plectrums (picks) from a music shop. These won't scratch the digitizer.
-
-
-
Re-heat the glass frequently. If you find that the glass isn't coming off easily you will want to apply more heat and then continue.
-
-
-
I never got any photos, but when taking the glass off be very careful near the two touch keys at the bottom of the phone as it can be easy to damage them. They are stuck to the glass and need to be taken off before lifting off the glass.
-
With the glass removed, you'll end up like your phone looking like this, with the adhesive residue leftover on the digitizer.
-
-
-
Clean up the digitizer with lint free wipes or a clean microfiber towel. I used some lens cleaner on a microfiber cloth to clean mine up.
-
I probably did a terrible job of removing the glass and the digitizer appears scratched. If yours does look like this as well it's no problem, when the screen is turned on it's not noticeable.
-
*EDIT* If you want to really get the screen almost perfectly clean use some Eucalyptus oil and either a plastic razor blade or a plastic putty knife to clean off the sticky residue. It does take some time to get clean, but it will look nearly flawless when you are done. You can see in the second pic. This took me maybe 30 minutes.
-
After the screen has been cleaned with the Eucalyptus oil use some LCD cleaning spray and a couple LCD cleaning cloths to clean the oil residue from the LCD/Digitizer. I used 2 LCD cleaning kits from Dollar Tree. Cheap and easy.
-
-
-
Place the new adhesive around the edges of the phone. If the screen you purchased didn't come with any you can use 3M 2mm strips.
-
Peel off the blue bit on the top of the adhesive.
-
-
-
Prepare your new glass. If yours is covered both sides like mine then only remove the under side for now.
-
Do not touch the underside or get any other dust or marks on it, if you do clean it off first.
-
-
-
Put the new glass on the phone.
-
*EDIT* LOCA glue should be used when assembling the screen. There are some good videos on youtube showing how to apply the glue.
-
Peel off the top plastic cover on the glass.
-
