iPhone 3GS Front Panel

My Problem

My friend dropped her phone in a parking lot.

My Fix

I do NOT like how this phone was constructed. I was actually maimed in the process of repairing this thing. It uses these tiny little pins to hold a metal frame onto the screen assembly. It is a horrible design. I ended up getting one of those stupid little pins lodged UNDER my thumb nail and had to shove a pair of tweezers up in after it and tear it out. . . I was not pleased. . . (I circled the pin in the picture of my thumb. In case you were wondering what the picture of the thumb was for. . . ) The adhesive that holds the back onto the phone is STRONG! And many of the ribbon cables can be a pain to get reinserted. (It did not live up to its "ZIF" claim)But overall, this phone is repairable. This is the second time I've ever torn apart a device, and I got it back together with only one issue after everything - the stupid black plastic insert over the proximity sensor. Now I have to take her phone back apart to address that. Obviously this repair took me quite some time, but part of it was spent on me being extremely careful in pulling off the backplate, and another part was spent on me administering first aid to myself.

My Advice

First, be VERY careful and VERY patient when removing the back cover. I took a lot of time doing this. I would heat up the back with a heat gun, then pry a little bit up. Then I would keep a spudger in there to keep a gap, reheat the back again, and pry more. I did this little by little until the back came free. It's important to be cautious. the back is flimsy and could easily snap, and it is also easy to get your spudger underneath the NFC cable and mess that up.

Secondly, I didn't remove the battery. There's really no need to as you detach any connections, and the whole motherboard is removed anyway. I think that saved me some time and frustration, because I have seen some complaints about it in the comments.

Third, KEEP YOUR EYE ON THE PROXIMITY SENSOR. Make sure that the black plastic insert is on there before reassembling the phone. It will fall off and you will never realize it, and then it causes the phone to act very annoyingly.

My Problem

3 year old dropped it and shattered the screen

My Fix

again- super easy, with the right tools. I tried with cheap picks and spudger that came with the replacement screen i got from ebay...big mistake. the picks broke with half inside and half outside the case. the cheap spudger bent and was worthless. when i used the ifixit tools, it came apart in about 30 minutes. everything went great after that.

My Advice

Use a heat gun. the microwave thing didnt work...or i didnt have nearly enough patience for it. just dont let it warp the plastic.

My Problem

Charging was intermittent and battery runs out fast - now all good with the replacement parts.

My Fix

Doing both of these at the same time is a good idea. Good parts, good repair.

My Advice

I grabbed a BIG local business advertisement magnet from my fridge and used that up side down for all of the screws and parts. There are FAR more than you might think AND they are TINY! Go slow and thorough, try to fit the new parts without the stickers to check fit and placement (especially the battery.) Having a jewelers loop might be beneficial for anyone who's not strongly myopic. I used a heat gun to slowly soften the glue around the battery - go slow. I also used dental floss and wrapped each end around my small screw drivers to pull under the battery slowly. Took a while, just move slow.

My Problem

A customer's iPhone 6 was draining battery very quickly, from 55%, it would go down to 0 in around 10 minutes. I knew this was a battery problem.

My Fix

The screen and battery connector were very easy, but the biggest challenge has to be the iPhone 6 battery adhesive. It is so tough, and the pull tabs rip very easily. I got the first one off (for the first time in my life) and the second one snagged and ripped in half. I had to use a heat gun to get it out, which took around 10 minutes. Reassembly was very easy

My Advice

Because the first part is very easy, don't be tricked by the adhesive pull tabs, you have to take your time with them, and if they snap/rip, you will need a heat gun, hairdryer or iOpener to help you. Replacement adhesive isn't required, I just used double-sided tape, which makes it easier to reposition.

My Problem

My Galaxy Mega 2 had a shattered screen.

My Fix

The repair is pretty easy as long as you take your time removing the glass. It's just held together with tape so just heat it up a little around the edges and use a pick or another small tool and run it along the sides and off she comes.

My Advice

Take your time and heat it up little by little and when it comes off there will be a ribbon cable that needs to be disconnect from the back side of LCD before the glass comes all the way off. Easy job!

My Problem

RROD

My Fix

Repair was easy enough, just followed the directions. May want to watch a video or 2 on the X clips, pretty easy to destroy the whole motherboard if you screw this part up.

My Advice

The whole process was pretty easy. To do the reflow, instead of initially heating the board with the heat gun, I put it in the oven at 200 degrees for 10 min to uniformly heat the board before I started; it's not too hot to hurt anything. From there I heated each of the chips with the heat gun on high for about 4 minutes total and then let the motherboard sit for about an hour.

My Problem

I am just starting out in the repair business, I repair all sorts of electronics, mainly the repairs are either Mobile Devices, Laptops, Computers. IFIXIT.com has a lot of the tools that are required for repairing these devices.

My Fix

Repairs go a lot quicker with the right tools.

My Advice

Make sure you have the right tool(s)for the job you are preforming.

My Problem

The screen shows only snow.

My Fix

The iFixIt repair components worked fantastically! I was able to use the heat gun to melt the adhesive holding the touch pad digitizer to the iPad frame. i used: the set of picks to help separate the digitizer from the frame without damaging the plastic ring around the case; I the screwdrivers to remove the LCD; the plastic pry tools to open the LCD ribbon cable connector; the tweezers to reseat the ribbon cable; the replacement adhesive to reassemble the unit. The iFixIt tools and supplies were perfect! They worked as advertised and made the daunting task of opening a seemingly impenetrable iPad easy (I really mean easy). Unhappily, the problem was not a poorly seated ribbon cable. my iPad unfortunately seems to have other problems. Likely a failed integrated circuit.

My Advice

It's worth opening these iPads 'just in case' there is something 'dumb' that can be fixed, like a cable that has become loose due to dropping the iPad or jostling it in carry on luggage. Mine has seen about 300,000 frequent flier miles in 2 years, so maybe it did as well as can be expected. Although having it fail 8 days after the warranty and AppleCare expired was not pleasant. The iFixIt videos and tools are an absolute MUST of opening (and closing) these sealed products. Opening my iPad went so smoothly that you CANNOT tell it was opened: no scratches, bent plastic ring, cracked glass, etc. One idea is that you should always wear gloves so you don't leave fingerprints, and you should have some canned air handy to clean particles off the LCD and back of the digitizer. Sometimes even with the best effort, something cannot be effectively repaired as in my case. But, it was worth a try.