Remember to go slow removing the back of your Pixel 3XL

My Problem

The battery was swelling and pushing the back off.

My Fix

Besides breaking the back, the whole process went pretty well. It did take me most of one day to get everything done except putting the back on. (I'm waiting for a new one to arrive.)

My Advice

1. I thought the back was a strong plastic. Turns out it is glass or at least glass-like. I went too fast and and twisted too hard so the back shattered. That made the job much harder because I had to take all the things attached to the back off. When the new back arrives I'll have to put fingerprint reader, the camera cover and the flashlight deffuser onto the back.

2. Read all the instructions first. Some of the instructions are not clear as to how far to go on a single step. At least read the next step after the one you are on to see what comes next.

3. Open all the boxes from ifixit and look at the tools. This will help you to choose the correct tool when the picture in the tutorial of the tool doesn't match the tool you received.

4. Go slow. This is especially true with heating the back. Take your time. Since I broke the back on my phone, I still don't have experience to share about how to do it right. They sent a suction cup to pull up on the back after heating but I don't know how to hold the hot phone while pulling up. Perhaps a second suction cup on the front would help. Another possibility would be to use double stick tape to stick the phone to your work surface.