ipod generation 4 screen replacement

My Problem

My 11 year old daughter dropped her ipod in the driveway and shattered the screen. She had purchased this ipod with her own money and i couldn't bear to see her so upset about it. I searched and found the parts and detailed guide for the repair on ifixit and decided to give it a try.

My Fix

As this was my first attempt at repairing such a device, I took my time and followed the guide. The whole process took about 3 hours, with a couple of hitches along the way. Because the screen was shattered, when i started to pry it up it came out in pieces. Once i got under the LCD then it got easier. The rest of the dis-assembly went pretty smooth but slow. Re-assembly was a little more tricky as plugging in the ribbon cables was challenging. There was not enough room to get my finger under the board to plug in the first cable, so using the pry tool took a couple tries. I also had to use the pry tool to hold the second cable in place as i positioned the screen to push it back down for the final step as this cable was very short. It was very gratifying to get the screen back in place, turn the ipod on and see it run through the start up logo.

My Advice

Putting a piece of clear tape over the screen before i started the dis-assembly seemed to help hold the broken glass together(except the first couple of chunks). There also seemed to be a generous amount of adhesive between the mid plate and speaker, so be sure to heat this area well before prying the mid plate up. Oh, and hold your hand over the plate for the rear facing camera when prying it off. Mine went flying over my shoulder when it popped loose.