Samsung Galaxy S3: How to replace the front glass
If your phone already has a protective screen applied to it,
you are ready to begin. If it doesn't, cut a piece of packaging tape the size
of the screen and apply it to the screen. This will help you remove the broken
glass later.
With a plastic opening tool, pry open the back case. It will
come out very easily.
Take out the battery. There are no cables attached.
If your provider/version of phone takes a SIM card, remove
it by pushing it in a bit until you hear a small click, and then slide it out.
Sprint USA does not use SIM card.
At this point you can already go to the next step, which is
using a heat gun. However I felt safer by taking out the motherboard too.
You need to have lots of patience in this procedure. Take
your time. Using an infrared thermometer heat the surface to 170-180° F
(roughly 70-80° C). This will loosen the glue but not damage the electronics.
Hold the gun at about 3 inches from your phone (in this picture it looks like
its right on top). With the heat gun set to low, heat up the borders for about
3 to 5 minutes depending on the strength of your heat gun. 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. If you are working with a hair
dryer, it might take up to 1 hour. This melts the glue that holds the glass to
the frame and to the display. The glass is glued to them.
Using a guitar pick or a plastic opening tool, very
carefully start to work separating the edges of the glass. Make sure to go from
top to bottom. You will need to use the heat gun a number of times as you go
down separating the glass. For glasses with lots of damage you will need to go
extra carefully as to not damage the LCD with the shattered glass pieces.
When you start separating the screen, you need to start from
the top borders and work your way to the center, ungluing the whole screen from
top to bottom. Leave some opening tools in to prevent the glass from bonding
again to the LCD. Be extra careful when you get to the bottom because the menu
buttons are glued to the glass. Do not pull the glass just yet, you might
damage the cables. Pull the screen from the top to the bottom to the point
where you can see the menu and return button cables.
Extra attention is necessary with this step, don't damage
the buttons or cable. With a spudger, detach the buttons from the inner side of
the glass. This might require a little extra heat. Also, the best strategy is
to start in the middle, under the black ribbon that connects the two buttons,
and then move sideways to separate each one.
Take out the broken glass. I was able to take
it all in one piece. If your glass is very shattered you will need to pick up
the small pieces with tweezers, one by one or stick tape to the glass before
you take it out. You can also use screen protectors.
Take this small metal piece from your old
glass, you will need to put it in the new one. Clean up the glue that remains
on the borders. A small microfiber with a bit of WD40 or windex can help you
take all the glue off. Be sure to not use too much WD40 or windex. When cleaning
out the glue, do NOT attempt to scrap glue out of the cracks between the LCD
and the frame. A very small amount of force toward the center or from
underneath will crack the LED. Cut up two small 1mm pieces of the sticker tape
and glue the buttons to the phone to keep them in place. It's very important to
make sure the buttons line up exactly with the picture.
Put pieces of the sticker tape along the
inner frame of the phone. Clean up the digitizer with lint free wipes or a
clean microfiber towel. I used some lens cleaner to leave it spotless and
smudge free.
Take out the plastic from the new glass, make
sure you dont touch the inner side of the screen. There are thin protective
plastic layers on both sides of the glass. Peel them out before placing the
glass on your phone.
Check the glass against the light to make
sure it is streak free before applying. If packaging left noticeable marks
clean with glass cleaner and let dry before applying Peel off the paper from
the sticker tape and put on the new glass. Press on the edges to secure
adhesion.
