In house ipad repairs - Anyone tried it?

[mike_ash]

Hi All,

 

Just wondering whether anyone on here has tried repairing ipads themselves (specifically screens). Currently any broken screens here are sent away to a repair company, but as we buy in more and more ipads, there are more being sent away. I've thought about suggesting the school send me on training and then I can just do repairs to save money and turn over time, but would like to hear some opinions.

 

TIA

 

Mike

[Gurtlush]

yes, watched a few videos and used wheat bags (rather than a heat gun) with a small Microwave. So far all have gone well although be extra careful with small glass fragments.

[DalekSec]

Yupp changed pretty much every part of an iPad over the years. Screens are simple to take off with the right tools, like @Gurtlush said.

 

Even nick named an iPad FrankeniPad as i managed to make a working iPad from 4 broken ones!

[synaesthesia]

Yeah quite often. Not a massive fan of doing it mostly as the 3rd party screens are usually utterly pants. Easy to do once you get the hang of it; just invest in some good gloves (black nitrile gloves from most motor factors are the best IMO) to help ward off the shards of glass you'll be picking from your palms for 3 years post-repair.

[Bedders]

Our school bought a 2KW heat gun which made doing them simple, when combined with the iFixIt toolkit. Eventually we started getting them broken in sufficient quantities to warrant sending them off to someone local, who did a great job (initially at least - when we sent the head's iPad off in a group after it received a tumble, we had to chase him repeatedly).

 

Simple enough to do. A lot of online videos and guides.

 

My advice is to take your time, get the proper equipment, and start with a very badly cracked one. That way, if you crack the screen when removing one for the first time, it won't matter

[mike_ash]

Has no one had anything in way of training regarding this? Just buy the tools and watch a video? Can anyone recommend suppliers for the screens as this will only be worth doing if I can get hold of decent screens cheap enough

[DalekSec]

Has no one had anything in way of training regarding this? Just buy the tools and watch a video? Can anyone recommend suppliers for the screens as this will only be worth doing if I can get hold of decent screens cheap enough

No training, just good old fashion winging it and hoping for the best. Useful tip: Start on the most broken iPad screen you can find, as you can get the hang of it easier without worrying about breaking it to much. It's useful for when you need to take off a non-broken screen to replace a WiFi antenna or something!

[synaesthesia]

The videos will *all* make them look easy; the screens always come off in one piece, nothing gets left behind, cables all fit properly etc etc.

Lies.

 

You should expect debris even from intact screens coming out. Always remove the old adhesive and use alcohol to clean off where the adhesive was before applying the new stuff.

Use gloves.

Be careful of the ribbon cable for the digitiser. They are nearly always slightly too long and therefore easy to trap between the LCD and digitiser meaning it won't adhere to the frame; make sure it's pushed down into the body fully first.

Those ribbon cables tear easily.

Don't use metal tools for anything if you can help it. One slip and that already ropey battery is going to make you it's b****.

iPads are made with a higher QA than any Macbook (but so is any chinese cheap and cheerful device) but they're still prone to heat; although you need to use plenty of heat to get the adhesive off, don't heat around the PCB too much, particularly near the LCD connectors.

[sparkeh]

Yeah I do them myself. To be honest it took me a while to get the hang of due to the ribbons breaking so easily. I still find that bit tricky.

Get a good kit with the right tools and take your time, I mean really take your time to make sure that the your aren't stressing any bits and you'll be fine.

[MatthewL]

I've got a mate who does repairs in his business, a lot of local schools send them to him but its not a quick job to do and its getting decent parts as the quality to repair them with. He does phones too but there is only certain ones he will touch now, but its mainly iPad's he does but its just a case of YouTube and give it ago and have the right tools and patience.

[difinity]

With a hotplate (electronics type not dinner) set at 80c and the iPad face down, you'll have the screen off in 5 minutes with minimum mess. Safety razor blades in the gap between screen a bezel and gently press them down, guitar pics then slipped in to hold the gap. Careful of the tiny pieces of glass and spend time to remove the black adhesive, tiny bits of glass stick in it.

If you've not got one or are using hot air/wheat bags, the common mistake is not enough heat, so you end up prying bits of glass away with force. At the correct temperature the glass should peel away easily with little resistance.

Replacebase.co.uk for your parts, I've had genuine and their non genuine, both are excellent quality.

ifixit.com for excellent step by step photos showing important points, YouTube videos are ok, but there's plenty of muppets doing bad jobs.

Ensure the iPad isn't bent or the corners damaged before replacing the screen, the aluminium is fairly soft and can be persuaded back into shape.

 

My first took me a couple of hours, but a few later and the right tools and it's down to minutes.