Your phone is busted, now what? How to get it fixed on a budget

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Your phone is busted, now what? How to get it
fixed on a budget

• Phone LCD Wholesale

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Its alarmingly easy to break your Smartphone.
Drop it and you could end up with a cracked or
shattered screen. If it falls in the toilet or
you spill a drink on it then it could be lights
out. Physical buttons can get stuck, chipped, or
just worn out. Well-used headphone jacks might
stop recognizing that cable. A scratched or
cracked camera lens can spell the end of good
photos. A lot can go wrong. None of these things
is cause to throw that Smartphone away. Theres a
lively trade in broken smart phones and thats
because people in the know about repairs can snap
them up for low prices, fix them cheaply, and
sell them on for big profits. Even if you are
getting rid of your phone, you could make more by
fixing it up first than its going to cost you to
do.
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Check your coverage first
If you encounter a defect that you didnt cause
and your Smartphone is still under warranty then
you may be able to go back to your retailer and
get the manufacturer to fix it for free. Its
also possible that you have some form of coverage
as part of your home insurance, credit card, or
bank account. Some of you will have pulled the
trigger on extended warranties or Smartphone
insurance. Take a look and see what the
deductible is before you put in a claim.
Sometimes the amount youre expected to pay will
actually exceed the cost of repairing it yourself
or even going to a good repair service.
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Fix it yourself
If youre out of warranty or the damage isnt
covered then you might think about trying to fix
it yourself. Before you begin, be aware that
youre almost certainly going to void your
warranty by attempting a self-repair. Youre
almost certainly going to void your warranty by
attempting a self-repair. The golden age of the
Internet means that a short video tutorial or a
text and photo guide of just about anything you
could ever want to know how to do is just a
search away. If youre confident in your
abilities, or willing to have a go, then you
shouldnt have too much trouble finding a set of
instructions to follow. YouTube is another
obvious place to look for tutorial videos you can
follow, and youll find lots of guides and a very
helpful community at XDA Developers forum.
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Getting tools and parts
Before you start you will need to secure the
correct tools. Some manufacturers deliberately
make strange fixings to discourage self-repair.
If you dont use the correct tools theres a good
chance youre going to end up doing some damage.
Make sure that you have a clean workspace with
everything you need to do the repair before you
start. Sometimes the iFixit tutorials will
include links to buy the necessary parts or
tools, though youll often get a better deal by
shopping around. You can find reliable parts and
tools at eTech Parts. Phone LCD Wholesale have
lots of cheap repair kits and parts on offer. You
have to be careful about the parts because there
are some low cost options that might be shoddy
quality. Do a bit of reading about what you need
before you start and check the reputations of
sellers and the reviews of specific kits and
parts before you buy.
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A word of warning
It can be tough forcing Smartphone components
apart. The inside of most Smartphone's is messy
and confusing. Sometimes it will feel like youre
going to break parts if you press any harder and
sometimes you will break something. Some
Smartphone's are much easier to take apart and
fix than others. Certain repairs are not worth
the bother of attempting and there are parts and
tools that you simply cant get at a reasonable
price. You can generally find out how difficult
it will be by checking the online guides and
discussions. Consider the risk that youll botch
the job, factor in your research, your tools and
parts, and the time you are going to spend on it.
A lot of people will be more comfortable getting
someone else to do it. An experienced repair
expert will know where to get the right parts,
theyll have the right tools, and theyll be able
to do the repair quickly and efficiently.
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Hire someone or use a service
If you want the job done right it might be better
to use a reputable repair service. They can still
be cheaper than the deductible on an insurance
claim in some cases. Theyre also likely to be
faster. There are lots of big name chains that
will do in-store repairs while you wait or within
the day and youll find various online services
where you can send your Smartphone and get the
fixed handset sent back to you within a
week. Phone LCD Wholesale just started offering
in-store repairs for Smartphone's and tablets and
they have another service where you drop the
phone off in-store and they return it to your
door within 72 hours.
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Official repairs are best
Its always worth checking with your retailer,
carrier, or manufacturer as well. Generally, if
youre outside the warranty period, theyll
charge the most for repairs and theyll take the
longest, but there are exceptions. You never know
until you ask. Shop around, get quotes, check
reviews and reputations, and then make an
informed decision. You might just find that your
broken Smartphone is easier and cheaper to repair
than you thought.
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Remember privacy
One final word of warning we have to mention
concerns your privacy. If youre going to send
your phone away or leave it in the repair shop
for a few days then you should really consider
making a complete back up and wiping your phone
so theres no private files or sensitive
information left. Its a hassle, but its the
only way to be sure that someone wont get their
hands on your photos or emails.
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Tools of the Trade
No matter what phone you're trying to take apart,
there are a few tools you'll almost always need.
Some devices are easier to take apart than others
(and we'll get to that in a bit), but before you
open up your hardware, you'll want to make sure
you have a few things on hand A screwdriver kit
It goes without saying that you'll need a set of
screwdrivers, but the type you'll need may not be
sitting in your garage. Your phone is filled with
a myriad of tiny screws. iFixit sells a toolkit
with many of the screw heads you'll need, but
many PC repair toolkits will do.
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Specialty screw heads In addition to regular
screwdrivers, certain Smartphone
modelsespecially modern iPhonesuse special
screws that standards sets can't handle. While
this is usually done to prevent unauthorized
repairs, you can buy tools that can open up the
hardware. Screen pry tools Perhaps the most
important tool you'll likely need that you won't
already own is a plastic pry tool. They're
relatively cheap (here you can buy a pair of them
for 3). The pry tool is used to separate parts
that are pressed together like the plastic casing.
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The Most Common Repairs
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Broken Screen/Digitizer
Fixing a broken screen can be either fairly
simple and cheap or extremely expensive depending
on how it's built. In both cases, you'll need to
disassemble your device (guides for many popular
phones can be found below). In some cases, the
glass and digitizer (the layer which translates
taps into input) may be fused together which
makes a replacement unit very expensive. If they
are not, however, you can buy a replacement
screen fairly cheap. In cases where the display
is not fused to the glass, you may be able to
replace either the glass by itself or the glass
and digitizer. Both are fairly simple repairs,
but if the digitizer is connected to the glass,
you'll need to connect a data cable, which varies
by model. Here is a collection of guides for the
most popular phones of the last couple years, but
you can find others (see the next section below).
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Headphone Jacks
Any time moving parts are introduced to a device,
it can increase the failure rate. Headphone jacks
may not be motorized, but they see a lot of
action from headphones and stress can frequently
be placed on the contact points if you it while
working out or other heavy activity. Once your
device is opened, headphone jacks are relatively
easy and cheap to replace, but this assumes you
can get in. Devices with unibody designs like the
HTC One are difficult to enter no matter what
task you're trying to accomplish. Headphone jack
units are usually self contained and plug
directly into the motherboard, though they are
sometimes attached to the speaker assembly. You
can check out one of the guides below to see how
easy it will be for your device.
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Loose/Stuck Buttons
Like headphone jacks, buttons can be replaced
roughly as easily as the phone itself is to open.
You can buy replacements for most hardware
buttons in a handset and swap them out without
too many problems. However, if you're
uncomfortable cracking open your phone, you can
solve a lot of button problems with
software. Most buttons are attached via cables
to the motherboard and they can be very delicate,
so be careful when re-attaching new hardware. You
can usually find out how to replace the various
power and volume buttons by following the
standard teardowns. Be sure to read ahead first
before purchasing replacement components.
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Camera Replacement
It's rare for camera hardware to break outside of
a cracked lens, however internally, camera
sensors are relatively easy to replace (once
again depending on how easy the handset is to
open). The unit is usually attached by a single
cable, but if the glass is cracked you can
sometimes replace the exterior glass without
actually removing the camera from the
motherboard. Once again, here are some device
specific guides, and you can find out how to
locate more below.
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