Don't take the San Francisco II apart unless you have to (probably the same for Vivacity)

[Guest domenico lamberti]

right guys, carrying on from where i left off the other day about cracking the glass, i decided to take it upon myself to see how dificult it is to open up and replace it myself, my conclusions is :

DON'T TAKE THIS APART UNLESS YOU ABSOLUTELY HAVE TO!!!!

this is not like the blade in any way,shape or form, it is not easy to unlock,root,custom ROM or disassemble, in the interest of taking apart fully though i carried on, so far all i have been able to do is remove the black plastic that guards the inside of the device, in trying to disconnect the upper motherboard to get access to the things below i have successfully f*cked up and ripped off my power button (yes the soldered on power button) i have disconnected all the ribbon cable,and one side is loosened (the volume rocked side) the microUSB side seems to be attatched from something underneath, if i succesfully do this i shall complete this post, but for now ,if yyou break your digitizer, take it to a shop, that way if they badword it up, it's on them not you

EDIT: Completed it, the thing holding the other side down was an adhesive sticker on the part of the screen, in hindsight if i knew this i probably wouldn't have forced in one area breaking my power button, but still this is not an easy tear down,it isn't recommended, and i stick with what i said earlier,if you break your digitizer or LCD (good luck trying to find one of them) take it to a phone shop (or even orange if you have insurance) and let them deal with it, ah well it isnt a proper forum until someone breaks something for the team is it

Edited June 22, 2012 by domenico lamberti

[Guest CurtisAndroidSF2]

Sounds like you had quite a challenge! At least you've managed to make the device usable again, it could be worse!

[Guest domenico lamberti]

its usable, just without a power button, i have to take it all apart again when the new digitizer comes, i need to find someone who is good at micro-soldering to put it back on

[Guest jasonleeds]

ive had mine apart more than once with no major issues, i do work in a store repairing phones though.

ill post a guide if anyones interested, its not the easiest job but is doable.

the SF2 uses alot of that wonderful double sided sticky with a bit of a wiggle most things come away.

I managed to clean all the dust crap outta the screen and im in the process of finding out where it gets in. Trying various bits of tape in various areas.

Edited June 22, 2012 by jasonleeds

[Guest BLu3HaZe]

Hi jason, where do we find that double sided sticky thing phone manufacturers use? What is it anyway? I have been trying all sorts of tapes and glues for a certain mobile phone related repair, but nothing seems to stick rubber to hard plastic like what was originally used.

Will be very handy for anyone who has taken apart a Crescent too I believe?

[Guest domenico lamberti]

i have been told the worst has happened, when i accidentally snapped the power button off, i have ripped the pad off of the PCB not allowing it to be reattached, which basically means i am f*cked, its near impossible to use a handset without a power button, might sell it for parts tbh, its the only thing it can be used for, or maybe keep it as an android alarm clock, but yeah still be careful

[Guest BLu3HaZe]

True, especially when it doesn't wake up with the home button like other phones such as SE's do, for example.

You could resolder by scratching the coat off, exposing the copper and making a new connection from there, if there is space. Had to do it once when a volume rocker broke off, worked somehow though.

[Guest domenico lamberti]

again i need to find someone skilled enough to microsolder as i dont have steady enough hands

[Guest sladja_kuvarica]

Try soft solution for hardware problems-use ButtonRemapper to remapp power button.

[Guest domenico lamberti]

is soft solutions a company or?

[Guest BLu3HaZe]

I think he means like software solution like remapping the power button to one which is used less often. Which may have been good if we had a camera button, which is rarely used anyway, If a combo is possible, holding vol+ and - to be power, that'd save you a lot of hassle.

[Guest domenico lamberti]

i found an app that has a widget that acts as power off, then volume buttons turn it on, htats a pretty good temporary fix

[Guest sladja_kuvarica]

No look for it on xda.For example it is possible to redirect the capacitive keys ... I think it is very helpful in your case.

Edited June 22, 2012 by sladja_kuvarica

[Guest Dazzozo]

They aren't capacitive.

[Guest jasonleeds]

we use some "3m" double sided sticky, use it on blackberrys and the iphones

3m being the brand

Edited June 23, 2012 by jasonleeds

[Guest jamesrl]

ive had mine apart more than once with no major issues, i do work in a store repairing phones though.

ill post a guide if anyones interested, its not the easiest job but is doable.

the SF2 uses alot of that wonderful double sided sticky with a bit of a wiggle most things come away.

I managed to clean all the dust crap outta the screen and im in the process of finding out where it gets in. Trying various bits of tape in various areas.

A guide would be brilliant if you could put one together for us.

Thanks

[Guest fr0do]

A guide would be brilliant if you could put one together for us.

Thanks

+1 ;)

[Guest jasonleeds]

ill get on it on my next day off....probably tuesday

[Guest metal.mickey]

id like to concur with the original post, as my teardown of the TMV was sucessfull but only to a point.

My Gfs phone had a cracked screeen to bought a replacement phone off ebay and tried the teardown on it. Id done it previously on the blade, but the TMV has a soldered motherboard. i managed to undo all the braided cables etc, but withthe device face down there is a v small braid on the left hand side (next to the white round sticker) that links the board to the screen/digitiser/lcd. Its not removable unlless your a good micro solderer.

In essence the teardown was partly successful but ultimately proved terminal for the replacement TMV.

if anyone is interested in a front cover/lcd/digiser ill post a listing on ebay.

MM

Edited November 10, 2012 by metal.mickey

[Guest camille1462]

ill get on it on my next day off....probably tuesday

Hi!

have you had time to make any tutorial since this post?

My girlfriend just cracked her screen and I'd like to check if I'm feeling skilled enough to replace it.

Thanx