[HOWTO]Change the digitizer screen (ZTE Blade)

[Guest esaitchkay]

hey can we get those screens without the "San Francisco" branding?! that looks like original ZTE part made for Orange, is it?

you could probably spray paint it?

[Guest Martin H.]

It says the seller is away until 10 April - perhaps a way to stop people ordering whilst they're away...

I asked them for the reason for this high price.

That was the answer from today:

******************

Hi. Thanks for your message. The price has temporarily been put up to

prevent anyone from buying the item whilst I await new stock. Once I have

new stock, the item will be back on sale at the correct price.

Suzanne

*******************

[Guest ThrashMan]

Great guide....good job! :)

I've had mine apart a few times to get the damn dust out from between the digitiser and the LCD display. Micro dust comes in through the speaker grill.

Does anyone know where I might get something to enforce the seal betwen the digitiser and the LCD?

It's very thin foam, in fact it's far too thin and needs fattening up a bit.

[Guest crblues]

Great guide....good job! :)

I've had mine apart a few times to get the damn dust out from between the digitizer and the LCD display. Micro dust comes in through the speaker grill.

Does anyone know where I might get something to enforce the seal between the digitizer and the LCD?

It's very thin foam, in fact it's far too thin and needs fattening up a bit.

Hello

I'm having the exact same problem and I will be opening mine soon. I'll use a similar foam i have since the time I bought a new shell for my old Nokia 3310. (OHH the oldies... :) :) ) I think you can find Foam like that in almost any kit of fascias for Nokia or something like that.. with some knife or blade (no pun intended) cut a small strip and apply it to the bottom of the lcd it should work...

[Guest ThrashMan]

Hello

I'm having the exact same problem and I will be opening mine soon. I'll use a similar foam i have since the time I bought a new shell for my old Nokia 3310. (OHH the oldies... :) :) ) I think you can find Foam like that in almost any kit of fascias for Nokia or something like that.. with some knife or blade (no pun intended) cut a small strip and apply it to the bottom of the lcd it should work...

Oooh..good idea. I found an OLD Palm device and used the screen foam from that :)

[Guest Nuuna]

The original Ebay Link was

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/100-Genuine-ZTE-Blad...5#ht_1613wt_905

My friend has ordered one also - I have the job of fitting it.

£93.99 Are you fkin kidding me?

I would more like to buy new SF/ZTE than over priced part.

Imo.

[Guest Jekle]

Just ordered one from gravedigga1 It seems to have gone upto Grade A from Grade B, From someone else who has actually replaced the digitizer What the part that was the most Difficult? And What was the Most Annoying?

Thanks

[Guest FrownBreaker]

First thanks for the photos and the tutorials an interesting thread. Agree the best option is a protective case and screen protector.

My daughter broke her SF and the colours were odd for a day or so then the screen stopped working (not lighting up) its an OLED screen. I think the digitiser glass and the OLED screen are both broken. Is this replaceable or not worth the effort cost?

Edited April 20, 2011 by FrownBreaker

[Guest Jekle]

First thanks for the photos and the tutorials an interesting thread. Agree the best option is a protective case and screen protector.

My daughter broke her SF and the colours were odd for a day or so then the screen stopped working (not lighting up) its an OLED screen. I think the digitiser glass and the OLED screen are both broken. Is this replaceable or not worth the effort cost?

I've been in the same the boat as you, my Screen (OLED) and my Digitiser broke. I ended up giving the sob story to Orange Customer Services and they sent me a refurb (couldn't tell the difference) Trust me, if Orange Won't do anything about it go to repairmob.com And it'll cost you £17 for shipping and handling costs

Hope this helped :)

[Guest rapidone]

Here is a great video how to disassemble your phone - step by step

http://youtu.be/UCQ7KcOdAig?hd=1

[Guest Phoenix Silver]

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/100-Genuine-ZTE-Blad...658&afsrc=1

it is back to £23.99

:)

[Guest 109android]

Will anyone be kind enough to find me an ebay link (or an other source) to a correct screw driver for the job?

I've gathered that a pozidrive (or phillips) driver can be used but i cant for the life of me be sure im ordering the right size - this 'gauge' scale has my mind spinning :)

Will this do? Ebay - 00 Phillips Screwdrivers Magnetic

Edited April 24, 2011 by 109android

[Guest Michealtbh]

Will anyone be kind enough to find me an ebay link (or an other source) to a correct screw driver for the job?

I've gathered that a pozidrive (or phillips) driver can be used but i cant for the life of me be sure im ordering the right size - this 'gauge' scale has my mind spinning :)

Will this do? Ebay - 00 Phillips Screwdrivers Magnetic

Why don't you just buy a mini screwdriver set? You can get them for about £3 on ebay, and you'll always have them around if you need to take something else apart

[Guest 109android]

Why don't you just buy a mini screwdriver set? You can get them for about £3 on ebay, and you'll always have them around if you need to take something else apart

Not a bad idea, thanks

[Guest glossywhite]

The best cure is prevention

i have just purchased a silicon case and a screen protector (dealextreme)

I have to buy a usb cable anyway

blade is new new (4 days) must be protected :)

not so expensive 4 pounds the 3 items (free shipping)

Prevention is not a cure, any more than cure is prevention. A cure is something which remedies something which already occurred, and prevention is preventing it from occurring in the first place.

Think about it...

[Guest glossywhite]

£93.99 Are you fkin kidding me?

I would more like to buy new SF/ZTE than over priced part.

Imo.

It would appear that certain members are averse to reading threads thoroughly, no?

[Guest oker]

Thanks for the ebay info and the howto! Luckily i still had my OLED with broken digitizer. I've replaced it easily, it's working great.

[Guest Ralph Martin]

The touchscreen on my blade has been playing up for ages. It got worse today, so I took the plunge and completely disassembled it, and put it back together, based on these instructions.

Although hard to see in these pictures, there are 5 little foam oval widgets, 2 down one side of the board, and three down the other, each covered with a silvery conductor. The ones on the side with 3 make contact with a lead with bare patches adjacent to these widgets. If you look carefully at Picture 5 in the first posting, you can see the lead on the side with three, running down the edge - one contact is near the mid-height of the battery housing, and the other two are roughly at each end of the battery housing.

At least one of these was not located properly. I reseated them all carefully with tweezers, making sure they contacted the wire properly, and also for good measure disconnected and reconnected the connector shown in Picture 3 in the first posting. I then reassembled everything, and - touch wood - the touchscreen has been working much more reliably since.

Edited May 9, 2011 by Ralph Martin

[Guest Segavax]

Who does not know where you can purchase TFT display for SF? Because my phone, he ordered a long time to live! ((Thanks in advance!

[Guest Ralph Martin]

The touchscreen on my blade has been playing up for ages. It got worse today, so I took the plunge and completely disassembled it, and put it back together, based on these instructions.

Although hard to see in these pictures, there are 5 little foam oval widgets, 2 down one side of the board, and three down the other, each covered with a silvery conductor. The ones on the side with 3 make contact with a lead with bare patches adjacent to these widgets. If you look carefully at Picture 5 in the first posting, you can see the lead on the side with three, running down the edge - one contact is near the mid-height of the battery housing, and the other two are roughly at each end of the battery housing.

At least one of these was not located properly. I reseated them all carefully with tweezers, making sure they contacted the wire properly, and also for good measure disconnected and reconnected the connector shown in Picture 3 in the first posting. I then reassembled everything, and - touch wood - the touchscreen has been working much more reliably since.

Oh well, spoke too soon. It's gone back to being flaky. I think I'll take the plunge and buy a new digitizer.

[Guest darkado]

ebay listing doesn't specify the colour. which one is it?

[Guest Letalis.se]

Anybody having difficulty to get the digitizer to work?

Changed on my GF phone but the digi didnt work, the seller has shipped another one.

I have seen a few reports regarding this, but no solution.

[Guest Max-Power]

great guide, thanks for sharing, will keep this in mind, but will hopefully not have to use it :D

[Guest unrandomsam]

It would appear that certain members are averse to reading threads thoroughly, no?

For good reason when they get too long

[Guest Erikvc]

Did you all order the digitizer from Gravedigga on Ebay? I just ordered mine on wednesday, got an e-mail that the payment was recieved through paypal. But his shop closed friday and will be closed all week. Did you recieve an e-mail when the digitizer was posted? I didn't. Cause I hope mine is already on its way, otherwise i'll have to wait another week for it to ship to the Netherlands.

My touchscreen isn't responding at all anymore. In the beginning I cold get it to work by pressing the San Fransisco logo, removing the backcover, unscrew the screws for a bit, but nothing is working anymore. Hope the new digitizer will fix this. Is there a chance the digitizer wont fix this?