Popping My Cherry

The title was supposed to be “Cherry Mobile Fusion Bolt Digitizer Repair.”  ZZZZZZZZZZZ Nakakaantok! This is a boring repair post. This is my first time to do this kind of stuff. Also, I'm not a techie -- in fact, I'm the antithesis of techie, but I'm good with my hands (and may konting common sense). I won't be using technical words 'cause frankly, I don't know any. If I don't know the name of a part, I'll just describe it. I researched a bit before doing the deed. If you're going to open yours and manage to mangle it, WALANG SISIHAN!!! You've been duly warned. 

Anyhooo, this Cherry Mobile Fusion Bolt (FuBo) is fairly new, just a few months or so. I bought it from Lazada, and it was a pretty straightforward transaction. I got it for ~3.6K, after the 300-peso discount voucher from a friend. The shipping was free. Oh, this isn't about the purchase nga pala, the repair, yes, yes. Well, the touch screen (or digitizer) got broken a couple of months ago. It was lying on the bed, then napatungan ng pillow na nadaganan ni Sharkteeth. Pero hindi daw sya ang nakabasag and was adamant about it. Riiiiiiiiight. So I guess it was me, who was cooking in the kitchen, or TheHusband, who was tinkering with the laptop. Pero hindi si S. LOL! Anyway, I checked out the local Cherry Mobile branch, and they were asking me for 2K, kasi daw may shipment fee pa. Ughhhhh. I checked the local cellphone/laptop/tablet repair shops, and their quotes range from 1.5K to 2.2K. Merong isa, 1.7K daw. When I asked kung kasama na service dun, tiningnan muna ako mula ulo hanggang paa, seemingly to gauge if I can pay more, then replied na may dagdag daw na 500 pesos for the repair. Hahahahahahaah! Mukha ba akong mayaman? Siguro kasi suot ko yung huge-ass hikaw ko na mukhang diamond ang kislap, eh puwet ng baso lang naman yun. Hahahahahahaha! I checked the Internet for possible resources and found Jem Aguilar's blog. It is very informative. I also headed to YouTube for some videos, eventually choosing OrlandoFarner1's video:

Feeling confident about it, nagpabili ako kay Onyxx ng digitizer. It was only 250 pesos! Wow! Sobrang taas naman ng markup ng mga repair shops dito. Since it was so cheap, I asked Onyxx to buy two na, para pag “hindi nabasag” uli ni S, I don't have to buy again. She said she was going to Greenhills, and I assumed that she bought it from there, but the receipt says that the shop is in Baclaran. Anyway, if you're planning on buying, just call the store first. Ask for a FuBo or Ainol Novo 7 digitizer. 

Digitizers

JUST CELLPHONE ACCESSORIES AND PARTS

2nd Floor, SF 53

Baclaran Terminal 1 Plaza Mall

Landline: 02-9048872; mobile: 0917-2443311

Now, with the repair...well, I wanted to do a video sana, but it was difficult to execute kasi ang likot-likot ng director/videographer ko. First off, the materials I used:

1. Long nose
2. Thin strong plastic that you can use to pry the tablet open. I used Veet's plastic spatula.
3. Double-sided tape
4. Isopropyl alcohol
5. Scotch tape
6. Popsicle stick or cuticle pusher.
7. Cutter

You can improvise on the materials. Bring out your inner MacGyver. Kung di nyo kilala si MacGyver, sorry! Also, cover your work area with a sheet of plastic or paper because there will be broken bits of glass. 

Broken digitizer

Let's do this!!!

1. Open the tablet. Most recommend using a credit card. I didn't, 'cause there's an off-chance of ruining the card. Don't use metal when prying it open -- you might ruin the plastic frame. I started on the corner near the hole for the charger and worked my way around. I was a bit hesitant to do this. I started gingerly, but once it started opening a bit, I just went ahead.

2. Upon opening, there will be three "layers": the motherboard (attached to the back frame), the LCD (middle; clipped to the front frame along with the touch screen), and the touch screen (i.e., digitizer; attached to the front frame). The LCD and the digitizer are held together on the frame and are attached to the board using flexible circuits (golden orange with lines). In the following picture, the flexible circuit for the digitizer is the one at the bottom. It passes from the frame of the digitizer, goes under the LCD, and attaches to the board. Remove the digitizer's flexible circuit from the board by lifting the thin band of dark metal lock. Careful with that metal -- it looks fragile. Actually, I couldn't pry it, so I just gently pulled the flexible circuit; after pulling the flexible circuit, the thin metal flapped open by itself.

3. Remove the LCD from the frame by prying open the clips that are holding the LCD. I applied a bit of force and managed to detach the clips from the frame. My bad. :( 

4. Now that you've separated the LCD from the frame, set it aside and work on the frame itself. Be careful with the LCD. Mahirap pang humanap ng spare part nyan.

5. Using your cutter, gently pry the plastic layer off of the digitizer and the frame. It sticks on the digitizer along with its broken bits.

  

6. After removing the plastic layer of the digitizer, remove the remaining shards of digitizer. Be careful, they're are very sharp. Spray alcohol on the sides of the frame to dissolve the glue of the double-sided tape. Let it soak. 

7. After a few minutes, remove the double-sided tape using your fingernails or a popsicle stick. I used a cuticle pusher.

8. Wipe off the remaining glue or glass bits using alcohol. Let it dry and apply double-sided tapes. 

9. Slide the flexible circuit on the elongated hole at the base of the frame, then attach the digitizer onto the frame, removing the plastic film as you go. You can actually remove it ahead, but I didn't. So there.
  

 9. Slide the flexible circuit under the LCD, then attach it to the board. Press the thin metal plate over the flexible tape to lock it in.

10. Secure the LCD to the frame using the clips. Well, that is, if you managed not to accidentally remove the plastic clips as I did. I just taped the LCD to the frame.

11. Firmly press the top and bottom frames together. And there you go, a shiny new digitizer for 250 pesos and some elbow grease! Well, that's satisfying! I feel so magaling! :)

Thanks to Jem Aguilar, OrlandoGardner1, and Onyxx! Couldn't have done it without you! Special thanks to my photographer, Sharkteeth!