Battery Repair, iPhone, iPhone 6 Repair, TearDown

iPhone 6 Battery Replacement: How To Guide

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Introduction

iPhone 6 Battery replacement is relatively easy. The clasps holding the screen onto the body near the top are at an
angle. The flex cable for the screen is also towards the top but you will not need to disconnect it to replace the
battery.

There are two strips of white adhesive under the battery that are a nuisance to remove but it is much harder to try to
pry the battery out without doing so. Let’s do this.

Exercise caution when working with batteries, especially swollen
ones.

Tools Needed

  • Metal Spudger [BUY]
  • Pentalobe Screwdriver #000 [BUY]
  • Spudger [BUY]
  • Tweezers [BUY]
  • Tape [BUY]

Recommended: Magnetic mat [BUY],
screw capsules [BUY]

Parts Needed

iPhone 6 Replacement Battery [BUY]

General Repair Guidelines:

  • Always use good lighting – smart device components are small and you’ll need plenty of light to see what you
    are doing.
  • Maintain a clean, organized workspace so you don’t lose or confuse any components.
  • After separation, keep the back housing and screen in close proximity until all flex cables or other wire
    cables are disconnected.

iPhone 6 Battery Removal Steps

  1. Unscrew the two pentalobe screws on either side of the lightning dock on the bottom edge of the iPhone 6.

2. Use the metal spudger to slowly and carefully separate the glass screen of the iPhone from the body. Start on
the bottom edge of the device and proceed slowly. The flex cable for the screen is at the top.

3. Slowly pull the top of the screen away from the body and locate the EMI (electro magnetic interference) shield
located by the bottom right of the battery.

  1. Unscrew the two screws securing the EMI shield to the logic board and remove it.

  1. Using a spudger, disconnect the battery cable from the logic board.

  1. The next steps involve removing the adhesive tape underneath the battery to make it easier to remove. Slide one
    tip of your tweezers under the black adhesive strip at the bottom of the battery. Each black strip runs halfway
    across the bottom of the battery.

  2. Now roll your tweezers away from the battery while simultaneously pulling the tape out from underneath the
    battery.

  3. Continue to pull the tape out from underneath the battery and roll it around the tweezers. It may help to pull
    diagonally out from the corner as the tape runs up the full height of the battery.

  5. If the white tape snaps apart you may need to use a spudger to carefully pry the battery up. Continue using a
    combination of tweezers and the spudger to separate the battery from the body of the iPhone. You will have to
    repeat the process to remove the second strip of tape.

  8. Now you can remove the battery. Use a small length of some adhesive tape to secure the new battery in place.
    Reconnect the battery cable to the motherboard and screw the EMI shield back on.

  1. Reattach the screen by angling the top in first and then clicking the side clasps into place. Replace the two
    screws by the lightning dock. That’s it! You’re done.

For iPhone 6 Battery Help, Repairs, or Parts

If you need parts or tools for this repair, or if this repair is too much to attempt on your own and you need
professional help with your iPhone 6 repair,
contact iFixYouri at 888-494-4349or www.ifixyouri.com.

Battery Repair, Repair, TearDown, Tips

iPod Touch 5th Gen Battery Replacement: How To

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Introduction

iPod Touch 5th gen battery replacement is moderately difficult. The eight clasps holding the screen onto the body will make snap noises when they are unclasped. Don’t immediately pull the screen from the body as you will probably tear the cable to the home button. Step by step instructions are below the video.

Tools Needed

  • Razor Blade
  • Metal Spudger [BUY]
  • Phillips Head Screwdriver #000 [BUY]
  • Hot Air Rework Station
  • Spudger [BUY]
  • Soldering Station
  • Flux

Recommended: Magnetic mat [BUY], screw capsules [BUY]

General Repair Guidelines:

  • Always use good lighting – smart device components are small and you’ll need plenty of light to see what you
    are doing.
  • Maintain a clean, organized workspace so you don’t lose or confuse any components.
  • Apply enough heat to loosen adhesive but not enough to damage the device.
  • After separation, keep the back housing and screen in close proximity until all flex cables or other wire
    cables are disconnected.

iPod Touch 5th Gen Battery Replacement Steps

  1. Starting at the bottom near the home button, slide the corner of a razor blade in between the screen and the
    bottom frame to begin separating the screen from the body.
  3. Use the metal spudger to slowly and carefully separate the glass screen of the iPod from the body. Start on the
    bottom edge of the device and proceed slowly. Eight brackets connect the screen to the body.

  4. Continue using the metal spudger to gently separate the glass from the body up the sides and across the top. Don’t
    push too deeply towards the center of the device. When all the brackets have been pryed open, slowly pull the
    top of the screen away from the body.
  6. The home button is connected via an orange flex cable, so do not pull the back glass far from the frame.
    Disconnect the cable from the heat shield of the iPod.

  7. After disconnecting the home button flex cable, remove the eight screws from the silver heat shield and set to
    the side.

  8. The next steps involve removing the battery flex cable using a hot air rework station. Focus the heat on the
    black film and Kapton tape that needs to be removed while heating. This is located on the left side just above
    the battery.
  10. Once the cable can be removed, pop out the battery with a spudger.
  12. The replacement battery must be soldered into place using a soldering iron, flux, and tweezers to hold the
    cable in place.
  14. With your new replacement battery connected, you should now be able to boot up the device. You can work
    backward from step 7 to complete the repair. Be sure to cover the new solder points with Kapton tape before
    reinstalling the heat shield. If Kapton tape is not added the heat shield could short out the device.

For Help, Repairs, or Parts

If you need parts or tools for this repair, or if this repair is too much to attempt on your own and you need
professional help with your iPod Touch Repair, contact iFixYouri at 888-494-4349 or www.ifixyouri.com.

iPhone, iPhone 7 Repair

What to Do if You Drop Your iPhone 7 in Water?

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Water damage is not a death sentence to an iPhone. Chances are we’ve all experienced it. We drop our precious phone in some sort of liquid. We jump in the pool with our phones in our pockets. We drop it in the toilet. We spill a beer on it. Inevitably something happens.

Being that water damage repair is one of our specialties, we are asked this question a lot, dozens upon dozens of times per day. While the new iPhone 7 is not completely waterproof, it is fairly water resistant. With the help of some adhesive sealing the screen, some rubber gaskets around certain components, and some tweaks in the design, the chances of needing an iphone 7 water damage repair are lower than previous versions. This does not mean that you should try to push the phone to its breaking point and it certainly does not mean it’s immune to water damage. Something as simple as having your phone in the bathroom while you take a hot shower can cause problems.

First Steps After Dropping an iPhone 7 in Water

The process is quite straight forward and taking quick action can help decrease your chances of failure, and increase your chances of having a good, working device. This will work on other devices as well, but since we’re talking iPhone 7’s here, we’ll use this as our main example.

STEP 1) Turn Off the Device

First and foremost, turn off the device, and if it’s a model phone where you can easily remove the battery, do so. It is highly likely that your phone will work after you pull it from the water. The number one killer of water damaged phones isn’t actually the water, it’s the current that travels through the logic board after it gets wet. When you cross electricity with water, a short will occur.

iPhone 7 Power Button

STEP 2) Open All Covers and Ports

For an iPhone 7, pop out the SIM card tray by inserting the end of a paper clip in the small hole on the right side of your phone, take off any case, do not plug it in. You want to make sure if water has gotten in, that there is a way for the water to get out. You don’t want the liquid to be trapped inside if at all possible.

iPhone 7 SIM Card Removal

STEP 3) Dry Out Your Phone

We don’t advise to shake the phone, as this can cause water to get deeper into the board. Instead, we recommend using some sort of desiccant. You want something that will draw the water out. A shop vac is an okay application. Silica gel is ideal. A dehumidifier works wonders. A container of Damprid from Home Depot can also do the trick and will only run you about $10.

Steer clear of using anything that generates an excessive amount of heat, as this can only further damage the device. Do not place your phone in an oven or toaster. This is all around a bad idea.

A combo of Damprid, somewhere with good air circulation, and opening your device as much as possible will be your best chance of survival.

What do you do after your iPhone has been soaked?

After you complete the simple steps above, you need to wait. Do not try to power your phone on in any time less than 36 hours. It’s super important that your phone is completely dry before any attempt is made. If after 36 hours you see any liquid, do not try to power it on, you’ll just have to wait a bit longer. Let that Damprid soak up any liquid.

When you are confident any liquid that the device may have come in contact with is dry, then and only then try to power it up. If you get no power initially, it may need a good charge. Try giving it a short charge. If you don’t notice anything light up on the screen, chances are your battery may be shot, and possibly other components.

At this point, you may need to bring your phone to a repair shop or use a mail-in service for deeper diagnostics and help. iFixYouri has a no-fix, no-fee policy. We offer free round trip shipping on all services, including all of our iPhone 7 Repair Services.

Regardless of the state of the device, we recommend a good cleaning by a professional repair service after your device has been wet. Water can leave residual minerals and build-up on the components, which should be removed to ensure longevity and good functionality.

What should you do with a device that can’t be repaired?

In the event that iFixYouri cannot fix your device, there are options. The device can be sent back to you. It can be recycled (if it carries no value), or if it’s a relatively newer model (iPhone 5 or higher), you can sell your iphone and use the money you earned to purchase a new device.

We know how frustrating water damage can be. We see it every day. By taking the correct steps immediately after it happens, you can dramatically increase your odds of having a good, working phone again.

If you have any questions or need professional help for iPhone 7 Repairs, feel free to reach out to us at iFixYouri.com, or call us at 888-494-4349.

Repair, TearDown

Galaxy S8 Screen Teardown: How To

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Introduction

The Samsung Galaxy S8 screen is moderately difficult to tear-down. Proper attention should be given to safely loosening the adhesive strips with heat. Keep an eye out for the connector cable to the fingerprint sensor on the back panel, and the screen flex cable which feeds through an opening in the body. So let’s get to it! Look for the text directions below the video. Check out iFixYouri on youtube for more repair videos.

Tools Needed:

Recommended: Magnetic mat, screw capsules

General Repair Guidelines:

  • Always use good lighting – smart device components are small and you’ll need plenty of light to see what you are doing.
  • Maintain a clean, organized workspace so you don’t lose or confuse any components.
  • Apply enough heat to loosen adhesive but not enough to damage the device.
  • At any point during a repair, if the adhesive becomes hard to separate, apply more heat.
  • After separating adhesive, keep the back panel, housing, and screen in close proximity until you disconnect all flex cables or other wire cables.

Samsung Galaxy S8 Teardown Steps

Click an image to enlarge

Heat up the device’s interior adhesive strips with a dehydrator, heat gun, or heat mat. Heat guns provide a quick solution but use caution as it can be easy to overdo it and damage the device.

Use the metal spudger to slowly and carefully separate the back panel of the phone from the body. Start on the bottom edge of the device and proceed slowly.

Continue using the metal spudger or use playing cards or guitar picks to gently separate the adhesive up the sides and top. Above all, don’t push too deeply towards the center of the device.

Disconnect the Sensor Cable

The rear fingerprint sensor connects to other components via an orange cable, so do not pull the back glass far from the frame. The cable can be disconnected from the back panel with a spudger.

Now you’ve disconnected the fingerprint sensor cable and separated the adhesive on all edges. After that, the back panel can be removed and set to the side.

Unscrew visible screw heads starting from the top. These connect the wireless charging assembly to the body. The three screws along the bottom do not require removal.

Galaxy S8 Screen removal step 5

Set aside the wireless charging assembly. Using the spudger, disconnect the battery’s orange-colored flex cable which is connected to the logic board.

The screen connects to the board by an orange flex cable located near the edge of the phone. Disconnect it using a spudger.

Separating the Galaxy S8 Screen Adhesive

Removal of the Galaxy S8 screen may require reheating the adhesive. Slide the metal spudger between the screen and body. Gently slide along the bottom of the device, separating the adhesive.  WARNING: Be careful not to damage the flex cable on the right side of the phone. Do not pry too deeply into the device on the bottom or right side.

A plastic card can be used to separate the adhesive on the sides and top of the phone. However, you will have to angle the card to slide up the sides of the phone because of the glass curvature.

Watch that Flex Cable!

The screen’s flex cable feeds through a hole in the right side of the body (if you are looking at the screen). Take care when pulling the screen away from the body because there can be complications from rushing. For instance, the flex cable can get caught on the edge of the opening.

That’s it! You’ve removed the Samsung Galaxy S8 screen assembly. In conclusion, we hope you’ve learned something and had fun. You can do the removal steps in reverse if you are attempting to install a new screen assembly.

For Help, Repairs, or Parts

If you need parts or tools for this repair, or if this repair is too much to attempt on your own and you need a repair professional skilled at Samsung Galaxy S8 repair, contact iFixYouri at 888-494-4349 or www.ifixyouri.com.

Battery Repair, Tips

When To Replace Your Phone’s Battery

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Because of modern society’s love of smartphones, most of us keep a watchful eye on battery levels. When our phone’s power level is getting low, life can become a rush to find an outlet to charge back up so we can return to our interconnected day. As cell phone batteries age, they lose the ability to hold a charge and our outlet search anxiety becomes more frequent. But did you know there is also a safety risk involved with carrying around a phone with an old battery? Old batteries can expand, damaging the device they were meant to power, heat up, and sometimes even explode.

The Brief Life Story of a Battery

Rechargeable batteries may run for a long time but they do have a limited lifespan. iPhone batteries, for example, are good for roughly 600 charge cycles, after that performance starts to degrade, necessitating a battery replacement. Sometimes a replacement is required much earlier, such as when the unit routinely fails to charge, gets noticeably warmer, or runs out of power quickly.

What Causes Batteries To Explode?

Cell phone batteries are lithium ion batteries, which differ from the alkaline AA’s you have in your cable remote. Lithium-ion batteries are rechargeable and rely on the chemical lithium as their power source. Typically these are built directly into smartphones. Lithium-ions are a newer type of battery than alkalines and allow quite a bit more voltage. However, this increased power also increases some possibilities for combustion. Cheap manufacturing, rough treatment or impacts, overheating, or improper charging process (determined by device software, as well as accessories) can sometimes lead to a thermal runaway which concludes with a literal bang.

So How Do We Take Charge of Our Battery Life?

Always make sure to use high quality charging accessories. Many modern phones provide notifications when charging blocks are not the proper voltage. Pay attention to them. They do this to get the best performance and quality out of your battery. Avoid the super discount junk chargers found in gas stations and opt to purchase quality accessories from specialized phone companies, like iFixYouri.

Owners may choose to replace batteries themselves as sometimes spare batteries are available online at reasonable prices. However, the benefit of bringing your phone with the old battery intact to a professional repair company like iFixYouri for battery replacement is that you can be sure a high-quality battery is installed correctly and comes with a warranty.

Locations

iFixYouri Opens 2nd Jupiter, FL Location, 5th in Palm Beach County

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JUPITER, FL – (May 15, 2017) iFixYouri, the Palm Beach Gardens-based device repair company, has opened their 5th Palm Beach County location, bringing the total to 16 stores in Florida and Massachusetts.

With the opening of their newest store this week, iFixYouri marks their 2nd retail location in Jupiter, FL in Concourse Village at the intersection of Alternate A1A and Indiantown Road. iFixYouri Jupiter on Indiantown opened to better serve customers located in the North Jupiter and Tequesta areas. This location is the 5th Palm Beach County location, bringing iFixYouri to 16 total retail locations in Florida and Massachusetts, and a dedicated mail-in service center. iFixYouri specializes in providing same-day repair in cell phone repair and computer repair.

iFixYouri Jupiter on Indiantown provides walk-in repair services for the public who are in need of any type of tablet, computer, or smartphone repair. Most repairs are completed while customers wait. The electronics repair experts at iFixYouri are well known for their top-notch customer service, backed with affordable pricing on all repair services.

iFixYouri is very proud of this new location. “We’re really happy to expand in Jupiter and provide our electronics repair services to the Jupiter and Tequesta area. Our repair experience and quality customer service provide a great value to residents here,” said Chris Johncke, iFixYouri’s founder and CEO. “This location is very central to many things to see and do in the town of Jupiter. It’s a very convenient location for our customers to come in, get their device repaired, and go about their day.” Students, and civil servants, get 10% off all repairs.

Johncke has lived in the area for 20+ years, and enjoys the scenic town. After scouting multiple locations, he settled on the intersection of Indiantown Road and Alternate A1A, as he sees it as the perfect distance from both popular tourist attractions, such as bustling Harbourside Place and the Jupiter Lighthouse, and local schools and hangouts. “We believe that iFixYouri will be a great addition to this wonderful plaza and this part of Jupiter. The response and feedback from the community has been amazing since we expanded to Abacoa Plaza a few months back,” he adds.

Other iFixYouri locations in Palm Beach County are dotted all over from Abacoa to as far south as Okeechobee Blvd and everywhere in between. Additional stores are located in Orlando as well as the Boston metro area, with more to come. The company also has an established online mail-in repair business, able to take in devices from anywhere in the country, with repairs completed and sent back to the customer in as little as 24 hours.

iFixYouri Jupiter on Indiantown is located at:
75 E Indiantown Road, Suite 604
Jupiter, FL 33477
561-337-2208

About iFixYouri Smart Device Repair

iFixYouri, a rapidly growing repair company that provides repair services for smartphones, tablets, and computers, is headquartered in Palm Beach Gardens, FL. iFixYouri was founded by CEO & President Christopher Johncke in 2010 in Lake Park, FL.

Inc Magazine has named iFixYouri one of the Inc 5000 fastest growing companies three years in a row. Currently, iFixYouri has 5 locations in Palm Beach County, FL, 8 in Orlando, FL, and 3 in Boston, MA. For more information, please visit http://www.ifixyouri.com

To learn more about iFixYouri, please contact:
Michelle Zausnig, Marketing Director
(888) 494-4349
michelle(at)ifixyouri(dot)com

 

Uncategorized

New iPad Under the Skin: Just an Updated iPad Air?

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Last week on the iFixYouri blog, we mentioned the new iPad, now being widely referred to as iPad 5. We wrote that this new 9.7-inch iPad seems to be just a first-gen iPad Air with a few tweaks and less Air-ness (thicker, heavier). It turns out that we weren’t totally wrong. The device-dismantling extraordinaires at iFixit found evidence of this when they performed a teardown of the device.

“So remember how we said this was similar to the first Air? We were serious—take a look inside the Air 1 and iPad 5 respectively. Not much has changed.”

The teardown pros were even able to perfectly attach a iPad Air 1 display to the iPad 5. The main difference, they noted, is that the LCD and glass are unlaminated, hurting picture quality a tiny bit while making repairs a whole lot easier. Apple claimed this screen is “new” and will be better than ever, but iFixit doubts that claim.

“In Apple’s press release announcing the iPad 5, they told us it comes equipped with a “brighter 9.7-inch Retina display.” Our question is: brighter than what? It doesn’t look that different from the Air 1’s display. If they mean brighter than the Air 2, then that may simply be due to reverting to the unfused display design of the Air 1.”

On the outside, it’s obvious Apple manufactured a new casing. There are a few major differences from the Air housing: the lack of a mechanical lock switch, a single row of speaker holes, and microphone holes instead of a larger microphone “vent.” Inside, there’s a Touch ID sensor and the associated hardware necessary for running that. However, this takes the repairability down a few notches.

“Thumbs up for fingerprint reading. Thumbs down for a harder repair, since the sensor is uniquely paired to its logic board at the factory. At least this lovely button is still a button (unlike the solid-state un-button that debuted on 7-series iPhones).”

There you have it. The screen on the iPad 5 will be easier to replace (and that’s the most common repair) but the addition of a Touch ID button will cause the same problems as with those repairs in the iPhone 7 and 2016 MacBook Pro. So go ahead; buy the new iPad 5, safe in the confidence that iFixYouri will be able to repair whatever you do to it. Just bring it to any of our walk-in locations or use our convenient mail-in repair service.

News

The Samsung Galaxy S8 Is Here, and It’s Worth the Wait

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We’ve waited months, and after a particularly anxious morning waiting for 11am to roll around, the wait is over. The Samsung Galaxy S8 is official, and it’s everything we were expecting. Well, it helped that we had a hefty dose of leaks. What we get is a huge redesign of the smartphone and a departure from the design language of previous models.

Let’s talk about bezels. They’ve been slimmed down dramatically, practically scrapping the typical smartphone design in favor of maximizing the on-screen real estate. The physical front navigation buttons are gone, replaced with on-screen buttons that disappear when not in use. The fingerprint reader is confirmed to have been moved to the back, in an awkward position next to the camera lens. There’s no logo or other identifying features on the front, other than the usual cluster of sensors at the top including the front camera, earpiece, iris scanner, and proximity sensor.

There are two sizes of the S8: the “regular” Galaxy S8 will feature a 5.8-inch display, and the Galaxy S8+ will have a bump to a 6.2-inch screen. This is, quite literally, a huge change. The latest in the phablet Note series were 5.7”; the regular-size S8 will be a bit larger than that, and the S8+ will be absolutely massive. Combine that with the minimal bezels and curved edge, and that’s a lot of screen. Oh yeah, the “Edge” display is no longer optional; the screens of both models will curve along the long edge. Both displays are certified as HDR (high dynamic range) by The UHD Alliance.

The specs under the hood are impressive as well. The S8 will be powered by four 2.3GHz cores and four 1.7GHz cores, and the S8+ gets a little boost: four 2.35GHz cores and four 1.9GHz cores. As usual, the US will get a Qualcomm chip (the new 835) while the rest of the world will have to make do with Samsung’s own Exynos 8895. Both devices will have 4GB of RAM, 64 GB of storage (expandable with a MicroSD slot), a USB-C port, and IP68 water and dust resistance. The S8 has a 3000mAh battery similar to the S7, but the Galaxy S8+ packs a 3500mAh battery, which is a 100mAh downgrade from the Galaxy S7 Edge. Is Samsung being a little conservative due to the catastrophic battery failures in the Note 7? We expect the execs to make an announcement regarding that question at some point.

In the camera department, a 12MP rear camera (seems the industry has hit the ceiling in this department; see iPhone 7 and Google Pixel) with optical image stabilization, and the front shooter gets an upgrade to 8MP. Samsung is boasting the S8 will have two connection-based firsts: the first phone with “gigabit-class” LTE connection and the first to carry Bluetooth 5, both of which are pretty cool but not entirely clear at this point.

All year long, Samsung has been pushing their new voice assistant, Bixby. To this end, they added a dedicated hardware button to the device, along the labs. Bixby has a lot of promise; it’s the brainchild of Viv Labs, founded by personnel who were part of the original team behind Apple’s Siri and later acquired by Samsung. Bixby is all about context; it can search for images, translate languages, and give you information about landmarks and icons. Aim the camera at a product, and Bixby will try to help you buy it online. Such a massive leap forward in this kind of technology will undoubtedly have glitches, so we’ll wait until we get some hands-on time before we pass judgement. Samsung also promises to release an SDK for Bixby, allowing third party apps to utilize it.

As we’ve mentioned before, Samsung needs the S8 to be the best phone it’s ever made. The lack of a phablet has left a big hole in the company’s product lineup, and they’re counting on the S8 and S8+ to fill that hole while making us forget about the nightmare PR the Samsung faced in 2016.

Both devices will be available for preorder on March 30th and we’ve been promised shipping in the US on April 21st. It will be launched in five colors: black, gray, silver, gold, and coral blue, and early speculation sees the phone starting at $720 for the S8 and $840 for the S8+. There’s all sort of deals from every major carrier (even Best Buy is offering the device unlocked at launch) so be sure to check with your provider.

Smartphone, Tablet and Computer Repairs and News