Tekst:
I will give my answer for anyone looking for help on this, asle gave a great response on this answer by the way.
This will also help with those having issues with screens lifting etc.
Really, it is impossible for you to guarantee the phone will be as water resistant as it was coming out the factory, even if you use the same exact double sided adhesive that is used to assemble these phones, you need to remember that they also have the proper equipment when assembling these phones, and clean rooms for no dust and dirt etc. Providing a very compact seal.
But saying that, quite recently Sony have gone back on their warranty, and they now don't suggest taking their phones under water at all, I'm guessing this is because too many of their phones are coming back water damaged and they had to replace them under warranty, so they have probably changed it to avoid lawsuits and warranty replacements.
I have done many of these phones, and I don't have any issues repairing them, but I always say to the customer that the water resistance of the phone can not be guaranteed, and they must accept that or I refuse the repair, if they don't accept, I tell them to go to an authorised Sony repair centre.
A lot of people have a few issues with these repairs, the main one being SCREENS/BACK COVER LIFTING, this can happen for a few reasons, I will explain a few reasons why this can happen.
- Parts -
Using cheap/copy parts can cause lifting, this can be due to the fact that a lot of them don't meet the original parts standards, meaning it could be slightly bigger, slightly smaller, too thick or too thin, causing it to not fit correctly, it's also quite common on the third party screens, they use copy glass, these don't have the same coating/varnish underneath that allows the adhesive to grab the glass with a strong bond, so the adhesive eventually loses its bond with the glass.
- Frame/Housing -
This ones pretty simple, if the housing is too damaged/snapped or bent, you need to replace it, trying to put a screen on this will just result in a sloppy looking mess, that will fail extremely quickly.
- Cleaning -
This one is a big one, if you don't do this correctly, or don't do it at all, 100% of the time, you will get lifting issues.
What you need to do is clean off all the old adhesive, if all the old gunk is still there when applying new adhesive, the adhesive won't be able to grab the frame, causing a very weak bond, it also causes issues because the surface won't be as smooth.
You need to make sure to remove all of the old adhesive and gunk on the frame, using something to scrape it off, and use 99.9% isopropyl alcohol to clean up the entire frame and remove excess gunk, this de-greases the frame also, as dust, dirt, and oils from your fingers etc. cause a weak bond.
I also highly recommend going around the frame of the new screen and new back cover, as these will have oils on them, these are handled not only by you, but by the people who manufacture them, and by the people who send you the parts.
- Adhesive -
Using a good adhesive is a must, a lot of double sided adhesive rolls on eBay suck.
For the Xperia range, I always recommend getting the pre cut adhesive, not only are these usually high quality/original, they also take a lot less time to install.
When applying the double sided adhesive, you want to make sure to get it as flat as possible, air bubbles under the adhesive can also cause the bond to weaken.
A good place I have used in the past for adhesive is a company called Replacebase, they offer original Xperia pre cut adhesive with 12 months warranty.
NEVER USE super glue or any other form of liquid glue, these simply don't perform as well as double sided adhesive, you may get an initial good bond strength, but these will be very brittle, making the screen prone to falling out after a single drop, and most of the time the bond just breaks off by itself, you also run the risk of getting the liquid in to places it shouldn't be, causing further damage to the device.
- Heat -
There has always been the debate whether heating up the adhesive after everything has been applied makes it stronger.
Well, after Tesa and ifixit did a interview, they gave a lot of answers.
It doesn't make the max bond stronger, but, it does make the initial bond strength reach max strength in less time, if you have done all the initial preparation before applying the adhesive, you will usually get 80% initial bonding strength, and it takes usually 24 hours or so to reach max strength, heating up the adhesive isn't necessary, but, will help reach max strength in less time, as this causes the adhesive to get in to all the crevices to get that bond.
They recommend around 40c - 50c to warm the adhesive up.
- Clamps -
Clamping was also something that was debated, you get 80% initial strength from the bond just by using your fingers, but this would need to be even pressure along the whole surface, which can be tricky.
So personally and from all the repairs I've done, clamps are a big help, as the device can then be left for the bond to reach max strength, I usually leave it overnight, and the screen or back cover (whichever needs replacing) is always flush, and I don't get lifting issues, I provide 12 months warranty on the part replaced, and haven't had a single person come back with lifting issues.
If you have any questions, just comment and I will be sure to try and answer them! :-)
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