Reassembly—It’s all about the SNAP!

I had the last-which-becomes-first connector down. Went to the second, and heard a very satisfying SNAP! Then, I became paranoid. Did the first connector snap? I don’t know?!? How did I put it down? What was that motion? What’s the level of the socket with its surroundings? Frack! I undid both, and the last connector gave a satisfying SNAP, when I disconnected it. HAHA. So now, I was paying close attention. I felt the level of the sockets, studied the Mondrian-like composition, and listened for the SNAP.

Non-Sticky Run Through

Critical to Success is doing a non-sticky run through of these steps. I realized:

1) Need to remove the screen. I was going to attempt the battery replacement without removing the screen, but after running throught these steps, it was clear I needed the freedom of movement. You only get one shot.

2) Shape of the connector cable at the socket was more shallow on the new battery. The connector cable has a shape like a flag and flag pole. The original had a ‘V’ shape between flag pole & flag. The new battery had an ‘L’ shape. Using the spluger and a plastic card, I carefully reshaped the connector cable. I was not too picky about matching the shape; Seems like this cable could break. I made just enough shape to route the cable off the socket level, down to the back of the phone where it rejoins the flag pole— If you can imagine it.

3) Step 7 and 8. In my infinite wisdom, I was going to do steps 7 & 8 differently. Thankfully, I paid attention to these steps. You only get one shot.

I’ve done work on my laptop and one of my favorite tools is a wooden tongue depressor. They’re strong. You can shape them. They’re obviously non-conductive. And, I don’t jack up my Credit Card in the process. HAHA.

My phone is 2-3 years old. I used a hot water bottle (water heated to 140F) and let the phone heat up for approx ~60s. The strips didn’t even get around the corner before they broke. Maybe I should have heated the water to 200F? Maybe I should have heated the phone for 2 minutes?

Scrapping up the goo later, it was really stuck down. I continued to use the hot water bottle, and at no point did it seem to become ‘less sticky’. Eventually I was able to scrape up enough to get a grip. The rest pulled up just like the pictures. Maybe the goo was just not pliable after years of heating and cooling?

I had to bend the old battery out which sucks.

MEH! It was OK. I pried it out. It got bent up. I’m not using it again. No biggie.

Skip or Not to Skip, that is the question.

I opted to skip the screen removal at first. Only when I had to replace the adhesive strips did I change my mind. Looking at the adhesive removal page, I believe the freedom of movement allowed without the screen in the way is key to successfully applying the adhesive strips.

Is the photo (step #9, photo #3) wrong? The bracket has a rectangular shape. On one of the shorter sides (of the rectangle), the rectangle is ‘open’. Shouldn’t this be the route for the cable?

Reinstallation.

I struggled for a short time to get the bracket back into place. The bracket has a rectangular footprint. One edge has 1-clip and the other edge has 2-clips. I thought the 1-clip side was a ‘hook’. Haha. NOT! After taking a closer look, I could see the shape and understood how the piece should fit. It SNAPS into place.

1) Reassembly: Note the orientation, 2 clips toward the battery, 1 clip toward the bottom of the phone.

Sorry, but I believe this is wrong. Besides, the ‘clip(s)’ is not the important feature here. This bracket has a rectangular footprint, and one of the two shorter sides (of the rectangle) is open. This open side, I believe, is the route for the cable.

I used the iFixit kit (2019) with suction  cup. It worked perfectly fine. Absolutely imperative—USE A ZIPTIE (or one of the other suggestions such as box tape). It’s cumbersome to handle the phone and you might become preoccupied with positioning your hands that you apply an unmeasured amount of force.

I wasn’t sure what to expect. Suction cup in place, plastic opening tool on the edge. As I adjusted hand position and applied force, BAM! the screen just popped up, and was saved by a ziptie.

STEP 20 - IMPORTANT= This screw secures a mounting bracket on the optical drive. This bracket's eyelets are slotted. The right side of the bracket has a tab inserted in the bottom case. After removing the screw, use the spudger to slide the bracket to the left. This disengages the tab from the right side of the case, thus allowing the optical drive to be lifted out in step 23.