Tag: iPad

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Logic Board Failure on an Apple #iPad #A2197

Unfortunately this #repair attempt was a failure, but well worth watching to see how it was done. This was an A2197 iPad with a flickering screen and cracked digitizer. The digitizer and screen were swapped out, but sadly the flickering screen issue still remained, rendering the iPad unusable.

I heated up the logic board gently to see if it would spring into life, and ran a few more tests off camera. Sadly the iPad remained broken, and so the customer asked me to end the repair attempt.

I’d never seen a flickering screen issue like that before, so it was good to #troubleshoot it and see the symptoms. I can end on a positive note though, the parts of the iPad that work will be used to fix other A2197 iPads in the future.

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Another iPad with a Shattered Digitizer

A 2019 iPad with a Shattered Digitizer

All I have done over the last few days is fix iPads. It’s ok though as I’m used to it. There are a lot of iPads in the world, and I seem to have fixed a lot of them.

Another standard fix for this iPad, I believe it was a 2019 model.

I can recall the steps to fix this from memory – heat the digitizer up around the edges, peel it off, get any small pieces off, clean the iPad, remove the screen, disconnect the ribbons, attach the new digitizer, put the screen back in, glue it all back together, clamp it and leave it overnight.

I may have fixed quite a few of these over the years, but it is still genuinely satisfying to see a broken iPad come back to life and look new again.

iPad with screen fitted and clamped in position to allow glue to seal it
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The 2019 iPad with a Sliding Home Button

An iPad button held on with tape

iPad fix number 800!

Not a complicated fix this one, but so rewarding to get right. an iPad screen had previously been repaired and the Home Button had slid to one side.

I suspect the button had not been re-glued into position, but when I gently took the Digitizer off to see what the problem was I was horrified to see the button was held in place with tape!

There is no way I am letting this be so unloved like that. I removed the tape, repositioned the home button and glued it in place. I gave the glue 8 hours to set before checking the button worked. It had that lovely feel to it where it both clicked and smelt smooth to use, in the way only iPads do.

Finally I cleaned the old adhesive off the digitizer, reapplied new, and clamped it in place overnight to let it set. All my iPad repairs all seem to end this way – glue the digitizer back on and clamp overnight. It is a tried and tested way to guarantee a good seal on the screen.

Such a lovely fix for number 800. Sadly this blog only covers the last few repairs as it is fairly new, but rest assured I have a record off all of the repairs I have undertaken, and I am immensely proud of all of them.

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The iPad 2020 with a Shattered Digitizer

iPad 2020 with a Shattered Screen

Continuing on with yet more iPad repairs, my next restoration was to fit a new Digitzer onto the said mentioned iPad.

This one drew blood as I cut myself on sharp edge. I was OK though, nothing that a plaster couldn’t keep protected. As the screen had shattered I had to pick it off piece by piece using a heat gun and some tweezers. Some times I got lucky and was able to take off large chunks of broken Digitizer in one go, but eventually I got to just the tiny pieces that needed to be delicately removed.

After much focus on concentration I managed to get all of the pieces, and safely put them in the bin before cleaning my work desk and surrounding area. There is nothing more annoying then tiny fragments on the floor!

I removed the iPad LCD Screen, disconnected the ribbons, home button as well (the new Digitizer came with a new home button), reattached, put everything back together, and glued the screen down. I clamped it in place overnight to ensure the seal was good.

This is the 799th iPad I have fixed in the last 10 years. The shattered screen repairs are the worst, but over time you learn how to be gentle and calm as you turn a disaster into a restored triumph.

One more for the 800th. I hope its a good one!

A fully working iPad 2020!
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Adding a Lost Home Button to an iPad 2020

iPad 2020 with a Missing Home Button

The title of this post may suggest that only the home button was replaced on this particular iPad, but in truth this is only half the story. The previous screen had shattered into tiny pieces having been dropped, and upon unpicking the old screen with the combination of a heat gun and some tweezers, unfortunately I discovered the home button ribbon had been cut too.

I fitted the new screen, or to give it the correct name – the Digitizer, a week or so ago, and ordered the replacement button. It was now time to fit it.

Half of the work was already done as I hadn’t glued down the new Digitizer just yet I position the new button and ran the ribbon carefully along the inside, folding it in the correct place to reach the connector, and attached it. I used super strong super glue to hold the button clamp in place, and also gently applied some glue around the edge of the button to secure it in place.

Having tested to ensure there was a satisfying ‘press and click’ when the button was touched, I left the glue to set overnight, before returning the next day to glue the Digitzer and use clamps to hold it in place all day why the adhesive set.

It was lovely to see the iPad switch on again and be useful once again. This iPad will now go off back to a Secondary School in Hartlepool ready to be used once again.