Imagio Disassembly Guide [WIP]

[Slack3r]

Since there still aren't any tutorials on how to take this phone apart, and several people expressed interest in a guide, I decided to make one based on my experiences replacing the digitizer. It's still a work in progress, as I don't have the replacement parts yet, but I will update it as I go along. The pictures also unfortunately didn't come out that great, but I will be re-taking them during the re-assembly process in a better lighting scenario. And now for the obvious...

*DISCLAIMER*
I am not responsible for any damage to your device (or yourself ) caused by following these instructions. Make sure you are aware of everything involved, and do not attempt to disassemble your phone unless you are comfortable working with small electronics.

Now for the guide

Step 1: Remove the accessories
Remove the battery cover, battery, SIM card, MicroSD card, and stylus from the phone.

Step 2: Remove the torx screws
Remove the five screws from the back cover, which are circled in Red. They are torx screws, and a T5 bit worked fine for me to remove them. After removal, the back cover should begin to lift up on the left side.



Step 3: Remove the back case
On the right side of the case, there are three remaining clips that are holding the back cover in. You will need to use a small flathead screwdriver to unhook them, starting with the top. The locations of the three clips are circled in Yellow. After unhooking them, the case should lift off, there is nothing you need to unhook, as the antennae are all attached by contact points. You will have to swing it off, as the bottom of the back cover will still be attached somewhat by the USB and headphone jacks. Then remove the volume button rocker, simply by lifting it off.



Step 4: Unscrew the circuit board
You will need to unscrew the remaining two torx screws to remove the circuit board, which are circled in Red. Then you will need to detach the front button cable, which is circled in Blue.



Step 5:
Carefully flip the circuit board over, and remove the LCD and Digitizer connectors circled in Blue. The main circuit board is now free from the case.





This is all I have for now, everything from this point on is glued directly to the faceplate. I would recommend buying a new LCD, Digitizer, and Faceplate if you need to replace any of the three, but it may be possible to save the faceplate and LCD if you are extremely careful in removing the digitizer. The digitizer is attached with very strong glue, and is impossible to remove without breaking it. The LCD is sandwiched in between the faceplate and the digitizer, so you will need to remove the digitizer to access the LCD. Be EXTREMELY careful removing the digitizer, as it is glass and will shatter easily.

I will be adding more information to the guide as time goes on, but feel free to ask me about anything I didn't include, or if something isn't clear. This is a work in progress, after all.

[fortycal]

Thanks for this. The digitizer on my Imagio just went out a couple days ago, rendering the phone useless.

[Slack3r]

Originally Posted by fortycal

Thanks for this. The digitizer on my Imagio just went out a couple days ago, rendering the phone useless.

No problem. It may be possible to replace only the digitizer, but you'll have to be extremely careful removing the old one, and you'll have to carefully clean the edges of the faceplate without attempting to remove the LCD. I would recommend covering it with a piece of saran wrap or plastic during the process.

The digitizer and LCD aren't physically attached together, but they are both very solidly glued to the faceplate and require a lot of effort to remove. Mine did not come out too well



Also, on an additional note... the actual sensors for the front buttons are on a strip which is glued to the faceplate, but the physical buttons are on a plastic assembly that unscrews from the bottom with two small screws. So don't go trying to pry them off without unscrewing the buttons first.

[Slack3r]

I just got my replacement housing in the mail today... I'm going to update the guide once I have a chance to work on it later, but here's a teaser pic for now

[juandelahoz]

Hi guys! Im having a touch problem with my Imagio... Really it doesn't work at all
The phone works great using MyMobiler and hard buttons, but no screen touch! I live in Colombia and I don't have the replacement option!
I saw this item on Ebay and I want to know if this will help me with my problem!

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...ht_4456wt_1202

Thanks for the help!

[Slack3r]

Originally Posted by juandelahoz

Hi guys! Im having a touch problem with my Imagio... Really it doesn't work at all
The phone works great using MyMobiler and hard buttons, but no screen touch! I live in Colombia and I don't have the replacement option!
I saw this item on Ebay and I want to know if this will help me with my problem!

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...ht_4456wt_1202

Thanks for the help!

As long as the problem lies in the digitizer, this would almost certainly fix the problem. Just keep in mind that it may be difficult removing the old LCD and Digitizer from the case.

Did you drop the phone at all? Another possibility is that the connector for the digitizer may simply have become dislodged, which you can check by simply removing the circuit board and checking the connectors. The Digitizer cable is on the back side, and it is the smallest of the connectors.

[juandelahoz]

I will try with the conector, Thanks! And yes I drop the phone several times, at first was a little part of the screen the one that doesnt work, That part grow up and now its the whole screen.
Anyway if I can fix it checking the conector I will buy the whole screen replacement LCD + Touch!
Thanks for the tip

[djp952]

Thanks for this, Slack3r, it came in handy. My ghetto-ized buttons got messed up again, so this time I got a busted unit from eBay and did a swap-out of parts.

A few notes I can add:

- Before you try to remove the back case, be sure to take a utility or x-acto knife and slice the FCC sticker between the "FCC" and the SIM card. The parts unit I had looks like it was a refurb and this was already done, but my unit had one big sticker that needed to be cut along a serrated line.

- I didn't personally have a need to remove the SIM card, but I suppose it doesn't hurt to do so

- There are actually 2 sizes of Torx screws. T5 and T6. If you're going to remove the button assembly, that's a phillips, size 00 I believe. Really small.

- In order to detach the ribbon cables from the mainboard, you have to unclip them first (I know you know this, but everyone may not and just try to yank them out). Each of the three ribbon cable connectors has a black piece. These black pieces are hinged, and flip up towards you to unlock the ribbon cable. They all work the same way, you would use a fingernail or small flat screwdriver, place it under the black piece from the opposite side the cable goes in, and flip it up towards you.

- If removing the button assembly, there are 3 pieces of thick electrical tape that get removed. 2 pieces cover the screws (easy enough to find) and there is a third that holds down the black ribbon cable. Be careful not to destroy the ribbon cables

- The circuit board with the button contacts is glued onto the faceplace as mentioned, but both of mine came off easily by using a small flat screwdriver and *gently* going around the edges. I didn't pry under it first, I used a twisting motion to move it slightly and weaken the glue. In my case, one of the edges came loose, then I was able to gently pry it out. NOTE: It's metal, so it will probably bow a little if you have to pry it off and will need to be bent back to flat.

- To try and ensure proper button functionality for a while, I opted to super glue the little discs back onto the circuit board buttons. The OEM seems to have relied upon one side of the discs being sticky. I used a toothpick to dab an *extremely* tiny amount of glue to the button, then carefully placed the sticky side of the disc onto it. It's harder than it sounds. I ended up sticking the disc to my finger using it's own stickiness, then got under it with an x-acto knife to move it to the circuit board. I had a toothpick I cut a pointy end off of to provide a couple seconds of pressue to it. BE CAREFUL WITH THE DISCS, they are really damn small and almost clear, if you drop one or send it flying, you probably won't ever see it again.

- On reassembly, I had a hard time getting the ribbon cables put back into place. What worked for me was to stand the faceplate and the mainboard up on their sides and get them into about a 45 degree angle. I used the cut toothpick to push the ribbon cables in when they were lined up (there are bumps on the cable to faciliate this, you'll see). Do the brown ones first, the black one from the button strip can be done after the mainboard has been reattached to the faceplate. The ribbon cables require patience.

Overall, I was very pleased with how easy it was to take this unit apart and put it back together again. Thanks Slack3r for making me think I could do it I believe I spent about 45 minutes from start to finish, but I did not reassemble the junk unit (why?)

MISTAKE I MADE SO YOU DON'T REPEAT IT: I did screw up a little. I was hasty with my super glue on the circuit board buttons, and actually applied the glue with the toothpick to all 5 buttons before I set the discs. I didn't realize it would take so long to set them properly. So, as a result, the glue dried on the last 2 buttons (Talk/Multimedia) before I got to them. I had to add a little more glue, but these things are so tiny, that it ended up being too much. The buttons work fine, but the extra miniscule amount of glue I added somehow makes them lack the proper tactile feel. They don't "click", for lack of a better work, they feel more like touchscreen buttons. So ... if you're going to glue the discs in place, do them one at a time and follow the cardinal rule of glue ... a little goes a long way!

Hope this helps somebody. I had fun doing it, and may look out for another junked Imagio with buttons that are less scratched up than the ones I got and do this again! We'll see how long the OEM buttons stay working with that little dab of super glue on the discs!

[docj]

On reassembly, did you glue faceplate to digitizer/other pieces?

[Slack3r]

Wow, it's been a while... I almost forgot about this thread due to being busy most of the time after I made it, and starting a new job didn't help XD

I'm working on a re-write though, which should be up soon.

Originally Posted by docj

On reassembly, did you glue faceplate to digitizer/other pieces?

The replacement I ordered came pre-attached, so unfortunately I don't have any experience with attaching the pieces. I will say that it's impossible to use the existing digitizer with a replacement screen as removing the screen destroys the digitizer, but it may be possible to replace the digitizer without damaging the screen if you are really careful.

Either way, I would still recommend buying them pre-assembled as it's much easier.

Also thanks for your contributions djp952! I will be sure to include them in the guide.