Ω Replacing the iPad 2's Digitizer, Part Deux
When we last left our intrepid hero, he had just replaced the digitizer on his new-to-him iPad 2 with a brand-new digitizer, but had managed to make a mess of the display and somehow killed the sleep button. In this part of the story, our hero has ordered a replacement power button/mute switch/volume button flex assembly from somebody on eBay (iParts2, to be specific) and a batch of new adhesive bits to stick the display back on once the flex assembly was replaced.
At this point in the story, our hero drops out of speaking in the third person because it sounds so much like Facebook of a few years ago and because it’s a little too impersonal, even for me.
The only problem with the non-Apple part I ordered is that it doesn’t come with all of the same adhesive strips that the real Apple part would have. It does have the ones which are most important, though, and that’s what mattered. The buttons’ locator pegs were a bit iffy, but the buttons stayed where they are supposed to, and the part was less than three measly bucks, so I won’t complain.
Installation was pretty straightforward, if a bit nerve-wracking. This job is not for the faint of heart since you have to remove a PCB assembly from the depths of the iPad. That PCB has to come out in order to remove some tape and free the flex connector. You also have to remove the rear camera and other bits for a total of about a dozen screws. Keeping your kids and pets away from your neatly-ordered screws and parts is a good idea. iFixit has a wonderfully-clever magnetic mat which they sell just to hold the itty-bitty parts. Better yet, they’re including it for free with their big set of tools for Black Friday weekend, so go get it now while you can. (Mom? Dad? Christmas is coming soon.)
The instructions for replacing this flex assembly can be found here at iFixit. All I can add to the instructions is for you to take a picture of the way in which the cable runs around the top corner of the iPad. The closeups of the corner don’t show that routing well enough and I sorta’ made up the routing on my own. Here’s hoping that it works.
And if the plastic clip shown in Step 3 (“no mover” sic) should come out, don’t panic. Getting it back in isn’t too difficult. To get it back into place, use a small spudger to hold the button horizontal while you hold the bail with a pair of needle-nose pliers. What you’re trying to accomplish is to push the button away from the bail and hold the bail back with the pliers as you guide the assembly into its hole. Video would help here, but I’m not gonna’ take that thing apart again…
The repair of the cable was a total success. Until the very end, that is, when I was pressing the digitizer back onto the iPad and cracked it.
Sigh…
New digitizer is on the way, and I’ve learned just about all the lessons involved in doing a digitizer transplant. I hope I don’t find anything else to teach you, and I’ll be sure to update you on how the (hopefully) final repair goes.
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