Replacing Android Tablet Touchscreen

My niece cracked the front of her Vimicro Flytouch Android Tablet.  The tablet still booted up, the screen still worked but the touchscreen was broken.  This post is about how I replaced the broken touchscreen.



First thing was to prise off the old screen.  It was simply stuck down with double sided table and could be prised off with a knife.  This revealed the ribbon cable connecting the touchscreen to the tablet - the width of this told me which replacement screen to purchase.  Whichever tablet you are working with you should be careful to purchase the right replacement - look for identifying marks, part numbers etc. on the broken screen you are removing.

I bought the replacement touchscreen from www.chinaeshops.com for £20.33 and the postage was free and it arrived 22 days later despite a delay caused by Chinese New Year holidays.

Having lifted off and discarded the broken touchscreen I was faced with the LCD and its black plastic casing clipped and screwed into the silver back case.  There were four screws hidden by plastic plugs which were quite difficult to prise out - be careful not to heavily scratch the case like I did.

Once the four screws were out I worked my way around the edge clips gently prising the screen and its surround out of the silver case until I could lift it out to reveal the innards.

 The touchscreen connecting ribbon can be seen in the bottom left of the picture above right.  It is connected to the green PCB/motherboard by a little connector.  To disengage the old ribbon, peel back the tape holding it down and pull out the plastic lock strip out and slide the end of the ribbon out.

 The next steps are pretty much the reverse of the above.  Start by lining up the new touchscreen with the LCD - making sure to remove the protective sheet stuck to the reverse - and feeding the its ribbon cable through the slot in the LCD surround.  With the two screens laid on top of the case attach the ribbon cable to the connector and close the lock strip.  This is a good time to power up the tablet to check it boots up and that the new touchscreen works.  If it doesn't then try reseating the connector.

Next lay the touchscreen to the side and pop the LCD back into the case, snapping the catches back into place and screwing it in.

Peel off the backing strips of the double-sided sticky tape and position it back on top of the LCD.  While doing this make sure the ribbon connector feeds back down into the slot in the LCD rather than getting caught between the two screens.

Once in position firmly press down on the edges of the screen to ensure a good strong bond.  That's it, you're done and the tablet is as good as new.

NOTE:I am providing the information for this project in good faith and makes no representations as to its completeness or accuracy. Individuals carrying out the instructions in this project do so at their own risk and must exercise their independent judgment in determining the appropriateness of parts, procedure and equipment for a particular use.