Galaxy S3 Cracked Glass (Read this if it has happened to you!)

Ok everybody, the purpose of this thread is to dispel the MYTH that you can not replace just the front glass. Good news for my brethren who as I, have learned that Gorilla Glass hardly deserves the moniker.

My phone was dropped from a height of less than three feet with a Speck Candyshell case installed and the screen cracked. Luckily the digitizer and SAMOLED were still fully functioning. I wondered if there was a way to replace just the glass. If you take the time to google Galaxy S3 replacement glass, you will find a mixture of threads on the subject with most saying that only a professional could do so. There are a few youtube videos on the matter, including one proclaiming that it is impossible to separate and replace only the outer glass without destroying the digitizer. This simply is NOT true. Not less than one hour ago I did exactly that.

Supplies:
Replacement Glass (Can be found for less than twenty dollars complete with a plastic separator, phillips screwdriver, and 3m tape cut fit.)
Hair Dryer
Painter's Tape (Or any semi-sticky tape that won't leave residue)
Gloves
Small Flathead Screwdriver

What I did:
First I removed the back cover and battery from the GS3. I went into my small bathroom and misted it with a spray bottle in hopes that it would reduce the dust in the air. I set my wife's hair dryer to high heat and low speed. I heated the bottom corner of my phone first because there was a small chip that looked like it would be a good place to start prying the screen off. I used the small flathead to start the prying because the provided plastic separator was not sturdy enough to initiate this. You don't have to worry about scratching the display during this step because there is that nice gap between the display and the actual bottom of the phone as well as the top. So either of these two places would be an ideal starting point. As you SLOWLY pry the screen up you will notice a small gap of air forming between the glass and the display. As soon as the screen is just high enough to fit a plastic separator between the glass and display, do it. I can not stress enough, go sloooowwwww. If you do not remove the glass strategically and smoothly you will cause scratches or cracks in the SAMOLED glass (The actual display). Pry from the largest shards first. Once the screen was high enough for the separator I applied a lot of heat again, and especially focusing on the gap so more heat would reach the glue directly. Heat, pry, heat, pry, heat, pry. When the glass is almost separated resist the urge to speed up, it was hard for me too... It is OK if the original glass cracks a little more as you remove it, when this happens change spots where you are prying. The glass should come off as one sheet held by the glue and colored portions. Undoubtedly you will find tiny shards and perhaps a fleck or two of dust. This is where the painter's tape comes in. Use the tape to remove any debris off of the SAMOLED screen. Do not touch the actual display, not even with gloves. This will smudge what is left of the original adhesive and will lead to annoying marks under your glass after the process. I am not sure of a good solvent that would not damage the screen or I would have used it, mine has a few smudges under it. However, they are only visible when the screen is off. I then took the 3m tape provided with my glass and applied it to the two appropriate places on the phone. Next, I removed the backing off of the new glass and carefully applied it from the top to the bottom. I had to use my screw driver to keep the capacitive button ribbons under the new glass in their proper positions. Once the glass was on the phone I heated it all up one more time to make the leftover glue and the new adhesive softer. Then I applied firm pressure around the circumference of the phone only. I let my phone cool down and then replaced the battery and cover. Finally I turned my phone back on and enjoyed all the glory of my achievement when EVERY aspect of my phone was fully functional. My phone is now a hybrid pblue/white because for whatever reason the white glass was eight dollars cheaper than the blue glass. In my opinion, it looks great.

Ps For this operation the provided phillips screwdriver is not needed.

A couple of photos...

The original cracked blue glass after removal.


My new hybrid phone.



The screen on and app drawer open to show that the touch still works.


It was brought to my attention that I may want to add a disclaimer.

Disclaimer: You could f*c* up your phone even more than it it already is if you do something hastily or fail to adapt your methods to a situation different than mine. All of the above as well as 99.9999 percent of f*c* ups in the universe are not my fault.

Not much patience required, it only took me thirty minutes total. I just wanted to emphasize not rushing. That's a good idea for a tutorial video....... I am down.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using xda premium

OK Ladies and Gents,

I finally found the time to make a video showing LOCA application. It was late and sorry for blabbering :laugh: I think this will give you all the confidence to try it yourself. I still warn you this is NOT for someone who is not comfortable or technicaly inclined. If you are worried about damaging your phone I will repair it for you. This is NOT an advertisment, just trying to help out members. I do have to charge for my time and materials. If your interested PM me. And of course any questions I am here to try and help. :good:

Ok all now no making fun of me! hahaha hope this helps a bunch of you, sorry for taking so long. It is in 2 parts just a FYI

Also I would ask if anyone has any suggestions on the video etc before I do another one let me know. :laugh:

willbs94 said:

Keep us posted please. Thanks!

Sent from my SGH-I747 using Tapatalk 4 Beta

Click to expand...

Click to collapse

Ok I spent a few hours trying to get the loca and new glass put on JUST right. I kept getting bubbles around the Top edge near the speaker grill and Bottom Edge to each side of the home button. I had watched this video before hand and it makes it look REALLY easy http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Us8fz2H1qeQ

The nice thing about the loca is if you dont like the way it looks you can easily lift the glass back off safely and start over. Trust me I did this OVER and OVER again. So here is my words of advice from what I learned...
1. Watch the video and see HOW he places the new screen on
2. Watch it again
3. Do NOT try squeezing the bubbles out very much at all as it will just get worse. This is where I kept going wrong. This is why I saw watch the video multiple times and see how he puts the loca on, How he puts the loca on and tilts the phone slightly/slowly back and forth to let the loca spread, and how he How he lays the screen on, and how he LIGHTLY presses by the top of the screen by the speaker area and let it slowly start seeing the adhesive leveling out underneath the glass. then SLOWLY and LIGHTLY you can move your fingers down the screen so the leveling between the glass and lcd becomes smooth looking without the watery look if you can picture what i am trying to say. RESIST THE URGE TO PUSH DOWN HARD ON THE GLASS TO GET THE LARGE BUBBLES OUT AND LET IT GLIDE TOGETHER. THEN once they look like they are together you can LIGHTLY try to work out some of the bubbles if needed (But I had none that I could see after doing it this way without pressing the screen down hard). It is night time right now and I am at work so I will need to wait until I get home to cure the LOCA, as it needs UV light. It looks like he uses a Black Light to do it, but I think sunlight or reptile lights that have UVa aND uvB light should work as well. I will try to take some pics tomorrow of the final product and post them here.

So LONG story short, watch the video and see HOW EASY he makes it look and how he does it. IF you do it this way EXACTLY like he does it WILL BE EASY...

ANOTHER BIT OF INFO... PLEASE READ... I WOULD SAY IT IS BEST to remove the motherboard, camera, and any internals you can. Everything as far as the screen goes is working for me. Seeing in direct sunlight is back to normal. Touching screen is back to normal. But for my BAD NEWS. My sound stopped working and my camera is now failing. I didn't have a UV light handy as I thought I would and it was night time so I didn't have sunlight. After I found the sound not working I opened up the phones inside and found the loca leaked inside. I had to clean it all out. But so far sound has not come back to working status. I have to put on headphones to hear ANYTHING. BUMMER for me. So please remove whatwlever you can first so basically you have the frame, digitizer, and glass desperate and then perform the install. I am HOPING my sound comes back but I think it is wishful thinking. So be careful and heed my warning and learn from it. I think if I has a UV light handy I wouldn't have had this issue.