What's the hardest repair you've ever peformed on an electronics device?

[Allyson Kazmucha]

Doesn't have to be an iOS device - just in general, what's the hardest repair you've ever performed on a device?

Was it a success, was it not such a great experience?

 

[Shooter03]

I changed a whole back of a iPhone 3G to green, it was harder than I thought. Came out alright, kids still use it to play games on.


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[Psychonaut]

I can put this back together blindfolded with one hand in 12 seconds.


View attachment 13915


EDIT: The actual procedure is a comms board swap from a Pre on Sprint to the body of a Pre+ or Pre2 (both either from Verizon or AT&T), which allows the user to have a better phone, but still running on Sprint's network (who doesn't allow activation of phones not in their system) without them ever being the wiser. The photo above depicts a little more teardown than is necessary for the procedure.

It's really the only piece of hardware I've ever worked with and I only learned how to do it thanks to great guides like this: Sprint Pre 2 - WebOS Internals (and doing it 1,000 times).

I look forward to becoming so familiar with the iPhone (or perhaps I look forward to not needing to). Inductive charging sure would be nice though...

EDIT:

In answer to you last question: The first time was scary as hell! I "knew" I wasn't going to do it right, or that I'd break something, and I was "sure" I'd be out a phone. But hey. I tried and succeeded. And it was soooooooo fulfilling! Especially given that there are pay services that I'd have to mail both phones across the country for, and wait for their return, while I did it in an afternoon in my living room for free. There's a software component as well, and that's the really daunting part. I eventually got confident enough that I performed both aspects (hardware/software) for other people and at this point I'm more likely to take a crack at 'it' myself now (whatever 'it' may be) without calling someone or taking it to an expert. It was kind of a life-changing experience.

Nice thread.

 

[Allyson Kazmucha]

Awesome! It's nice to see others in the imore community that are DIY ninjas. Yeah back replacements on the 3G/3GS are a pain but once you get one, then it gets easier and easier.

 

[Tanbam]

I've repaired a damaged IC before. Not replaced the bad part, but etched open the package, probed the die and found the problem, then zapped the short circuit (a manufacturing defect) away using a frigging laser. Maybe not the hardest repair I've ever done, but one of the ones I got the most pride from.

 

[Bias X]

I've modded three of my Blackberry's. Ill start with the most basic.

I changed the trackball on my pearl 8120.

Next, i changed the bezel, keyboard, and trackball on my bold 9000. Later I broke the screen and replaced that.

Last, I completely remodeled the casing on my bold 9700. Changed the bezel, back, keyboard, volume buttons, lock and mute buttons on top into a chrome finish.

The 8120 and 9000 were a breeze. No issues, no problems.
The 9700 was also a breeze, but the casing didn't fit right. The track pad became way to tight, the keyboard was extremely tight and cracked the bezel. The back was always loose and slide down a tiny bit. The top and volume buttons worked out. So I ended up wasting my money in the end.

 

[crystus]

Hardest one for me was doing the unbrickable mod on my Captivate. Soldering iron+ small wires+ small prong of chip to solder it to= a lot of bad words my daughter shouldn't hear. Got it done though. Second hardest was trying to figure out why my laptop stopped turning on. Fixed it but i still have 5 screws left over. Still works though.

 

[kch50428]

I learned how to replace the final stage output tube in the RF Amp of a 3kw FM radio transmitter and recalibrate.... never had to do it.

 

[Allyson Kazmucha]

Hardest one for me was doing the unbrickable mod on my Captivate. Soldering iron+ small wires+ small prong of chip to solder it to= a lot of bad words my daughter shouldn't hear. Got it done though. Second hardest was trying to figure out why my laptop stopped turning on. Fixed it but i still have 5 screws left over. Still works though.

I had that happen with a phone once - had a few screws left over but it worked. I scratched my head and figured it was mine personally so I wasn't worried about it.


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[ghostface147]

This is how I met Capone.

 

[Peligro911]

Hardest I did was a 3GS back swap .. A guy asked me to do it after he had it half apart and handed me a bag of screws .. I never had done it but I was able to get it .. Also a iPhone 4 screen wasn't hard but I was more nervous than anything


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[Mr. Apple]

Hardest Repair

Just swapped my iPad to white but in the process broke the wifi flex cable, had to take out the Bluetooth chip, take out the cable and cut it apart then micro soldier it together. But to have a fixed screen plus black home button and working wifi it was well worth the two hours fixing that cable.

 

[Allyson Kazmucha]

Just swapped my iPad to white but in the process broke the wifi flex cable, had to take out the Bluetooth chip, take out the cable and cut it apart then micro soldier it together. But to have a fixed screen plus black home button and working wifi it was well worth the two hours fixing that cable.

Wow! Nice!

Did you manage to change the screen without breaking it?


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