UAQ/UAS Digitizer Replacement Steps

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Ryno1500

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I’m getting ready to do the UConnect 8.4 4C/Dual ATC upgrade and purchased a radio with a delaminating digitizer. As things go, I got too rough and caused part of the LCD screen to scramble. Thanks to SitKneelBend providing me another LCD screen, I was able to take another crack at it. Here are the steps to replacing it properly.

First off, starting from the back side, unscrew the six screws that hold the radio together. DO NOT REMOVE THE SCREWS. Then carefully turn the radio over so the screen is facing up, easier said than done, and then lift the entire screen up from the base. There will be a small black wire attached to the circuit board underneath, pop this wire loose from the board.
A3F859FF-44C3-47A5-AFDD-B74043A7D22F.jpegYou can then slide the base to the side, do not lift as the screws will fall out.

You will need to now remove the black metal bezel from around the screen, this has 8 clips on it. Using two small screwdrivers start at one corner and work around. One screwdriver lifting up on the clip, and the other between the bezel and the casting, working the the bezel away.
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There are now to ribbon cables to detach, lift up on the plastic retainer and the cable will fall loose. Undo the digitizer cable from the circuit board and undo the other cable from the panel side.C1ACD2F0-A042-4D1D-A3B2-949B407FE441.jpeg5A4D48C1-8DE4-4971-B09E-E25EE632CCC1.jpeg84E39AF8-A9BF-4272-A6A4-7CF737BD0C8A.jpegF3441C51-0636-4BAA-AA14-7C7FD4AFF8CC.jpeg

Time for the messy part, using some fishing line and starting in one corner, start to work the screen loose. This is glued all the way through. I found some low heat helped loosen the glue.1EBEAE69-B3EE-42DE-A5E6-2B67EE25372C.jpeg5A783111-4F23-4208-8C51-03122E69CCA5.jpeg

With a lot of patience, rubbing alcohol, paper towels, and finally a lint free cloth, clean the LCD screen of all the goop. I used a plastic spudger for paint less dent repair to help remove the biggest part of the adhesive. Be sure to clean your hands often as it will get on you and everywhere else. I used the alcohol with the lint free cloth for the final polishing.7DFC2097-9571-495B-A128-548DB5E4093F.jpeg4A510EA6-AB5C-44CE-92BB-E9278B4EA0E9.jpeg

Now set the digitizer back on, there should be some adhesive on the new one to hold it place.
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Finally snap the metal bezel back in place and reassemble by following the disassembly in reverse. You can now install the radio and check your work.
D8420EBB-1BA9-4488-9C3E-6A19E71E2542.jpeg
Ooo la la!

Hopefully this will be easier for you than the first go around was for me.
 

SitKneelBend

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Great write-up! So the new digitizers come with a pre-installed adhesive?
 

ellanm69

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great gob..to clean it more fast and clean you can use with petrol..its more fast and esy..in the end..use alcohol.i do it evry week in my place.and its back to work..one more tip.put tape in right and left side before you put the new touch sreen..as if not the touch screen will press him self
if any other help..i am here to answer on to my whatsapp.
 

chri5k

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Rather than try to dissolve the LOCA with solvents, I found it easier and faster to use a few drops of cooking oil on the LOCA. Scrape with plastic razor blades to separate the LOCA from the screen while the oil keeps the sticky goo from sticking back to the screen, tools and hands. Afterwards, clean the oil residue off a with alcohol.
 
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Ryno1500

Ryno1500

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great gob..to clean it more fast and clean you can use with petrol..its more fast and esy..in the end..use alcohol.i do it evry week in my place.and its back to work..one more tip.put tape in right and left side before you put the new touch sreen..as if not the touch screen will press him self
if any other help..i am here to answer on to my whatsapp.
I just ordered some foam tape the other day, to go back and add between the LCD and digitizer. I was noticing some touching and some issues when touching the bottom of the screen. I've just been waiting on the new radio to arrive after bricking this one.
 

Trucker2

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Great write up. I did this too and have had my radio apart a few times already so i thought i would give my two cents on the process. With those screws when you first take apart the radio i put some painters tape over the heads after i loosen them up then when you roll the radio over to separate they wont fall out because if they do then the spacers inside the radio that separate the two circuit boards fall into the radio and you got to completely take apart to reposition and assemble. On the glue cleaning i used oil also but it was a light bath oil it really helps to keep the glue from sticking to anything then come behind it with rubbing alcohol to do the final cleanings. Also when pulling the fishing line thru the glue it gets sticky and has some pull to it so i screwed the front case down to a board and set the screen in it with the tabs towards me so when you pull that string your screen stays put.
 

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Ryno1500

Ryno1500

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Great write up. I did this too and have had my radio apart a few times already so i thought i would give my two cents on the process. With those screws when you first take apart the radio i put some painters tape over the heads after i loosen them up then when you roll the radio over to separate they wont fall out because if they do then the spacers inside the radio that separate the two circuit boards fall into the radio and you got to completely take apart to reposition and assemble. On the glue cleaning i used oil also but it was a light bath oil it really helps to keep the glue from sticking to anything then come behind it with rubbing alcohol to do the final cleanings. Also when pulling the fishing line thru the glue it gets sticky and has some pull to it so i screwed the front case down to a board and set the screen in it with the tabs towards me so when you pull that string your screen stays put.
Good point on the tape, I had thought about that just a day or two ago and would definitely do that next time. The board is another great idea, and will probably try the oil as well.
 

Rotciv

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I went through the same steps as listed above, but now I got a blank dark screen. I can still confirm that the radio still illuminates lights from the screen and that's it. Is the screen just dead?
 

SitKneelBend

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I went through the same steps as listed above, but now I got a blank dark screen. I can still confirm that the radio still illuminates lights from the screen and that's it. Is the screen just dead?
Check the ribbon cables. They likely aren't seated properly or are installed backwards...the ends are labeled for the connection side they get plugged into (ie display). They can plug in to either side but it will only work correctly installed the right way.
 
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Ryno1500

Ryno1500

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I went through the same steps as listed above, but now I got a blank dark screen. I can still confirm that the radio still illuminates lights from the screen and that's it. Is the screen just dead?
Also, check that the individual wire connections are properly seated back in place. They do take a small amount of force.
 

Rotciv

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Check the ribbon cables. They likely aren't seated properly or are installed backwards...the ends are labeled for the connection side they get plugged into (ie display). They can plug in to either
Apparently I had the ribbon for video feed installed the wrong way. Thank goodness it's not dead. Everything works fine now except I'm unable to choose the "select source" button on the screen, but I have other ways of playing music with Android Auto.
 
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DoughRat19

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I’m in the process of tackling this job except I am going to use loca. Sounds like most just used some double sided tape between the digitizer and LCD. Gonna be a couple of days before I can finish up as I’m waiting on the loca, but at least the cleaning is done for the most part.

After cleaning the digitizer and LCD, I separated the LCD from the backlight and there was more loca in the bottom of the backlight. Well I took the backlight apart and cleaned it up as well. Since I have a few days, I may go back and clean everything a little more before I attempt to apply new loca. Hopefully all goes well. Photo was before I dug into the backlight.
 

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SitKneelBend

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I’m in the process of tackling this job except I am going to use loca. Sounds like most just used some double sided tape between the digitizer and LCD. Gonna be a couple of days before I can finish up as I’m waiting on the loca, but at least the cleaning is done for the most part.

After cleaning the digitizer and LCD, I separated the LCD from the backlight and there was more loca in the bottom of the backlight. Well I took the backlight apart and cleaned it up as well. Since I have a few days, I may go back and clean everything a little more before I attempt to apply new loca. Hopefully all goes well. Photo was before I dug into the backlight.
I did this too but I was unsuccessful at ridding the display of ghost touches. That may not be an issue for you though, especially if you are digging deeper and cleaning more. I also think the ghost touching may be the result of not replacing the factory adhesive around the perimeter of the screen that contains the Loca to a specific area and also creates a uniform gap between screen and digitizer.

To pile on something else I've found. I was able to correct a early screen that has bad loca by managing heat around the radio. The fans and replacement thermal pads I added prevented the screen from delamination so far but were not enough to stop infrequent ghost touches when using my heat in the winter. Adding thick rigid foam insulation between the radio and the air vents flanking it removed all ghost touch issues for me.

I suspect that the bad local would have been "good enough" if these radios didn't get so hot under normal operating conditions.
 

DoughRat19

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I did this too but I was unsuccessful at ridding the display of ghost touches. That may not be an issue for you though, especially if you are digging deeper and cleaning more. I also think the ghost touching may be the result of not replacing the factory adhesive around the perimeter of the screen that contains the Loca to a specific area and also creates a uniform gap between screen and digitizer.

To pile on something else I've found. I was able to correct a early screen that has bad loca by managing heat around the radio. The fans and replacement thermal pads I added prevented the screen from delamination so far but were not enough to stop infrequent ghost touches when using my heat in the winter. Adding thick rigid foam insulation between the radio and the air vents flanking it removed all ghost touch issues for me.

I suspect that the bad local would have been "good enough" if these radios didn't get so hot under normal operating conditions.
Funny you say that, I also ordered a roll of adhesive tape marketed for cell phone repair (very thin) that I am going to use to replace all the tape that I took off while cleaning everything. I’m hoping that helps as well. I should be able to start putting it all back together Thursday night. My biggest concern right now is the UV light and Loca that I ordered. I really hope it does the trick. The light takes a specific battery that I also had to order and am waiting on.
 

SitKneelBend

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Funny you say that, I also ordered a roll of adhesive tape marketed for cell phone repair (very thin) that I am going to use to replace all the tape that I took off while cleaning everything. I’m hoping that helps as well. I should be able to start putting it all back together Thursday night. My biggest concern right now is the UV light and Loca that I ordered. I really hope it does the trick. The light takes a specific battery that I also had to order and am waiting on.
One thing I found when curing the Local was that the UV flashlight I used appeared to cure the Local in the shape of the light (I could see circles in the screen in certain lighting conditions. You might be able to mitigate this by using a large light that covers the screen completely or mounting the light high up enough that its light covers the screen and cures uniformly (might need to cure longer with the light farther away)...

Good luck! I'll be interested to hear your results!
 

DoughRat19

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got the loca today (amazon purchase) and of course it's expired. Gonna test it out before I attempt to use it. Really hoping it's still good. And the light I have is pretty small. Wondering if I can keep it moving if I can avoid that. Lot to think about.
 

SitKneelBend

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got the loca today (amazon purchase) and of course it's expired. Gonna test it out before I attempt to use it. Really hoping it's still good. And the light I have is pretty small. Wondering if I can keep it moving if I can avoid that. Lot to think about.
I tried to keep it moving but apparently it cures very quick and will leave optical imperfections...
 

DoughRat19

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I tried to keep it moving but apparently it cures very quick and will leave optical imperfections...
Here is the end result. Everything is working as it should. I took your advise and let it cure outside in the sunlight. Only issue is the digitizer moved ever so slightly to the left when I carried it outside and I didn’t notice it in time. Was already stuck in place.

There is one small mark at the bottom left of the screen but doesn’t effect the digitizer. Not sure if that is a burn mark in the LCD or possible a low spot in the loca? Either way, for a $200 radio and probably close to $50 in supplies I take it. Just need to check it at night time to make sure there is no loca between the LCD and backlight (assuming I’ll be able to see it better at night).

Edit: those are finger prints on the glass in the first photo from testing it out.
 

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SitKneelBend

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Here is the end result. Everything is working as it should. I took your advise and let it cure outside in the sunlight. Only issue is the digitizer moved ever so slightly to the left when I carried it outside and I didn’t notice it in time. Was already stuck in place.

There is one small mark at the bottom left of the screen but doesn’t effect the digitizer. Not sure if that is a burn mark in the LCD or possible a low spot in the loca? Either way, for a $200 radio and probably close to $50 in supplies I take it. Just need to check it at night time to make sure there is no loca between the LCD and backlight (assuming I’ll be able to see it better at night).

Edit: those are finger prints on the glass in the first photo from testing it out.
Glad it worked out for you! Maybe I'll give the one I have another go and be more careful this time...
 
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