8.4 Uconnect touch screen delaminating....

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dm12345

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Amazingly well, better than factory and fingerprints somehow just don't show up on this screen.

Great to hear! I've ordered one and was trying to remove the existing screen protector this weekend. Unlike most people in this post, I'm not having any issues with delamination, but I do have finger prints and scratches. I tried using a hair dryer to remove the glass, but I'm afraid the screen is getting too warm with no bubbling on the screen protector.

Anyone have any tricks or tips to offer someone that's gun shy on wrecking a $200 screen? Thanks!
 

SitKneelBend

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Great to hear! I've ordered one and was trying to remove the existing screen protector this weekend. Unlike most people in this post, I'm not having any issues with delamination, but I do have finger prints and scratches. I tried using a hair dryer to remove the glass, but I'm afraid the screen is getting too warm with no bubbling on the screen protector.

Anyone have any tricks or tips to offer someone that's gun shy on wrecking a $200 screen? Thanks!
If you don't have bubbling do not try to remove the OEM protector, it's meant to be permanent.

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SitKneelBend

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Any suggestions on how to get rid of the smudges / scratches then?
Clean it with a microfiber cloth and try to avoid liquid cleaners. If you must use a cleaner, apply if to the cloth.

Place the new screen protector directly on the old. It is easier to place the new protector with the HVAC bezel off or the radio itself removed from the truck.

The new screen protector will hide the scratches very well.

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mckinlkev

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I'm getting mixed impressions. Is the delamination the actual digitizer or just an antiglare screen protector? My 2018 transplant in my 2016 is nearly 50% lifted and messes with Android Auto maps.

Can I simply remove the front and replace with a tempered glass protector or is this the actual touchscreen component? I think I'm SOL on a warranty claim not being the original vehicle...
 

SitKneelBend

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I'm getting mixed impressions. Is the delamination the actual digitizer or just an antiglare screen protector? My 2018 transplant in my 2016 is nearly 50% lifted and messes with Android Auto maps.

Can I simply remove the front and replace with a tempered glass protector or is this the actual touchscreen component? I think I'm SOL on a warranty claim not being the original vehicle...
When you say "messes with" are you getting ghost touches?

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MunnJ

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I started having this same issue with the upper edge of the 8.4" touchscreen forming a bubble, which causes the "Clock Settings" icon to think it is being depressed as well as any phone number that pops up in the upper left corner of the screen when I use the Bluetooth feature. The constant beeping has become a HUGE annoyance. Due to my great luck, this issue manifested when I had 37,500 miles on the truck, just past my bumper-to-bumper warranty. The dealer told me that the Customer Service group would likely approve a new radio because they have seen this issue A LOT. The 1st of two Customer Serv reps I spoke with at FCA admitted that they see it a lot, especially in the South. However, they still refused to cover the cost. Therefore, I'm now going to have to pay $900 to fix an issue that RAM knows is a problem. Ridiculous and extremely poor service IMO. Be very aware of this issue and look for bubbling before you hit that 36K mile mark.
 

SitKneelBend

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I started having this same issue with the upper edge of the 8.4" touchscreen forming a bubble, which causes the "Clock Settings" icon to think it is being depressed as well as any phone number that pops up in the upper left corner of the screen when I use the Bluetooth feature. The constant beeping has become a HUGE annoyance. Due to my great luck, this issue manifested when I had 37,500 miles on the truck, just past my bumper-to-bumper warranty. The dealer told me that the Customer Service group would likely approve a new radio because they have seen this issue A LOT. The 1st of two Customer Serv reps I spoke with at FCA admitted that they see it a lot, especially in the South. However, they still refused to cover the cost. Therefore, I'm now going to have to pay $900 to fix an issue that RAM knows is a problem. Ridiculous and extremely poor service IMO. Be very aware of this issue and look for bubbling before you hit that 36K mile mark.
Maybe @RamCares can help. If you get the shaft on this, you can sell your current radio to cut your losses even with the bad screen. If it is a NAV unit I'd probably buy it from you myself and replace the entire screen when I found one at a good price.

FYI, the ghost touches you are talking about can only be addressed by screen replacement. I believe what is occurring is the radios are overheating. The first (cosmetic) symptom is screen delamination and the next symptom after prolonged high temperatures is ghost touches.

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mckinlkev

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When you say "messes with" are you getting ghost touches?

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Unfortunately I tried to fix this today and discover the LOCA (I suspect) glue is oozing all out and the delamination is under the digitizer glass. I am also in FL and seems to be common...

Replacement LCDs are running more than I paid for this radio (cheapest is $350) from a 2018 tranplanted in my 2016. I'm at a loss now, going to have to wait for electronic prices to normalize post COVID and have to revert back to my 2016 headunit for now.

Aliexpress has "defect" panels for $220 shipped which already seem to be poorly adhered.
 

SitKneelBend

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Unfortunately I tried to fix this today and discover the LOCA (I suspect) glue is oozing all out and the delamination is under the digitizer glass. I am also in FL and seems to be common...

Replacement LCDs are running more than I paid for this radio (cheapest is $350) from a 2018 tranplanted in my 2016. I'm at a loss now, going to have to wait for electronic prices to normalize post COVID and have to revert back to my 2016 headunit for now.

Aliexpress has "defect" panels for $220 shipped which already seem to be poorly adhered.
Do you have a link for the defect panels? I have 3 on order but we will see what shows up. I bought one listed new for $98 (China) one listed with scratches for $220 (eBay still has stock) and one listed new on DHgate for $240.

Every seller I ordered from before these had them listed for sub $200 but came back and said "sorry send $300 more"...

I plan to test all of these and will sell you one at cost plus shipping if they turn out to be the real deal.

If you don't want to wait, the eBay seller selling scratched screens seems safest but doesn't accept returns (but that may not hold up to eBay's buyer protection). He's selling them for $270, but if you add it to your watch list and let it sit in there for a few days, he'll send the offer out to all watchers for $220 (mine will be here tomorrow).

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SitKneelBend

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Unfortunately I tried to fix this today and discover the LOCA (I suspect) glue is oozing all out and the delamination is under the digitizer glass. I am also in FL and seems to be common...

Replacement LCDs are running more than I paid for this radio (cheapest is $350) from a 2018 tranplanted in my 2016. I'm at a loss now, going to have to wait for electronic prices to normalize post COVID and have to revert back to my 2016 headunit for now.

Aliexpress has "defect" panels for $220 shipped which already seem to be poorly adhered.
eBay screen says it's "with scratches" but the one I received would better be described as gouges, looks like its only through the factory protector though. I'll be testing it tomorrow to see if it works.58ed44dfdb7bf2f287cca91b93a91e13.jpg

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SitKneelBend

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Unfortunately I tried to fix this today and discover the LOCA (I suspect) glue is oozing all out and the delamination is under the digitizer glass. I am also in FL and seems to be common...

Replacement LCDs are running more than I paid for this radio (cheapest is $350) from a 2018 tranplanted in my 2016. I'm at a loss now, going to have to wait for electronic prices to normalize post COVID and have to revert back to my 2016 headunit for now.

Aliexpress has "defect" panels for $220 shipped which already seem to be poorly adhered.
I need to correct some of my earlier assertions. I now have a better example of the screen delamination to work with and i can see what you are referring too with LOCA oozing out of the screen.

My earlier assumption was that the delamination occurred to the anti-glare cover, now that I see what pictures alone didn't make clear they appear to be two separate issues.

To be clear, replacing the factory anti-glare will not fix screen delamination which occurs under the glass.

However @mckinlkev, I can see now what is happening clear and wonder if these could be fixed relatively cheaply (like under $20). If the glue is LOCA and it wasn't properly cured at the factory, I wonder if it'd be possible to inject new LOCA to the old still under the screen, then hit it with a UV flashlight to properly cure/harden the LOCA.

Any thoughts?

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SitKneelBend

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To follow up on my previous posts. It appears the root cause of these bad screens is bad LOCA (UV cured optically clear glue). It seems it is partially cured in some panels causing it to flow out the the bottom in a sticky mess and is likely more prevalent in hotter climates.

I've scraped off some of the glue and placed it under a curing lamp next to a known good sample. The good sample cured in 5 minutes, the sample from a delaminated screen remains greasy/sticky.

I'm going to leave it under the UV lamp and see if it eventually does cure. If successful, a preventive maintenance for current owners could be performed to ensure their screen is fully cured and prevent this failure. In addition, I will attempt a quick fix for screens currently suffering from this by adding good LOCA to the bad and re-curing it to see if there are good results (although its possible the different cure times will have an adverse an visible effect on a "fixed" panel).

If it doesn't cure, I'm going to attempt a complete removal and cleaning of the digitizer from the screen which might be easy since the LOCA remains uncured.

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SitKneelBend

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Update to my last: the uncured greasy LOCA remains uncured. It should cure to a rubbery like state but after 5 hours of UV lamp its consistency remains unchanged.

With that said I'm going to attempt to remove the digitizer and clean all of the bad LOCA from the LCD and replace it with new LOCA. The panel this is being performed on is currently suffering from ghost touches so we will see if this is an all in one fix.

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SitKneelBend

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Another update, the digitizer comes off very easily on delaminated screens because the glue still flows. I applied no heat and just slid a fishing line through it to separate...11d958b8568bf8ba51dc8ef3bd6f39cb.jpg

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SitKneelBend

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Digitizer and screen reassembled using new LOCA from this kit.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/5ML-UV-LOC...-/262764652848?_trksid=p2349624.m46890.l49292

The UV flashlight worked for curing but I also let it sit in the sun for a day and let it sit under a blacklight all night just in case. There is an opaque half inch or so of outer screen edge that the LOCA will not cure under due to light not being able to shine through. I tried to flow as much of that out as possible from gravity, warming in sunlight and electronics cleaner.

The 5 ounces of LOCA that comes in the aforementioned kit is just enough for one screen. I applied it in a star pattern on the screen and worked the bubbles out by lifting one corner up until it engulfed the bubbles I wanted out then began pressing from the middle until the bubbles were pushed out the edge. I did this at least a dozen times until all of the bubbles were gone. The digitizer is pretty tough and the LOCA is pretty runny and forgiving.

One mistake I did make is that as it cured with the UV flashlight, since it doesn't cover the whole screen at once with its beam, the LOCA appears to have cured faster on one side and pulled the digitizer slightly up and off center. I don't think it will matter but I'll know once I test. I essentially suspended the UV flashlight over the screen with a "contraption" and moved it around to a different area of the screen every couple minutes. This could likely be avoided by either (1) taping down the screen along the opaque edge, (2) using a larger UV lamp with full screen coverage or (3) curing in sunlight (although I didn't test if this glue in particular cures in sunlight alone, it "should")...

Tomorrow if I have time I'll swap screens and see if the ghost touches are cured.22636871aade86f0f56c5be73679d3ca.jpg

Edit: this glue out gasses a lot. I recommend ventilation and gloves.

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SitKneelBend

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The gods of parenthood shined down upon me tonight and left me with 30 minutes to swap out screens.

So far so good. Touches are responsive and accurate. I'll update again in a week or so and/or if ghost touches come back, whichever comes first...9cfbd9a914b7db75c67e875139769648.jpg

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SitKneelBend

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Well it was worth a try but ghost touches and screen unresponsiveness is back.

This is not to say that the screen delaminating isn't able to be fixed with the aforementioned process, only to say that re-laminating the screen does not fix whatever is causing the ghost touches.

I now know that re-laminating the digitizer and/or removing the factory anti-glare from the digitizer screen will not fix whatever is causing ghost touches.

As far as re-laminating the screen goes, the fix looks pretty good. I'd be interested to see someone try it on a screen that is delaminating but did not have any ghost touch issues.

I did notice some circular shapes on the screen after re-laminating, but only on bright screens like navigation. I wonder if they might be visible curing marks from using a small UV flashlight vs a large UV lamp which could have cured the whole screen at once. These were not at all visible on the normal dark background on most of the radios display areas and I'm not sure if they are actually marks on the anti glare coating from all of the cleaning and solvents used.

cd6fe102755378cc8d5de4b2c642b5c6.jpg

One final thing, I noticed that my slight misalignment made for a tighter fit and a slightly brighter more visible backlight on the display. To avoid this, I'd recommend placing the screen back in the radio after applying the LOCA, but before setting it to cure. This way it will settle in and cure in the intended installed location. At the very least it should be taped in place or better yet clipped into the metal housing of the radio with the black metal screen retainer.

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GTyankee

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I luckily don't have anything wrong with the radio screen yet

I was just wondering if i did have the issue, if i could take the whole radio to a little store close by, that works on Smart phone screens as a main part of their business.
Do you think that they would have the knowledge to work on radio screens ?
 
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