you're never gonna guess what I found in
the dot connector of my iPad gum that'll
teach me to keep it in my purse
I tried everything cleaning it out with
tweezers checking for remedies and the
answer section of I fix it and even
wishing on a shooting star which I found
out later was a plane but there's no
hope for this one I can't even charge it
rendering my beautiful iPad useless so
since I have to do this repair anyway I
thought I'd bring you all along for the
ride so strapping because today we're
going to do the duct connector repair in
an iPad hi I'm going to loom with iFixit
and I'll be walking you through this
repair but as always make sure to check
out our step by step guide as we go I'll
be doing this repair on the third
generation Wi-Fi iPad if your model is
different make sure to check out our
guides for your specific device a word
of warning iPad repairs are no joke a
quick look through our step-by-step
guide will show you just removing the
panel takes up 25 steps but don't let
that discourage you just keep in mind
that this repair is going to take you a
while to do and will require a good
amount of patience for this repair
you're going to need an eye-opener kit
that comes with an eye opener and all
the special opening tools you'll need
for this repair including plastic
opening tools and a set of opening pics
you'll also need a phillips double zero
screwdriver and a spudger once we have
everything together we can get started
first off you want to make sure your
iPad is off and completely disconnected
from any power source check and check
and to get this bad boy open we're going
to use the eye opener which heats up and
softens all the adhesive holding the
front panel in place but keep your pics
and opening tools handy because you're
going to need those to keep the glue
from resetting after we've softened it
to get started just toss the eye opener
in the microwave for 1 minute and place
it on the edges of the device
I recommend beginning on the right-hand
side because there's a small gap in the
adhesive right around here that's the
perfect place to start using a plastic
opening tool begin prying the glass up
and away from the bezel it can be hard
to see but you want to make sure you
insert the tool between the bezel and
the glass as soon as you're able to open
a small gap insert the first of your
picks to prepare
panel from reattaching to the glue while
the adhesive is still hot from the eye
opener try sliding the tick down to
loosen it along the right side the
adhesive is extremely strong so you're
going to need to use some serious force
to get it separated if you're having a
ton of trouble moving the picks simply
reapply the eye opener to the area
you're working on when sliding the pick
you want to make sure that it's never
pushed beyond the black bezel of your
iPad if you're able to see the tip of
the pick through the glass you're in
they're way too far having to pick in
that bar can potentially get adhesive
residue on your LCD or damage some
internal components
once you've made it to the bottom corner
of the iPad you'll want to insert
another pic in the area we just opened
up to keep the glue from resetting at
this point we suggest turning your
attention to both the bottom and top
edges of the iPad with your eye opener
and picks use the same process of
heating and separating and work your way
across the two edges going a couple of
inches at a time we found that this
method reduces the risk of cracking the
front panel one quick warning before you
start you want to be wary when using
your pics at the bottom section of the
iPad the Wi-Fi antenna is attached to
the bottom right edges of the rear case
of the iPad work carefully and slowly
and make sure not to sever the cable
just like before whenever you make a
little progress in separating the glass
slide another pick in to keep things
from reefs ticking now all that's left
is the left-hand side of the iPad be
cautious with your picks and prying
tools when you're working on the lower
half of this side the digitizer cable is
located about two inches from the bottom
and we want to make sure we don't do
anything to damage that in any way
holding the iPad from the top and bottom
right corners rotate the front glass
away from the iPad don't just pull it
off because the front panel is still
attached to the logic board if you're
getting any resistance when lifting use
your pics to cut the adhesive we did it
the hard part is over from here on out
everything is pretty straightforward
starting with removing the four screws
securing the LCD to the aluminum frame
once the screws are removed use your
spudger or plastic opening tool to
gently lift the LCD out of the case make
sure to be careful though the LCD ribbon
cable is fragile
there's a small piece of tape that's
covering the LCD ribbon cable connector
which can make it tricky to see at first
but you can use your spudger to remove
that now you will see the retaining flap
on the LCD ribbon cables if connector
this connector has a lock that you need
to lift up in order to release the cable
this mechanism is very fragile and you
don't want to break it so be very
careful and use the tip of your spudger
to liquid depending on your finger size
you may need to use tweezers to pull the
cable from its connector fortunately for
me my fingers work just fine now we can
move on to the digitizer cable this
cable uses the same type of connectors
that the LCD use so apply the same
warnings here be careful and use your
sputter
finally peel back the digitizer ribbing
cable and use the flat end of your
spider to release the adhesive securing
the cable to the rear aluminum case
using your fingers peel the digitizer
ribbon cable out of its recesses from
the aluminum frame and just like that
you can remove the front panel from the
iPad there might be some electrical tape
covering the Wi-Fi antenna speaker cable
and dock connector cable there is you
can remove that and you can see the
plastic spacer at the bottom left corner
of the iPad we can remove the plastic
spacer with our spreader
now you can use the flat end of your
spudger to pry the dock connector cable
straight out of its socket on the logic
board
bromas there now you can peel the dock
connector cable from the aluminum frame
and finally we're going to remove the
two screws securing the dock connector
to the rear case and before we go here's
a couple of helpful tips for putting
your iPads back together when it comes
time to reapply your front panel you
need to take a few things into
consideration first and foremost you're
going to want to make sure you
thoroughly clean your LCD and both sides
of your front panel the last thing you
want is a speck of dirt or a fingerprint
haunting you for the rest of your iPad
life we recommend using a microfiber
cloth and cleaning the solution like
Omni cleanse or apple juice whichever
second many people are able to reuse the
existing adhesive on their front panels
to re-adhere them but seeing as the
process involves a lot of heating and
scraping there's no guarantee of that so
it might be a good idea to pick up a few
replacement adhesive strips lastly when
closing up your iPad be mindful of the
digitizer cable you want to make sure it
doesn't get stuck in the adhesive end
especially that it doesn't get pinched
or creased in the panel of course you
can find all the parts and tools you
need for this and many more repairs at
ifixit.com and let us know how it goes
we love to hear your repair success
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