Want to add another amazing thing to the list of tasks you can accomplish with dry ice? Watch the video that goes along with this post to witness dry ice being used to remove only the glass portion of an iPhone 5 and an iPhone 6 screen. A glass only screen repair is pretty attractive because it only costs around $10 for the new glass and the special glue. The issue is that normally, when a repair technician attempts a glass only screen repair on an iPhone 4, iPhone 5, or iPhone 6, they have to use very expensive equipment, OR get a heat gun and try not to burn their fingers while they remove the glass from a 200 degree iPhone part. This video and post only captures the process of the already-removed phone screens having their glass portions removed on the dry ice. So tune in to this video below:
and follow along to JerryRigEverything!
To watch the complete glass only repair of the iPhone 6 you can follow this link. To start from where the glass has just been removed skip ahead to the eight minutes and twenty seconds mark.
To watch the complete glass only repair of the iPhone 5 you can follow this link. To start from where the glass has just been removed skip ahead to the four minute mark.
Time for a short lesson: the screen is made of three main layers that this repair is concerned with. The glass layer that you touch, the digitizer and LCD unit that is fused together, and the glue that holds these two parts together. That bottom layer, the Digitizer LCD combo, is as fragile as an eggshell. To get shattered glass off of the Digitizer LCD layer, technicians usually have expensive equipment or they use heat to melt away the glue so the glass can be taken off. I spoke to Tech MD about the new liquid nitrogen machines that can reach down to -220° fahrenheit. At these low temperatures they literally freeze the glass of off the screen, but they cost thousands of dollars. Dry ice on the other hand only gets down to about -112° fahrenheit, but is available at most grocery stores, I bought a large block for about $5 for this repair. So I tried it out and it worked.
The phones were set, glass side down, on the dry ice and let them sit for 5-10 minutes to drop enough in temperature. Then, the screens were picked up and gently twisted to break the glass away from the LCD. Gentle twisting is an understatement though, twist the screen as if it is a dorito that you cannot crack. In addition, a razor blade and playing card were used to encourage the glass to leave the LCD. Holding the phone in your hand warms it up so setting it back down on the glass every once in awhile is necessary to keep it at a low enough temperature for the glue. The iPhone 6 screen came off more easily than the iPhone 5 screen using this method, but the iPhone 5 was much more shattered. Dry ice sublimates, that is goes from being a solid straight to a gas without becoming liquid, so you don’t have to worry about your phone getting wet. Dry ice is made of solid carbon dioxide that turns into carbon dioxide gas CO2, so work in a ventilated location if you try this. It is also extremely cold, cold enough to burn you, so treat it like hot coals and use protective gloves if you have to touch it directly.
After all the glass has been removed, the screen was plugged back into the phone to test it out, and it worked. The screen was fine, but there was still glue that needs to come off. Then, liquid optical adhesive and the new glass layer would need to go on. This block, used by an experienced technician, could help repair around four or five phones before the block was completely sublimated away. For inexperienced workers it might not be worth the hassle though, many screens were destroyed before this video was made possible. This dry ice idea is a cool concept, so watch it, but you probably want to just buy an entire screen instead of trying it yourself.
The current price of a complete iPhone 5 screen can be found here.
The current price of a complete iPhone 6 screen can be found here.
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