I’m pretty new to repairing phones, and I’ve been learning a lot through trial and error. Sometimes though learning from trial and error can be really expensive. 

My first screen assembly replacement was on a Samsung Galaxy S3. Basically the screen was cracked, and wasn’t responding so well to touch any more. Well I went ahead and ordered a new assembly, and as soon as it came in I went to work getting it installed. Well, after I completed the job I turned the phone on, and lo and behold there were vertical lines on the screen. At this point I had made a few mistakes already. My first and biggest mistake was not testing the part before I completely installed it. So I have no idea if the part was defective from the start or not.

So I went ahead and ordered another assembly, got the part, and began the repair process all over again. This time though I made sure to test the part out before I installed it. The part was working so “good,” I thought and moved on to complete the repair. Finished it, and then turned on the phone to see my handiwork. Blank, the display wouldn’t come on, but I knew the phone was on because of the water sounds when you unlock the phone. Well I took the phone apart again, and examined the part. I found that I had damaged the flex cable connector for the LCD. I must have been too zealous in getting it back together that I damaged it.

Well not being one to give up, I ordered yet another part. Repeated the job, testing and being more gently in the process, and the 3rd time it worked. Had I had just been more careful and thorough I could have avoided all the trouble, but lesson learned.