vB Easy Archive - W550i/W600i housing disassembly guide...

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W550i/W600i housing disassembly guide...
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Posted by: peryus88

Even though the W600i has been out for a while now, some people still use it, probably because of its swivel design (that's why I keep it). Also, it's easy to tell people who want to change the housing to refer to the How-To guide of the S700/S710. But here's something I decided to do because I've had some people ask me if it's easy to take apart the W600i. Others have tried to do a housing swap, and have either missed a part or put it back together improperly.
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Probably the reason why I'm making this How-To guide is because I might be selling all my current SE phones. If I have time, I'll do the same thing with my Z520a. I just wish I did a disassembly guide with the W300i and W710i when I still had them. Hybrid already made one for the K800/790, and xmankinetic for the W810i...so I didn't feel the need to make one for each of them.
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I didn't have my stock W600i anymore, so the only one I had was this one to illustrate on how to take it apart. Also, I only had a 5MP EasyShare digital camera with me when I took the pics, so some may be a little fuzzy. The tools that I'll note that you're going to need is a T5 screwdriver and NOT the T6. Other tools are pretty much the norm. To save you the hassle, just get a cell phone repair kit. You can find them (as well as other accessories) on sites like: eforcecity.com, cellphoneaccessories.com, daydeal.com, etc. Or just check out eBay. Anyway, here it is...

First, place the phone in its open position and take out the front and rear faceplates. Take out the cover right above the antenna with a pair of tweezers, a needle, or something thin. The only thing that keeps the cover on is some adhesive, so just give it some effort and it'll come right off. After that, the (2) T5 screws will be exposed. Take those off. Turn over the phone, and you'll see the (4) slots where the other T5 screws are placed. Take those out as well.

Now you can take the bottom part of the housing apart. If you're not comfortable with it, you can use an old SIM card or something similar and slide it across the keypad plate while using a little force. Once you successfully take it out. You'll see the LCD cables and the main board. With the tweezers, slide out the connectors while making sure you don't damage the board. NOTE: you might not want to pull the LCD cables straightforward because you might damage them.

Once you have taken out the cables, take out the main board by slightly stretching the sides of the housing apart so that the plastic latches are off and just lift up the main board. What's left will be the: loop antenna, vibrator, infrared cover, rear speaker, speaker grills, and the camera cover at the back. The speaker grills and camera cover have some adhesive on them to keep them in place, the other stuff can be taken out easily with tweezers. After that's done you'll have the top portion of the phone, the back of the housing with its misc parts, and the main board.

With a Phillips head screwdriver (you can use the one that's used on eyeglass repair), take out the (4) screws and the (2) brackets that hold the part of the housing that holds the keypad. If you're doing a housing swap, take out that metal piece on the side and the magnet (colored black right next to the bracket on the left in the picture) as well. The magnet makes the phone recognize when it's open or closed. Once you take out those and that part of the housing you'll see the swivel mechanism. Wit the same Phillips screwdriver, take out the (4) dark grey screws that hold the swivel in place. Afterwards, you'll see the other end of the LCD cables connected to the LCD board, take those out. NOTE: when putting the LCD cables back in, remember to put the connector that has the blue dot on each end to the left when it is facing you as pictured. If they are placed incorrectly, the phone will try to unsuccessfully power on. And if you try to charge the phone with the LCD cables placed incorrectly, the feedback would fry the main board if left charging for an extended period of time.

Now with the tweezers, remove the cover that's concealing the (2) T5 screws (just like you did on the bottom portion). Turn the top portion over, unscrew the other (2) T5 screws that are located next to the Walkman and Internet keys, and remove the LCD screen cover over the LCD board.

Separate the top housing with the LCD board by slightly stretching the sides and just pull out the board. The misc parts left when you take out the LCD board are the: power button, play/pause button, rocker, and the dedicated camera button. So there you have it. You've successfully taken apart a W600i. For housing swap, just follow the steps backwards. Then you'll have a fully functioning [new looking?...] W600i. NOTE: when buying a new housing, be sure to get one that is stated as either being of OEM or OEM quality. If you use a non-OEM/generic one, it will not fit properly, and the swivel mechanism will scratch the housing heavily.

Here's the next step for those of you who want to replace the original LCD screen if it was cracked or nonfunctioning.

With the LCD board, turn it over and you'll see that a cable is fastened tightly. Just lift the handle that holds the flex cable in place, then slide it out.

Turn the LCD board over again. Move over the PCB (it's just held in place by adhesive, so don't worry about it), and slide out the cable from underneath. Now that you've taken out the LCD screen, just follow the steps backward when inserting the replacement.

Posted by: sketch143

W900 is pretty much disassembled the same way =)

I just changed the housing on my W900 and i can see that the screw locations are qute identical.. besides the 2 screws on the front of the phone.

Posted by: AlvinYang

err wished someone wuld do one for w300 only thing scared about is putting the filp back together...but nice guide =D

Posted by: peryus88

Quote:

Originally Posted by sketch143

W900 is pretty much disassembled the same way =)

I just changed the housing on my W900 and i can see that the screw locations are qute identical.. besides the 2 screws on the front of the phone.

Yeah, it's almost basically the same way, as with the S700/S710. It's just that the W900 and the S700 have a few more parts than the W600. Some people find it a little bit intimidating because of its form factor. But I think that swivels are more easier to deal with as opposed to flips and bars because you can be a bit more rough on them when taking them apart.

Posted by: peryus88

Quote:

Originally Posted by AlvinYang

err wished someone wuld do one for w300 only thing scared about is putting the filp back together...but nice guide =D

I don't remember it being that hard. The only things you'd have to consider are the flex cable and the spring. Otherwise, just be patient and think things through before you act upon them. I don't know how many times I had to order extra parts because I rushed into something.

Posted by: AlvinYang

Quote:

Originally Posted by peryus88

i have a partial guide (replace lcd) and the rest of the parts should be just pull out and put bak but i dunt know how the flip works so if anyone has any idea it would be appreciated did a search nothing on guides for this alos posted one with no replies... thx peryus88 i'll keep that in mind when pulling stuff out

Posted by: big juicy

how do i take the LCD Screen cover (hard plastic on exterior) off and replace that? i just got all new housing but there's no dark inside piece (which holds the screen, under the faceplate). Can i take the other screen cover off the old on and put my new one on?

Posted by: aw614

thanks for the guide, if I ever got mine back I may change my housing. I guess it may be on the same level as taking a 903sh apart so I can probably do it

Posted by: big juicy

Quote:

Originally Posted by big juicy

how do i take the LCD Screen cover (hard plastic on exterior) off and replace that? i just got all new housing but there's no dark inside piece (which holds the screen, under the faceplate). Can i take the other screen cover off the old on and put my new one on?

**** that sounded retarded. i just need to know how to safely change my front lens. i just got a new invisible SHIELD (they're amazing in case anyone is wondering) for my 600i and don't plan on putting it on my scratched lens and have a new one sitting by.