vB Easy Archive - RAZR V3

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RAZR V3 - blank screen!
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Posted by: reapit

Hi

Suddenly both outer and inner screen of my motorola RAZR V3 went dead. My keypad light is fine.I tried to charge my battery, etc but in vain...

Pls advise.

I purschased the phone in NOV'2005 from T-Mobile......switch to Cingular in MAr'2006..........although its still under 1 yr can i still awail the warranty??

thanks,
bikash

Posted by: totalsilence

Hey that just happened to me too.

Did your phone get wet at all?

I dont know why it happened to mine. Im trying to figure it out

Posted by: overridex

Well this is some sort of problem with the razr, the light of the screen are very sensitive and goes out mostly due to frequent use, or hard shaking or dropping. might be the case with you guys.

Posted by: goodoldmoto

99% of the time it happens when you get the phone wet. I've never seen it happen because of dropping the phone or even manufacturer's defect...

Posted by: chicago84

I just had the exact same problem. No screen image. Phone works and makes calls but no screen image. I'm sending my back under warranty. Of course, after arranging the screen is randomly back.

Posted by: SimpleKindaMan

The LCD flex connector is very sensitive. 4/5 of the RAZR screens I see go out are due to a loose flex connection. It's super easy to fix it. Take off the battery door. There are two T6 screws. Take them out and pop off the bottom of the phone. There are two flex cables: one for the keypad, the other for the screen. Connect the flat cable (screen cable) first. Then connect the bent (keypad) cable. Put back together. Voila.

Posted by: chicago84

How do you remove these T6 screws? I just got my reconditioned Razr but am not sure I want to keep it. The screen came back for a day or two and then died again. Thanks

Posted by: SimpleKindaMan

With a #6 torx driver (T6).

Posted by: michael3977

Quote:

Originally Posted by SimpleKindaMan

With a #6 torx driver (T6).

Can this be verified as a working fix? I mean have others tried this and it worked for them?

I sent my son's phone to a repair place and they said it was fixed, got it back with a new faceplate and batter cover and thats it.

It was sent out for water spot between the LCD and inner face plate, thats still there, and now the outer display doesn't work.

Posted by: Autoeng

Quote:

Originally Posted by SimpleKindaMan

The LCD flex connector is very sensitive. 4/5 of the RAZR screens I see go out are due to a loose flex connection. It's super easy to fix it. Take off the battery door. There are two T6 screws. Take them out and pop off the bottom of the phone. There are two flex cables: one for the keypad, the other for the screen. Connect the flat cable (screen cable) first. Then connect the bent (keypad) cable. Put back together. Voila.

Is this correct? I have checked the screen connections on the screen side of the cables but looking at how to's I only see one cable on the keypad side of the phone. Here is a pic.

Posted by: SimpleKindaMan

Quote:

Originally Posted by michael3977

It was sent out for water spot between the LCD and inner face plate, thats still there, and now the outer display doesn't work.

That 'water spot' you describe is fairly common. It's not really water, it just looks that way when the LCD plexi sticks to the LCD.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Autoeng

Is this correct? I have checked the screen connections on the screen side of the cables but looking at how to's I only see one cable on the keypad side of the phone. Here is a pic.

That one looks a little different than the RAZRs I work on. That one's liquid damaged pretty bad. Both indicators are red and I can see some corrosion forming inside of the phone. Take off that plastic dealy at the bottom of the PCB by removing the two black rubber caps. Theres two clips underneath those that hold that plastic dealy on. Pry one of the clips away and pry up the plastic dealy. Now the PCB will pop out. Clean off everything with a toothbrush and some isopropyl alcohol (use the highest alcohol percentage you can find. You can get a high percentage one at CVS or Walgreens or Wal Mart.) Clean the hell out of the connection between the flex cable and the PCB. Let the board dry completely (a fan will speed up the alcohol evaporation.) Put it all back together. Hopefully it works for yah.

Posted by: Tyler Durden

Quote:

Originally Posted by Autoeng

Is this correct? I have checked the screen connections on the screen side of the cables but looking at how to's I only see one cable on the keypad side of the phone. Here is a pic.

You have a GSM version RazR. The CDMA versions have two flex cables, one to the motherboard and the other to the lcd. Do exactly as SimpleKindaMan has described. Depending on how bad the corosion is, sometimes I even have to cut out all the metal shields and clean underneath them as well but unless you have done that before, I wouldn't recommend you trying to cut out the shields. With all this work, sometimes everything will work perfectly except the mic will not work or your phone cannot seek and connect to local towers. Still worth a shot though.

Posted by: Autoeng

Quote:

Originally Posted by SimpleKindaMan

Not my phone, just a pic I found online in a dissassembly guide showing what I have. My phone did not get wet. While dialing a number the screen went to the Cingular logo and then blanks out. Tried different battery then bought new screen from reputable online supplier and replaced. Still blank screen - AAAGHHH! If I had known better I would have started off with new flex cables for both screen and keyboard as they cost ½ of what the screen did. Anyways, before ordering new cables I'm going to try and check cable continuity using the schematic in the official dissassembly guide. With the screen reboot right before it failed it would appear to be a partial cable failure.

Posted by: SimpleKindaMan

If the screen went to the Cingular logo, I'd be inclined to say you're either looking at a software failure or an interruption in the power circuitry. I don't think a screen or flex is going to help. I can't be sure w/o seeing it though.

Posted by: Autoeng

Thanks much for the advice.

Posted by: cbcasey4

Quote:

Originally Posted by SimpleKindaMan

Where are those connectors. I dont see them on my phone when I take off the back cover. Can you help me? Im not great with phones and technology.

Posted by: RRLP03

Will the torx driver T6 work on the Motorola PEBL? I want to purchase a Torx Driver but I don't know what size for the PEBL. My screen has also gone while and want to see if I can fix it myself.

Posted by: Autoeng

Lowe's has a driver with 8 different sized bits for less than $6.

http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?acti...0272&lpage=none

Posted by: Tyler Durden

Quote:

Originally Posted by cbcasey4

Where are those connectors. I dont see them on my phone when I take off the back cover. Can you help me? Im not great with phones and technology.

There are two flex cable connectors for the CDMA versions but only one on the GSM V3 versions. If you take the battery cover off, you will see two screws as they are the only ones there so it shouldn't be hard to find. You will need a torx 6 screw driver to do this. After the screws are removed, I normally just use my finger nails to do this but I run them along the seem to splitr the shell apart. Once opened, you cannot miss the flex cable(s) as they are the one that is holding the back peice together with the phone.

Please keep in mind that RazR phones in my perspective have a bad design when it comes to the hinge area thus if you opened your flip and wiggled the upper and lower portions, if the left side (when looking at your phone) is lose, it's because the knuckle is made of plastic and had broken which causes it to start to cut into the flex cable but these are only the normal cases for the GSM models and for CDMA versions, it is typical for the flex cable to get lose. Another faulty design?

Posted by: xanthangum

I also had the screen problem with my V3c and yesterday I found this thread via Google. I had never taken my phone apart, but I knew that the screen problem I was having was some kind of loose connection, as the problem was intermittent. So I went to Lowes and bought the $6 screwdriver, and now my phone is fixed! So a big THANK YOU to simplekindaman and Tyler for the explanation.

To cbcasey4, after you have unscrewed the two screws you need to take off the lower half of the back cover (the part that has the charging plug receptacle) off the phone, then put it back on. The two connectors need to be plugged into the lower half of the back cover as you put it back together.

To simplekindaman, I could not easily move the end of the flat cable away from the phone in order to plug it in first. Instead, I plugged the bent cable in first, then pressed the back cover back on after carefully positioning the screen cable connector. Seems to be working perfectly now. Thanks again!

Posted by: SimpleKindaMan

Quote:

Originally Posted by xanthangum

I could not easily move the end of the flat cable away from the phone in order to plug it in first. Instead, I plugged the bent cable in first, then pressed the back cover back on after carefully positioning the screen cable connector.

When you get the bottom part of the phone off, you can carefully lift up the screen flex cable (the flat cable); it just goes under a sticker that you ESN sticker is stuck to. This makes it a little easier to put it in place and then you're sure to get a good connection. See; I told you guys it works. This repair holds on the majority of phones. If it doesn't hold, you're LCD flex may be bad, there may be an open connection on the LCD flex connector on the PCB, or your LCD may be bad.

Posted by: sail0rm00n

Quote:

Originally Posted by SimpleKindaMan

My phone occassionally blanks out and turns off on its own too. I've noticed that it happens when I close my phone really hard (letting it close by itself as opposed to following through the close with my fingers on the top of the flip until it gently closes) which led me to believe it's some kind of loose wire in the phone. Searching through the forum, the above post seems to be what I suspect. Would you confirm that this is a symptom of a loose flex connection?

Also, I'm assuming that we have to disconnect both the screen and keypad cables and then reconnect them. Is there a specific order to disconnect the wires?

Posted by: John-Kevin

Trying to fix the "white screen" problem - getting to the screen cable:
After taking out the 2 inside T6 screws - and there is still no way opening (popping open ??) the PCB "plate" !?
Any trick to it ? Please advise - -

Posted by: SimpleKindaMan

Once you get those T6s out, you just hold onto the sides of the back housing and pry the whole assembly off.

Posted by: hello2010

Halo everyone!!

I jus managed to recover my sister Motorola Red based on your instructions online in this forum. It is so easy... Dropping a note to tank all of you for sharing information, and I did it in less than 1 hr to disconnect and reconnect the cable.

For those who are still trying to open casing:
1. To open the rear cover, take out the 2 T6 screws. use a guitar pick to slide "separate" the rear cover from the main body. It is quite tough, but you need to twist here and there to loose the cover. once the cover is out, watch out for that cable between the rear cover and main body. That is the LCD cable. Remove it carefully, and refit it again.

2. To remove the other end of the cable. Look around your LCD, and you will see the four rubber pads. remove the pads, and you will see the screw beneath them. Remove the screws. Use a guitar pick to separate the top cover from the main body. Look for the cable on the left. The right cable is the camera cable. remove the left cable and refit it again.

3. Fit back your phone. and the LCD should be working again.

Thanks to all again.

Posted by: LvJ

I am having this same problem with my razr V3. I found this thread through a search engine. I went out today and got the T6 screwdriver from Home Depot. But when I open the phone, I don't see any kind of cable. I really don't know what I'm looking for. Can someone post a picture of these flex connectors?

Posted by: Tyler Durden

Quote:

Originally Posted by LvJ

I am having this same problem with my razr V3. I found this thread through a search engine. I went out today and got the T6 screwdriver from Home Depot. But when I open the phone, I don't see any kind of cable. I really don't know what I'm looking for. Can someone post a picture of these flex connectors?

Well when you open up the bottom half of your phone, there's only one flex cable that is connected to the motherboard, that my friend is the cable. Now if you are taking apart the lcd housing, once you have it opened up, it's the only flex cable that is connected to the lcd.

Better explanation here: http://www.themotoguide.com/razrdisassembly.php

Posted by: xanthangum

For LVJ, when you open the back of the phone you will have two "pieces" of the phone, the back part and the front part. On each piece of the phone there are two small black rectangular areas with multiple small wires in them, these are the connectors that need to be refitted. You need to "plug" the connectors back to each other as you fit the back part of the phone onto the front part.

Posted by: Slave2none

I Just wanted to say thanx, SimpleKindMan....
I have a V3m and it was blanking out more and more as time wenton.
I used your fix and it works great.

Posted by: Marikpc

Hello everyone. I dont meant to hijack the thread, but i had a question. I followed the steps to reconnect the flex connection but my phone still not working. The screen still blank and only the keyboard light ups. I can receive and make calls from the v3r phone. Any suggestions I really appreciated .
TY.
Mari