iPad Mini CDMA Top Left Antenna Replacement

I know this is obvious, but backup your iPad with iTunes before you start. I'd also turn off your passcode if you have one.

Ther first time you heat up the iOpener for this repair when its room temperature I had to heat it up for more than 30 seconds. I remember I had to heat it up for around 45 seconds. However, after that when you need to reheat it again during the repair 30 seconds will be enough.

I used the wheat bag in a sensor microwave heating up to 65-70 deg C (155 def F).

Get yourself a cherry pit bean bag the size of your iPad. Heat it, put the iPad on it for 3 to 5 minutes or so, reheat the cherry pit bean bag, again put your iPad on it. Then heat the iOpener and start working. The cherry pit bean bag will have to be reheated several times, but it will soften the adhesive so you have less problems with the iOpener

The heating can be done very effectively (and quickly) with 3d printer heated bed. Make sure the bed is clean. Set the temperature to 60c, (130f ) and put the ipad face down for +/- 10 minutes. Repeat as needed throughout the “gentle prying” stages.

The iOpener did not work at all for me.

I had to use a heat gun and bring the edges of the case up to ~200 degrees (used an infrared thermometer to measure) before the glue would weaken. This obviously superheated the metal frame, so I also had to wear gloves to handle the phone while prying the back off with the included picks.

Repair instructions worked like a charm. Had to be patient with the iOpener and getting the screen off. I tried repeatedly without success until shifting the suction cup a bit to the left side where perhaps the glue had loosened up a bit more.

The iOpener, in my opinion, is of no help. Many warnings to say “don’t warm it too much”, but the glue doesn’t melt if not warm enough. As a result, a complete waste of time and energy. In addition, too much liquid in it, so it doesn’t lay on the device on a sufficient surface. I took a hairdryer and it worked much much better.

I used an immersion bath to heat this to 180F and applied it to the device until the outside temperature of the opener read 150F with an IR thermometer. Removing the screen took very little force with this method.

My experience. I was replacing the screen which had been cracked and a little shattered in some places. The iopener is pretty much useless, so was the suction cup. The suction cup would probably be more useful if I was doing something besides the screen. Also you probably want the clean the screen before using it so it can get good suction. I used a hair dryer on high for a couple of minutes at a time (someone on this tread suggested that). I used my exacto knife and a razor blade to get into the adhesive. First the exacto to get the initial cut, then the razor blade to go a little deeper. Could have probably just used the razor blade, but the exacto has a little more finesse. I got the razor blade in and a little under the glass then I used the picks to wedge in. I didn’t want to risk anything using the razor blade too much. Used tape to keep the shattered glass together.

My experience pt2

Fortunately the shattering was mostly on the edges and most of it had adhesive on the back so it stuck together. Just take your time and work your way around following the guide to get the screen off. Have some goof off or goo be gone to clean the frame when putting the new glass on or putting the existing one back. (someone suggested that also, very good idea). Be careful of the LCD (you should know that). The cable on my LCD was pretty tight, so I propped it up while taking the cable cover off and when I put it back on I did the same thing. I just put a bottle on the battery and leaned the back of the LCD on that while attaching the cables and putting the screws back on the cover. Also be careful with the home button and the bracket on the back of it. I had enough old adhesive on left on the bracket that it stuck back to the new glass fine. So far only 12 hours in, so we will see how that holds up when the kids get at it.

Another alternative if you do not have the iopener is to use a bed time hotwater bottle. Do not over fill it though. Just put enough hot water in to support the phone while you work around the adhesive.

I use both the hot water bottle and iopener together on Samsung's. It makes life easier

I followed the directions and heated my iOpener for 30 seconds in a 1000 watt microwave, and it came out at 160 degrees F, as verified by a infrared thermometer. This allowed me to separate the last bit of the back of my Samsung S8, which was already coming off due to a swollen battery (hence the reason for the repair).

Hallo,habe den Akku erfolgreich getauscht.Doch seitdem gibt es bei Telefonaten eine Rückkopplung für den anrufenden.Bei mir ist alles normal.Woran liegt das?Mfg

If you follow these instructions, you will crack your screen like I did. Heating the iOpener for 30 seconds, using it to melt glue, then waiting 10 minutes to reheat is useless. The iOpener can be used to maybe warm the glue on whatever side you aren’t working on. You need a hairdryer and/or a heat gun to melt the glue and separate the glass from the iPad.

Anyone want to buy an old iPad with broken glass and a dead battery?

Not everybody has a microwave. You should provide a target temperature for the iOpener and instructions for a conventional oven, or pot of warm water, or whatever. Although I will probably use a heat gun …

Three times heating opener and no luck. Tried pressing down gently on opener with a towel, and the opener broke. Wondering if I now replace table mats, fancy table cloth, etc. or will this stuff wash out.

Not impressed so far. Maybe the hair dryer next.

#### WARNUNG WENN MINIMALSTER SPRUNG IM DISPLAY IST FUNKTIONERT DAS NICHT!!! ######

Hatte einen winzigen, minimalen Sprung im Display. Ich dachte es könnte gehen, weil der Sprung “abgeschlossen” war. Er hat in einer Ecke ein winzige Glasteil rausgeschnitten. NEIN! Geht nicht. Habe alles mit viel Geduld dem iOpener und einem Föhn erhitzt. Es ist trotzdem sofort über das komplette Display zersprungen…

I’ve started with iOpener but changed very quickly to a heatgun. That was more efficient.

I could not get the iOpener hot enough to melt the glue on my ipad 6. I heated for 45 seconds once and it was boiling and it still never worked. Thank goodness contributors mentioned using a hair dryer. Using an 1700w hair dryer on high did the trick to get the screen off. Still took some time and the case got pretty hot but be patient. It took twice as long and a lot more patience to get the battery out.

I have an Ipad with touch screen issue, if i replace this part it should be Ok?

WARNING - DO NOT MICROWAVE ON A METAL MICROWAVE RACK

The metal microwave rack can heat up and melt through the iOpener cover letting the contents leak out.

Not a big issue for me as I have a heat gun and used that instead.

I opened my iPad with the iOpener. Be patient! It may take quite a bit longer to it the iOpener in the microwave than it says in the guide. My microwave can only do 800W and I had to put the iOpener in several times (maybe a total of 90-120 seconds). I recommend that you have the transparent side up an watch the bag carefully. As long a the bag doesn't bloat up and the liquid doesn't start bubbling you should be fine. But I recommend to take the iO out from time to time to check it. (More comments in Step 6.)

I gave upon the I opener and used a hairdryer. (Fixed an iPad 6)

iPad mini gen5. I used the iOpener. My microwave is 1200w with carousel. 30 sec got the iOpener to 155ºF. For the 2nd heating, after 10 minutes sitting, the temp was still around 125º so I only cooked it for 15 sec. Not enough increase so +5 sec more which me to 165-170ºF. This should be considered ballpark info because who knows the real output of the various microwaves and the quality of the IR tool used to determine temp.

To successfully open my iPad mini I applied the iOpener twice to the left edge and twice to bottom. & once to R edge. Using the suction cup was difficult for me (I'm in my 70's so my hands don't work too well anymore). I had trouble holding the guitar pick and slipping them in (at an downward angle). In the end, sliding my thumbnail along the edge opened it very slightly and allowed the pick to get into the gap. I marked the ends of all my picks with a sharpie pen for the recommended 2mm insertion to avoid going in too deep. To get the screen open it took me approx 1 hour.

Can’t you just use a hair curler instead?

A hairdryer or heat gun works, if heating is kept around 100 deg C (212 deg F - boiling point of water). But… heating this way is cumbersome. Using a hotplate, set to 100 deg C, measured carefully with a fairly inexpensive IR gun, is simpler and easier, if you can afford the hotplate (I used an old pancake griddle with a thermostat knob). It works great for phones, setting them face down for 2 minutes, then picking them up with insulated gloves - cheap, wool gloves work fine. This may require repeated reheating to continue the display removal, but its much simpler.

Because its almost impossible to repeatedly lay an iPad/tablet on the hot plate, I propose an alternative.

Initially lay the larger iPad/tablet, face down, for 2 min, to heat all of the adhesive surrounding the display. Lift and begin the picking process describe in your removal steps. Then lay an iOpener on the hotplate for 2 min (already set to the exact, desired temp) to bring it to working temp for the remaining operations.

For iPads in particular, it makes sense to construct a simple, aluminum window frame, laid on a hotplate (see my comment above) that only touches the edges of the display, heating only the adhesive underneath. This prevents general heating of the entire device. Four strips of aluminum, placed together as a frame, would be the simplest and allow variations for all devices - envision it as a pinwheel of strips, radiating outward. Use it for any size device.

BTW, always read all comments at each step. New, and possibly useful, suggestions appear on occasion that can be crucial.

I ended up using a hair dryer. That iOpener thing took forever.

30 seconds sure isn’t cutting it… 45 didn’t get the screen of my iPad air 2 to budge either… even after resting on the ipad for 4 minutes.

60 seconds in the microwave, the iOpener burst.

I’ll get a new one and try once more with heating it 45 seconds and repeat that for 30 minutes like others have said here. If that doesn’t work it’ll have to be the heat gun.

K

Trust the directions! I forgot and left it in the Microwave too long and after 1 minute I had Mt Vesuvius - the iOpener burst and spewed the goodies out. The problem is, the Digitizer can be damaged by a hot air gun, so I had to tough out and remove the glue the hard way. I made it … with lots of patience! Tough lesson.

I also used a hairdryer. I used it on the low setting and I cut a piece of carboard to protect the rest of the screen. The iFixit tool and method is vert tedious and very time consuming in comparison. With the hairdryer method you can literally have the display apart in a few minutes. Using your other hand nearby the area you are heating it should be very hot but not enough to burn your hand. You only have to heat metal part of case near glass edge. If you have a cellular model then you need to be very careful because the black antenna area is plastic. So less heat and work your way up in adding heat just enough to separate around the area but not so much you melt the plastic!

iOpener was the worst part of the kit. Followed directions for :30 in microwave and took 4 trips to the microwave to loosen adhesive on left side of home button. I thought I was figuring it out and it was working well… even set a timer to wait 10 minutes between heating it up. Was on the right side and was on my 12th heat up when it exploded in the microwave. My only tip is that if you set it clear side up, as soon as you see any bubbles or boiling in the liquid, STOP! If you put a pot holder over the iOpener and press slightly to make good surface contact, that seemed to help. I finished heating with a “Corn Sack” that held heat better than the provided iOpener.

Get a heat gun.

I followed the directions and heated my iOpener for 30 seconds in a 1000 watt microwave, and it came out at 160 degrees F, as verified by a infrared thermometer. A second heating about 15 minutes later in the micro and it came out at 190 degrees F. Plenty hot enough to soften the adhesive for removing the back on my S8. Based on the comments above I think people just need to use more patience.

I used various time settings. It got very hot. It would soften the glue but not a whole lot. If my screen had been intact and I was replacing something that was not a digitizer, it may have worked. A broken screen makes the process significantly more difficult. I ended up breaking the home button cable. Good bye TouchID…

After reading previous comments I didn't even use the i-opener. Used the heatgun ( hairdryer ) which works great for me. Maybe I was lucky as this is my first attempt at replacing a cellphone battery. Motoz 3

It appeared 30 seconds were not enough, so I heated it more, by 5 seconds at a time until I got the right temperature about 70 degrees Celsius (measured with infrared pistol) to get the screen heated up to 60 C, the best for softening the glue. But the heat was quickly dissipating by the big aluminum back cover, so the best I got in 2 minutes of applying iOpener was around 45 C, which made the procedure difficult and having risk of breaking the screen. So I eventually abandoned iOpener and user a hot air gun with precise temperature setup. I set it to 90 C, which allowed me to open my iPad quickly and safely.

I, too, ended up using a hot air gun. I’ve done earlier versions of iPad before but the adhesive used on this IPad 5 A1822 was particularly difficult to remove.

Also, while the suction cup worked great when the glass is in tact, any cracks in the glass make the suction cup useless.

You need to remember here are different sizes of microwaves. I had the same issue.

Heating on a smaller unit I used 45-60 seconds. That worked but was time comsuming

Yeah, the iOpener didn't work for me either.... ended up using a hair dryer and that worked. The iOpener was too warm to soften the glue in my case.

I had a rotating plate microwave for my repair, and heating the iOpener 30-40 seconds worked plenty well for me.

I vote for the hair dryer. The other methods work too but if you aren’t having any luck, switch to the hair dryer. While holding the iPad in my hand, I found that I am aiming the dryer at my finger at the same time and it gauges how hot it is. I stop when my finger can’t take it - maybe five seconds up close. Repeat as needed like I did.

This thing melts when placed up side down in the microwave…

If the maximum temperature for this iOpener is lower than the gadget glue minimum temperature, this device does not make sense.
I think the maximum temperature for this iOpener is below 100⁰C and most gadget glue minimum temperature is higher than 100⁰C. So the iOpener is useless for many opening steps in repair guides. But who knows because temperature range is not specified for this iOpener.

When boiling in water you can put the iopener in a ziplock to keep it dry.

Even if you don't put in a ziplock bag, I found that the surface is mostly hydrophobic so drying it is very easy. I also didn't have tongs, but the bag is denser than water, so it sank and I attached clothes pins to the ends and was able to remove it with those.

2-3 minutes in near boiling water, then 2-3 minutes on my s10+ and it was super easy to cut the glue off.

top right is longer on an ipad mini 2 retina wifi 32GB

ipad mini wifi no screws are longer

Just destroyed my LCD as well. A red warning remarking is missing here! The LCD assembly is very fragile an cannot be bent, even slightly!!

I have broken about 10 of the 50 or so iPad minis that I have repaired. I always try to have a LCD on hand. I’ll have to try the fishing line trick!

I also recommend doing step 45 first (removing the two pieces of foam tape at the bottom).

I was able to do this the first time w/out damaging the LCD simply by following the instructions to the letter, slowly and carefully. The only thing I did differently was to follow Northstar’s instructions to remove the two pieces of tape at the bottom of the LCD before beginning.

I found a good way to remove the LCD without breaking it. Once you finish to clean up around the LCD just lift a bit one of the white metal backing plate and insert in the gap a plastified playing card under le LCD and slowly make your way to the center of the LCD. Repeat on the other side and the LCD will lift up intact.

nothing Brocken after

(I did not read the comments before doing it lol)

I have a missing plate and screws

I put a piece of cellotape on the contact side of the connector and could happily forget about it while getting on with the rest of the repair.

Following from Nick H’s comment about LCD removal being unnecessary - I tried that first and got my broken glass OUT of the assembly by threading it thru a limited space beneath the LCD. Later when trying to reseat the digitizer connector I gave up and removed the LCD anyhow. Not that much extra work but a LOT easier to install the digitizer and reseat the connector without having to navigate around the LCD and its cable. Removal of the tape holding the LCD was easy - there are two short lengths of rubber or foam along the bottom edge of the LCD that faces the outside world. Remove those(save them) and then _carefully_ peel up the tape; I saw some metallic looking residue underneath. Later when re-assembling everything, I put the tape back and then those two short lengths of foam.

on mine this tape was already loose.