Surface Pro Repair
Today a customer brought in Surface Pro for repair, so I thought I’d take some pictures and document the repair process. Computer Repair Doctor is an electronics repair company that offers repairs like this one across the US.
The Surface Pro is a tough repair because it requires some skill with a heat gun.
It’s not just screws that you can easily take out and disassemble. This will be a tricky one.
I start by evenly heating up the glass and inserting guitar picks along the edge as the glass heats. The trick is to maintain a nice even level of heat so the screen stays in one piece as much as possible. Be sure not to use too much heat and damage the components underneath! But if you don’t use enough heat, it’ll be impossible to take the glass off.
Still trying to get the glass off. Takes patience and heat to work my way around the screen. I have to make sure not to insert the guitar pics too far because I know there are cables inside the device that I can’t cut. But I use the guitar pics to cut through the melted adhesive along the frame as I work.
Progress. At this point, I almost have the screen removed. I slowly but surely heated the glass and inserted guitar picks all around the outside edge.
Guitar picks are LIFE. They make cutting so much easier. I always dread the most cracked areas especially if they are close to where all the cables are located. HEAT… MORE HEAT!
I get my first peek inside the Surface Pro and I can see the cables now. There’s two of them on the far side that I have to swap over from one screen to the other so those are the ones I need to look out for. I have to make sure to cut the adhesive all the way around the frame without cutting through those cables.
Yay! I didn’t cut ANY cables. Should be a breeze from here, the hard work is done.
It’s times like this I really love iPhone Repair. iPhones and devices that get repaired with screens and no heat guns are SO much easier. But we soldier on anyway.
As you can see, the adhesive comes off in little black pieces. This was a time-consuming process to remove!
Cables disconnected! I use a ply tool to release the securing clips that keep the cables in place so I can unplug the cables. Those securing clips scare me though.
They are so fragile when trying to pry them up. Be very careful when working with them, if you damage the securing clips on the board, there will be no way to keep the new screen attached.
I thought I was through with the hard part. I should have just bought a new bezel. This adhesive removal isn’t worth the labor I’m investing in this repair. It’s a ton of work to remove the old adhesive from the original bezel. It’s a workout for my forearms!
I’m ready for the new screen! Here’s a good side by side pic of the old screen and the new screen.
TAPE! Strong double sided tape is the key to keeping the new screen secured to the bezel. There’s a ton of options for buying strong adhesive so make sure you get a good one.
Add as much as you can on the glass around the LCD area! This will make sure the new glass doesn’t separate from the frame.
I’m almost there. I plugged in the new screen, now I just need to test it, then remove the back of the adhesive and close it up!
All done! It looks a lot better with the new screen on it!
This article was prepared by Matt Ham of Computer Repair Doctor. He is the founder and CEO of an electronics repair company with stores across the USA. They specialize in computer and iPhone Repair, but fix electronics of all types. Matt has a Master’s degree in Mechanical Engineering and has been in the repair industry for 15 years.
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Parasuraman
August 10, 2017 at 7:25 pm
Unimaginable for me! So, I'm ducking!
Albert
August 10, 2017 at 9:36 pm
Well done Matt! Those glass touchscreens are terrible to remove, and so is replacing them by new ones! I've done a couple of them on 7 inch and 10 inch tablets but I leave it up to others now to remove the cracked touchscreens. I hope the industry soon will find better ways or new innovative touch screens that will make life much easier. And my advice to anyone is to buy those new OTG USB Phablets/Tablets. You will still be able to use those with an external mouse or keyboard even if the touchscreen is completely removed. And those of you who want to remove the old bad touchscreen maybe first try to setup an active Bluetooth connection. So this could still work with a Bluetooth External Mouse even when it is no USB OTG device.
Robert Calk
August 11, 2017 at 1:56 am
Good job, Matt. And thanks for the repair tips!
Yogesh Panchal
August 11, 2017 at 10:30 pm
Matt,
Good Job!
Humberto
August 16, 2017 at 1:56 am
Good job and fine explanations.
Justice
August 18, 2017 at 9:21 pm
Wow what a knowledge on surface pro! Thanks a lot.
Beau Michna
September 6, 2017 at 11:33 am
Yeah I thought iphones screens were hard too, but after seeing this, I would stick with the iphone.
Caroline
July 1, 2019 at 12:51 pm
Amazing information on surface pro repair with images. Keep posting this type of articles. I really love to read those blogs or article which are related to technology. I am a macbook pro user and I have faced many technical issues in my macbook. But, I always prefer to contact Datasyst Technology Services in South Carolina, USA. They shorted my technical problems within 12 hours on affordable prices. I recommened to all Mac users if they want to repair their systems. You can visit their website datasyst.net. Thanks Matt for sharing this valuable content.