Sony Xperia Z DISASSEMBLING
PROCEDURE
Turn hair dryer to medium heat. Slowly move
the hair dryer along the seams on the back of the phone. Keep the dryer a few
inches away from the case. Circulate the dryer for a full minute to soften the
adhesive binding the phone together.
Once the adhesive is loosened, stick the
suction cup to the top-center of the back of your phone and gently pull back.
Gently pull back just enough to create a
small gap.
Once you've opened a small space with the
back cover, stick the plastic opening tool into the seam of the phone. Move the
tool along the seam to loosen the adhesive.
Caution: Pulling too vigorously or quickly on
the suction cup could snap the back of the phone. Once the adhesive has been
adequately loosened, pull back slowly on the suction cup to remove the back
panel of the phone. The remaining adhesive should be strong enough to hold the
phone together tightly upon reassembly. However, once opened the water
resistance of your phone has been compromised.
Now that the back is removed, the battery is
visible. You now have access to the battery and its connecting components. With
the plastic opening tool, gently remove the connector from the motherboard. Use
your fingers to peel the rest of the adhesive away from the phone.
With the plastic opening tool, carefully peel
the white adhesive tape up from the bottom of the battery. Use your fingers to
peel back the rest of the adhesive tape away from the battery.
Slide the spudger firmly along the right side
of the battery, loosening the adhesive between the casing and battery. Flex
cables run vertically down the phone underneath the battery and can be damaged
easily. Make sure to only place the spudger in the indicated area. Insert the
spudger in the bottom-center to further loosen the adhesive. Carefully separate
the battery from the phone by sliding the spudger vertically underneath the battery
and prying up. This may take some time and work as the adhesive is very strong.
Remove the one 3 mm screw with the Phillips
#000 screwdriver. The screw is located at the top right corner of the
motherboard. The motherboard is the green/silver circuit board at the top of
the phone.
Using with the plastic opening tool, pry up
firmly from the bottom and top of the plastic housing. The housing is black and
located at the top right corner of the phone. Release the charging cover,
located on the right side of the phone at the top. This should cause the
housing piece to pop out effortlessly. Getting the black housing off of the
phone can be tricky. Just keep prying and pulling up on the housing to get it
out.
Do not remove all the copper tape. Only
remove the copper tape attached to the silver part of the motherboard. Release
the copper tape located at the top middle of the phone with a plastic opening
tool. This will take some force since the adhesive is rather strong. With the
plastic opening tool, release the pop connector, by lifting up to release it.
The pop connector should still be attached to the copper tape. Pull up gently
on the copper tape and pop connector to remove the back camera. It should pop
out easily.
With the plastic opening tool, gently pry the
red tape away from motherboard. This pop connector is located at the top right
corner of the phone. Using your fingers, gently pull up on the pop connector to
remove the front camera. The front camera piece should lift out effortlessly.
The SIM card of the Xperia Z is located in
the unlabeled slot above the power button. Gently open the cover by pushing to
the left with your nail. Some photos in this guide will have the back case of
the phone removed, which is not required if you're trying to remove the SIM
card only. If you are removing the SIM card to get at an internal component,
like the motherboard, then the back will need to be removed.
To avoid damage to the SIM card, be careful
when removing and handling it. Once you open the cover for the SIM card, the
tray will be inside. It will look like a small, thin chip. With your tweezers,
grab the card and carefully pull it out of the phone.
Remove the two 3mm Phillips #000 screws
located at the middle left and lower right of motherboard.
Gently pry the three flex cables away from
the motherboard. They are located on the bottom right, bottom left, and top
left corners of the motherboard. Leave the three flex cable flaps up and away
from the motherboard. Be careful not to tear the flex cables.
With the plastic opening tool pry up the
antenna located at the bottom right of the motherboard.
Leave the antenna up and away from the
motherboard.
With the plastic opening tool, firmly pry the
motherboard up out of the phone case. Pry from the right side of the motherboard
where the back camera was previously located. Firmly lift the section up
where the silver part of the motherboard comes to the edge of the green base
board. The motherboard has a lot of adhesive connecting it to the phone, so it
will require some force to remove it.
