I'm tired of ignoring the seagull like crack on my screen. And instead of paying a crap load to send it back to Canon or local shops for replacement, I looked up a few sites and felt confident that I could handle this myself (The cheap side of me comes in handy when it comes to self-repairing stuff.)
Note: This post's about replacing the LCD window/cover, not the entire LCD monitor.
Here's what happened:
After a quick shoot (I think it might have been the first automotive one I did,) I rested my camera in the cup-holders and forgot completely about it. When I pulled the hand brake before exiting the car, I heard a "crack" and the rest was history. I don't recall ever screaming "f*ck" this loud in my head before.
Anyway, from a few source of recommendations, I grabbed the replacement screen on Ebay from a user called "UScamera". I bought the 550D version, but I believe they have ones for other models as well.
Here are the tools required for the replacement:
Tweezer's actually not that big of a deal. Suction cup's crucial -- find one just small enough than the screen so you can get a good vacuum to pull off the bad screen. The screwdriver's meant to help removing the screen, so you can also use any other blades or objects to tweak out the screen.
oolala.
1.) Blow dry the screen.
To melt and soften the original adhesive for easier removal. I heat it up for about 3 minutes before I pulled mine off.
2.)Apply suction cup
Get a good grip while the LCD window's still hot and pull that sh*t off!
3.) Pull IT OFF!
Assist the suction cup with the screwdriver or blade. Make sure not to damage the actual LCD monitor. Try to do this in few tries, otherwise it only gets harder.
4.)Find gap or leverage around the boarder to peel off the screen
May be difficult. I eventually had to jam the screwdriver into the cracks and break the screens apart. It was brutal, but got the job done.
Peace, pieces.
5.) Clean ups
Once the screen's off, take the cotton swab and micro fiber cloth to clean the surfaces.
...and get rid of the adhesive residuals along the edges.
6.) Apply new adhesive and screen
Remaning steps are quite intuitive. The adhesive that comes with the replacement windows I bought is very user friendly with an extra tab on the side to hold on to. Now the only problem that I had was my own.
You can just hold on to the screen on its edges. Make sure don't get any finger prints on the side that's facing down.
7.) More clean ups.
DONE! Like new, but better (emotionally.)
A new screen like this worth $30+, so instead of throwing it away, I recycled it:
..into a piece of reminder.
'til next time,
-Benson|| Twitter || Facebook || 365. || Shop of Imagination ||