Motion C5V : The dreaded screen LCD bubbles and other adventures

By Luck,

I was able to grab two of the C5v (coreI5, 2 GB RAM, 128 and 60 GB SSD) from a whole sale trader , who was kinda wanting to dispose them off.

This was used stock, so both had some sort of usage signs and wear/tear. One unit was better and almost carefully used than the other which was badly used and quite dirty (with scuff and gooey marks) . So i picked both, having a backup plan in mind to be able to swap parts if needed. Although both units were working, both had the most dreaded and ugly looking screen bubble problem, to lesser or greater extent.

Fine looking unit had a minor screen bubble in the upper right corner, which to my one week usage review, was expanding and changing shape slowly. The bad looking unit had a whole linear detachment of the LCD and backpanel hence longitudinal bubble along the top and both sides.

Being the geeky nerd I am, I wanted to refurbish both of them, to the extent possible at home without the need of professional grade equipment and lab.

So I started to learn the process of complete disassembly, by making the much used unit as my guinea pig (the one with large bubble, which ultimately was to be used as a donor tablet for parts).

Following are the pics of the dissassebled unit, not in very high detail and frequency of removal of every single part. Just main outcomes after some struggle to the take unit apart without breakage.

1

All individuals parts, taken apart. Motherboard and Toshiba 128 Gb SSD visible.

2

Backcover, fan grill etc.

3

LCD assembly and Wacom Digitizer which sits neatly behind it.

4

Back side of the LCD/LED combo assembly, without the wacom digitizer.

Based on what I read, the screen repair to remove bubble at home was nearly impossible, without expertise, professional grade tools / glue, UV lights, and a clean room.

Based on the study of image 3, 4. I realized that Wacom digitizer is a separate component and was just working fine . So if I need a fresh screen without bubbles, I only need to replace the LCD it as shown in image no.4 .

The LCD for Motion C5v CFT-003 is Hydis HX104X01-212 . It also had a label affixed to it marked as "Dupont Display Enhancements" indicating the optical glue and fusing assembly process used is from Dupont and the glue is probably "Vertak" , which has a melting problem as mentioned in this post

http://blog.stuffedcow.net/2012/03/thinkpad-x61-tablet-lcd-bubbles/

The technical specs for LCD/LED TFT display are here (with explanation of the barcode to determine year and month of manufacture).

http://www.azdisplays.com/PDF/HX104X01-212.pdf

Hence i have now decided to get replacement Hydis LCD displays and give a new look/life to both of the units. But where to get such rare parts from. The US/Europe based parts stockists surely would sell them on a price , which would be more than the price I got both of these units.

So have searched Taobao.com and have got a couple of hits. I am planning to purchase them from a dependable seller (i bet if the price shown on taobao is real, then the LCD is for free). I will get them shipped to me by using a trusted intermediary taobao agent to purchase for/ship to me.

So far this is the the progress on my adventure with these machines, lets see I will be placing orders soon and would receive them in 15-20 days based on a good estimate.

Will post the rest of my saga and success/failure story over here....

Till then...keep reading or maybe surely try this at HOME ...

============================================Edit 30-Jun-15
Found a couple low priced offers, but they were out of stock. Searched for a new one , ordered and its on the way now. Would get it by this week. Lets see how well it goes, daring to do a screen replacement myself, which would have costed hundreds of bucks plus shipping charges, lets see was it a right thing to do.
Thanks.

 

At last after a complete surgery, I was able to replace the LCD screen on my C5v (i5) and a motherboard replacement on my C5 (C2D) (without any expert help), and the tablets seem to be functioning well.

 

Could you possibly PM me the part numbers and supplier you used? This is the only thing I can find even mentioning the bubbles...