I recently purchased a 7000 from eBay with a cracked screen. I found plenty of info here on how to change the screen out, but saw no specific step by step tutorials. For those of you that might need more detailed assistance, I thought I'd put one together.

Thanks to everyone who has already posted here in the past with invaluable information on this process. I've now got a working 7000 due to their contributions. I'm restating some of the previous information in this post as well to keep it consolidated.

To begin, you need to determine whether you only need the glass touchscreen or the entire screen including the LCD. If the glass on your remote is broken but the screen still comes on and you don't see black lines or smears and the image still looks crisp then just the touchscreen glass is broken. You can get new glass here for 40 bucks: [Link: gethightech.com]

If the LCD itself is broken as well, you'll need a whole replacement screen here:
[Link: gethightech.com]

The image below shows my remote with just the touchscreen shattered. You can see in the image on the right that the display itself is just fine so I bought the glass only.

Tools Required

• T6 Torx driver
• Small flatblade screwdriver
• Exacto or modelling knife
• Goo Gone

Procedure

Step 1
Remove the battery cover and battery. Note: I have converted my remote to run on rechargeable AAA batteries rather than the standard battery pack which is what you see below.

Use a T6 torx driver to remove the 4 torx screws holding the back cover on the unit, circled in red. Remove the back case from the unit. This initial part can be tricky but just go slow and be patient. I found it was easiest on my remote to get it to separate from the front by the IR shield. The back locks into the front via some tabs so as you pull it apart you may notice one side or the other will hang. Just be gentle but firm and it should come loose.



Step 2
Remove the 3 torx screws holding the circuit board to the unit, also circled in red.

Step 3
Remove the ribbon cables which connect the circuit board to the LCD and touchscreen. To do so, the smaller connector has a latch that needs to be moved straight out to unlock. Then pull the cable free (carefully!).

The wider cable has a much thinner lock that needs to be lifted straight up and back to release the cable. Again pull the cable loose very carefully once unlocked. Use the arrows below as a guide to unlocking the two latches. I used a very small flat bladed screwdriver to slip underneath the cables and pull them loose.

Once the cables are unplugged, remove the circuit board from the unit and lay it aside.


Step 4
Remove the button contact pad from the back of the remote. It is held in place in 3 places by sitting over plastic pins (circled in red). Simply lift the entire pad up off the pins to remove it.


Step 5
Remove the button sets, labelled 1, 2, and 3 from the remote.
Remove the gray plastic spacer, labelled 4, from the remote. (Note it's position for reassembly).


Step 6
Remove the screen and plastic surround (outlined in red) from the front of the case. Once removed, separate the screen from the surround. Note the tabs that hold the screen in place (circled in red). Just bend out the plastic a bit to free one side and slip the screen out.


Step 7
You should now have a fully disassembled remote as shown


If you purchased an entire LCD and touchscreen, you may be able to skip the remainder of this tutorial. Compare the relative sizes of the glass touchscreen on the LCD of the new set to the old. If the glass appears to be different size than the original, skip down to step 13. If it is identical, you can replace the old screen with the new one in the plastic surround and reverse the disassembly process to put everything back together.

Step 8
This step will separate the touchscreen from the LCD. It is held in place by double-sided tape. Use an exacto or modelling knife or a razor blade to very carefully split the touchscreen from the LCD. As you separate it, keep an eye out for small broken glass pieces that may dislodge as you flex the touchscreen during removal.


Step 9
This shows the separated touchscreen and LCD. I used the razor blade and goo gone to very carefully remove the leftover tape residue. The new glass from pdaparts already has the tape on the screen ready for application.


Step 10
This shows the original screen overlaid on the pdaparts replacement screen. It matches dimensions in width, but notice the new screen is a good bit longer (marked in red). This will require modifying the plastic surround to hold the new screen properly.


Step 11
Apply the new glass to the LCD. If you look inside the plastic surround which holds the screen you will see small structural tabs sticking out around all the sides (circled in red below). The intent of these is to support the LCD itself and not the glass screen, i.e. the metal case of the LCD should rest on them. One side is quite a bit wider than the other, so keep those in mind as you line up the glass on the LCD. Align it to the top of the LCD and very very slightly indented from the left.

Be very careful on this step as you only get one shot once you start sticking it down!


Step 12
This shows the new screen installed on the LCD


Step 13
Because the new glass is longer than the old the two bottom 'tabs' in the plastic surround must be trimmed off. Remember, they were to support the LCD case which was exposed with the original glass. The lower right tab is shown in the picture below circled in red. Using an exacto knife or razor blade you want to remove most if not all of that tab, as well as the same one on the other side.


This shows the left side after trimming.


Step 14
Test fit the screen into the surround. Flip it over screen side up and check the gap between the screen and the surround on all sides (outlined in red in the picture). There should be a slight gap and the most important part is that it should be even on all sides.

If it is wider in one place than others, abnormal stress will be placed on the glass and it will probably crack again in the near future. Flip the screen back over and trim the tabs where ever the gaps are too large.


Step 15
The screen is ready to go. Reverse the disassembly steps to reassemble the remote. Take particular care when you place the screen and its surround back in the case. Make sure that the surround is fitted into the case properly all around. I noticed on mine that the top would appear to be in place but actually was not.

The original touchscreen ribbon was double-stick taped to the back of the LCD. If you have double stick tape, do the same thing otherwise use some normal tape to hold it in place.

The short cable is relatively easy to put back in the circuit board socket. The wider cable can be a bit trickier. Make sure that the latch gate is raised all the way up and that the cable is perfectly lined up as you push it back into place. It should seat all the way to the tabs that stick out from the sides.

The final result of my screen replacement is shown below.


I hope you find this tutorial useful. Feel free to email me with any questions.