Sony ericsson K800i housings

Hi I have just been given a k800i from my niece as she has up-graded.
It works ok and I like it very much but she has not looked after it
very well so it needs a face lift. I have seen genuine Sony Ericsson
replacement housing kits on Ebay and am aware I need a Torex 6
screwdriver. What I would like to know how easy is it to replace the
covers on this phone.
TIA

On Wed, 11 Jun 2008 hamsatuk wrote:

>Hi I have just been given a k800i from my niece as she has up-graded.
>It works ok and I like it very much but she has not looked after it
>very well so it needs a face lift. I have seen genuine Sony Ericsson
>replacement housing kits on Ebay and am aware I need a Torex 6
>screwdriver. What I would like to know how easy is it to replace the
>covers on this phone.

Actually if you have suitably sized watchmakers' screwdrivers you can
even get away without the Torx bits, but if you have access to them it's
safer. These phones are fairly simple to dismantle and reassemble if
you're careful.

Remove the battery cover to expose two screws at the bottom of the main
board. Don't remove these yet. Remove the battery itself to reveal two
more, smaller screws holding down the top half of the rear casing.
Remove these, then prize up the top half of the rear cover, which is
held in place at the top with plastic clips. This will expose two more
screws; remove all four corner screws and the whole guts of the thing
can be prized carefully past the plastic tabs on the side of the front
cover.

That's pretty much it. Re-assembly is, unsurprisingly, the exact
reverse.

There are a couple of things to watch for. Firstly there are two tiny
conductive green flexible 'tubes', similar to those found in some
watches and calculators, that I think carry sound signals from the main
board to the microphone and speaker. They're held in place fairly well
by mouldings on the case but they can come loose if you're not careful.
Make sure any replacement case has these intact, or transplant them from
the case you're removing, or you may end up with no outgoing or incoming
sound.

Also, the power and camera shutter buttons 'float' in mouldings on the
case and make contact with chassis switches beneath when the phone is
assembled. These can drift out of alignment on re-assembly and cause
stiff and/or non-operation of the buttons. Keep an eye on them as you
put it back together. Other buttons may have similar issues, but these
are the only two I've seen problems with.

Finally, because hinge on the rubber cover for the memory card slot
engages with the internal workings rather than the case, this will need
to be pulled out before disassembly and it (or a replacement) pushed
back when you're done. Pulling this out is really scary; it stretches a
bit and feels as though it's going to snap rather than disengage. But it
will eventually pop out.

While you've got the thing apart it might also be worth removing the
joystick nubbin and associated buttons (carefully, or the protective
membrane can rip) and giving the switch beneath a good blast with switch
cleaner, isopropyl alcohol, an air duster or a combination of all three.
The joystick isn't a bad design but even so crap tends to migrate and
gather under there and can make the switch operation intermittent. It's
particularly annoying during the Tennis game The reason I know how to
take these phones apart is because I've had to clean mine three times.

Try to do all this in as dust-free an environment as possible. Sometimes
you can't see specs of dust on the display and/or case window until it's
all back together and the backlight comes on, at which point they stick
out like sore thumbs and annoy the hell out of you.

Good luck.

--
Kev
__________________________________________________ ________________________
"This door is not to be used as an entrance or exit."
General Post Office building, New York City

On Wed, 11 Jun 2008 19:33:25 +0100, Kevin Reilly
<usenet@denali.org.uk> wrote:

>On Wed, 11 Jun 2008 hamsatuk wrote:
>
>>Hi I have just been given a k800i from my niece as she has up-graded.
>>It works ok and I like it very much but she has not looked after it
>>very well so it needs a face lift. I have seen genuine Sony Ericsson
>>replacement housing kits on Ebay and am aware I need a Torex 6
>>screwdriver. What I would like to know how easy is it to replace the
>>covers on this phone.
>
>Actually if you have suitably sized watchmakers' screwdrivers you can
>even get away without the Torx bits, but if you have access to them it's
>safer. These phones are fairly simple to dismantle and reassemble if
>you're careful.
>
>Remove the battery cover to expose two screws at the bottom of the main
>board. Don't remove these yet. Remove the battery itself to reveal two
>more, smaller screws holding down the top half of the rear casing.
>Remove these, then prize up the top half of the rear cover, which is
>held in place at the top with plastic clips. This will expose two more
>screws; remove all four corner screws and the whole guts of the thing
>can be prized carefully past the plastic tabs on the side of the front
>cover.
>
>That's pretty much it. Re-assembly is, unsurprisingly, the exact
>reverse.
>
>There are a couple of things to watch for. Firstly there are two tiny
>conductive green flexible 'tubes', similar to those found in some
>watches and calculators, that I think carry sound signals from the main
>board to the microphone and speaker. They're held in place fairly well
>by mouldings on the case but they can come loose if you're not careful.
>Make sure any replacement case has these intact, or transplant them from
>the case you're removing, or you may end up with no outgoing or incoming
>sound.
>
>Also, the power and camera shutter buttons 'float' in mouldings on the
>case and make contact with chassis switches beneath when the phone is
>assembled. These can drift out of alignment on re-assembly and cause
>stiff and/or non-operation of the buttons. Keep an eye on them as you
>put it back together. Other buttons may have similar issues, but these
>are the only two I've seen problems with.
>
>Finally, because hinge on the rubber cover for the memory card slot
>engages with the internal workings rather than the case, this will need
>to be pulled out before disassembly and it (or a replacement) pushed
>back when you're done. Pulling this out is really scary; it stretches a
>bit and feels as though it's going to snap rather than disengage. But it
>will eventually pop out.
>
>While you've got the thing apart it might also be worth removing the
>joystick nubbin and associated buttons (carefully, or the protective
>membrane can rip) and giving the switch beneath a good blast with switch
>cleaner, isopropyl alcohol, an air duster or a combination of all three.
>The joystick isn't a bad design but even so crap tends to migrate and
>gather under there and can make the switch operation intermittent. It's
>particularly annoying during the Tennis game The reason I know how to
>take these phones apart is because I've had to clean mine three times.
>
>Try to do all this in as dust-free an environment as possible. Sometimes
>you can't see specs of dust on the display and/or case window until it's
>all back together and the backlight comes on, at which point they stick
>out like sore thumbs and annoy the hell out of you.
>
>Good luck.
Hi Kevin.
Thanks for the instructionsWill let you know how it goes.
Thanks
Tony

On Wed, 11 Jun 2008 19:33:25 +0100, Kevin Reilly
<usenet@denali.org.uk> wrote:

Hi Kevin
Well here is an update to my efforts to replace the housings, etc on
my k800i. Well I did not have any major problems replacing all of the
covers and the keyboard also all the side buttons operate the correct
contacts on the housing.
I do however have a problem which is down to me not being carful
and/or not taking note of a particular part. I refer to the on/off
button. A new plastic one was included in the new package so replaced
this during re-assemble. I have a feeling that r a part has dropped
out during re-assemble as I can not see how this button is capable of
switching it on and off. On reexamination there appears to be two
metal tags which I assume the button when pushed down causes something
to touch these two contacts to create a circuit which then turns the
phone on. As I have stated I do not have this part and it was not
included in my new pack, also there has not been a mention in all of
the instructions on disassembly and re-assembly that I have read on
the internet. Do you know if all of my findings above are correct or
is there something I have missed?
Look forward to you reply.
Regards
Tony




>On Wed, 11 Jun 2008 hamsatuk wrote:
>
>>Hi I have just been given a k800i from my niece as she has up-graded.
>>It works ok and I like it very much but she has not looked after it
>>very well so it needs a face lift. I have seen genuine Sony Ericsson
>>replacement housing kits on Ebay and am aware I need a Torex 6
>>screwdriver. What I would like to know how easy is it to replace the
>>covers on this phone.
>
>Actually if you have suitably sized watchmakers' screwdrivers you can
>even get away without the Torx bits, but if you have access to them it's
>safer. These phones are fairly simple to dismantle and reassemble if
>you're careful.
>
>Remove the battery cover to expose two screws at the bottom of the main
>board. Don't remove these yet. Remove the battery itself to reveal two
>more, smaller screws holding down the top half of the rear casing.
>Remove these, then prize up the top half of the rear cover, which is
>held in place at the top with plastic clips. This will expose two more
>screws; remove all four corner screws and the whole guts of the thing
>can be prized carefully past the plastic tabs on the side of the front
>cover.
>
>That's pretty much it. Re-assembly is, unsurprisingly, the exact
>reverse.
>
>There are a couple of things to watch for. Firstly there are two tiny
>conductive green flexible 'tubes', similar to those found in some
>watches and calculators, that I think carry sound signals from the main
>board to the microphone and speaker. They're held in place fairly well
>by mouldings on the case but they can come loose if you're not careful.
>Make sure any replacement case has these intact, or transplant them from
>the case you're removing, or you may end up with no outgoing or incoming
>sound.
>
>Also, the power and camera shutter buttons 'float' in mouldings on the
>case and make contact with chassis switches beneath when the phone is
>assembled. These can drift out of alignment on re-assembly and cause
>stiff and/or non-operation of the buttons. Keep an eye on them as you
>put it back together. Other buttons may have similar issues, but these
>are the only two I've seen problems with.
>
>Finally, because hinge on the rubber cover for the memory card slot
>engages with the internal workings rather than the case, this will need
>to be pulled out before disassembly and it (or a replacement) pushed
>back when you're done. Pulling this out is really scary; it stretches a
>bit and feels as though it's going to snap rather than disengage. But it
>will eventually pop out.
>
>While you've got the thing apart it might also be worth removing the
>joystick nubbin and associated buttons (carefully, or the protective
>membrane can rip) and giving the switch beneath a good blast with switch
>cleaner, isopropyl alcohol, an air duster or a combination of all three.
>The joystick isn't a bad design but even so crap tends to migrate and
>gather under there and can make the switch operation intermittent. It's
>particularly annoying during the Tennis game The reason I know how to
>take these phones apart is because I've had to clean mine three times.
>
>Try to do all this in as dust-free an environment as possible. Sometimes
>you can't see specs of dust on the display and/or case window until it's
>all back together and the backlight comes on, at which point they stick
>out like sore thumbs and annoy the hell out of you.
>
>Good luck.

On Sun, 22 Jun 2008 hamsatuk wrote:

>switching it on and off. On reexamination there appears to be two
>metal tags which I assume the button when pushed down causes something
>to touch these two contacts to create a circuit which then turns the
>phone on. As I have stated I do not have this part and it was not
>included in my new pack, also there has not been a mention in all of
>the instructions on disassembly and re-assembly that I have read on
>the internet.

That sounds a bit worrying. The physical on-off button on the K800i is
nothing more than a disc of plastic floating in a rubber membrane held
in place by the front of the casing. The actual on-off switch is
immediately below this, on one of the PCBs forming the core of the
phone. With just the upper-rear casing removed it's possible to push the
rubber-and-plastic on-off button away from the body and get to this
switch directly. It's a tiny black thing, probably less than 1mm wide,
and you can press it in with a watchmaker's screwdriver or similar if
you want to test the phone before re-assembly.

It sounds to me as though on of two things has happened. Either you've
mistaken the switch housing for a couple of metal contacts (there are
exposed metal pieces either side of the black switch itself) in which
case have a closer look and you should be able to see the switch in
between these two 'contacts'. If this is the case then your problem may
be as simple as a 'sticky' button that's not reaching the switch
properly. This is quite common and often needs nothing more than a
disassembly/re-assembly to loosen it.

The other alternative is that the switch itself has broken away from the
PCB and you are literally looking at two surface-mount contacts where
the switch body should be. If that's the case then you're going to need
someone with very good electronics skills to Jerry-rig some sort of
switch assembly under that button, unless you can find a dead k800i from
which to salvage the switch. Either way you're looking at a very fine
soldering exercise.

Take a look at http://www.denali.org.uk/sek800i/eric.jpg and you'll see
the arrangement I'm talking about. If yours looks similar then you
should be OK and it's just a matter of aligning the outer button with
the inner switch. If not, good luck in finding a replacement

--
Kev
__________________________________________________ ________________________
"Man fatally slain."
Newspaper headline

On Sun, 22 Jun 2008 17:10:40 +0100, Kevin Reilly
<usenet@denali.org.uk> wrote:

>On Sun, 22 Jun 2008 hamsatuk wrote:
>
>>switching it on and off. On reexamination there appears to be two
>>metal tags which I assume the button when pushed down causes something
>>to touch these two contacts to create a circuit which then turns the
>>phone on. As I have stated I do not have this part and it was not
>>included in my new pack, also there has not been a mention in all of
>>the instructions on disassembly and re-assembly that I have read on
>>the internet.
>
>That sounds a bit worrying. The physical on-off button on the K800i is
>nothing more than a disc of plastic floating in a rubber membrane held
>in place by the front of the casing. The actual on-off switch is
>immediately below this, on one of the PCBs forming the core of the
>phone. With just the upper-rear casing removed it's possible to push the
>rubber-and-plastic on-off button away from the body and get to this
>switch directly. It's a tiny black thing, probably less than 1mm wide,
>and you can press it in with a watchmaker's screwdriver or similar if
>you want to test the phone before re-assembly.
>
>It sounds to me as though on of two things has happened. Either you've
>mistaken the switch housing for a couple of metal contacts (there are
>exposed metal pieces either side of the black switch itself) in which
>case have a closer look and you should be able to see the switch in
>between these two 'contacts'. If this is the case then your problem may
>be as simple as a 'sticky' button that's not reaching the switch
>properly. This is quite common and often needs nothing more than a
>disassembly/re-assembly to loosen it.
>
>The other alternative is that the switch itself has broken away from the
>PCB and you are literally looking at two surface-mount contacts where
>the switch body should be. If that's the case then you're going to need
>someone with very good electronics skills to Jerry-rig some sort of
>switch assembly under that button, unless you can find a dead k800i from
>which to salvage the switch. Either way you're looking at a very fine
>soldering exercise.
>
>Take a look at http://www.denali.org.uk/sek800i/eric.jpg and you'll see
>the arrangement I'm talking about. If yours looks similar then you
>should be OK and it's just a matter of aligning the outer button with
>the inner switch. If not, good luck in finding a replacement

Hi I have put on a new case and key pad and was able to get a new
switch on ebay which after some very careful soldering was able to
fit, so now the phone looks brand new and so far works!!!!!
Thanks for your help and advice.
Tony

On Mon, 14 Jul 2008 hamsatuk wrote:

>Hi I have put on a new case and key pad and was able to get a new
>switch on ebay which after some very careful soldering was able to
>fit, so now the phone looks brand new and so far works!!!!!

Wow, that's impressive! I consider myself reasonably competent with a
soldering iron and I've done some fairly fiddly repairs to mobile
phones, PDAs, laptops etc. but I'm not certain I'd have met with success
trying that one. I destroyed a T68i a few years back trying to remove
and repair the volume control and that was of a similar size. Kudos on
the soldering job, and I'm glad the info helped you end up with a
working phone.

--
Kev
__________________________________________________ ________________________
"This taught me a lesson, but I'm not sure what it is."
John McEnroe