GSM WORLD

>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.

>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 its
>safer. These phones are fairly simple to dismantle and reassemble if
>youre careful.
>
>Remove the battery cover to expose two screws at the bottom of the main
>board. Dont 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.
>
>Thats 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. Theyre held in place fairly well
>by mouldings on the case but they can come loose if youre not careful.
>Make sure any replacement case has these intact, or transplant them from
>the case youre 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 Ive 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 youre done. Pulling this out is really scary; it stretches a
>bit and feels as though its going to snap rather than disengage. But it
>will eventually pop out.
>
>While youve 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 isnt a bad design but even so crap tends to migrate and
>gather under there and can make the switch operation intermittent. Its
>particularly annoying during the Tennis game :) The reason I know how to
>take these phones apart is because Ive had to clean mine three times.
>
>Try to do all this in as dust-free an environment as possible. Sometimes
>you cant see specs of dust on the display and/or case window until its
>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 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 its
>safer. These phones are fairly simple to dismantle and reassemble if
>youre careful.
>
>Remove the battery cover to expose two screws at the bottom of the main
>board. Dont 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.
>
>Thats 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. Theyre held in place fairly well
>by mouldings on the case but they can come loose if youre not careful.
>Make sure any replacement case has these intact, or transplant them from
>the case youre 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 Ive 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 youre done. Pulling this out is really scary; it stretches a
>bit and feels as though its going to snap rather than disengage. But it
>will eventually pop out.
>
>While youve 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 isnt a bad design but even so crap tends to migrate and
>gather under there and can make the switch operation intermittent. Its
>particularly annoying during the Tennis game :) The reason I know how to
>take these phones apart is because Ive had to clean mine three times.
>
>Try to do all this in as dust-free an environment as possible. Sometimes
>you cant see specs of dust on the display and/or case window until its
>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.

>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.