HTC Thunderbolt – Disassembling procedure – How to remove the case – How to replace the mother board
Insert
the plastic opening tool into the top of the Thunderbolt near the power button.
Gently pry up on the rear panel around the edges until it is loose.
Lift
and remove the rear panel.
Using
the plastic opening tool, lift up the battery from the bottom near the
kickstand. Remove the battery from the inner frame.
Use
your finger to push the MicroSD card in towards the top of the phone, allowing
it to be released from the casing.
Use
tweezers to grab onto the MicroSD card and carefully remove it from the casing.
Remove the six Phillips screws from the perimeter of the rear frame. By
removing the screw with the "void" sticker on it, your Thunderbolt
will no longer be covered under warranty.
Insert
the plastic opening tool into the bottom of the phone underneath the soft keys.
Gently pry up on the plastic cover by sliding the plastic opening tool across
the bottom of the phone. Remove the plastic cover. The plastic cover will have
adhesive on it making it difficult to remove.
Remove
the two Phillips screws where the plastic cover was.
Insert
the plastic opening tool in between the screen and the frame on the side of the
phone. Slowly slide the the plastic opening tool along the side of the phone
until the screen begins to separate from the frame. Do the same for the
opposite side of the phone.
Carefully
separate the screen and phone from the rear frame, starting from the bottom.
Gently pull down on the phone and screen to fully separate it from the rear
frame.
Using
the tip of an plastic opening tool flip up the tab holding the capacitive
button ribbon cable. Be careful opening these tabs as they are very easy to
break. Use a pair of tweezers to pull the capacitive button cable out of its
socket.
Lifting
from the side where the ribbon was disconnected, flip over the motherboard.
Remove the black tape covering the tabs connecting the motherboard and LCD.
Using
the plastic opening tool pop up the two tabs connecting the LCD and
motherboard.
Once
the tabs have been popped up, slowly pull the two pieces away from each other.
If there is resistance pulling apart the phone then a ribbon or tab has not
been disconnected properly/completely.
The
motherboard should now be completely disconnected