Hard glue/Cracking screen

[Wes Richards]

I have been replacing backlight strips for years now with no problems. Just this month however I have broken 2 screens trying to remove the glue which bonds to the bezel on TCL TVs. I have tried the hair dryer trick and heating up an xacto knife, neither of which worked successfully. Do you have any suggestions? Some techs say use Acitone. Wouldn't that damage the screen? Please help.

[handsworth]

Re: Hard glue/Cracking screen

I used to have this problem but someone else here posted a solution that I really liked. Use a feeler gauge. I like the .20 -.25mm. blades. Its strong enough the slice the adhesive but flexible enough to go over the humps in the bezel.

[Wes Richards]

Re: Hard glue/Cracking screen

That's great! I will try that next time. Should I heat up the feeler gauge? I believe that's where I got in trouble the most by using too much heat. Perhaps I should just warm it it up under hot water?

[alfatv]

Re: Hard glue/Cracking screen

Can you try to remove bezel together with screen without separating them? You can practice on those screens you broke already.

[handsworth]

Re: Hard glue/Cracking screen

That's great! I will try that next time. Should I heat up the feeler gauge? I believe that's where I got in trouble the most by using too much heat. Perhaps I should just warm it it up under hot water?

I dont heat it. I dont think warm water would hurt tho. Just go slow.

[Wes Richards]

Re: Hard glue/Cracking screen

Can you try to remove bezel together with screen without separating them? You can practice on those screens you broke already.

I'm sorry. I have been calling the plastic frame pieces glued to the underside of the screen the bezel. These pieces are clipped into the body structure and cannot be removed with the screen attached as too much flexing would be involved which would cause damage to the screen. I will try that however if all else fails. Thanks.

[SLK001]

Re: Hard glue/Cracking screen

Is it really actual glue, or just a thick double sided tape product? Sony uses a double sided tape to attach the panel to the panel mounting bezel which has to be removed before the panel is free to lift off.

You've got me wondering if the panel AND the mounting bezel can be removed together. Possibly so, but how would you put them back together by yourself? Three people, maybe... by yourself - not so easy.

[Wes Richards]

Re: Hard glue/Cracking screen

Yes, it is a double sided tape. However, I believe additional glue or silicon is added in certain spots which is impossible to sever. It's almost like epoxy.
I guess it would be possible to lift off the screen with plastic bezel landing strips still attached, but you would have to break all the clips off the strips first. Then you would have to make some kind of a jig to rest the screen down onto because the extra height of the strips would put stress on the panel edges when laid on flat surface.

[RDC55]

Re: Hard glue/Cracking screen

I just did a Vizio 55un-E1 and an Insignia Model: NS-55DR710NA17 and I had to leave the top and side panel support bezels attached to the panel as I was afraid to pry to hard with shim material. I set the panel on some thick cardboard (I think it's an artist painting protector) that is about a 1/2 inch thick and a bit smaller than the screen. Note it did take a couple of tries when lifting the screen to get all three bezels resting just right so they did not snag when lifting the panel, a helper here would be nice.

To reinstall I made up a couple of long thin pieces of cardboard that were wrapped with painters tape to thicken it and spaced them equally from the center on top of the diffuser sheet. I then set the screen on and could adjust the edges so the panel support bezels would drop down in alignment. I then pulled out the thin pieces of cardboard and snapped the panel bezels in place.

That might actually be overkill but I get the paranoia when handling the panel, but they seem to handle a little flexing OK. Just for fun check out Bigdog's repair at 28:30 mark:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gVlMY7p7xuk

And not to criticize him because he does a lot of videos that are very helpful.

You can also add both the Insignia and Vizio bonded the panel boards to the frame with some god awful double-sided sticky squares that required a lot of time to carefully pry the boards loose - Bigdog shows those at 25:30.

[SLK001]

Re: Hard glue/Cracking screen

Yes, it is a double sided tape. However, I believe additional glue or silicon is added in certain spots which is impossible to sever. It's almost like epoxy.
I guess it would be possible to lift off the screen with plastic bezel landing strips still attached, but you would have to break all the clips off the strips first. Then you would have to make some kind of a jig to rest the screen down onto because the extra height of the strips would put stress on the panel edges when laid on flat surface.

Why do you have to break all the clips off? You can usually unlatch them and stick a piece of heavy paper under them to prevent them from snapping back in place. Once all the clips are unsnapped, lift off the panel. I don't lay panels flat, but stand them on their edges against a wall, so having the bezel on them isn't a problem.