Chosen Solution
Hello, A friend of mine dropped his phone and smashed the front and back of his iPhone 8 Plus. I thought I would give repairing it a try but I bumped the table and lost track of the screws. After 5 hours or so of carefully matching the screws, I thought I had done a pretty good job. Then I put the phone back together and I tried to turn it on. I saw the apple logo briefly and then the screen went off. I then tried to charge it but nothing happened. It doesn’t even appear to be pulling any power from the wall. Have I messed this up beyond repair? Thanks
It’s hard to say at this point whether it’s beyond redemption or not, but misplacing screws in an iPhone can definitely go bad. The main thing that happens is when a screw that’s too long gets placed somewhere over a circuit board and ends up drilling into the board, damaging traces on it. Even if it doesn’t break the trace, it can make contact with it and short it out. I realize there’s no specific rear case guide for the 8 Plus, but virtually all of the guides put out by iFixit list the size of each screw that’s called out. You’ll need a pair of calipers to measure them, though. At this point I’d probably have to resign myself to taking it back apart. Check the circuit board or flex cable underneath any place where a screw goes for damage with a magnifying glass, and as you’re putting it back together, measure the screw you’re about to place against what’s listed in the guide to make sure you’ve got the right one. Don’t worry too much if it’s off by like 0.1 mm, but you definitely don’t want to put a 2.1 mm screw in a 1.2 mm hole.
