The truth about iPhone 3G digitizer adhesive kits!

Hello all- I needed to post this blog to clarify a few items about our iPhone 3G adhesive kits. Let me explain. . .

We provide adhesive kits with our iPhone 3G digitizer replacement panels. It’s nothing new. Here’s a peek at our kits: Mission Repair’s Adhesive Kits!

Well, recently we were greeted with an email from overseas. Here’s a screenshot:

Yeah, nice pics on there. They are nice because they are ours! OK, no biggie, I’ll watermark my pics from now on. I apologize for the inconvenience of the watermarks, I know that they are a hassle, but we need to keep this straight here! The REAL reason that I’m writing this is that we ordered some sets of these “overseas” adhesives. Check out our findings below!

Here’s a shot of the overseas adhesives vs. Mission Repair adhesives (Mission Repair adhesives are on the right). The overseas adhesives come on separate sheets. I’m going to jump to the disassembled iPhone frame from an iPhone to speed up the blog a little bit. . .

The overseas adhesives are marked with product number 3M 300LSE. A quick Google search for this will prove that the type of material seems suitable for this application. We tried this material in the beginning as well 😉

Now for the differences. The overseas adhesives come on two separate sheets, and they are rotary die cut. Our adhesive kits are laser cut. The rotary die cut allows for a pretty good cut, but not nearly as precise as the laser cutting. The other main difference is that the overseas adhesives have all of the unused backing still attached. This means that you’ll need to remove it later and NOT damage the “usable” portion of your kit. See more of this later.

We then installed the overseas kit into an iPhone and installed a glass/digitizer. Our first try, right out of the chute, the backing came off with the adhesive. We tried both sides and the paper backing just split and stayed attached to the adhesive. Not good. This one went into the trash. Moving forward, we made sure to separate the adhesive from the backing slightly with a sharp utility knife to get it started.

We removed the “second-chance” adhesive strip and installed it on the bottom of the iPhone frame. We then installed the top adhesive onto the frame like so:

So far so good. At the same time, we installed Mission Repair’s adhesive strips onto another iPhone frame and here they are side-by-side.

We then needed to carefully remove the “UNUSED” portion of the overseas kit. We did this with a sharp utility knife. We repeatedly kept pulling up on the adhesive strip that we wanted to leave on the iPhone, so it took some steady hands and patience as to not ruin the “USED” portion of the adhesive kit.

We then needed to remove the second liner protecting the top of the adhesive. This was difficult. We slid the same sharp utility knife between the liner and the “stuck” adhesive. It took a little time to get. The Mission Repair adhesive kit has pull-tabs to remove the top liner. Just pull and go! NOTE: The pull tabs DO NOT have adhesive on them. No sticky fingers!

Use a knife to remove overseas liner! Watch that home button.

Just peel the Mission Repair liner off with the pull tab!

Once the liner is removed, it’s then time to install the new Digitizer and Glass Assembly. However. . .

We definitely noted that the overseas adhesives DID NOT HAVE THE SAME STRENGTH AS THE MISSION REPAIR ADHESIVES. In fact, it easily popped back off. Maybe with time and a little heat, some extra pressure, or some luck, the new digitizer would remain in place over time.

Well, we supply our Mission Repair adhesive kits to MANY dealers around the country, and we have confirmed that some of the same dealers have tried the overseas version. Those same dealers have converted BACK to the Mission Repair Adhesive kit. They are reporting that iPhones are coming back to them for warranty repairs due to the adhesives not holding the new glass in place. The glass panels are popping back out. OUCH! This is NOT worth the hassle, and that is what this is all about.

To summarize my rant: you can get adhesives elsewhere. You CAN install them into your iPhone. You are running the risk of ruining several sets of overseas adhesives and/or having your digitizer pop off or not sit flush. Folks don’t chance it, our adhesives are proven and work great.

Buy Mission Repair’s iPhone 3G Glass + Digitizer + Adhesive Kit Here!

Want JUST the adhesive? No problem, they are sold at eTech Parts here!

Best, Ryan