Anyone had a touchscreen crack other than due to droping

[faxon]

So my iphone was really low on battery after i got it nice and toasty hot talking for a long time while downloading updates for apps on it over wifi. i decide to put it down on my (cold) desk after finishing my call and updates, by now the handset is hot enough to instantly make my face break out in a sweat when against my cheek. i wipe off the screen with a microfiber cloth and put it down on my desk to cool off for a bit, then as it's cooling i get an onslaught of facebook updates, and while my phone is vibrating away the screen spiderwebs out from near the top right corner so rapidly that a few small fragments of the glass actually popped out right next to the earpiece. this handset was not dropped, beaten, slammed, sat on, or otherwise pressured in any way other than heat/cold cycling and vibrations, and it's managed to crack worse than two of my friends phones, both of which were dropped, one of which was then immediately kicked thereafter as it fell right next to said friend's foot. it's so bad that i can see the top of the circuit board underneath the top of the phone, and i cut myself using it twice. what do you think apple is going to say if i bring the handset in to them? it's a 3GS bought in august 09 so i doubt it has warranty, im more interested to hear if anyone's ever even seen this happen.

 

[ussfletcher]

At my summer job (construction) I was loading materials into a pickup and broke my Samsung Omnia in my front jeans pocket. Which is odd because it had been dropped in some of the most horrendous ways before that and survived.

 

[faxon]

yea this phone's been "thudded" a few times, that is it's fallen on softer surfaces like wood (in an insulating case) and what not, but never with enough force to so much as crack the plastic on the outside or ding it up even, and it's never fallen straight on the glass or anything either. anyway, i thankfully found my step dad's 3G so at least im not without a phone till i can fix/upgrade, but if i have to wait till the 5 comes out with a 3G its going to be painful

 

[pm]

This is similar to what happens to windshields on cars - you get a chip or small crack and then during summer heat or winter cold that crack spreads out. So while I'm sure that you don't think that you damaged it, I would bet money (not lots of money, mind you, but at least a bit) that there was some damage in that corner already and the temperature gradient caused the crack to spread.

You can fix the screen on a 3GS for less than $20 (or even less than $10), it's not as bad as you might think - the hard part is getting the glass to come out (I use a guitar pick and a suction cup and a quick tug) and then just being slow, methodical, and very careful. It's more a matter of patience and there's no technical skill involved... just being careful. There's a bunch of videos on YouTube. I've replaced the glass on a 3GS and replaced the battery on a different one and I had no experience... just watched the videos on YouTube and found a nice brightly lit section of the kitchen table and took my time.

 

[Pliablemoose]

Check craigslist, there's usually a handful of folks that do iPhone repairs inexpensively if you don't want to give it a shot yourself...

 

[Bryf50]

I had an older samsung windows mobile smartphone. One day I brought it into the bathroom while I was taking a shower and when I got out the lcd screen itself was cracked. I never really understood that one but i guess it was due to the moisture.

 

[hanoverphist]

This is similar to what happens to windshields on cars - you get a chip or small crack and then during summer heat or winter cold that crack spreads out. So while I'm sure that you don't think that you damaged it, I would bet money (not lots of money, mind you, but at least a bit) that there was some damage in that corner already and the temperature gradient caused the crack to spread.

You can fix the screen on a 3GS for less than $20 (or even less than $10), it's not as bad as you might think - the hard part is getting the glass to come out (I use a guitar pick and a suction cup and a quick tug) and then just being slow, methodical, and very careful. It's more a matter of patience and there's no technical skill involved... just being careful. There's a bunch of videos on YouTube. I've replaced the glass on a 3GS and replaced the battery on a different one and I had no experience... just watched the videos on YouTube and found a nice brightly lit section of the kitchen table and took my time.

ive done it a few times now, on my bros 3gs as well as 3 different times on itouches. make sure you take care with the ribbon, that sucker is held together with yogurt i think. a couple tugs and youll be trying to figure out how to reinsert it into the harness. isnt really that hard either, but its a pain.

I had an older samsung windows mobile smartphone. One day I brought it into the bathroom while I was taking a shower and when I got out the lcd screen itself was cracked. I never really understood that one but i guess it was due to the moisture.

probably due to the temp change rather than moisture. i had a samsung omnia winmo phone for a couple years, i work in the water/ wastewater industry and have burned 2 phones from the humidity and heat involved. never cracked a screen tho, even when i dropped it off the top of a 8 ft tall hydrotank. it did mush up a corner, but the screen held up. somehow i doubt my droidX will fare as well in the same situation hehe.

 

[thescreensavers]

This happened with the Original Sidekick B/W, and like T-mobile said back then, ATT/Apple will just lol in your face as "its impossible to crack your screen like that" blah blah