fun things to do with a broken lcd screen made in china

Well, not only can you save a piece of old technology from the scrapheap, but you also can repurpose a mundane blank screen into a range of intriguing projects.

Not only can you now spend a rainy afternoon or two taking apart your busted LCD screen, you’ll get that insider’s view of all the interesting circuitry that goes into these electronic devices that are a part of everyday life.

If you are an artist or photographer, you will be well aware of the importance and expense of lighting. But what if we told you that you could make a powerful, portable DIY light panel from an old LCD screen?

This amazing LCD screen hack produces a high-quality panel light that radiates daylight quality light. An equivalent panel light can cost well over a hundred dollars!

We have to admit we were skeptical about this LCD screen project, but the walk-through provided by the BrunaLab team in Florida was convincing. These scientists were more than qualified to take apart an old Panasonic screen to make a StarTrek-worthy infinity table.

This tutorial is a little more than purchasing some IKEA table legs to screw into the screen to make a coffee table (the original hack). Emilio Bruna decided to take his project in a high art direction to produce an infinity lighting effect with blue LEDs.

Again with a little electronic know-how, wiring and battery-powered LED lights an infinity TV coffee table was born. The turnaround of this project was within a day which makes it doable on a weekend that you have free.

We love the futuristic results of the LCD recycling project and the low costs. Emilio Bruna’s project came in at $73 all in, with a wacky blue lighting pattern that kept his kids glued to the coffee table screen!

If you are a tech and electronics enthusiast, you will be aware of the Raspberry Pi revolution. These remarkable single-board computers have the processing power to be put to work in a wide range of projects, including partnering with your broken LCD screen to make your high-end digitized smart mirror!

There are loads of tutorials for this LCD screen mirror which vary in cost, complexity, and overall swagger. The majority of them, place the LCD screen behind a two-way mirror and rely on the WiFi-enabled Raspberry Pi3.

The basics of this build include combining an old OHP projector and laying a stripped-down LCD on the glass of the projector. The OHP does all the hard work of projecting your movie or game.

The like the old school OHPs the visual effect of this projector will be strongest in very low light as the claim to High Definition projection may be a little too enthusiastic.

Also, the LCD does age quite quickly in this arrangement as the light passing through the denuded screen damages the LCD. However, you can definitely gather the family round for a decent movie night or two before it all falls apart!

Raspberry Pi comes to the rescue again as the perfect partner for repurposing your own screen. After all the Raspberry Pi is a computer with no screen to call its own.

This hack is very similar to the smart mirror and uses the slightly more powerful Raspberry Pi 4 which has the comparable processing power to a regular computer.

This project totally blew us away. How cool is a transparent screen that you can see through while you stream films or play games?! Though this project is not for amateurs it is possible to requisition a discarded LCD TV and create a see-through screen.

To achieve this, you will need an expert takedown of the TV, sepearating every single layer of the screen and building up a custom design and housing.

A broken LCD screen is a potential hazard to your health and the environment so it is important that you handle the screen safely to prevent injury or harm.

Though the screen has liquid crystal, the amount contained within a busted screen is small and unlikely to cause a hazardous spill because it is viscous.

However, there are certain substances to be careful off including N-(4-Methoxybenzylidene)-4-butylaniline (MBBA), a compound that is often used as liquid crystal is hightly irritant and can cause blood poisoning if ingested.

It is best to wear gloves, goggles, and a dust mask when taking apart electronics as you cannot be sure what you will encounter. Be careful handling circuit boards as capacitors can have retained enough power to give you a nasty shock!

Breaking your beloved computer monitor is a tragic situation to find yourself in. While you may not be able to enjoy your PC like you used to, you don’t have to mourn the loss of your screen: you can upcycle it. But how can you turn a broken computer monitor into something new? Let’s take a look at some of the best projects from around the web to help you to achieve this goal.

While it doesn’t look like it, the pixel panel inside your monitor is semi-transparent. This makes it possible for the backlight to shine through it, in turn making it possible for images to be displayed on the screen. Of course, though, you can take advantage of the transparent nature of your broken monitor’s panel when it comes to turning it into something new.

Building your own transparent LCD screen, as in this Instructables guide, takes patience and a broken monitor with a working panel. That makes this king of project great for those with monitors that have broken speakers, backlights, or other components that aren"t needed for it.

This LCD computer side panel guide shows you how to create a transparent LCD side panel for a computer case, but there are loads of other ways to use a see-through monitor. You could attach your monitor to a fish tank, using the lights inside as the backlight (as long as it doesn’t upset the fish). Alternatively, you could also attach a monitor like this to the inside of a window to use natural light as the backlight.

LCD, LED, and other types of monitors contain semi-transparent sheets called diffusers. Diffusers spread the light created by backlights to make sure that it covers the display evenly, much like the diffuser panels used by photographers.

This project is ideal for those with monitors that don’t work at all. Diffusers don’t require a power source or working electronics, and this means that physical damage to the diffusers themselves is the only issue that will render them unusable.

Using monitor diffusers to create photography lighting is affordable and easy. You just need to get your hands on some LED strips to get started, and there are plenty of guides around the web to help you through the process. This type of lighting is perfect for photography, videography, and even live-streaming.

Smart mirrors have been the subject of much excitement around the web in recent years. Like something out of the pages of a sci-fi novel, smart mirrors offer a glimpse of the future, turning a usually boring household item into something more. You can use your smart mirror to check the weather, catch up on news, and even shop for your next outfit, all while staring your beautiful self in the face.

Like the first idea we covered, your old monitor needs to be in relatively good condition to work as a smart mirror. You can choose from mirrors small and large, as long as you are able to remove the backing of the mirror your choose and expose the clear glass it is made from.

Raspberry Pis are perfect for powering smart mirrors. These mini-computers are powerful enough to perform basic tasks, while also being affordable. You can check out some of the best LCD smart mirror projects around the web with our handy guide.

Wireless speakers are great, giving you the power to take music whenever you go. Of course, though, who wants to buy new speakers when they have an old or broken monitor with great speakers built-in? This video shows you how to turn your old monitor or TV speakers into a wireless Bluetooth speaker with a soldering iron, some batteries, and a Bluetooth module.

Building a DIY Bluetooth speaker is easier than it used to be, but there are still things to keep in mind. You need to have the right type of speaker connections available for this to work, and your finished device won’t have advanced features like waterproofing. With that aside, this project is fun and easy to take on for yourself.

Drawing, arts and crafts, and other types of DIY projects often benefit from a good light source. Artists have taken advantage of light tables for a very long time, providing a backlight for artwork that makes it much easier to see what you are doing. You don’t have to buy a specialized light table when you have a broken monitor available to you.

This Instructables guide shows you everything you need to do to create a light table with a broken monitor. The panel doesn’t have to work for this, but you need to make sure that the backlight is still functional. Light tables are great for a variety of artistic activities, from drawing and painting to playing with the kids.

If you finished school more than a decade ago, you probably remember old-fashioned overhead projectors. Having made way for modern digital projectors, old overheads are very cheap to buy online and can make a great DIY project for those with an old monitor.

Overhead projectors work by shining light through a semi-transparent sheet and reflecting it through a lens and set of mirrors. Anything on the sheet will appear on the wall the projector is pointing at. By turning your monitor into a transparent LCD, like in the first project we looked at, you can make a static overhead projector into something much more.

You need a dark room for this to work properly, and you will also need to buy a couple of parts online. Once you close the curtains and find some good speakers to use, though, you can create your own home cinema without spending much at all.

Recycling the broken tech in your home is one of the best ways to have a positive impact on the environment. With more than 60 million tons of e-waste being shipped across the world each year, it always makes sense to embrace DIY projects that reuse old gadgets. Your broken monitor is the perfect place to start, but you can apply this to other objects, too.

Okay, so after almost 2 years with my lovely OPO, I managed to break it"s screen. The creen itself works, it"s just not responding to touch in any part of the screen. Everything else works just fine. I already oredered OnePlus 3, but that"s gonna take some time to arrive in current situation as I live in Europe.

2) I order a new screen from some chinese website which I know doesn"t sell original screens because noone does, risk throwing away 35$ + 20% tax and attempt to repair my broken screen

What do you guys think? If I manage to pull off option #2, I would give the phone to my father. I would much rather go the route of option #1, because I don"t risk losing more money.

I need to replace my cracked digitizer/glass on my OnePlus One and it seems changing only the digitizer is kinda hard so next thing is to get the full LCD to replace.

It seems logical that lcd + frame is easier but it seems it requires to move components/motherboard around which for me seems more prone to mistakes and problems then just buying an LCD and putting it into my old frame.

I pushed down on it too hard (actually wasn"t hard at all, to be honest). Anyway, next time I turned it on there was a huge blob of dead pixels in and above that spot. It"s taken a few months, but the size of the blob has significantly reduced in size and continues to fade.

If you press a bit more than a little, but not too much, some of the warmed crystal can squeeze out. Both time and varying electric current twisting the crystal might cause it to return to it"s correct location - not something you would want to test on a new screen.

"The characteristic of liquid crystals that makes them ideal to be used in display screens is that they align themselves when an external electric field is applied to them. To be more technically specific, these liquid crystals are sandwiched between two pieces of polarized glass ...".

"To create a liquid crystal cell, twisted nematic liquid crystal is filled between two crossed polarizers1, and a backlight is sent through. The important thing about liquid crystals is that the specific rotation is easy to control by varying the potential difference (more potential difference leads to more anisotropic disorder).

What happens when you press on them? You change the concentration/length of the liquid crystal, as well as making it bulge out slightly2.. This changes the optical rotation it induces, causing the amount of light that comes out to change (as the amount of light is dependant on how aligned the rotated light is with the second polarizer) ...".

"The persistence is because liquid crystals are viscous — they have to be, as they consist of long molecules. They seem to align quickly to potential differences (potential differences align the molecules without moving the liquid), but when we add pressure (where the liquid itself distorts) I think it takes some time to bounce back. The ripples move due to this same persistence.".

"... several people have had good luck simply applying a small amount of pressure to the affected pixel with your finger or a pen through a folded paper towel or piece of cloth (to keep said pen from scratching the screen). While applying pressure, turn the screen on and off several times.".

We are also a family owned and operated business out of Boca Raton, FL, and our business is refurbishing large volumes of salvageable combos (Cracked Glass Good LCD) such as the ones that you buy. We can give you a credit for each combo that we refurbish based on the units that you provide for us to work on. We have a very transparent process and would like the opportunity to serve you. We have the capacity to handle large volumes and would very much like to get in touch with you to discuss our capabilities and show you how we could improve the margins in your buyback business and possibly reduce your need for working capital. Please reply if interested so that we can set up a time to talk. I assure you that it will be a good use of your time.

I just made a beautiful porcelain tray with a red decal fired at cone 04 so its not vitrified. It came out of the kiln with two hairline cracks. I saw this cure of hot milk that saved so many potters pots. would this work on a piece that isnt vitrified

I put a plate (that was broken in three separate pieces and scotch taped back together) in a large container and submerged it in milk. Then placed it in the refrigerator for three days and pulled out one perfect plate. I never thought this would work, but tried it after my

Hi! Really hoping this might save a plate that has a long but very thin crack – what type of milk did you use? Was it full fat, semi skimmed or low fat? Thanks ?

Seriously this is too hard. Take the broken piece and open the can of evaporated or condensed milk (either one) used you finger and put milk on the break and set the piece and leave it alone for the night. This is what country people did way back. The sugars in the milk work as cement. Just fixed a stoneware bowl yesterday.

I can see where it might fill the crack, but only cosmetically. You just end up with a crack with dried up milk casein in it. Maybe OK for display, but hardly hygienic.

Sorry to say you’re incorrect. My grandmother, and my mother used hot evaporated milk to make these repairs…those pieces are still in existence, have been used for over 50 years… Sooooo

Hi, last summer I read a lot about Iron Age pots in my region (Holland). Cooking milk in pots was a way to make them more waterproof. I didn"t do it with my replica"s though.

In Japan I was told to boil cracked or under fired pots in a pot of boiling water with half a cup of glutenous rice for an hour. That worked too. The vegan solution!

I tried it with my mom’s antique China. We broke one cup. Held it together with electrical tape. When it sat in the cold milk the cracks disappeared but there was no strength to the bond. Trying the warm method now, but don’t have any hope lol

Did it. Covered the entire mug in a pot of milk. Heated to a slow simmer for an hour. Let it cool and filled with water. No leak. Used for many cups of coffee since. It sealed the leak. The crack was three inches long.

My grandmother told me about this when I was first married and she gave me some of her antique dishes. I’ve been married 46 years so it was a long-long time ago.

I broke a heavy crockery piece that was part of a salad and appetizer serving set – you know one of those were each weirdly shaped piece fits into the whole. Naturally I was pretty bummed that there would be a huge piece missing, I did the milk repair – pouring boiling milk onto the piece that was held together with rubber bands, Let it sit for 48 hours. I’m still using that piece all the time, particularly around the holidays. I can’t actually tell which piece it was, It’s been through the dishwasher several times. So while putting the set away tonight, one of the oddly shaped pieces slid out of the cabinet onto the tile floor. Only about a 6″ drop – but the piece broke in half. I’m headed to the store now for a half gallon of milk to submerge this big piece. I expect it to be serviceable for a long time to come.

It does work!!!! About 20 years ago my ceramic fondue pot handle (from the 70s) broke off. My husband had bought the fondue pot for me at a yard sale in the 80s so there was nostalgia involved in this situation. I had heard of the boiled milk trick so I tried it. It worked!!!!!!!!!!!! ??

Generally, if the dish is in pieces, I’ll glue it together with a very very small amount of glue (Elmer’s Craft Bond Ceramic & Glass Cement or something else of the sort. Just make sure it’s not gonna leak toxic fumes into your food) to the edges and tape it together.

watched my son do this over last two days with a ceramic biscuit jar, the hairline crack was about 80% down one side & the jar/crack could flex slightly, he boiled for an hour, let it cool overnight & now the crack doesn`t flex, still there, not sure I`d trust it with a plate, but it does work.

Did this with three special mugs that had sentimental value and had hairline fractures that were letting all the liquid run out. One of them required a second treatment because it wasn’t fully submerged, and I must have missed a little of it, but since then all of them have been holding liquid without any seepage – that was over a month ago. Inspired by that success, I bought 2 gallons of cheap whole milk at Costco and submerged a size 9 Bauer mixing bowl in it last night. The bowl had been cracked years ago, and I’d been unable to find a replacement, so I’ve been using it for bread dough projects only.. After an hour in the hot milk, and another couple hours cooling back down to room temp, the bowl now holds liquid again. To be clear, the line of the crack still shows on each item – but it holds liquid without seeping.

I had a roaster [not china or ceramic] but with a pin hole in the bottom. I called E600 company to see if I used it to fix the hole would it be safe for food. They said yes. I`m still using it..Tea pot with hairline crack, going to try the milk solution on it .

I tried to fix bowl granddaughter made in pottery class, multiple cracks, with the boiling milk method. Pieces seem to stick together now, but the bottom of the bowl is stuck to the pan I cooked it in. Has anyone encountered this and is there a way I can get the bowl unstick?

A while back I was sitting around and wondering what to do with my dead laptop. I knew the mother board was fried but everything else was still in working condition. As a result, I decided to make an external monitor from my dead laptop and proceeded to do the research to find out if this was possible. Below is what I discovered. Unfortunately, there was no way to use the motherboard"s VGA connector. The VGA connector on a laptop is used to connect to an external monitor. In any case the VGA connector is output only and wouldn"t work for an external screen. As a result, I found that I needed to buy a controller board for the LCD screen, to make it work as an external monitor. This was the main cost but was still less than half the cost of buying an external monitor.

Disclaimer: Due note, I take no responsibility for your actions, implied or otherwise. I am not telling you to do anything, This instructable is informational.

Step one. Unplug the dead laptop from any power source AND remove the battery!. The laptop battery is located, usually, on the bottom and can be removed by sliding a release lever. These are lithium ion batteries and can hold a few Amps. The risk of shock might be minimal. However, there is no need to take the risk.

Step Two. To Remove the LCD screen from the laptop, you will need to remove the screws. There are rubber pads on the front of the LCD screen to protect it when the laptop lid is closed. Behind the rubber pads are the screws. Find and remove all the screws holding the front plastic frame on the laptop lid. Keep track of the pads and screws as you will need them to reassemble everything.

Step Three. Remove the plastic frame from the LCD screen. Here is where you need to be careful. The screws are not the only thing holding the plastic frame on the LCD screen! The plastic frame is snapped into place. Carefully pry loose the frame from the LCD screen. Pry it loose gently. Try to keep it as close as possible to the LCD panel while you are prying it loose because you may also find that you need to slide it to the left or right to completely remove it from the laptop. There is a small protrusion of the plastic frame where the hinge is. Because of this protrusion you need to slide the frame, in this case, to the right, to detach it from the laptop.

Step Four. Locate and remove the screws holding the LCD panel to the laptop. These are located on the bottom. The screws are attached to a small metal hinge. this is the component that is attached to the keyboard frame.

Next you will need to remove the LCD screen. Note that there is a cable attached. This is the LVDS cable. It is best to take apart the rest of the laptop and unplug it from the keyboard. However, the cable can be cut at the bottom. Take care not to cut the two wires going into the inverter (that"s the slim circuit board at the bottom.

Once the LCD panel is removed, you can remove the LVDS cable and unplug the inverter at the bottom. Unplug the inverter from both ends. Do not cut it. The LVDS cable is taped to the back of the LCD screen at the top. It is the flat cable running up the back. Remove the tape and slid the cable down. Since you need to buy an LCD controller board, you will no longer need the LVDS cable the laptop came with or the inverter. At this point you should just have an LCD screen with a pair of wires coming out of it.

Keep track of the plastic front frame and the plastic backing. You will need them to resemble the LCD screen. On the other hand, you have different fingers, just kidding. On the other hand, you can buy a picture frame and put the LCD screen in the picture frame.

Here is a picture of the LVDS cable and the inverter detached from the LCD screen. Since we will be buying an LCD control board these cables will not be needed again.

Next, once you have removed the LCD panel. Flip it over and look for a model number on the back. You will need this model number to order the correct LCD controller board. I went to E-Bay and found one for $42.00. I bought the LCD controller board and then received an email from the seller requesting the model number of the LCD screen and manufacturer. This is because each controller board is flashed, (programed to run a specific LCD) I gave him my model number, LP171WX2 A4K1 and told him it was made by LG Phillips. Since the board was coming from China, I received my order about 2 weeks later. Due note to buy one with a power cord! The LCD controller board has the VGA input connection which allows you to connect it to another computer and use it as a second monitor or as a back up in the event the one on your working computer goes out.

The LCD controller board is real easy to connect. It comes with all the required cables, except a VGA cable which you will need, in order to connect your LCD to another computer. You can buy a VGA cable from Best Buy or a computer parts store.

The LCD control Bard comes with all the cables except the VGA cable which you will have to buy. Once you have received your kit, proceed to connect it to the LCD screen. Plug the LVDS cable into the LCD panel where you removed the original from. The two wires at the bottom of the LCD screen that were connected to the inverter need to be unplugged from the old inverter and plugged into the new inverter below. Then, plug the power in. Make sure that the LCD control board is not sitting on anything conductive, like metal or it will short and fry. Next connect the VGA cable to the LCD control board and plug the other end of the VGA cable to another computer. Make sure the computer is on before you plug in the VGA cable. At this point you should have the same image that is on the computer you plugged the VGA cable into, on the LCD panel.

Next, I attached a 4 inch section of two by four on the outside back of the laptop lid. I needed this in order to attach my stand to the LCD screen. I used 5 screws and screwed them in place from the inside. I did splice and extend the cables going from the LCD controller to the inverter it came with just to have a little more room.

Originally, I built a nice wooden stand for my LCD panel but was not satisfied with it. So, I took a broken florescent desk lamp and dremeled off the section holding the florescent tubes, leaving enough metal to screw on to the two by four on the laptop lid. Before attaching the stand, I drilled four holes in the metal to make it easier to screw it on the two by four.

Next you will need to attach the LCD controller to the laptop lid. To do this, screw in a few sections of wood from the inside of the lid. Then on the outside of the lid attach the LCD control board. Place the wood in an area where the control board can reach.

Next you will need to find all those screws you have been saving and reassemble the LCD screen. I also added some surgical tubing to the top springs for added strength.

By the way a store bought swing arm half the size of this one, I found, cost around $400.00. If you choose to use a swing arm like this one, go with the one that has a magnifier on it and dremel off the magnifier leaving enough metal to attach to your LCD lid. You need one of this caliber to hold the LCD screen. Swing arms with the light attached are not strong enough.

By the way, I did remove the web cam from the laptop lid, wired it to a USB cable, and turned it into and external peripheral. I wired the two microphones that I found next to the web cam and  turned them into external peripherals. I dremeled the batteries open and wired them into a 3 million candle power flashlight made from spare parts I had. I have a lithium ion battery charger, so it worked great.

Since I was asked about the web cam, I though Should add it to the instructable. There is a nice instructable here at this site showing how to convert a web cam from an LCD screen: http://rntmns.com/2011/02/rebirth-of-a-webcam/

The web cam is now wired for plug and play. However, it only works on another computer running Windows Vista. There are no drivers for windows 7, yet. Since I don"t have Windows XP, I don"t know if it would work on it. Once you have wired it, open Skype on Vista and click on change profile pic. It will show two web cams in the drop down menu. If your web cam starts getting hot then you have revered the power cables.

Mine works great on my Vista laptop. If you want to use it for checking plumbing pipes, I suppose you can put a small prism on the web cam aperture so you can insert the web cam in a pipe and view images directly ahead--this would be good for archaeology where you need to investigate tight spaces.

I"m so glad I found this... I have a nearly identical HP laptop that you used and recently noticed that it was overheating and too much work to fix up, but the big beautiful display works great and I was sadly thinking I"d be better off selling it rather than dissecting the entire thing to fix its overheating issue.

Actually, you can do One better. You can salvage the RAM, the Wireless card, the Batteries, the charger, the hard drive, the DVD disk player and sell them to people that need them on E-bay and Still keep the LCD screen for yourself.

Genius! As an honorary "Red neck" (U.K. chapter, it"s a good thing, honest) I"m putting your application in the post. You have given me the three screens I need for my simpit plus a lot of peripherals that I hadn"t even considered. Thanks.0

Very nice instructable. This instructable is the answer to a question that comes up about once a week in instructables questions and will get referred to often.0

The LVDS cable of the controller board is too short for the way I need it to be, does anyone know if there is an easy or inexpensive way to extend its lenght? (with LVDS cable I mean the 20/30 pin cable that is the main data cable for the display and goes to [in my case] 20 pin on the big board of the controller board)

Thanks for this instructable. I recently came upon some discarded laptops with either had bad screens or nonfunctioning everything else. I may be able to mix and match to get a usable machine out of the pile of junk!0

I checked ebay for the LCD control Board and all I did was punch in " LCD control Board for a LP154W01(A3)" , That"s my model number. You, of course, use your"s. ebay came up with the correct one for $25.00 and it has all the imputs you could want. This is good today, 2/11/19. Have fun folks!

i have a similar lcd panel to yours. infact 3 of them! they"re so easy to work with and doesn"t need a backlight controller LP154WH4 TLA1 except the lvds cable sold separately. I"ve build one and runs on

This would be great for the Flight Sim I am building, Problem is e-qstore can"t speak English. I bought 2 18.4 monitors after I ordered the controller, then they email me 2 days laster telling me they can"t make this control board. Been trying to find another board that will work with another monitor only to get "Sorry Sorry" and other things I can"t even make sense of.

Nicely done and very informative!! However unfortunately, by the time you add the cost of the LCD Controller card, various parts and time you could have bought a new inexpensive monitor.

it really depends on what kind of display your laptop came with. I recently had a laptop that featured a 4k OLED screen and If I add the price up of the controller kit and materials (depending how you are going to make the stand) it would actually in my case be cheaper to make that an external monitor because, quite frankly 4k is pretty expensive and I don"t want to degrade to a lower resolution. in said laptop the motherboard died so I just scavenged everything including the LCD which I have just lying on my desk. so I might even consider trying this.0

A roof replacement will benefit you for the long-term, protecting your home for years to come and raising your home’s value. When you choose a responsible roofing company, they’ll do almost all of the work, from prepping your old roof for removal to cleaning up after the job is done. However, there are a few things you can do to make your roof replacement go even more smoothly. Minor things like cutting the grass, taking down your mirrors and bringing the children to Grandma’s house can make a big difference.

Find out exactly what you should expect for the big day. We’ll walk you through preparing for a roof replacement in four steps: preparing your yard, preparing your home, preparing your children or pets and what to do after your roof replacement is finished.

Roofers will be walking in your yard while they work. Plus, old shingles, nails and other debris will fall off the roof as the roofing team removes your old roof. They’ll park a dumpster in your driveway, and work from the opposite corner of the roof towards the dumpster. That way, they get as much of it as possible in the dumpster.

They should lay down tarps to help collect debris. Plus, they should use magnets, metal detectors or other equipment to find nails, but the only way to find shingle scraps is by visual inspection. So, you need to prepare your yard to deal with falling debris.  Here’s what you’ll need to do:

Clear your vehicles from the driveway and garage: The night before your roofing team arrives, park your cars a safe distance away on the street. If you wait until the morning, your car might get trapped as a supplier tries to drop off shingles or other materials. Plus, the roofers will need to use your driveway all day. They will park their garbage bin in the driveway and bring their equipment nearby so they can place it on the roof when they need it.You might be tempted to put your vehicle in the garage if you won’t be using it and aren’t worried about it getting trapped there for the replacement. However, this is a bad idea. Garage roofs are usually not insulated, so shingle granules and nails will drop through the roof as the roofers work. The granules will then gather on your car and will scratch the paint as you wipe them away. The safest place for your vehicle is the street.

Clear toys and patio furniture: Roofing professionals will need to walk all of the way around your home to access the roof from different sides. You don’t want them tripping on children’s toys or wasting time moving your furniture. Ensure there is a 15-foot clearance all of the way around your house. Falling shingles and debris might damage your outdoor toys and furniture. It’s best to put what you can move into storage in the shed or garage, and cover it with a tarp. If you have a gazebo that you can’t move, take down or tie up its curtains.

Clear the garden: Take a peek into the garden and move what you can. This might include solar-powered lights, statues, mosaic stepping stones, potted plants, water fountains, wind chimes, bird houses, and bird feeders. A dropped shingle could damage all of these delicate items. Plus, you don’t want the local birds trying shingle granules for lunch!

Mark orprotect plants: Certain plants can be very delicate or very expensive to replace. Plants are vulnerable to dropped shingles. Mark out any especially valuable or fragile trees or plants with orange tape. Place netting or a tarp over flower beds and other plants. If you show the roofers’ manager which plants need extra care, he or she will ensure the other roofers give them an extra wide berth.

Mark sprinklers: If you have a sprinkler system that you can’t remove, then you should mark each sprinkler head so that the roofers will not trip over it. You should mark essentially anything embedded in the ground that roofers could trip over.

Mark ponds: Homeowners with green thumbs often have hidden water features, such as small natural pools tucked behind reeds or koi ponds covered in foliage. Notify your roofing professionals of your pond and mark it, so that no one accidentally steps into it.

Unlock your gates: Your roofing professionals will need to get all of the way around the house in order to do their job properly, so you’ll need to unlock the gates for them.

Cut your grass: It’s much easier to find leftover debris and nails in short grass. Cutting your grass will help the roofers find any hidden nails and can save you the misfortune of stepping on one.

Check your electrical outlet: Your roofing professionals might need to use powered equipment on your roof, so they’ll need access to an outdoor electrical outlet. If you have one, make sure it works. If you don’t, plan to leave a door or window open near an outlet that the roofing professional can use.

Talk to your neighbors: While you’re outside preparing, take the time to talk to your neighbors, especially your direct neighbors, about your roof replacement. If you warn them ahead of time about the noise, disturbance and the possibility of a shingle or nail flying into their yard, they will be a lot more co-operative the day of your roof replacement. Also, ask them if they would unlock their gates for the roofing team. If they do, then a roofer can grab any stray shingles they spot in the neighbor’s yard. Further, if their property is very close, they may also want to cover their plants, and the roofers may need to board up their windows. If you happen to share a driveway, your neighbor will need to park their car on the street too.

The roofers won’t be inside your home, so why do you need to prepare your home for their arrival? Well, installing a brand new roof actually vibrates the whole building. Replacing roof shingles involves a whole lot of nailing, directly into the structure of your home. There’s no long-term damage, but for the short-term, things can get messy. Here’s what you need to do:

Clear the attic: We often put sentimental and fragile items in the attic, but that makes them very vulnerable during a roof replacement. Store them on the ground floor for now.

Protect the attic: The attic is going to collect the most dust during your roofing replacement. It is wise to lay tarps or painter’s drop sheets on the floor to make clean-up easier.

Protect the garage: If your garage is built-in to the house and roofers will be replacing its roof too, everything in it needs extra protection. Often garages don’t have insulation, which normally would stop dust and shingle granules from dropping through the roof. Those granules have the potential to scratch paint. So, you should cover any precious items you have in the garage with a tarp. This might include car or motorcycle parts, collectibles, tools, etc.

Secure your windows: Falling roof material can scratch windows. You roofers should place wooden boards over the windows to protect them until the original roof has been completely torn off.

Remove wall décor: The vibrations from hammering can knock decorations off walls, so you should take them down ahead of time. This might include mirrors, pictures, wreaths, loose shelving, etc. Be extra thorough on the top floor because it will move more.

Protect fragile items: These same vibrations can potentially hurt your especially fragile items, such as china plates. Make sure glass, vases, dishes, and other breakables aren’t touching each other or the wall.

A roofer will remove your roof accessories: Anything that you have on the roof, including satellite/TV dishes, skylights, and solar panels, will be removed from the roof and reinstalled. Expect television interruptions.

Replacing roof shingles is a long, loud job. Typically, a new roof installation is a two-day process, but it depends on the size of your roof. Some jobs can be completed in a day while others may take three. Whether your roof replacement will take one day or three, it will be very disruptive to your children and pets. Here’s how to prepare:

Keep pets indoors (at least): Hammering and strangers disturb dogs, cats, even hamsters. It’s better to have your pet at a friend’s house or a kennel service while you have a roof replacement. If that’s not an option, at least keep your pets indoors. Otherwise, they may step on a stray nail.

Prepare to comfort pets: If your pets have to be indoors, do what you can to make them more comfortable. Take them for a walk beforehand and make sure they have access to their crate and comforting toys.

Have the children stay at Grandma’s: Infants won’t be able to sleep, young children will get frustrated, and older children will be distracted. It might be best if you can arrange for your children to be at a family member’s or friend’s house. If you’re leaving with them, be sure to leave your phone number with the roofers so that they can contact you if they need to.

Tell children about the debris: If they are old enough to understand, tell your children that they’ll have to be careful around the house because there might be debris. Ensure they’re always wearing shoes too.

After they complete your roof replacement, the roofing professionals should clean-up after themselves. Once they’ve done so, there are a few more things you should do:

Inspect the roof: Your roofing team should show you the new roof, to ensure you’re happy with their workmanship. After they’re gone, you should feel comfortable calling them up about anything unusual you find minutes later, or even during your regular inspections. Sometimes, additional work is needed to complete a roof renovation. It’s possible that changing weather conditions knocked a shingle loose before it could seal, or someone forgot to place that last ridge cap shingle. Honest mistakes happen, and professional roofers should be eager to fix them.

Check the driveway: With all of the equipment that has been in and out of your driveway, there’s a chance someone scuffed your grass, marked your driveway or dripped some oil. If you notify the roofing professionals about the problem right away, they should be happy to make it right.

Pay them: Don’t forget to fulfill your end of the bargain. If you like the contractor’s work, remember that they appreciate quick payment. Hopefully, you’ll gain more than a roof replacement; you’ll gain a relationship with a roofer you trust. You’ll find that this relationship will be valuable for as long as you own a home.

If you’re still looking for a professional roofer to replace your roof, you can find one through IKO’s Contractor Locator. Otherwise, it may help you prepare for your roof replacement to learn more about your roof and how it is supposed to function. Check out IKO’s blog for more resources.

TVs have been part of our lives for decades. But now and then, they break or need an upgrade. When a TV breaks beyond repair, it is only natural to replace it as soon as possible. But what to do with the old, broken TV? Putting it in a trash bin is not an option; it is even illegal in most places. Some TVs, mainly the ones with LCD screens, are hazardous to the environment. You must dispose of the old TV properly, and there are several ways to do it.

It doesn’t matter if the TV you’re trying to get rid of has a broken screen, dead pixels, fried circuit boards, or a dead motherboard. You can always do something with it, and some people would even want to buy it. So, here’s everything you can do with a broken TV that you can’t fix.

Sometimes even new TV sets break down, and the manufacturers would gladly replace them when still under warranty. Just note that cracked screens or visible dents and scratches will often disqualify your device for a warranty claim.

Some TV manufacturers will offer to repair your broken TV; if this is not possible, they will give you a new one. Most companies issue a one-year warranty, so check the date you purchased your TV.

If the manufacturer accepts your warranty claim and issues a new device, you should consider buying an extended warranty for your new TV. It will last you up to three years, but it will also have a more comprehensive coverage than the initial manufacturer warranty.

You can cover the costs of getting a new TV by selling your broken TV for cash. Then, think of buying a new smart TV with a Wi-Fi receiver that you can turn into an entertainment center.

But let’s be honest, selling old TVs is not as easy as it used to be. Especially the old, cathode-ray tube (CRT) ones. Even recycling these oldies is difficult as many recycling centers will not accept them. Those that would ask for a fee so they take it from your hands. But all this doesn’t mean it is impossible to sell old TVs. Many people still find a use for them. They either use them for parts or simply create something new and useful with DIY projects. You know what they say: “One man’s trash is another man’s treasure”. So here are some places where you can try selling your old broken device.

Craigslist will allow you to sell your old broken tv locally and skip all the delivery expenses. If you are unsure what price to put for your listing, just check other ads for similar models.

Don’t forget to write an informative description of the TV you are selling. Include the brand, model, type of the screen, and any possible breaks and damages it might have. This way you will be contacted only by those buyers who want your tv.

eBay has over 180 million prospective shoppers, and it is a great place where you can find someone interested in buying a broken tv. eBay operates across the country, and you should expect delivery costs that will cut your earnings. You can avoid this by opting for local pick-up only.

Unlike Amazon, it is free to sell used items on eBay, but keep in mind you will have to pay a fee once your TV gets sold. Consider adding the fee into the initial asking price. That way, you won’t lose much of your earnings.

Facebook Marketplace is Facebook’s platform for selling and buying used and new stuff. You can find anything there, from pet equipment, real estate, and used electronics. It is easy to find people near you who need a broken TV for parts or their next art project.

Repair shops usually buy broken TVs that they can refurbish and resell. However, they also need replacement parts; for this purpose, they sometimes buy old TVs that can’t be fixed. Anything from a power board, capacitor, or t-con board, to the power supply and inverter can be reused.

Don’t know how to find a nearby TV repair shop? Just ask Google or an alternative search engine. If you type something like “TV repair shop near me” you will get some good results.

If you are not looking to sell your broken TV, and want to get rid of it, consider recycling. Depending on your location, throwing an electric appliance in regular trash might be illegal, and recycling might even be your only option. If you don’t know where to look for the companies that would take your old tv, here is a short list.

Various landfills around the country have set up electronic recycling centers. Search the nearest landfill. Their website should have information such as what hours they work and if the electronic waste is picked up only on certain days.

You should be aware that some landfills will ask you for a fee when you bring them your TV. Others might take it for free. If paying is a problem for you, don’t worry, there are other recycling options.

The Electronic Manufacturers Recycling Management Company has a very insightful website that will tell you where to find the nearest pickup point. They have many such locations across the country, but they don’t always operate at the same hours. The best you can do is give a local MRM Recycling point a call and ask when is the best time to bring your old TV.

MRM has a partnership with many electronic brands such as Toshiba, Vizio, TCL, and Polaroid, and it is this partnership that allows you to recycle your old TVs. In addition, their mail-back program and collaboration with UPS help you to drop off your TV at your local UPS office for free.

Learn all about different Samsung recycling programs on their website. The website will also show you the nearest place where you can take your used TV. But be careful as their programs are reserved only for Samsung TVs.

You can also mail back your Samsung TV by using Samsung’s recycling partners that are near you. The TV needs to weigh up to 50 pounds to benefit from this program. Also, the fees will differ depending on the recycling partner near you.

This one is for all the creatives out there. The broken TVs you can’t repair are excellent material for various art projects or tech gadgets that you might find useful. But remember that some TV components are hazardous for the environment and your health, and learn how to handle them safely.

This tip is for all photographers, videographers, and artists who need a powerful light source for their studios. Use your old LCD screen to make a powerful, daylight-emitting panel! All you need for this project is LED lighting strips, gaffer tape, the LCD screen, a screwdriver, and an optional new metal frame. To make the panel, replace the old CCFL bulbs that backlight the screen with new LED lights.

Have pet fish? How about making them a new, stylish home from your old TV? This simple DIY project will let you keep your old TV in your living room, but with a new purpose. This project is perfect for older Cathode TVs as they are bulkier and can serve as a vessel.

Simply cut the power source, remove the backplate and take out all electronics. Send off the old screen, and put an aquarium inside the TV box. Decorate it with typical water plants, stones, and a fish castle, or be more creative and make a modern apartment for your pet fish.

This DIY project can be as simple as buying some IKEA furniture legs and screwing them onto your old TV, preferably flat screen, to make a new coffee table. A broken screen can even give an artistic vibe to this whole project. So be creative and use the flat screen of your old LCD or LED TV to create a futuristic table.

What did you do with your old TV? Let us know in the comments below! Also, check out all the cool things you can do with old RAM if you have some old RAM sticks lying around.

These affected units were manufactured between September 2016 and February 2018 and sold in China mainland, Hong Kong, Japan, Macao, and the U.S. See below for iPhone 7 model numbers that are covered in this program.

If your device exhibits the symptom described above, Apple will repair your device, free of charge. Your iPhone will be examined prior to any service to verify that it is eligible for this program. This program only applies to iPhone 7.

Apple will be contacting customers via email who may have paid for a repair related to this issue to arrange for reimbursement. If you believe you paid for a repair related to this issue, and have not received an email from Apple by the end of March 2018, please contact Apple.

The articulating LCD screen on my Sony A77 camera recently stopped working properly. The screen still functioned when it was placed up against the camera body, but when I extended and rotated it away from the body, it only displayed artifacts.

After some research, I found out that the flex cable of the LCD screen was likely damaged. By buying a new flex cable and studying the parts diagrams that I found online, I managed to repair the camera.

In this article I will explain what causes problems with the LCD screen on the Sony A77, what you can do to prevent them, and show how you can fix the screen yourself at home.

There are several reasons why the Sony A77 LCD screen can develop problems. One of the most common reasons is a fracture in the LCD flex cable. Other less common causes are damage to the screen itself or its electronics, or a problem on the printed circuit board of the camera.

The most common reason for problems with the LCD screen is that the flex cable that connects from the camera circuit board to the LCD wears out. When this happens, the cable develops one or more hairline cracks in the wires. The screen is then not able to receive the correct signals anymore, and it displays artifacts instead.

In the case of my Sony A77, when the screen was positioned against the body the traces in the flex cable managed to make contact well, but when the screen was moved further from the body the connection broke.

A broken flex cable seems to be the most common cause of the artifacts, so when attempting to fix the screen, this is what I recommend to try to fix first.

Other (non-LCD) camera components can cause problems with the LCD as well. For example, the motherboard of the camera can develop issues due to old age, or due to the camera being dropped.

This usually shows up as a green screen on the LCD. Or to be more specific, a repeating green pattern on the screen. An example of this can be seen here.

In this case, the viewfinder of the A77 also stops working and shows the exact same pattern as on the LCD. This is an important difference with when the flex cable or LCD screen is damaged. In that situation the viewfinder still shows the sensor image.

This may sound like a daunting task, but it is relatively straightforward. All the steps you need to take are listed further down the page. With enough patience and care there is not much that can go wrong.

I managed to find my replacement LCD flex cable on eBay for about €50. You can also find them on Amazon. Replacement LCD screens can be found there as well.

From what I found online, having the camera repaired at the Sony service center would have cost somewhere between $200 and $400 total for the assessment, shipping, components and labor.

Repairing the camera myself cost me ~$60 for the replacement flex cable. Obviously this option came with a bit more risk, but I was confident that I correctly identified the issue and that I was able to repair it.

I have not repaired any A77II’s myself, but I have had people contact me and telling me they successfully followed these steps for their A77II. So I am certain that this works.

Only if you never move the articulating screen. The primary reason for the artifacts is the flex cable that develops fractures. Limiting the strain on the flex cable will extend its life.

If you wanted to replace the LCD screen itself, this would be where you would do it. Simply disassemble the LCD assembly a bit further, until you are able to remove and replace the LCD panel itself.

This was a great project for me to do, as I always enjoy extending the lifespan of products. Especially when the alternative is spending a lot of money.

The repair was not as difficult as I thought it would be. The Sony A77 is a complicated piece of technology, but it seems to be designed so that it is relatively easy to repair.

In the last few years, we"ve witnessed a big change to the way the smartphone market works. China has become both the biggest smartphone market on Earth and home to some of the most interesting smartphone companies. Lately, all the cool and crazy smartphones seem to be launching in China first and then maybe (or sometimes never) in the rest of the world. This includes devices like the all-screen Oppo Find X with its crazy motorized pop-up camera. Earlier, you might have had an eye on the original Xiaomi Mi Mix, the phone that kicked off the slim-bezel smartphone craze.

With the United States often taking a backseat in the worldwide smartphone market, you might be tempted to import one of these exotic foreign smartphones. You can almost always do it—either through a random Chinese smartphone site or sometimes even on Amazon.com. The question is, though, should you? Importing a smartphone will result in a number of challenges, so there are a few things to think about.

The biggest problem you"ll run into is with cellular connectivity, where a foreign phone might not work on your local cellular network. Each carrier has a set of LTE bands that it operates in, and while phones sold in the US are usually careful to hit the right carrier bands, Chinese smartphones might either not work on your carrier at all or work with reduced connectivity. Droid Life has a nice cheat sheet here for US networks, and you"ll need to compare that to the spec sheet of each individual phone. The general answer is that you have a chance with GSM carriers like AT&T and T-Mobile, and Verizon is getting better thanks to VoLTE (Voice over LTE) which removes the need for CDMA. You"ll have a much harder time with Sprint.

Some Chinese OEMs like Xiaomi and Oppo are moving into Europe, which means wider LTE compatibility and a better chance of US compatibility, so things are getting better. Also keep in mind that phones can have variants for different regions, so make sure the version you"re buying has the bands you need.

If you"re really desperate, the phone you want should work on Wi-Fi no matter what, which means it should work at home or at the office. That also means just carrying around a hotspot is an option, too.

Getting the Play Store to work on a non-Google build of Android is tough. Downloading the requisite Google apps to a PC is easy—opengapps.org maintains an up-to-date package of the latest Google apps for download, available in various flavors for every combination of CPU architecture and Android version out there. The problem is installing them on a phone. Some of Google"s apps need system-level permissions to work, so they need to be installed as system apps, which normally a user isn"t allowed to do. Your Chinese Android phone will need an "unlockable bootloader," which is basically an on/off switch giving you full control over the phone software. With an unlocked bootloader, you can boot into a recovery mode and modify the phone so that you can get system-level permissions and install the Google apps you need.

Whether or not your phone has an unlockable bootloader can be hard to even figure out. It"s usually not on the spec sheet, so you"ll need to hope someone technical has posted the information on the Internet somewhere. A good place to check is the XDA Forums, which are meticulously broken down by individual phone model. Just search for your particular phone and see if other people are making progress on modding or unlocking the bootloader and/or rooting the phone.

Chinese companies have been pretty good in the past at providing unlocked bootloaders, but lately they"ve been throwing up barriers due to security concerns. As we experienced firsthand when we imported the Xiaomi Redmi 3, smartphone retailers aren"t necessarily trustworthy. In our case, the reseller opened our device, unlocked the bootloader, flashed the Google apps to the system partition, put the phone back in the box, and sold it to us as unopened and "new." At least, we hope that"s all they did. Who really knows? The scary part is we didn"t even notice our phone had been tampered with when we received it.

So to stop retailers from mass unlocking and modifying consumer devices, some companies require a code or PC program to unlock a bootloader, sometimes with a waiting period. Xiaomi, for instance, requires that you "Apply" for an unlock code by making a Xiaomi account, logging in, and downloading the "Mi Unlock Tool." After plugging into a PC and running the tool, you"ll either get confirmed or denied for an unlock code, and then there might be a waiting period before your code arrives. This wait period has ranged from two days to as much as two months. Huawei has shut down bootloader unlock requests altogether.

threw up a roadblock for "uncertified" Android devices that originally didn"t ship with the Google apps. Just like with Xiaomi"s unlock process, this requires jumping through some hoops so you can be tracked and judged. Google"s instructions require you to have the Android developer tools installed and a rooted device, and then you have to run a command to grab a Google ID and submit it to Google while logged in to your Google account. If you have personally flashed Google apps to your Chinese smartphone The Right Way, you will have done most of this work already, but it would be a pain for an unscrupulous phone seller.

Your best bet would be to try to import a Chinese phone from anywhere other than China. Does it also sell in India or Europe? Aim for that version. Anything that isn"t from China should have the Google apps pre-installed, and that will save you a ton of headaches. Advertisement

If you get a phone with an unlocked bootloader, another option is wiping out the existing software altogether and flashing a new software package—called a "ROM"—usually pieced together by someone in the community. ROMs can focus on either starting with the existing software package and changing pieces of it, or they can throw out the whole OEM software package and start with stock Android. Chinese Android builds are almost always lame iOS clones, so a stock Android ROM can give you a more normal and consistent Android experience. ROMs based on the pre-installed software can focus on speed improvements, customizability, or removing crapware.

Android 8.0"s Project Treble, so today most new phones should be able to take a stock Android ROM and boot up to the home screen. XDA has a whole forum dedicated to Project Treble, and every ROM here should—in theory—be universally compatible with any phone that was built for Android 8.0 and up. Problems might arise when it comes to hardware support outside of the usual basic smartphone functionality. Specific camera features or odd hardware additions like a pop-up camera or heart rate monitor might stop working with a purely Treble-based ROM.

Again, you"re hoping someone on the Internet has already come before you and run into these problems. Popular smartphones should have a decent community on their XDA sub-forum that has worked to solve the various compatibility problems that pop up. It"s always worth taking a look around a phone forum before you commit to buying an import.

The current wave of Chinese-centric smartphone companies will hopefully take a more worldwide approach to launches soon. All the major players are working to expand outside of China, usually targeting Europe first. The US can be tough to break into thanks to the carrier-centric market, the litigious nature of the established smartphone players, and distrust of the Chinese government, but