Like many of you, I've been plagued with the issue where dust works its way under the screen and in front of the front-facing camera. I got my first phone replaced because of the issue, and thought my replacement unit didn't have an issue...until it, well, did.
Subsequent communication with Nokia has been fruitless. I started off contacting their support team via Twitter, who asked me to follow the repair process outlined online -- the one where you send in your phone for 2 weeks and (according to many of you) have Nokia just take a can of air and blow the dust out for you. I can't be without my phone that long, so that wasn't gonna work. I wrote to Matt Rothschild, who passed me to the Nokia Care Team, who then told me that the issue was not covered by warranty. I wrote to Stephen Elop, who has not responded or forwarded me along to anybody. So, I decided to fix the thing myself. Here's what I found.
Basically, there is a gap (probably 1/2 mm tall) that is running along the entire top seam of the glass -- right at the top of the screen between where the glass ends and the polycarbonate housing begins. Generally speaking, this is fine...the phone is sealed up pretty well. The only place that's not sealed up -- as in, at all -- is where the camera sits.
...and here's a photo taken without flash that shows the gap a little more starkly:
The cutout for the camera holds a rubber gasket that presumably is intended to keep debris from entering into the phone; however, it is secured with a foam adhesive only around the sides and bottom ...there is absolutely NO adhesive at the top, which is (as you notice) where the gap is. That being the case, dust can enter through that gap, work its way under the gasket, and end up smack in front of the FFC. It's no wonder why blowing compressed air in there works to clean the dust out -- there is literally nothing to stop air, dirt, dust, or anything else from entering. This is clearly a defect in the design of the phone, and as such should be a warrantable issue ("defects in parts or workmanship")...the fact I was turned down for warranty support makes me very upset.
Now, there is a positive to take away from this...that being that there is literally no way that dust entering near the FFC could ever make its way in front of the proximity sensor (which had been theorized). There is a wall in the housing separating the proximity sensor window from the FFC, and everything there is sealed up tight. So, that's good and bad -- if you're having proximity sensor issues, it's not from dust.
For those of you with this problem interested in fixing it, it's possible -- really all that needs done is to better adhere the camera's gasket to the inside of the housing. While there are disassembly instructions online, do be aware that doing this technically voids the warranty on your phone (of course, if Nokia's not honoring it anyway, does it really matter?). However, it's really a shame that Nokia even shipped the phone like this...and has yet to admit the issue. For those of you who paid $50-100 for the phone on subsidy, it's probably not as big a deal as it is to someone like me who bought the phone for full price...for over $400 I expected better.
At any rate, hope this helps solve the mystery!
Subsequent communication with Nokia has been fruitless. I started off contacting their support team via Twitter, who asked me to follow the repair process outlined online -- the one where you send in your phone for 2 weeks and (according to many of you) have Nokia just take a can of air and blow the dust out for you. I can't be without my phone that long, so that wasn't gonna work. I wrote to Matt Rothschild, who passed me to the Nokia Care Team, who then told me that the issue was not covered by warranty. I wrote to Stephen Elop, who has not responded or forwarded me along to anybody. So, I decided to fix the thing myself. Here's what I found.
Basically, there is a gap (probably 1/2 mm tall) that is running along the entire top seam of the glass -- right at the top of the screen between where the glass ends and the polycarbonate housing begins. Generally speaking, this is fine...the phone is sealed up pretty well. The only place that's not sealed up -- as in, at all -- is where the camera sits.
...and here's a photo taken without flash that shows the gap a little more starkly:
The cutout for the camera holds a rubber gasket that presumably is intended to keep debris from entering into the phone; however, it is secured with a foam adhesive only around the sides and bottom ...there is absolutely NO adhesive at the top, which is (as you notice) where the gap is. That being the case, dust can enter through that gap, work its way under the gasket, and end up smack in front of the FFC. It's no wonder why blowing compressed air in there works to clean the dust out -- there is literally nothing to stop air, dirt, dust, or anything else from entering. This is clearly a defect in the design of the phone, and as such should be a warrantable issue ("defects in parts or workmanship")...the fact I was turned down for warranty support makes me very upset.
Now, there is a positive to take away from this...that being that there is literally no way that dust entering near the FFC could ever make its way in front of the proximity sensor (which had been theorized). There is a wall in the housing separating the proximity sensor window from the FFC, and everything there is sealed up tight. So, that's good and bad -- if you're having proximity sensor issues, it's not from dust.
For those of you with this problem interested in fixing it, it's possible -- really all that needs done is to better adhere the camera's gasket to the inside of the housing. While there are disassembly instructions online, do be aware that doing this technically voids the warranty on your phone (of course, if Nokia's not honoring it anyway, does it really matter?). However, it's really a shame that Nokia even shipped the phone like this...and has yet to admit the issue. For those of you who paid $50-100 for the phone on subsidy, it's probably not as big a deal as it is to someone like me who bought the phone for full price...for over $400 I expected better.
At any rate, hope this helps solve the mystery!
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