Why isn't my Lumia 1520 vibration working after LCD assembly replacment?

[DrFistington]

Lumia 1520 vibration not working after LCD assembly replacment!

I'm hoping the forum can help me out with this issue. It seems to be a fairly well known issue that pops up fairly often, even when the screen replacement is being done by a Nokia Care rep. So far I haven't been able to find any information about what the root cause/fix for this issue is.

I had my new 1520 for about a week and dropped it about 3 ft onto a hard surface and the LCD panel cracked, making the phone essentially unusable. I ordered a replacement LCD/Screen assembly and installed it, everything was working fine then I noticed that the vibration for incoming text/calls and button presses wasn't working. I tested the Vibraflex motor unit, and when I put about 1.5v through it, it worked just fine, so the vibraflex motor is not broken, still there is no vibration. After doing some searching it looks like this is a fairly frequent issue that comes up when the 1520 has its screen assembly replaced and there is a fairly long post about it on the nokia care forum, but no one has posted any potential solutions or causes for the issue. I also checked the connector pins on the bottom of the MB to make sure they were making contact with the vibraflex cable and they appear to be.

Does anyone have any insight on what the underlying issue may be? Thanks for your help!

 

[sschevy010]

Re: Lumia 1520 vibration not working after LCD assembly replacment!

Hmmm... I had to replace mine when i noticed same but i did not test mine.. seems that i have replaced 2 LCD assembly..

EDIT:

to add more... both had to be replaced and as said, didn't test em and both worked before

 

[DrFistington]

Re: Lumia 1520 vibration not working after LCD assembly replacment!

The only other thing I can think of that I could do to test things out would be to disassemble the phone again (for like the 10th time) then take the MB out and try to put the vibraflex cable on so that I know 100% that all the proper contacts are being made, and or/ I could hook up my multimeter/logic probe and do something that should make the phone vibrate and see if i measure any voltage spikes coming from the contact pins. If the phone should be vibrating but I don't get any voltage dropped across the contact pins then at least I know its an issue on the MB.

 

[Donny James]

Re: Lumia 1520 vibration not working after LCD assembly replacment!

Yeah I replaced my screen and now have the Vibration issue your referring too. I too have opened my phone like 10 times I haven't had the guts to open it again. I was thinking it was the connectors too. Now since you say you checked yours and it still doesn't work now I'm even more hesitant to open it an take another look. I finally got everything working after replacing the Microphone and then the Search Button LED light went out. I had to put back in the old mic and the light came back on. Note to self the lights for the Back, Home and Search buttons are controlled by the Daughter board. which is where the loud speaker and usb charging dock are all connected too. So don't panic if one of those lights go out. It's not the LCD screen assembly which is crazy expensive. It's the much more affordable daughter board.

 

[DrFistington]

Re: Lumia 1520 vibration not working after LCD assembly replacment!

Just to add some more info, I had my phone apart last night to check a few things (i'm now having a problem where the new touchscreen will become unresponsive, it tends to happen when I've had the phone in my pocket for a while, then take it out to use it. The touchscreen won't take any input, the only fix is to hold down the power button until the phone restarts and then when its restarted everything will work. Needless to say this is a rather annoying problem, so I'll probably be returning the new touchscreen assembly). Anyway when I had the touchscreen assembly powered on and removed from the rest of the cast, at some point I began to hear an odd noise, and it turned out to be the vibration motor. It was basically stuck on, but not receiving alot of power, just enough to barely spin the motor and make a humming noise. I restarted the phone and it stopped doing that, but that at least seems to confirm that the motor works and the connectors are making contact.

One other thing that I'm curious about is that when I first took the bad screen off my phone, the very small copper metal clip seemed to fall out of my phone, although its not the same type of connector that's used on the MB. It looks more similar to a metal clip thats between the poly case and the LCD assembly on my 920, so I'm curious to see where that piece came from, maybe it completes a ground connection somewhere. I'll try to post some pictures later tonight.

 

[Donny James]

So like I said before I had the same vibration issue. I bit the bullet and ordered a new vibrator (lol) for my phone (to give some context) and installed it and it working now. I did notice the connector to the vibrator was a little bent. I tried to straighten it but I didn't want to brake so I just left it. So my vibrations is back and working better than ever for now. I hope it doesn't go out again and I hope I never have to open up my phone again.

 

[Donny James]

Re: Lumia 1520 vibration not working after LCD assembly replacment!

Just to add some more info, I had my phone apart last night to check a few things (i'm now having a problem where the new touchscreen will become unresponsive, it tends to happen when I've had the phone in my pocket for a while, then take it out to use it. The touchscreen won't take any input, the only fix is to hold down the power button until the phone restarts and then when its restarted everything will work. Needless to say this is a rather annoying problem, so I'll probably be returning the new touchscreen assembly). Anyway when I had the touchscreen assembly powered on and removed from the rest of the cast, at some point I began to hear an odd noise, and it turned out to be the vibration motor. It was basically stuck on, but not receiving alot of power, just enough to barely spin the motor and make a humming noise. I restarted the phone and it stopped doing that, but that at least seems to confirm that the motor works and the connectors are making contact.

One other thing that I'm curious about is that when I first took the bad screen off my phone, the very small copper metal clip seemed to fall out of my phone, although its not the same type of connector that's used on the MB. It looks more similar to a metal clip thats between the poly case and the LCD assembly on my 920, so I'm curious to see where that piece came from, maybe it completes a ground connection somewhere. I'll try to post some pictures later tonight.

If you post a picture I might be able to identify that piece your speaking of. I opened my phone so many times now I feel like I'm an expert. My screen only sometimes does not respond to double tap to wake. I'd be tapping away I get no response. But pressing the unlock button still works. You should probably return that screen assembly and get another one.

 

[DrFistington]

Thanks for the responses! I just ordered a new Vibraflex motor for my phone, they're only like 7 bucks, so even if it doesn't work, its worth the try. I'm also beginning to think that there may be a crack in the Vibraflex cable causing issues. If I have time tonight I'll pull out the multimeter and do some testing.

I also decided to send back the screen assembly I had gotten. I wasn't particularly impressed with the overall quality, and there was some major light bleed happening on the entire left hand side of the screen. It seemed to not be OEM quality, more like a very similar, but lower quality knockoff. Does anyone know of a source for well priced OEM lumia 1520 screens?

Oh, as for the small metal mystery piece I'll try and get a pic of it, although I'm about 99% sure I figured out what it was. I think its a piece from the original LCD screen assembly. I had tried to separate the LCD from the glass just to see how much of a pain it would be to replace just the LCD, and I think one of the clips in the picture below got bent and broken in the process:

 

[DrFistington]

Just a quick update, havent had time yet to test all the tracings on the vibraflex, although I'm hoping I will this weekend. I actually was looking around on ebay for a higher quality replacement LCD assembly and noticed that seemingly legit screen assembly was running around 175-200 dollars. Then I started to look at used lumia 1520's and you can easily get a fully functional used 1520, in good shape for 250. I ended up having the right mix of luck and patience and managed to get a used, unlocked, red 1520 thats working and in excellent shape for 202 dollars including shipping! It seems to me like the current market price for the LCD\screen assembly is ridiculously over inflated considering I can get the whole damn functioning phone for the same price as the replacement screen.

I'm going to wait until the replacement screen price drops to the level it should be at (70-100) then I'll get one, fix up my old phone and have 2 of them!

Also, now I'll have an extra PMA Flex Cable, so I can modify that one with the wireless QI hack and sell it on ebay since I already have a functional hacked cable in my broken 1520.

 

[Donny James]

Yeah I tried removing the glass from the LCD and it didn't work out as planned. Removing the battery broke the LCD and the glass between the LCD and the Front Glass (Yes there is another glass) didn't separate from the front glass of the old phone and it's edges got broken during removal. So it was useless. Its a great pain to remove. You need lots of heat. A heating plate perhaps. Blow dryer is not enough. Any way my vibration is still working and working great. I got my replacement screen from Ebay too. For about $178 I think. I do see an extra bright spot on it when the screen is white but I'm not sure if its from the screen or the screen protector. It doesn't bug me so I have not investigated it yet. I'm surprised your found an Unlocked functional 1520 for that price. I searched for months and never found anything like that. Good for you.

 

[Xeeynamo]

I'm sorry to take back from death this thread, but... I have the same problem!
Since the first time that I removed the motherboard and inserted it again, the rumbler stopped working; today I replaced the LCD+Screen and it still doesn't work. I checked and re-checked every contact but nothing. There is also a connector behind the two connectors that are connected to the motherboard: with some scotch tape I tried to hold cling but no luck. I tired to power the rumbler from an external battery and it worked. Currently I have it without the vibration, and it's very frustrating. Bonus note is that, with LCD replacement, the search button light stopped working too, but it repaired by itself when I re-inserted the cover back.

 

[KOROSHKKUNITED]

sorry to post in this old topic but my screen is crashed up and i want to repair it...
what i most do to avoid vibration problem's? any idea ?

 

[kwill]

Same problem here after a screen replacement. Ive even ordered a new vibrating motor and put it in. It still wont work. Hope someone figures out the cause.

 

[Xeeynamo]

Today I did some tests, thanks also to Nokia Care Suite.
The vibrating motor is working, I simply powered it with a 3V (maximum safe voltage), so I centered my tests to the logic board. I connected the phone to the computer via USB, opened Care Suite and I switched it in Test Mode. Between test operations, I selected Vibration Test and put it between 10 and 100%. With a multimeter I connected the two pins that face to the vib.motor, but no current pass. So yes, it's a logic board problem. I connected the positive pin to the positive led (the back+win+search one) and the negative to one of the two vibration pins and the current was 3V at 100%, 1.5v at 50% and so on. The interesting stuff is that also the other pin gives me the same result: it looks like that both of the pins handle negative current. I connected the one of the two vibration pins and a cable from a led and magic: vibration works. It's a very unusual problem and I have afraid that it can be a sorta of warranty protection.
Oh, I did also some other self-tests from Care Suite and none of the sensors works (Gyroscope, Accelerometer, Proximity). I don't know if they won't work when phone isn't fully assembled (I'm waiting a screen replacement), but everything can be connected. If someone more expert and with time can do similar tests, please let us know here.

 

[kwill]

So, are you believing it's a specific disassembly/assembly order that causes the vibration motor to stop working (since you feel it may be a warranty protection thing)? It just seems odd that everyone who has the problem only has after an LCD replacement. That to me indicates a problem with being able to reuse a motor once its it's peeled up from the screen assembly. I have two new motors on order from china, to find out. I ordered one from a US seller, but it didn't have anything protecting the adhesive before I installed it. Needless to say, it didn't work

 

[kwill]

Has anyone found out anything more on this? I've ordered four more vibration motors from various sources and still have the same problem. One thing I've noticed is that none of the motors have adhesive to actually bond it to the screen assembly. Maybe that causes a poor connection. All the places I've seen shoe a pic that has an adhesive sticker, but when received there's nothing. @Donny James, can you tell where you got your vibration motor from please?

 

[Tasos Michael]

Hi my friend.I have a question because i have the same problem with the vibration.I don't know where is located on the phone the positive led so i can connect the vibration and get it back to working condition..I am waiting for your reply! Thanks

 

[krzychunh]

Replace Fuse F2100 - 100% Working

 

[Robert Kirchhof]

Please, where is the fuse? Send us a picture

 

[ScrubbyXD]

Please, where is the fuse? Send us a picture

That was a troll bro. This has yet to be solved. And no replacing the motor is not a definite fix.