Kindle 3 Keyboard Replacement

Written By: James Gauger

Comments: 9

Difficulty

Moderate

Steps

Time Required

30 - 45 minutes

Introduction

Use this guide for replacing the keyboard on a Kindle 3. The guide shows how to disassemble the device to replace the damaged keyboard.

Tools

Step 1

Starting 15mm below the right page-turning button, insert the middle of the pry tool. Pry open the back of the device using the pry tool, or similar plastic opening tool. The flexi cable for the screen is 10mm wide and passes 10mm to 20mm below the right page turn and is very easy to tear the edge.
Do not attempt to pry directly on the page turning buttons. This will damage the buttons. By inserting it at 15mm this will reduce the chance of damaging the flexi cable. Look closely at the image of Kindle with the back removed, this will help to identify the location.
Be super careful here!! That flex cable is inherently tied into the screen, so if you damage the cable, the screen is ruined. Try opening from the other side, if possible. No single-points-of-failure to damage on that side.
If you are having trouble getting an initial gap to pry from, run the flat edge of the pry tool along the front-to-back plate seam until it slips into a gap.
Don't insert your tool too far, or you may damage some of the orange flex cables near the edges of the device.
When reinstalling the back cover, slide the bottom edge into place first, and then press up the sides and along the top until all the clips snap into place.

Ah, I put it on in the wrong order, then figured out that starting at the bottom works best. I did the bottom, top and corners and then the sides, because I already had the top done.

kwood - 28/10/20

BE VERY CAREFUL HERE!! 15mm below the "next page" button was directly where the flex cable was. And it is an extremely fragile cable, even for flex cables. Which means I, of course, tore right through it without knowing until I got the cover off. So don't do that. Start 15mm above the lower corner, if anything, or start on the opposite side. Starting on the side with a single-point-of-failure is a really risky choice. The opposite side has basically nothing up against the edge, so you're free to poke it.

The other thing that isn't stated here is that the flex cable is inherently tied into the screen. Which means that if you, like me, damage that cable, the entire screen now broken and needs replacing. And if you, like me, was just trying to replace the battery or the motherboard, now it just makes sense to replace the entire device, both environmentally and financially. Whomp whomp.

bhurwitz -

Step 2

Unscrew the two silver 4 mm Phillips screws securing the battery connector.

Step 3

Lift battery out of housing starting at the end that was secured by the screws.
Two silver washers beneath the battery connector may come loose—don't lose them.
When reinstalling the battery, first slide the bottom edge into place and make sure the two retaining tabs are secure, before screwing down the connector.

Remove the washers and place them with the screws, don’t leave them on the board, you’ll be removing it later and you don’t want to have them slide off.

domarius - 05/02/20

The washer came loose. Will it be ok?

Sunrise Sunset -

Step 4

Remove six silver Phillips screws from the locations shown.

Step 5

Pry the display connector straight up from its socket on the motherboard to disconnect it.

Step 6

Remove eleven smaller, gray-colored Phillips screws from the locations shown.

Step 7

Lifting from the top edge, slide the entire motherboard and midframe assembly together away from the bottom edge of the Kindle, and remove it carefully.

When lifting it out, it seemed to be affixed to something at the far bottom right corner (relative to the above photo), and required a bit of tugging before popping free, which was a bit alarming. Not sure where it was stuck. Was definitely lifting it away from the base first before lifting too far up.

Also this is a good point to be reminded not to lose the little battery washers from earlier (step 3) if you decided to be smart and leave them on the board! Remove them and place them with the screws.

domarius - 05/02/20

Step 8

Replace the damaged keyboard.
When reassembling the Kindle 3, test the power switch to make sure it moves freely.
When reassembling the device, do not mix up the gray and silver screw slots.

Conclusion

To reassemble your device, follow these instructions in reverse order.

Author

James Gauger

Member since: 08/09/14

554 Reputation

4 comments

It works, but seriously overdoes the dismantling required . I just did this on a wifi 3g version (serial number started with B00A) and it took less than 30 minutes.

Steps 2,3 and 4 .You don't need to remove the silver screws holding the battery, the 3g unit or the inner ones on the black bit at lower right. None of them hold the board to the case, but ALL the grey screws do.

Step 5 You only need to undo the ribbon cable to the screen (marked orange) - the others don't need disturbing and are hard to put back correctly.

Steps 6 & 7 - Skip these.

Step 8 - the whole board lifts out - start at the top and be gentle - in case you've missed a screw or two.

Rebuilding - best to test before putting all the screws back, and refit the back starting at the switch end rather than the top or sides.

Dave - 15/06/15

Thanks for the guide. Used to strip down a device saturated with suntan lotion. Per Dave’s comments I skipped detaching the extra ribbon connectors, but needed to take out most of the silver screws to get the main boards apart. I also wanted to detach the battery before wading in with contact cleaner and baby buds. Now back working a treat. Daniel

Daniel Morris - 05/10/17

This guide no longer includes any extra/unnecessary steps—the above comments refer to an old version of the guide.

Jeff Suovanen - 19/12/18

Where is the firmware chip located? I want to access to load an older version of the firmware that can be jailbroken.

freefuel - 26/04/21