Motorola Moto G6 Rear Glass Replacement

Written By: Tarun Thiruma

Comments: 9

Difficulty

Moderate

Steps

Time Required

15 - 30 minutes

Introduction

Replace a cracked rear glass panel on your Motorola Moto G6, or remove it for further disassembly.

Tools

Parts

Precut Adhesive Card

Step 1

Power your phone off before you begin.
If possible, drain the battery before disassembly. When the battery is charged, there's an increased risk of a dangerous thermal event if the battery is overheated or damaged during repairs.
If the rear glass is cracked, completely cover it with packing tape to contain the glass shards and avoid injury.
Prepare an iOpener and heat the back of the phone along its bottom edge for about two minutes, or until it's slightly too hot to touch. This will help soften the adhesive securing the rear glass.
You may need to reheat and reapply the iOpener several times to get the phone warm enough. Follow the iOpener instructions to avoid overheating.
A hair dryer, heat gun, or hot plate may also be used, but be careful not to overheat the phone—the display and internal battery are both susceptible to heat damage.

At what temperature shold the glass be heated to? My heat gun goes from 250 up to 1350.

Miles Raymond -

Step 2

Apply a suction cup to the bottom edge of the rear glass.
Pull up on the suction cup with firm, constant pressure to create a slight gap between the rear glass and the frame.
If the glass is cracked, the suction cup may not stick. Try lifting it with strong tape, or superglue the suction cup in place and allow it to cure so you can proceed.
This may require a significant amount of force, but you only need to open a very slight gap with the suction cup to insert your tool.
If you have trouble, apply more heat to further soften the adhesive, and try again. The adhesive cools quickly, so you may need to heat it repeatedly.
Insert an opening pick into the gap you created under the rear glass.

I'm stuck on this step (literally and figuratively). I've heated it pretty hot and pulled pretty hard on the suction cup, but I can't see a gap…

Andy Mach - 10/08/20

I used a piece of laminating plastic instead of the pick and managed to slide it in!

Andy Mach - 10/08/20

My back delaminated at this point. That is, the clear plastic started to come away leaving the paint layer behind. Mine is (was) the indigo blue one.

Neil Hoskins -

Step 3

Slide the pick all along the bottom edge of the phone to slice through the adhesive securing the rear glass.
Slow down and slice very carefully as you get to the corners. The curved part of the glass along the left and right edges can crack very easily if the pick pushes up against the curved glass.
After being cut, the adhesive will sometimes stick back together as it cools. To prevent this you can leave the pick in this edge after cutting, and continue the next steps with a new pick. Repeat this with each edge, leaving a pick and continuing with a new one.

Step 4

Heat the right edge of the back of the phone to soften the adhesive underneath.

Step 5

Slide the pick along the right edge of the rear glass to separate the adhesive underneath.

Step 6

Heat the top edge of the back of the phone to soften the rear glass adhesive.

Step 7

Slide the pick all along the top edge of the phone to slice through the adhesive securing the rear glass.
Slow down and slice very carefully as you get to the corners. The curved part of the glass along the left and right edges can crack very easily if the pick pushes up against the curved glass.

Step 8

Heat the left edge of the back of the phone to soften the adhesive underneath.

Step 9

Slide a pick along the left edge of the phone to slice through the rear glass adhesive.

Step 10

If the glass remains stuck, re-heat and slice the adhesive repeatedly as needed.
Lift the rear glass carefully, making sure it's fully separated from any adhesive.
Remove the rear glass.
During reassembly, pause here to replace the adhesive on the rear glass using a precut adhesive card or high-strength double-sided adhesive tape, such as Tesa 61395.
After closing your device back up during reassembly, stack something heavy, like a textbook or two, on top of the device for 30-60 minutes. This ensures a strong adhesive bond.

When cleaning old adhesive off the back glass, be careful not to scratch the inner coating of the glass. If you scratch this coating with tweezers, it will leave visible “nicks” on the back glass.

Sarah Braden -

Conclusion

Compare your new replacement part to the original part—you may need to transfer remaining components or remove adhesive backings from the new part before installing.

To reassemble your device, follow the above steps in reverse order.

Take your e-waste to an R2 or e-Stewards certified recycler.

Repair didn’t go as planned? Try some basic troubleshooting, or ask our Motorola Moto G6 Answers community for help.