Hidizs AP80 Marketchangers Instruction Manual
- June 6, 2024
- HIDIZS
Table of Contents
THE_MARKETCHANGERS
Hidizs AP80 — a guide on teardown & repair
Instead of writing another review, I have prepared something interesting today — an article on how to repair the Hidizs AP80 series of DAPs.
First of all, my Hidizs AP80 (first revision) is in perfect working condition
and remains such since I have received it 2 years ago. During those years it
experienced some heavy usage, acting as the main testing source for numerous
IEMs as well as serving its main purpose in everyday life.
I also possess AP80
rev.2 and AP80Pro variants but those were kept on a shelf for the specific
tests in the future. Unfortunately, the future came faster than expected my
beloved AP80 accidentally fell on the ground, right lower corner taking all
impact force and the screen has cracked.
No visible damage to the aluminum case but the screen glass panel is a mess
(had no protective film). As a ma there and touchscreen layer is fully
operational…
As you understand, using the screen with a glass panel falling apart into
small pieces is quite dangerous. Additionally, the esthete in me almost panics
looking at the screen in this condition… Therefore, I have decided to restore
my AP80 and give it a factory look :)… And I’ve also decided to document the
process and combine it in teardown and repair guide for other owners. This
guide would also help to understand what AP80 consists of, how to replace
balance changing only glass panel is much more complicated even for the
professional ls (LCD and glass panel are glued together), the only possible
solution to replace glass+LCD+touchscreen sandwich at once.
Ok, Google. Where to find the spares? No problems here either: I have contacted
hello@hidizs.net and requested the price for such a
repair sandwich. They have stated the price ($19.99) and arranged the
order.
Moreover, I also had a talk with Hidizs representatives on the possibility of
any customer requesting such repair parts. The answer was positive: if you
want to perform DIY repair or to hand over parts and broken devices to a
service center nearby — you can contact this email and the person responsible
for after-sales support would reply with the price and arrange order shipment.
Just keep in mind that DIY/unofficial repair would void the warranty. Hidizs is
no welcome such approach but is ready to support their customers with the
necessary spare parts if someone doesn’t want or is not able to send the
device to headquarters for the official repair.
Anyway, all doubts aside, I was always curious enough to try to fix such
devices on my own, not giving a s….t about warranty or the complexity of such
task But at his point, I should warn you once more: I would not be responsible
for any damage commit while following this guide. Such work requires advanced
skills and an overall understanding of the process. As for me — I am not a
professional but still have large experience in building, soldering, and fixing
electronics. It originates from many years of being involved in radio control
hobbies and other adjacent activities.
Let’s start with the teardown process. Since there are no screws in AP80 construction, the only way to get inside is either by removing the front glass panel the screen, or the back glass cover. First is not an option since starting with the screen is always a more complicated process that might lead to undesired dama to the most expensive part of the device. Therefore, I would start by removing the back glass cover. Yes, it is fragile and the amount of force during this operation should be reasonable. The panel sits on special adhesive and the best (least invasive way) would be the next:
- Heating back panel with a heat gun (even hairdryer would do). Not much, to ~50-60 deg.C.
- Using any fiou can also try to use any sharp and wide plastic object (like a guitar pickup) to insert between the case and panel in order to separate it. I wouldn’t recommend this method as it may lead to glass fracture.
So, I have successfully lifted the heated panel with a special instrument.
Quite easy if the temperature is enough to melt the adhesive. Do not apply too
much force when lifting this panel as it has a Bluetooth PCB antenna attached
to the backside and its cable connected to the motherboard.
First that we see is 800mAh, 3.7V 18 LiON battery with 4 wires connector which
is additionally protected and locked at a place by the small aluminum cm. with
the screw
Unscrew it first and the next step is to remove the battery.
The battery is retained by the adhesive layer applied to the board shielding
cover. You can first remove the battery together with this shield (it is held
in place tiny aluminum clips located on its perimeter on the board) and then
separate the battery from the shield by slightly heating it and inserting
thing plastic object in between. But if changing the battery is not among your
quests — do not do that and just leave it aside. disconnect the battery by
gently pulling the wires straight up near the connector with thin
pliers.
Apply even force to all wires at the same time to protect them from stripping
or tearing.
The next step is to disconnect the Bluetooth antenna from the board.
Use small pliers, gently pull the antenna cable near the connector to
disconnect it from the motherboard.
All connectors are covered with black isolation stickers which can be easily
removed and applied back later.
Remove:
- LCD cable (by pulling it gently up with the thin pliers)
- Touchscreen cable (by opening connector lock first (move tiny black plastic clamp on this connector from horizontal to a vertical position with a tooth and gently pulling cable back from the connector housing)
- Jog dial cable (by opening connector lock first (move tiny black plastic clamp on this connector from horizontal to a vertical position with a toothpick) a gently pulling cable back from the connector housing)
Now, when everything is disconnected — we can remove all screws and take out
the board. Note: be careful with 3 side bully, Prev, Next) as tho are separate
aluminum elements inserted into the case openings and held together by a
silicon separator.
Also, remember that all three buttons are different in length due to such case
profiles with variable edge thickness. The longer button is closer to the top
w: the shortest one is at the bottom.
Now, when everything is disconnected we can remove the screen sandwich which also sits on the adhesive. Heat it up a liof force from inside. It should come out easily afterward.
About jog dial. It has the potentiometer on PCB which is additionally retained
by a special small aluminum bracket and 2 screws. If you need to replace t
jog, besides removing the bracket, you would have to apply some force to lock
the potentiometer movement and unscrew its cap from the shaft. The cap held on
the shaft thread with a thread locker, I guess… Again, the best solution to
melt the thread locker is to heat it. But this is not necessary when changing
screen, battery, or any other element.
The next important step is installing a new screen sandwich and fixing it in
place with a special adhesive strip or glue. I would use regular resin glue
from the closest local home appliance store. We need to remove old adhesive
with a help of a toothpick and some solvent and then apply a thin layer of new
adhesive glue.
place and what’s left is to assemble everything back in the reverse order.
Don’t forget to apply gentle force when plugging all cables and connectors
back, close the connector locks where necessary, and apply isolation stickers.
B really careful when fie strip to a glass panel to the case.
I have also used some stickers to hold front and rear panels against the case
to let it dry for 24 hours.
Voila! Everything is up and running. The new screen is working perfectly and
my Hidizs AP80 is restored to its original condition. Not a big deal and lots
of during the process…
Hope that this material would help you in case of emergency Wishing you less
tremor in your hands when repeating the procedure Many thanks to Hidizs for
the goodwill, parts availability and support.
Hidizs official store: LINK
10%OFF for any order at Hidizs store: link
Official Hidizs Amazon store: LINK
Thank you for reading.
Stay tuned, more articles to come!
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