iPhone 5 cracked glass, but the screen still works

"THIS guide seems to indicate the display and front glass are an assembly. That's not to say you could not pull it down further, just that the guide doesn't show how.

This PART appears to be what you need.

UPDATE: I've found this glass only. Perhaps you could make a guide for iFixit if you decide to attempt replacing the glass only."

To be able to defuse the lcd from the glass you will need an lcd separator machine that has a hot plate you put the screen on. Lcd separator machine reviews and tutorials can be found at www.lcdseparatormachines.com.

"saw this video on a chinese website

http://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XNDc1MjY3Nj...

only a few steps, but requires considerable skill

1: remove everything else

2: remove the upper and lower part of the shattered glass

3: glue a piece of glass onto the shattered glass

4: fix the glass on the heater, heat up

5: use a very thin steel wire to cut the front glass off. It seems that they cut between the front glass and the touch sensor. if the touch sensor is shattered, the screen is totaled.

6: use some solvent to wash the remaining glue off, clean the screen

7: apply new glue. slowly put the new glass onto the glue, watch for any bubbles or dust. let gravity do the work

8: not shown in the video, but according what i've read about those LOCA glue requires curing under UV light"

"As a non industry guy, but skilled with my hands, I was able to separate the glass from the digitizer successfully using basic tools. And somewhat followed the Chinese video above. I took the screen all down, and due to the severe shattering of my phone I had to remove the bits of glass piece by piece. I did this using a hot plate, temp gun to make sure I didn't overheat it, duck brand adheasive remover I got locally and a guitar string along with a very tiny flat head and the plastic scraper.

Because the screen was so shattered it took me the better part of two hours to get all the glass off. Soaked the whole thing in the adheasive remover and then warmed it up on the hot plate, trying to keep around 160 degrees. Different chunks required different tools, but the majority I got off with the scraper.

Then I repeatedly soaked the LCD in the remover stuff and gently wiped it down. I still scratched it pretty bad thanks to the tiny glass shards, but it looks good at night. Got the LCD totally clean, glued the new glass to the frame only because I didn't have the proper glue and reassembled the whole works.

The result is some tiny scratches and the center of the screen is a bit dark. Either because I did t glue it to the glass or because I might have over heated the screen accidentally. For ten bucks I'm happy with it. I can read things on it and the touch is better then ever! If you're tight on money, but loaded on time and skill I highly recommend it."

I just tried it on my own and I suggest to not do it. It won't work like that. Just order the complete iPhone 5 display assembly and you'll be fine.

"Not only the problem is to remove the (cracked) glass, which is achievable rather simple with the help of some sort of unglueing treatments (like the GooGone and etc.), but to rebond the new glass lens with the LCD-digitizer assembly (yes, the LCD and digitizer in iPhone 5 are glued together and this assembly is then glued with the display glass lens).

There is a special (industrial) optically clear adhesive used, which also eliminates the air bubbles after treatment. Unfortunately, this glue is unavailable across the USA and Europe. Likely it is only available in China and maybe some other countries, where the manufacturers plants reside.

UPDATE! The afore mentioned glue is called LOCA (Liquid Optically Clear Adhesive), it's made by Loctite and is currently widely available from ebay or aliexpress."