The short version: At LithGeek in Lithgow, we train our front-counter staff on real iPhone repairs using dead “graveyard” phones that can’t be fixed or sold. A typical iPhone SE or iPhone 8 screen replacement means warming the adhesive on a temperature-controlled heat pad (65–80°C), lifting the screen with an anticlamp and plastic pick, managing around 14 screws, staying grounded against static, and disconnecting the battery before touching anything else. Because lithium batteries can catch fire if punctured or overheated, we don’t recommend DIY phone repair without the right tools and training.
This week, phone repairs have been coming in thick and fast. I’m not sure exactly why — maybe our advertising is finally doing something — but yesterday I did a full week’s worth of phone repairs in a single day. Which is great. That’s the kind of problem I like to have.
And it got me thinking: while we’re busy, this is exactly the right time to teach our sales person, Tracy, how to do a phone repair.
Why Should a Sales Person Learn Phone Repair?
Here’s the thing. When someone walks in asking for a quote on an iPhone repair and I’m not around, Tracy needs to be able to give them a real answer. Not a number from a laminated sheet — a genuine, considered answer based on understanding what the repair actually involves.
A cracked screen is straightforward. But what if it’s a charge port? A camera? A side button? A software issue? What if the phone’s been dropped in water and the customer isn’t sure what’s wrong? Those situations don’t fit neatly into a price list, and you can’t give a good quote if you don’t know what you’re quoting for.
I’m not training Tracy to become our head repair technician. What I am doing is giving her enough hands-on experience that when a customer asks a question, she doesn’t need to stop everything and come find me. She’ll have a baseline understanding. And that makes the whole shop run better.
The Phone Graveyard
So today, I went to what we affectionately call the phone graveyard.
These are phones that came in beyond economic repair — liquid-damaged, badly cracked, or handed over by customers who said “it’s not worth fixing, do you want it for training?” We’ll never sell these phones. We’re not going to repair them and put our name on them. They’re useless as devices. But as training tools? They’re perfect.
I pulled out an old iPhone SE — the second-generation one, which is essentially an iPhone 8 frame with a better processor inside. This particular one was handed to me about a year ago, still dripping wet. Liquid damage. Never going to run again. Ideal.
The Most Important Part of Training: Permission to Break Things
Before I touch the phone, I always say the same thing: this device doesn’t work. So if you get it working, I’ll be impressed. But if you crack the screen or strip a screw — it doesn’t matter. It’s already broken.
That changes everything.
When someone is repairing a working phone — a customer’s phone — there’s a voice in the back of their head the whole time. What if I crack the new screen? What if I break something that was working? What if the customer finds out? That anxiety makes people rush, second-guess themselves, and make mistakes. I know, because when I was first learning to do phone repairs, I didn’t get the luxury of practice phones. I learned on live devices. And it was genuinely nerve-wracking.
Give someone a phone that’s already dead, and that voice disappears. They stop worrying about disappointing me. They stop worrying about breaking something. They just do the work. And when they do make a mistake — accidentally crack the screen, let a screw roll off the bench, apply too much pressure in the wrong spot — they learn from it right then, when it costs nothing.
That’s the whole point. I want them to make those mistakes now, not the first time they work on a real customer’s phone.
How Do You Replace an iPhone Screen? What We Covered Today
Here’s a condensed version of what we went through — which also serves as a pretty solid overview of what’s involved in any iPhone screen repair.
Step 1: The Heat Pad
We placed the phone face-down on a temperature-controlled heat pad — and I mean temperature-controlled, not a heat gun, not a hair dryer. The goal is to warm the adhesive around the screen bezel just enough to soften it. Not melt it. Not dissolve it. Just soften it.
Why does this matter? Because there’s a lithium battery inside, and if you overheat it, you have a very bad day. I keep the temperature between 65 and 80 degrees Celsius, for short bursts. Under 100°C is generally safe, but I’d rather stay well clear of that ceiling. If you’re thinking about doing this at home — I’d recommend against it unless you have the right equipment and know what you’re doing. The downside is not a cracked screen.
Step 2: The Anticlamp
Once the adhesive is soft, we remove two screws at the bottom of the phone, then use a tool called an anticlamp — essentially a clamp that pulls apart instead of squeezing together, with suction cups on each side. One cup on the back glass, one on the screen.
The mistake most people make here is pulling too hard, too fast, or too straight up. The screen is glass. The cables connecting it to the phone aren’t infinitely flexible. Pull wrong and you either crack the screen or sever the cables. The correct technique is slow, controlled, and slightly angled — and once there’s just a small gap, you slide a plastic pick in to continue breaking the adhesive seal, not your fingers and not anything metal.
Step 3: The Screws (There Are More Than You Think)
A standard iPhone SE or iPhone 8 screen replacement involves around 14 screws. If you’re going into the charge port as well, add another 20. Each one matters. And here’s something that catches even experienced people out: the speaker magnets will collect screws. If you put a screw down anywhere near the speaker assembly and don’t notice it sticking, you can close the phone with a stowaway screw rattling around inside — and when you press the screen down to test it, you’ll crack it from underneath.
We use a magnetic mat with labelled sections for every screw. Old-school but it works.
Step 4: Static Electricity and Grounding
This is the one most DIY repair guides skip, and it’s important. Static electricity can damage the sensitive components inside a phone — you might not feel the discharge, but the phone does. We have anti-static mats on every workbench, we replaced all the carpet in the shop, and we use grounding wrist straps. The goal is simple: keep you and the device at the same charge level, ideally zero. It sounds fussy. It’s just good practice.
Step 5: Disconnecting the Battery (Even If You’re Not Touching It)
Even if the battery isn’t the reason you’re in there, disconnect it first. Any metal tool that touches a live circuit inside a phone can create a short — even if you don’t feel anything. That short can damage sensors, the display controller, or anything else on the board. Two seconds to disconnect the battery, zero chance of causing extra damage.
Step 6: How to Remove and Dispose of a Phone Battery Safely
We also had Tracy remove the battery. I want to be clear here: if you’re not comfortable with this, take it to a professional. Lithium batteries that are punctured, overheated, or already swollen can ignite like a road flare. I’ve seen it happen. It’s not subtle.
Disposal matters too. Do not put a lithium battery in the bin. It will start a fire somewhere down the line. We collect old batteries in a bucket of sand — if one ignites, it burns in the sand and doesn’t spread — and we take them to the tip about once a month for proper recycling. If a battery is starting to swell before that, it goes sooner.
What Comes Next
Tracy’s going to do well. She’s methodical, she asks good questions, and she didn’t panic when things got fiddly — which is the main thing.
For context: I can repair an iPhone 11 in about 15 minutes. That’s because I’ve done probably a hundred of them in the last year alone. That speed comes from repetition, and repetition starts with taking the same phone apart and putting it back together over and over, on devices that don’t matter. That’s exactly what’s next — Tracy’s going to work through our graveyard pile until the process becomes second nature.
The broader point, though, is this: I want every person in this shop — even the person handling the front desk — to understand what phone repair actually involves. Not so they all become technicians. So that when a customer asks a question, whoever answers them actually knows what they’re talking about. That makes every part of the experience better.
If you’ve got a phone that needs looking at — cracked screen, dead battery, charge port that’s seen better days, or something more unusual — drop into LithGeek in Lithgow or give us a call. We’ll give you a straight answer on what it needs and what it’ll cost.
iPhone Repair FAQs
It depends on the model and the fault. An experienced technician can repair an iPhone 11 in about 30 minutes. That speed comes from repetition — at LithGeek we’ve done around a hundred of them in the last year. Charge port repairs take longer because there’s more to take apart. However because I get interrupted often we stay about an hour!
We don’t recommend it unless you have the right equipment and experience. Every iPhone contains a lithium battery that can ignite if it’s overheated, punctured or already swollen. You also need a temperature-controlled heat pad, anti-static protection and the right tools — a hair dryer, heat gun or metal pry tool can do far more damage than the original problem.
Warm the phone face-down on a temperature-controlled heat pad to soften the screen adhesive, remove the two screws at the bottom of the phone, then use an anticlamp with suction cups to open a small gap. Slide a plastic pick in to work around the adhesive seal, lifting slowly and at a slight angle so you don’t crack the glass or tear the display cables. Disconnect the battery before touching anything else inside.
We keep the heat pad between 65 and 80°C, in short bursts. Under 100°C is generally considered safe for the battery, but it’s best to stay well below that ceiling. The aim is only to soften the adhesive, not melt it. … I would make sure that the hot plate you are using is actually the temperature it says.
Around 14 screws for a standard iPhone SE (2nd generation) or iPhone 8 screen replacement, and roughly 20 more if you’re also replacing the charge port. Watch out for screws sticking to the speaker magnets — a stray screw left inside can crack the new screen from underneath.
Never put a lithium phone battery in the household bin — it can start a fire in the truck or at the tip. At LithGeek we store old batteries in a bucket of sand, so if one ignites it can’t spread, and take them to the tip for proper recycling about once a month. Swollen batteries go sooner.
LithGeek at 85 Main Street, Lithgow NSW repairs iPhones and other phones — cracked screens, tired batteries, charge ports, and more unusual faults. Drop in or get in touch and we’ll tell you what your phone needs and what it will cost.