Dgephri
11/15/05
All "Big Photos" are 1024X from my Photobucket Premium account.
Preface: After doing this on two different keyboards, and needing to fix the LCD ribbon cable a second time on both…I would like to advise people who want to attempt this:
If you have previously changed your CPU cooler, or were brave enough to put better paste on your CPU/Video Card, you should be fine.
If you have ever taken a CD player apart, rewired Molex connectors, or wired a Matrix Orbital controller, you should be fine.
You will need:
Small flat tip and phillips screwdrivers (jeweler’s size)
Regular size of both
Needle nose pliers
Tweezers (chisel tip or square)
1. take all the screws out of the back of the G15...there are no screws underneath the "feet" rubber pads. Set these black screws aside together so you can reassemble easier.
2. take a small flat tip screwdriver and gently lift around the edge. You will be able to clearly feel when one of the retainer clips has released. Go all the way around but do NOT lift it all the way up yet. Lever it up from the LCD back edge as the hinge point.
3. with some tweezers or a needle nose pliers, very carefully lift the brown keeper bar from the Bronze colored ribbon cable seat beneath the LCD.
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Photo 4. keep this part in a special place. dropping it or losing it will certainly Brick the keyboard.
5. you can now lift the entire Top piece clear, careful not to pull on the Bronze ribbon cable.
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Photo 6. Take the two screws out of the bottom of the LCD hinge assembly.
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Photo 7. the top retainers should drop out when the screws are fully removed. Set these screws and retainers together so you can reassemble it without checking which screws belong here.
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Photo 8. flip the Top assembly back over to the top side, and remove the one screw that holds the LCD hinge bar.
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Photo 9. look to either side of the LCD hinge assembly, and note the White squeeze type pins that remain holding the LCD assembly in place. Carefully pinch these with a tweezer or needlenose pliers and press them back into the opening. You may need to flip the Top piece over so you can pull them from underneath. Set these White Pins aside so you can reassemble it when necessary.
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Photo 10. you should now have the complete LCD assembly separate from the Top piece.
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Photo Set it aside to prevent any damage to the screen or the ribbon.
11. If you want to disassemble the LCD itself, continue to #12, otherwise skip to STEP 17 to take down the rest of the keyboard and lighting elements.
12. LCD disassembly begins with removing the sticky rubber plugs covering two screws. These screws should also be set aside with the rubber plugs for replacement later.
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Photo 13. carefully use a thin flat screwdriver to separate all the way around the LCD Assembly. These internal clips seem prone to breakage, but the two screws will hold it together later anyway. I had no problem even though I broke some.
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Photo 14. make note of the wrap around the Bronze ribbon...it takes up slack when the LCD moves on its hinge, and is very important when hooking the LCD back up. It's the only means to get the crucial 3-4mm length to reconnect to the main PCB.
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Photo 15. The LCD is very thin, and I can't imaging replacing it with a better LCD/CrystalFontz/Matrix Orbital. Here is a pic of the back, manufacturing numbers, and the backlight wiring.
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Photo 16. That is the completed LCD disassembly.
17. take out the two silver screws underneath the Volume knob, and the one to the right which is actually under the Mute button and Brightness control.
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Photo 18. take the small silver screws out around the entire perimeter.
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Photo 19. before lifting the remaining keyboard deck, you must unplug the remaining cables. The small white plugs are fairly easy with some pliers.
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Photo 20. remove the small silver screw holding the grey strip on the left side. I think this might be a common ground line, but it will hold the keyboard down while trying to lift it. Set this screw aside for reassembly later.
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Photo 21. remove the large grey knob by pulling STRAIGHT up. It should be stiff, but move when pulled.
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Photo 22. remove the plastic button pad from the right side which is the Mute button and Backlight adjustment.
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Photo 23. using some tweezers, very carefully lift the remaining ribbon cables at the locations shown below. The far Left one is can stay, it doesn't move during disassembly.
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Photo 24. you can now start the lifting of the remaining keyboard tray. it is held on by four clips, two on each side, underneath the left and right edges. Be very careful not to break them, it would be difficult to hold all this together during reassembly if you broke them!
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Photo you can get a flat screwdriver under from the top or bottom and usually push them while you lift.
25. you are left with the Innermost Keyboard Section which houses the flat transistor for the buttons, the rubber sheet that provided the springy response, and the Lightplate which distributes the LED light around.
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Photo 26. here you can see 3 panels showing the Innermost Keyboard Section from one edge to the other.
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Photo 27. here you can see panels showing all of the main PCB from left to right.
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Photo 28. here you can see the other LEDs that show for the M keys on the right, and the Numlock/Capslock/ScrollLock on the right.
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Photo 29. If you look at the lower edge of the Innermost Keyboard Section, you will see the green PCB strips that hold the LEDs for the Backlight.
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Photo each LED bar is held in place by a retaining clip, and wired to the next LED bar.
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Photo 30. As you can see, there are 3 bars with 3 LEDs each, and one bar with only 2 LEDs. The bars are each clearly marked with part numbers. I don't know if this is only an internal Logitech number, or a standard 3 LED product that they outsourced.
Image Missing--reupload coming
LED-bar-out.jpg
31. Here you can see the resistor label beneath the solder points of the LED.
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Photo I read it to say 820...my guess is that's the Ohm label.
32. Having removed the LED bars, we can now proceed to finish the disassembly of the Innermost Keyboard Section.
33. take all the silver screws out of the backside of the Innermost Keyboard Section. I count 12. Be careful not to strip any of them...this is what holds the whole thing together during reassembly.