Possible to remove hinge from Pandora without complete disassembly?

[TSBroich]

Hi!

So I have a Rebirth Pandora arriving today, and I plan on replacing the silver casing to make the unit like new again. I do have a question though.

Since the top part of the casing surrounding the LCD is a pain to replace, I'd like to avoid taking this apart if possible. If it's possible to just replace the two lower pieces of the silver casing (the back plate, and the silver piece where your thumbs rest, and housing the hinge), I'd love to do this.

So my question: is it possible to disassemble the unit all the way down to a hinge replacement without actually taking apart the casing surrounding the screen? I don't mind cutting away parts of the plastic on the old casing if necessary, as it'll get tossed anyways.

Thanks! If this thread is in the wrong section, I sincerely apologize, and feel free to move it.

 

[Eight Bit]

With Ed's disassembly video it was a breeze for me. I replaced the entire case from the GHz silver to my original black one in 20 minutes or so. I don't think the bottom can be replaced without disassembling the top if that's what you mean but I don't recall and am too lazy to look it up in the video right now iirc the hinge needs to be pushed through with a tool and you can't reach that without parting the two screen parts of the case.

 

[TSBroich]

I was afraid of that.. I'll check out Ed's video on taking apart the top part.

I only watched a different video by someone else on this process, and they stuck to cutting away the plastic surrounding the clips in the top corners of the top part of the casing so it comes apart easily without any risk of cracking the LCD. Of course, I prefer for it to not get messy. haha

 

[levi]

FWIW when taking my Pandora apart, I've never felt in danger of cracking the LCD. Cracking the lid outer is something that has happened to my unit, but if you're replacing the case that won't be a problem.

I don't see any way to get the hinge out without taking the lid inner out, taking the case bottom off and removing the board and the corresponding light pipe. You need access inside the lid to place your level to pop the hinge, and you need to remove the light pipe to avoid crushing that in the process (I think the microphone tube's on the other side, but I forget).

 

[TSBroich]

Yeah I figured it would require almost an entire unit disassembly to get to the hinge so I could remove the the entire lower part of the casing, but wasn't 100% sure if removing the bottom and top lids was required to also remove the whole bottom part of the casing. It looks like that is a requirement to do this.

Oh well. Looks like an entire disassembly is in my future.