Fairphone

English

FP2 Fixing non-responsive touch screen with an electronic lighter

Participate Do It Yourself
,
#1

This has been mentioned before, but I’m still posting this as new since I had missed the trick before, and this could extend the life to a phone or display that might be heading for recycling otherwise, for almost free.

:warning: Trying this will void your warranty and can irreversably destroy your display. Only do this if you are sure. :warning:

So I got the dreaded non-responsive touch screen problem on my FP2. Left side of the screen had a vertical stripe that didn’t work. As the phone is getting quite old I considered my choices for quite a while. After a lot of deliberation I decided to order a new screen, but then I stumbled on stories and videos on using the igniter from an electronic lighter to revive a touch screen. It sounded unbelievable, but since I had nothing to lose I dug up an empty lighter (the fireplace type with a long nose) and tested it on the touch screen without even bothering to strip the igniter out of the lighter. Lo and behold, my touch screen was back in action! Some say the problem may recur after only a few days or even less (and someone said they carry an ignitor with them at all times), but I’ve been lucky since it’s been now working fine since 16 July.

6 Likes
:fr: Problème de clavier
Dropdown menu failour, Keyboard failour
#2

Hi @emaijala :slight_smile:
What did you do exactly? Let the mini-lightnings of the ignitor travel through the display?

Also, I’ll just add this to the thread for people who might want to consider trying this:

:warning: Trying this will void your warranty and can irreversably destroy your display. Only do this if you are sure. :warning:


Oh, and @rmf, why aren’t I surprised that you liked this post :wink:

1 Like
#3

Goodness knows I love repair advice that requires safety warnings. I’m going to try this tonight on a screen that has an unresponsive area, heat hasn’t been able to fix it.

1 Like
#4

I just placed the lighter flat on the screen with the tip over the dead area and clicked it it a few times. Just like in the linked video but with an intact lighter like this: 31RtZ-eUOJL

Just think the light surface on the photo is a screen with the top left having a dead spot.

1 Like
#5

Oh, and thanks for the warning, I’ll add it to the original post too. Having said all of the above, I’ve no idea how this fix actually works. Static electricity is involved, but the mechanism is unknown to me. Perhaps the jolt it gives somehow resets a touch screen that’s lost a connection or a part has gathered wrong electric potential.

1 Like
#6

I found information about this “fix” when I had an unresponsive line on my display and tried it with a Piezo lighter. It worked for some time (hours or even days?), then the issue was back. Therefore I’d call it an interesting experiment to try out but unfortunately not a solution.

#7

Yes, like I said, I’ve also read about similar results. However, mine is still working after almost two weeks, and even if the fix is only temporary, it may solve the issue of how to use the phone while waiting for a new screen or trying to decide the next step.

4 Likes
#8

Just a quick follow-up: The problem came back a couple of days ago. I redid the fix and it worked again for a few days. Today I had to give it a shock again. Looks like it’s time to think of alternatives again…

1 Like
#9

Still using the phone with the faulty display. It can go fine for a week to two if I’m lucky, so it doesn’t seem to be getting any worse. I just need to keep the igniter at hand for a quick fix every now and then. I also found out that the igniter works even if I use it on the wrong side of the display (held the phone upside down, oops). I realize I’m running on extra time, but as long as it works… :slight_smile:

1 Like
#10

I’ve tried doing essentially the same thing, however I used a high voltage arc discharge device (kind of looks like a gun, when you press a button, electric arcs shoot out to closeby metal surfaces). I pointed the device at a metal sheet, and held the phone close to the arcing, however still far enough that the arcs couldn’t actually travel towards the phone.
The result is a definitive, but temporary improvement.
Sometimes the screen will be better for half an hour, sometimes for several days. I haven’t seen any damage after several weeks of doing this.

Also useful: my screen was prone to prolonged bursts of ghost touches at the border of the unresponsive area. The spark treatment improves this as well, and ghost touches take even longer to reappear than the unresponsive area.

2 Likes
#11

I’m also still using the method with the same display. Sometimes it works so long I forget the problem, sometimes just a day. I’m also sometimes experiencing phantom touches that the zapping temporarily cures.

1 Like
#12

hi -just tried this, no luck im afraid. Couple of questions does it matter if the screen has a simple protector fitted (not the tempered glass type) does the tip of the igniter touch the screen or just needs to be near ?

thanks

#13

I’m not sure about the protector. I didn’t have one. The tip of the igniter doesn’t need to touch the surface, being near enough is sufficient. I used to click it around the screen several times. Now the phone has been retired, but I used it this way until the end of 2020. In the end there were a couple of cases where the screen started to experience ghost touches.

1 Like