# Question about smashed cell phone and liquid crystal screens

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-smashed-cell-phone-and-liquid-crystal-screens/726840>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [August 3, 2015, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-smashed-cell-phone-and-liquid-crystal-screens/726840 "2015-08-03T02:13:05Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\
**Post date:** [August 3, 2015, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-smashed-cell-phone-and-liquid-crystal-screens/726840/1 "2015-08-03T02:13:05Z")

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How do technicians replace a smashed cell phone screen without the underlying liquid crystal stuff leaking out? I’m guessing the liquid is viscous so that the removal of the glass screen doesn’t make stuff come out, but wouldn’t some of the crystals still stick to the underside of the screen?

Wouldn’t it be like a plate of glass put on top of honey or molasses, and you try to remove the glass plate without anything adhering underneath?

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**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\
**Post date:** [August 3, 2015, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-smashed-cell-phone-and-liquid-crystal-screens/726840/2 "2015-08-03T02:20:45Z")

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The screen is a sandwich, with the LC material in the middle. It’s vanishingly thin - when the screen is smashed, the LC simply stays sandwiched between all the glass shards. The entire screen is replaced as one piece.

ETA: the screen is a modern cell phone is not much thicker than a piece of paper. Even with the backlight and diffuser assembly, the whole thing is well under 1/10" thick.

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**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\
**Post date:** [August 5, 2015, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-smashed-cell-phone-and-liquid-crystal-screens/726840/3 "2015-08-05T22:48:57Z")

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> [@beowulff](#):
>
> The screen is a sandwich, with the LC material in the middle. It’s vanishingly thin - when the screen is smashed, the LC simply stays sandwiched between all the glass shards. The entire screen is replaced as one piece.
> 
> ETA: the screen is a modern cell phone is not much thicker than a piece of paper. Even with the backlight and diffuser assembly, the whole thing is well under 1/10" thick.

Interesting, didn’t know that, thanks. What do the technicians do if the screen did indeed smash through all the way to the liquid crystals? Simply wipe it up with a rag and replace screen anyway?

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**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\
**Post date:** [August 5, 2015, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-smashed-cell-phone-and-liquid-crystal-screens/726840/4 "2015-08-05T23:29:25Z")

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> [@Velocity](#):
>
> Interesting, didn’t know that, thanks. What do the technicians do if the screen did indeed smash through all the way to the liquid crystals? Simply wipe it up with a rag and replace screen anyway?

I’ve seen lots of smashed LCDs, and never seen any liquid- it’s just too small an amount to flow.

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**Author:** ![Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a88e4f/32.png) [@Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Digital_is_the_new_Analog)\
**Post date:** [August 7, 2015, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-smashed-cell-phone-and-liquid-crystal-screens/726840/5 "2015-08-07T01:42:16Z")

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> [@beowulff](#):
>
> I’ve seen lots of smashed LCDs, and never seen any liquid- it’s just too small an amount to flow.

This. I’ve never even considered that the word liquid is in there. Over 10 years in cell phone design (including mechanical testing), and I’ve never seen liquid from a display.