Rear camera glass broke for no reason...warranty or fix myself?

[Marconis4]

Pulled my phone out to snap a photo, noticed all the glass was cracked...can't even feel it, it's like it's "under" the glass or something. Pissed off. Got this device in late April, and after reading all the threads knew it would be a matter of time.

Should I fix it myself or send in to LG? I have a Nexus 6P I can use so I don't mind sending it away, but is it guaranteed they will repair it?

 

[Mike Dee]

They will probably call it customer neglect. I fixed mine on the G5 and it was easy. It might feel smooth because there might be a plastic protector on it especially if its from Verizon.
I thought mine happened by itself but when I found out how little it takes to shatter it most likely did not break spontaneously. I've had my V20 since October and it's ok. My uncle has the G5 and its been fine ever since.
If you send me a picture of it will I give you my opinion as to how it happened...spontaneous or hidden damage by you.

 

[Mooncatt]

The actual number of people with a broken camera glass seems very small, not even worthy of being called common. Of the ones with pics I've seen, you can tell something definitely impacted it. So my guess is that something did likely hit it without you knowing it, and LG will likely deny the warranty claim. So I'd either look into replacing it yourself, or pay a shop to do it. I wouldn't even bother sending it to LG because who knows what may happen with your data. At least if you go to a local shop, you don't have to worry about them wiping your data.

 

[Marconis4]

It is common. Plain and simple. And I know for a fact I didn't bump in to anything or place my phone down rough, it probably shattered from normal leg movement. Should not happen, please don't try to defend it.

I'll just fix it myself. Thanks.

 

[Mooncatt]

It is common. Plain and simple. And I know for a fact I didn't bump in to anything or place my phone down rough, it probably shattered from normal leg movement. Should not happen, please don't try to defend it.

I'll just fix it myself. Thanks.

There was only a few reports of it here, then those people were keeping it going making it seem a bigger issue. Fewer still was any pics of the breaks, which all showed an impact point. If it were common, there would've been not only more reports here, but links to how wide spread it was around the net.

I'm not here to defend anyone, other than to suggest that any chance of getting this claimed under warranty is slim to none based on my observations. And because you didn't post a pic of yours, I'm just going by the law of averages that it likely has some tell tail signs of impact in the glass. If you post something showing otherwise, I'll reconsider that viewpoint.

But good luck with the repair nonetheless.

 

[jpprice14]

I've had mine since release. Hasn't happened to mine. I do use a Spigen tough armor tho. Was running it bare until I found a huge scratch on the backplate and I didn't know how it happened.

 

[Marconis4]

There was only a few reports of it here, then those people were keeping it going making it seem a bigger issue. Fewer still was any pics of the breaks, which all showed an impact point. If it were common, there would've been not only more reports here, but links to how wide spread it was around the net.

I'm not here to defend anyone, other than to suggest that any chance of getting this claimed under warranty is slim to none based on my observations. And because you didn't post a pic of yours, I'm just going by the law of averages that it likely has some tell tail signs of impact in the glass. If you post something showing otherwise, I'll reconsider that viewpoint.

But good luck with the repair nonetheless.

Here's your photo. Good luck finding that "impact point".

 

[Golfdriver97]

I would contact LG if I was in your place. It won't hurt to ask. They may question the mark just below the camera lens on the left, though.

 

[flyingkytez]

Pulled my phone out to snap a photo, noticed all the glass was cracked...can't even feel it, it's like it's "under" the glass or something. Pissed off. Got this device in late April, and after reading all the threads knew it would be a matter of time.

Should I fix it myself or send in to LG? I have a Nexus 6P I can use so I don't mind sending it away, but is it guaranteed they will repair it?

Unfortunately the glass on the V20 on the back isn't gorilla glass. Maybe it hit a hard surface while inside your pocket? Like a table or something. I think you won't have a hard time fixing it, parts are available. You just unscrew the back. Good thing the V20 has a removable back so repairs aren't impossible.

 

[flyingkytez]

I would contact LG if I was in your place. It won't hurt to ask. They may question the mark just below the camera lens on the left, though.

Very true, doesn't hurt to ask. If you chat with them on live chat, maybe they'll hear your side of the story and honor it. It does have a 1 year warranty, you can just say that it wasn't your fault. I've tried with Samsung and got denied for a broken sim tray. Maybe LG is different.

If you send your phone, you'll be without a phone for a few days or weeks. Either use a back up phone or buy a cheap used phone or a cheap phone at Walmart. Walmart has prepaid AT&T and Verizon phones from $15-$150.

 

[Mooncatt]

They may question the mark just below the camera lens on the left, though.

I would agree. The glass itself doesn't show an impact like the others I've seen, but any sign of physical damage/abuse is grounds for them to deny a warranty claim. This wouldn't be specific to LG, but manufacturers in general.

 

[Mike Dee]

I would agree. The glass itself doesn't show an impact like the others I've seen, but any sign of physical damage/abuse is grounds for them to deny a warranty claim. This wouldn't be specific to LG, but manufacturers in general.

I see one small spot over the LED flash wear something might have pressed up against it. It doesn't take much to shatter the glass...just something pointy with very light pressure. A friend of mine who works at Verizon tested it on several different DOA phones both LG & Samsung and you wouldn't believe how fragile the camera glass it. The edge or point of a key easily shattered the lenses in every case. Tempered glass can break on its on though if they are tiny impurities in the glass. It happened to me on my storm door glass panel that was sitting in the attic.

 

[Mike Dee]

Unfortunately the glass on the V20 on the back isn't gorilla glass. Maybe it hit a hard surface while inside your pocket? Like a table or something. I think you won't have a hard time fixing it, parts are available. You just unscrew the back. Good thing the V20 has a removable back so repairs aren't impossible.

You dont have to unscrew the back. You can pry out the old lens and replace it from the back

 

[Mike Dee]

I would agree. The glass itself doesn't show an impact like the others I've seen, but any sign of physical damage/abuse is grounds for them to deny a warranty claim. This wouldn't be specific to LG, but manufacturers in general.

They will mostly deny it anyway but I guess it can't hurt to try.

 

[christianttt]

There are some "How to replace the camera glass" videos in Youtube, is not hard to do, but I would be cautious not to harm the real camera lens when retiring the rests of the broken glass.

 

[Marconis4]

Alright, I ordered a replacement piece on eBay for $4. Got it today. It took me about 20 minutes to complete the whole process, removing the old glass was time consuming. I recommend wearing safety glasses when performing this as glass can potentially fly into your high if you pull it up the wrong way (I'm not kidding).

I think a little thread from my alcohol pad may have gotten caught under the glass, but from what I can tell it's not being picked up by the lens. I'll be able to tell fully tomorrow in daylight. Glad to be back to my V20. Switching back to my Nexus 6P was painful.

 

[Mike Dee]

Alright, I ordered a replacement piece on eBay for $4. Got it today. It took me about 20 minutes to complete the whole process, removing the old glass was time consuming. I recommend wearing safety glasses when performing this as glass can potentially fly into your high if you pull it up the wrong way (I'm not kidding).

I think a little thread from my alcohol pad may have gotten caught under the glass, but from what I can tell it's not being picked up by the lens. I'll be able to tell fully tomorrow in daylight. Glad to be back to my V20. Switching back to my Nexus 6P was painful.

So you removed it from the back as I did with the G5?

 

[Marconis4]

So you removed it from the back as I did with the G5?

Yeah, with fine tweezers. No need to remove anything other than back cover.

 

[Mike Dee]

interesting....didn't think cover removal was required

 

[christianttt]

So, everything went well?