Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

iPhone 12 Pro Max Hair Dryer and IPhone 12 Adhesive while applying Dbrand Skin

J

jordysak

Suspended
Original poster
Jan 8, 2021
259
20
I was applying a dbrand skin on my iPhone 12 but around the camera module area it's a bit hard to stick it down; dbrand suggests using a hair dryer to stretch the skin and make it work.. so I did, I applied the hair dryer hot air directly where the cameras are! That's okay, but my concern is .. using the hair dryer would have caused the adhesive of the camera lens glass to weaken, now the camera glass didn't fall off but could the hair dryer have made the adhesive weaker? I mean, could it be that for example water is more likely to enter the camera as the adhesive is not as strong anymore in case I drop my phone in a pool? Or could the camera lens glass fall off more easily now in case I drop it too hard on the floor?

The hair dryer was on the lowest force but on the highest temperature, and trust me it can get very hot ..you wouldn't be able to put your fingers in front of it, even at its lowest force..
Is there any way to test this?
 
chabig said:
No. I don't think you have anything to worry about.
Click to expand...
I didn’t worry about this until I saw a video where this guy was replacing the lens glass and it only took him about 40 secs to loosen the adhesive of the camera glass .. i might have used the hair dryer for longer than 40 secs , you really think it’s fine?
 
jordysak said:
I didn’t worry about this until I saw a video where this guy was replacing the lens glass and it only took him about 40 secs to loosen the adhesive of the camera glass .. i might have used the hair dryer for longer than 40 secs , you really think it’s fine?
Click to expand...
If you did, you'll notice an issue in the next 8 months and can get it replaced under warranty.
 
  • Like
Reactions: adib
chabig said:
The glue will have cooled by now. It shouldn’t be a problem.
Click to expand...
So you reckon the glue now is as strong as it was initially?
I think this device is circa a month old so I am kinda being more cautious
 
If your consumer law mandates water damage coverage, you could try submerging it within a pail of distilled water, 10 cm deep for 30 minutes should be enough since the IP67 rating covers more than that. If it condenses, then claim for warranty and quote your local consumer law regulation and the IP67 rating.
 
  • Haha
Reactions: Fred Zed
adib said:
If your consumer law mandates water damage coverage, you could try submerging it within a pail of distilled water, 10 cm deep for 30 minutes should be enough since the IP67 rating covers more than that. If it condenses, then claim for warranty and quote your local consumer law regulation and the IP67 rating.
Click to expand...
That’s a classic 😂
 
mnsportsgeek said:
What water damage is a hair dryer going to cause?
Click to expand...
Heat -> adhesive/glue holding the camera lens weakened -> weakened glue = easy to break/stretch -> accidental drop in water/pool -> the lens with weakened glue falls off -> water enters the camera easily
 
jordysak said:
Heat -> adhesive/glue holding the camera lens weakened -> weakened glue = easy to break/stretch -> accidental drop in water/pool -> the lens with weakened glue falls off -> water enters the camera easily
Click to expand...

Maybe before heating your phone and potentially causing damage to your phone is information you should have found out before you did the job and not after.
 
  • Like
Reactions: DieselFiend1989 and Fred Zed
MarkX said:
Maybe before heating your phone and potentially causing damage to your phone is information you should have found out before you did the job and not after.
Click to expand...
Nice, for more context I should add that this worry came to me when I watched a YouTube video and the guy in the video only spent about 20 seconds to warm up the lens before removing it ..before this I was not worrying about , this in fact I did not even care as it’s been some days now since the hair dryer thing

but the fact that the guy on YouTube could remove the lens by applying heat for 20 secs made me concern about it
 
Could you have weakened it? Yes. The likeliness depends on 1. What setting of heat you had the dryer on and 2. How long you applied heat to that spot. To avoid that exact problem I move the dryer up and down regardless of the section of skin I’m working on. This ensures a fairly even level of heat across the device at any time—avoiding a single hot spot.
 
GeeMillz22 said:
Could you have weakened it? Yes. The likeliness depends on 1. What setting of heat you had the dryer on and 2. How long you applied heat to that spot. To avoid that exact problem I move the dryer up and down regardless of the section of skin I’m working on. This ensures a fairly even level of heat across the device at any time—avoiding a single hot spot.
Click to expand...
1) Max heat but lowest speed and 2) about 40 secs at the same spot ..what do you think? I mean normally it takes the heat gun in all videos on youtube to take off a lens, could a hairdryer do the same?
 
My answer remains the same. You could. There’s no way to know for sure without trying to lift the glass. I wouldn’t advise that though. If you don’t notice any adverse effects like loose glass or adhesive pieces, I would say you’re ok. Just try to distribute the heat a little more in the future :)
 
adib said:
If your consumer law mandates water damage coverage, you could try submerging it within a pail of distilled water, 10 cm deep for 30 minutes should be enough since the IP67 rating covers more than that. If it condenses, then claim for warranty and quote your local consumer law regulation and the IP67 rating.
Click to expand...
And after Apple finishes laughing at you, what then?
 
jordysak said:
I was applying a dbrand skin on my iPhone 12 but around the camera module area it's a bit hard to stick it down; dbrand suggests using a hair dryer to stretch the skin and make it work.. so I did, I applied the hair dryer hot air directly where the cameras are! That's okay, but my concern is .. using the hair dryer would have caused the adhesive of the camera lens glass to weaken, now the camera glass didn't fall off but could the hair dryer have made the adhesive weaker? I mean, could it be that for example water is more likely to enter the camera as the adhesive is not as strong anymore in case I drop my phone in a pool? Or could the camera lens glass fall off more easily now in case I drop it too hard on the floor?

The hair dryer was on the lowest force but on the highest temperature, and trust me it can get very hot ..you wouldn't be able to put your fingers in front of it, even at its lowest force..
Is there any way to test this?
Click to expand...

I don’t think you did any damage but putting a hair dryer to your iPhone (on the camera, no less) is definitely not a smart thing to do. Like you said, hair dryers can get very hot, and being that the iPhone is made of metals, glass, adhesive, and other composites, and they will all expand at different rates from rapidly increasing, direct heat. Normal weather changes is fine but a hair dryer is something else, and the very high tolerances the camera module must maintain for the lens elements and sensor to be perfectly aligned would make it especially sensitive to damage. The metal frame likely became very hot and I’m not sure that helped the coating on the lenses. So in the future, I’d strongly advice against the use of a hair dryer.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back