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jordysak

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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?
 

jordysak

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Original poster
Jan 8, 2021
259
20
No. I don't think you have anything to worry about.
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?
 

mnsportsgeek

macrumors 601
Feb 24, 2009
4,436
6,923
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?
If you did, you'll notice an issue in the next 8 months and can get it replaced under warranty.
 
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jordysak

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Original poster
Jan 8, 2021
259
20
The glue will have cooled by now. It shouldn’t be a problem.
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
 

adib

macrumors 6502a
Jun 11, 2010
743
579
Singapore
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.
 
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Fred Zed

macrumors 603
Aug 15, 2019
5,776
6,478
Upstate NY . Was FL.
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.
That’s a classic 😂
 

jordysak

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Original poster
Jan 8, 2021
259
20
What water damage is a hair dryer going to cause?
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
 

MarkX

macrumors 65816
Sep 10, 2015
1,191
1,485
Fochabers, Scotland
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

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.
 

jordysak

Suspended
Original poster
Jan 8, 2021
259
20
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.
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
 

MisterMillz

macrumors 6502a
Mar 12, 2011
671
571
FL, USA
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.
 

jordysak

Suspended
Original poster
Jan 8, 2021
259
20
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.
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?
 

MisterMillz

macrumors 6502a
Mar 12, 2011
671
571
FL, USA
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 :)
 

posguy99

macrumors 68020
Nov 3, 2004
2,284
1,531
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.
And after Apple finishes laughing at you, what then?
 

Starscape

macrumors 6502
Sep 23, 2016
342
503
Florida and New York
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?

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.
 
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