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I successfully replaced the digitizer of a customer’s iPad Mini with the soldering method. I connected everything and tested, and it was successful except for the home button. I disconnected the digitizer flex and the screen flex and the battery also. I wanted to test again and connected everything. I tried to turn on the Mini, but only had sound and no screen. The screen stays black. iTunes recognises the Ipad Mini, and I did a DFU in hopes that it would work, but no success. NO SCREEN. What can I do? iTunes says the battery is 100% charged.

Make the jumper or replace the fuse.

Wow…. Ok let me sum this up so no more people are confused by this pic. The path of the electricity to operate the back light follows the green line from the top right of the pic thru the fuse marked in red to the connector. To bypass the fuse all you have to do is lay a bead of solder on top of the fuse that connects the left and right side of the fuse pad. You do not need jumper wires or anything else. If you want the correct fix, replace it. But this works as I have done it before. You can test the fuse for an open first with a multimeter to make sure this is the issue you are having. Put the meter on the continuity setting, touch the right side of the fuse with one lead and the left side of the fuse with the other lead. If you have no continuity then lay solder across the top of the fuse, making a bridge for the electricity to flow past it. If you have continuity (usually .02-.03 ohms) your problems is somewhere else in the circuit. To add to this: the fuse is there for protection just like any fuse is in any electrical circuit. It you successfully bypass it with the solder method, make sure you don’t make the same mistake again as you may end up with irreparable board damage. What causes this problem to happen in the first place? Good question. It’s caused by disconnecting the screen while the iPad powered or possibly turning on the iPad on accident while the screen is unplugged. Easy solution is to have to make sure that you disconnect the battery before disconnecting the LCD connector and reconnecting the battery after the LCD has been reconnected to the board during reassembly.

Here is a close up of the iPad mini backlight fuse—ideally you would replace it for a robust long lasting solution which is very straightforward to do with the right equipment and experience. If you insist on jumping it, you would need to lay a bead of solder across the top of this component with the red arrow. Keep in mind–this picture is an image that I took to send to a customer that came to me from this very thread that knocked off the two essential components circled in red while digging around trying to make the jumper. The capacitor just to the right of the backlight fuse is only found on the iPad mini and the iPad 4 and is difficult to source if you damage it and have to replace it. The capacitor on the left is essential and required. The two small components that are missing in this picture are also essential and must be replaced, not jumped, if they are damaged. These “DIY rescue” repairs can quickly get very expensive so BE CAREFUL!! jessa I’ve decided to post some DIY fails here. This is such a straightforward, inexpensive fix to send out for…it always makes me sad when I get these trainwreck minis sent to me. Repair is noble when you use the right tools.

DIY Fail—This is exactly why NOT to jump the fuse. This guy burned up his diode with this way too big wire.

This is a great way to short out your iPad, except it was already done. If your jumper has continuity with ground (like this one) you’re done.

Jumping the backlight filter is a bad idea guys–that will likely cause you (or your customer’s) backlight coil to fail prematurely. This is especially true if you are putting a mini back together and testing your digitizer soldering job, home button etc and keep plugging/unplugging the LCD. The filter is an easy part to replace–about $5 on eBay. In fact, replacing the whole backlight coil, filter, and ic is less than $20 for parts cost and takes just a few minutes with a hot air station and a little experience. The mini does seem particularly sensitive to the sudden change in voltage that comes from unplugging the LCD. I’ve learned this the hard way!

Steps you should take before advanced soldering techniques.

  1. Hold Power and Home Button for Hard Reset
  2. Unplug battery cable, reconnect, power on
  3. Check your LCD connector for damage, dirt, metal, lint, etc a. Check LCD connector on the motherboard for same
  4. Curse yourself for not unplugging the battery while working on it
  5. Multi meter the green traces that YoloRepair pointed out
  6. Perform a fuse replacement, or a jump. - Recommended you seek pro help, because this type of repair requires a stereoscope and a extremely steady hand with soldering skills.

Making Jumper Steps

  1. Make sure it’s that part - http://i39.tinypic.com/3130ry8.jpg
  2. Give yourself access to both side, I made small cut on shield
  3. Remove blown fuse, replace or jump. I chose jump - http://i44.tinypic.com/2lbno5k.jpg
  4. Test - WOOHOO! Thanks YoloRepair <3 - http://i39.tinypic.com/2924cyb.jpg
  5. Clean excess flux and leave repair area in best shape possible - http://i40.tinypic.com/mbtok3.jpg
  6. Test everything again, close it, and get sigh of relief.
  7. Thank YoloRepair once more.

I agree with the answers relating to the backlight. This happens all of the time, from either too much heat (when tearing the iPad down), or damaging some of the connectors on the motherboard that the electric current for the backlight flows through. Happens commonly with DIY attempts which means, if you’re DIYing an iPad repair, be MORE CAREFUL than careful. Be neurotic about it.

See image content:

On the iPad mini anytime you unplug the LCD you must unplug the battery and plug it back in or that will happen. Please don’t do all the things others may tell you to do to it unless you really can afford to buy anther one. I do this everyday simple is always the best place to start.

I have a similar situation. I replaced my screen and after putting it 80% back together I wanted to test the digitizer and noticed there was a 1-2inch vertical black strip almost center of the screen. So when it powers on, only the right half of the apple shows and when the home screen loads there is the black bar going down the middle. I tried reseating the ribbon cable but I’m not sure what I’m doing wrong because I’m still getting the same bar. Should I press harder on the ribbon cable? Did the LCD go bad? The directions I followed left the battery connected, but I ended up disconnecting the battery (AFTER I disconnected the LCD) so I hope I didnt mess anything up by doing that. Please let me know how to test, and what to check. Thanks

Disconnecting the battery and letting it sit for about 90-120 seconds worked for me! Thanks for whoever mentioned that.

Martin, there are “fingers” on the sheild that wrap around the frame that supports it. Use a pick or fine tweezers an pop them up while working your way around it.

good news everyone. i bought a conductive paint from radioshack, $10. got into the logic board and used a needle to place a TINY glob over the red filter in the picture above. fixed the problem. I don’t know how to solder. works fine so far. Update here’s the link to radioshack product

I had the same exact problem with the backlight. I replaced my digitizer due to a cracked screen and then the backlight went out. I unplugged the battery, then I unplugged the LCD, put it back together and it worked! Make sure your LCD cable is fully seated in the slot.

Guys avoid these problems! Always always disconnect the battery before disconnecting any other cable. As for the the digitizer going crazy after installation always be sure to place a PC of kapton tape over the flex next to the home button. Cover all the exposed chips.

I replace my digitizer and follow all the steps, but when i test it by turning it on didn’t shows anything, was just black but Itunes recognize it when I plug it, so I was so mad and leave it in my desk because was 3:30 am next day I went to work and when I come back home the ipad was working just fine..

thanks for this solution…100% working jumper for ipad mini no light.

Can someone in EU help me with the aforementioned issue? When i say help me i mean send it over for a fix! Let me know thanks!

My back light wasn’t working, left battery plugged in and flicked off the lcd…..ahhhh I know. Anyway, I replaced the diode and it worked ok when tested initally, then I put it back together and the back light wasn’t working again. I test the diode and it is faulty so I replace it and now the screen doesn’t come on at all. Any ideas ?

does anyone know if it is a backlight issue if when the iPad mini boots up it shows the apple logo bright but then it goes dim right before it is done loading the main page?

Gary, Sounds like something was soldered incorrectly or another component was damaged during the repair. I have actually fixed this issue a few times and ended up replacing one of the capacitors right next to the filter. There is also another filter jut below the one you repaired that may need replaced. Test with a different LCD screen as well. If you need to send it in just contact me.

thank you ..

than you friends it help for me

I have a little different issue than yours after replacing the touch screen for my IPad Mini. The power was off, but I did not remove the battery connector before unplug the screen and the LCD connectors (I knew that it was a bad mistake). After replacing the screen and put everything back together, I can see the back light came on with an apple logo. However, the back light went off after booting, and I can see the password screen. I took a flash light and shine behind the LCD for entering the password to see the screen working. The screen worked well at all corners, except the back light. I powered it off with a flash light behind the LCD, and I powered it back again. The same thing happened. The apple logo appeared with back light during the booting time and turned off after that. It was working fine before replacing the screen. I did a backup with iTunes without any problem, but the back light is still turn off after booting. Do you have any idea? Thanks in advanced.

Thanks alot for this information, i had the same issue with an ipad mini at work, forgot to disconnect battery, so no backlight. A little soldering did the job, perfect backlight again. Thank you.

With the intent to fix the problem the squares for welding are disappared..know I don’t know how to go on..any suggestions?

I’ve done this repair on a couple of minis, but now I’ve got a mini 3 (a1599) with the same problem. Anyone know exactly where the fuse on this is? I can post a picture if needed. Thanks! Johnathan

This is the A1490 32gb board does anyone know ware the fuse is located?

Guys, before any dangerous or irreversible operation, remember to try to remove ONLY the battery for few minutes! In my case it worked, I think there is some integrated protection to protect the fuse.

I have bridge the fuse on many iPad mini 1 (over 30) without any problem, don’t know why this fuse blow, not always but often and i always disconnect the battery first… ***But never do a fuse bridge on IPad mini 2/3/4 the diode will burn in 2 seconds, i know because i have try once… well at least its easy enough to replace with solder paste and the fuse, the diode, the coil are less than $0.75 each if you got some good suppliers, on eBay they are a way too expensive !!

Anytime you jump a component there will be more issues in the future. The parts are there for a reason. You should get it repaired correctly. If you need help you can message me. Or if you need the parts you can get them [on eBay]