CF-29 Keyboard and touch screen glass swap - walkthrough with pics

I can't contribute in as many cool ways as the more electrically/IEEE inclined here at this forum, but I try to give back what I can, when I can.
Special thanks to all who have helped me,
and to Techtuff, for supplying the TS panel and my new backlit rubber KB at and awesome price, as well as some other goodies.

SO for anyone who was curious how to replace your keyboard and/or your touch screen (the glass itself), here is a quick tutorial. If the pics are too big, or you have to use arrows to see everything, zoom out (ctl-). It helps.
I am going to assume a few things about you:
that you have thoroughly read up on your intended repair,
that you have the proper tools to perform your repair (including a dental pick, or as I prefer, one of the hard plastic dental floss pick, pictured below)
that you will read this entire instructional more than once, before you start,
and that you're not a total idiot.
Also, have a large (as you can) clean work area. It sucks having to find some of these tiny screws in your shag carpet.
My other advice is, as you take out screws and little tidbits, lay them out in a line, in the order that they were removed.
I did the best I could. I have yanked my mk1 apart more times than I can count, and I may or may not assume that you know what I know, or innocently have left out some detail.

USE OF THIS INFORMATION IS AT YOUR OWN RISK
!!!!!REMOVE ALL POWER BEFORE YOU BEGIN!!!!
!!!!PULL THE MAIN BATTERY AND DISCONNECT THE AC ADAPTER!!!!​

I will say, that performing one or both of these procedures is an excellent opportunity to clean your toughbook. They are wonderful machines, but because they can go places most laptops can't, they get dirtier in ways other laptops don't. It's all the tiny little crevices and screw holes that collect the most funk, as well as the textured coating on the lid.I recommend using rubbing alcohol, %91 is best, IMHO. Remember NEVER allow liquid rubbing alcohol to go anywhere you don't want it to (only use OH on paper towels and qtips, and use great care).
On we go....

Start by removing the 4 screws that hold the bezel at the top of the keyboard. This bezel hides a few things,and holds the top of the keyboard down. It should come off with gentle prying. Remember, you may be the first person to pull this thing apart in a long time, and/or there may be mountain dew residue holding things together.
And, before anyone gets to ask, the green square is a salvaged and butchered wifi antenna in the approximate location of the OEM bluetooth antenna. Bluetooth and B/G wifi operate one the same frequencies, so theoretically they can use the same RF equipment. That lead runs back to my usb bluetooth dongle, that I cut the antenna trace on and soldered the antenna lead to. Much better reception now. Thank you, Onirakkiss.




Your next course of action is to remove the 4 screws that hold the front of the hinge covers down. These were hidden under the bezel. Shut the lid and remove the 4 screws holding the backside of the hinges. Open the lid 180° (flat,as pictured) and lift out the hinge covers.




The keyboard is held in place 2 ways. The first are tabs on the top and bottom of the KB (you can see them in the pic above). These tabs sit in slots under the palmrest, and under the bezel. The second way is double sided tape (also visable above). NASTY and thin double sided tape. I have had the best results with a butter knife. Start at the top corner, from one side or the other, and start prying the KB up. Use your fingers to gently keep the KB from re-sticking, and keep working the butter knife over. Remember, you aren't peeling an orange here; you don't have to bend the heck out of the KB, just keep it lifted enough to get the tape to not be holding it down. ON a side note, I've noticed that the rubber KB has a pcb (circuit board) that is much stiffer than the more traditionally built chicklet keyboard (which bends way easier than the rubber KB).
Once you have disengaged the double stick tape, flip the keyboard 1/2 way out, being careful not to damage the ribbon leads or let the double stick tape re-adhere.
In the above photo, you can see the cover removed from under the keyboard (flipped up, sitting on the display). 2 of the screws have already been removed with the hinge cover. Support the keyboard and remove the rest of the screws for the cover. DO NOT DROP THEM IN THE OPENING after you remove the cover. It's a PITA to get them out, and you risk a short, or other bad things. There is a foam rubber strip at the top and the bottom of the opening that this cover belongs to. The purpose of the foam seals are to seal around the antenna wire for the blue tooth antenna, and at the bottom for the keyboard ribbon cables.


From here, unclip the KB FFC (flat flexible connector) from it's receptacles.
Remove the old KB. Grab your new KB, keep it supported with your 3rd hand, and use your first two hands to insert the FFC's and lock them in place. Sadlmkr posted an excellent close up here.
Drop the cover over the access hole, line up the screw holes, MAKE SURE YOU AREN'T PINCHING A WIRE/FFC THE WRONG WAY. Drop those tiny screws back in their respective holes (and no where else), and snug'm down. Seat your new KB in place, and then slide it down to engage the tabs to the palmrest.
If you aren't doing the touch glass, then the rest of assembly is the reverse of disassembly. If you are doing your TS glass, then read on.





With the KB trim bezel and hinge covers still removed, close the lid. Now remove the screws holding the lid backside to the LCD bezel. You do not need to remove the (2) torx (star drive) screws.

Gently separate the top half of the lid from the bottom half/LCD bezel, and flip the top half back 180° (similar to before). To separate the halves, it may be helpful to use the round side of the dental pick or floss tool (seen below) jammed in the crevice between the two halves to initiate separation. Also, you will have to 1/2 way operate the latch, and hold on to the latch so it doesn't fall on the backside of the LCD.
There is a black plastic strip protecting the TS FFC (see re-assembly picture below). There may also be a piece of Kapton tape holding the TS FFC in place. Remove the tape (if it's there) and gently pull the TS FFC from the interface board. I like to apply that piece of kapton tape backwards on the FFC to assist in pulling.
Once the TS FFC is removed, I use the rounded floss end of the toothpick/floss thingy to assist in lifting the LCD up (not the glass, just the LCD) from the bezel, flip the LCD back and set it on the top half of the lid.
There is no need to get fingerprints on the LCD, but if you do, it's ok.


I prefer to remove the bezel from the toughbook completely. You may opt to leave it on.
To remove the bezel, "open" the bezel as though you were using the laptop. Support the bezel/TS glass, and remove the two screws holding it to the hinge.
Here you can also see a picture of the dental floss pick.

Start in the corner, and gently rock the pointy tip of the dental floss pick between the glass and the gasket. Work the dental floss tool towards another corner while also useing 1 finger to gently push the glass towards the back of the bezel (away from the gasket). As with the KB, you are just trying to keep the glass from re-adhering to the gasket. Work your way around with the dental floss pick. Gently work it, until the old TS glass is free.

If the gasket is clean and still sticky, skip this paragraph.
If you need to fix the gasket you have a couple options.
1)I did not get a gasket with the TS glass, so I don't know what they would have sent. I'm assuming it's .5mm thick, 2mm wide. The old gasket would need to be removed completely, and you would apply the new gasket in a similar fashion to the OEM gasket.
2) Make your own. I went to Home Depot and picked up a roll of 3m double sided outdoor tape, rated for 5lbs (2.2kilos) (upc# 021200471032). It looks pretty dern close to the right thickness. You would have to unroll a 14" (30cm) piece (leave on the paper), place the sticky side on some wax paper, and use a very sharp utility/xacto knife and metal straight edge to cut it to about 1/8"-3/16" (2mm). Apply in a similar fashion as the oem gasket (I would imagine to the inside of the bezel)

3)My gasket had acquired much funk/detritus (Thank you Mnementh), so I wiped it down with alcohol. Which also wiped off a significant amount of adhesive. I chose to reuse my gasket. I had installed the new TS glass, and used my 29 for several hours. When I pressed/touched the corners, I could hear the new panel lifting off the gasket. No bueno.
So, I pulled it all back apart and unseated the new TS glass. I then used some regular ol' "permanent double sided" scotch tape. Pulled off the correct length, laid it on top of the gasket, and then trimmed it with my xacto knife. Did that all the way around, and it works great (so far, after 1 day)
**EDIT**
After 2 months of daily usage, the scotch double sided tape is still holding perfectly. Would I use a jet of water to test it out? Prolly not. Then again, I wouldn't test it out with a jet of water if it were a brand new factory reconditioned TS!


If you need to replace the existing gasket, then I recommend you remove/clean the old gasket from the bezel now. You need to get it almost perfectly clean. Deviations in the gasket canl lead to air gaps and improper seating of your new TS glass.
Once you have the gasket situation under control, installing the new glass is pretty easy.

Reinstall the bezel to the hinges, and "close" the bezel to the base of the toughbook (the keyboard area)
There is a protective film on both sides of the TS glass. Peel off the front film. The "front" of the glass is the side that the FFC comes off of.
Now, carefully line the new glass up to the bezel, and lay it in.



If you have any prints or smudges on your LCD or TS glass, now is the time to get them off. Take a good paper towel (or a lint free cloth), fold it up as you see fit, apply some rubbing alcohol to the towel/cloth, and clean the screen. DO NOT USE SO MUCH ALCOHOL THAT IT DRIPS OR RUNS. You only need enough to break up the oils/smudges. Use a dry paper towel to finish.
If you can't seem to keep lint or dust off your screen, then it might be too dry in your room (humidity is too low). I've heard of people using a mildly steamy bathroom to cut down on dust and air born particulates, but don't know 1st hand. Again, at your own risk.


Peel off the protective film from the inside of the new TS glass. There is no need to add any finger prints here! (clean as previously prescribed, if you do get prints on the glass)




Now, flip the lcd back over onto the TS Glass, gently.
Look carefully at the metal brackets on either side of the LCD. They fit just right to the bezel. They sit outside the lcd and bezel (look at the pic, you'll understand what I mean)
There are 2 white plastic corner brackets with nipples that stick up. They belong at the bottom of the LCD, and only fit 1 way (correctly). They fit snugly.
And of course, you will need to hook the TS glass back up to the interface board. I found it easiest to unseat 1/2 of the board, just to get a good grip, and plug the cable in (I have sausage fingers). If your kapton tape is still sticky, put it back on.

Now, flip the back of the lid back on top of the front/bezel/lcd/ts. Please be mindful of the wifi/wwan/gps antenna leads as well as the LCD cable. It takes some finesse to get those wires all back in there properly. There is a little metal clip in the middle hinge on the lid, which may be bent open easily, put the wires in, and bend back gently/carefully. This of course will require use of your 3rd hand. You must line up the lid, keep the wires clear, and line up and install the latch, all at the same time.




Slip the latch in at an angle, and then roll it up, as seen here. When you make the final assembly here, it is important that the spring of the latch is engaged properly. Shut the lid and ensure that the spring is returning the latch when pressed.

I've been told, and read, that there is a specified bolt pattern and torque specification for the screws on the lid. I don't care. I treat it much like a lug nut bolt pattern; going in an X pattern (back and forth, not in a straight line around the edge). I start all the screws, check for pinched wires, then go back and thread/snug them down, check for pinched wires, and then go back and torque them down.
Did I mention, DO NOT PINCH WIRES?



​

My screen is so much clearer, brighter, and I have perfect touch now!
Also, I had forgot how sharp the edges of the rubber keys were.

It took me about 2 hours to get this together, and I'm going to bed now. I'll try to clean it up a bit more. If anything needs attention/changed, let me know.

I hope this helps someone. Good Luck!

 

Thanks again Robert...great write up. Am getting ready to do this (soon) the keyboard swap that is, and found your great posting with our Toughbook Search Engine:

https://www.google.com/search?btnG=1&pws=0&q=TEST+site:forum.notebookreview.com/panasonic I also found a video that recaps your procedure that might be helpful to others:

How to Replace a Panasonic Toughbook CF-29 Keyboard - YouTube

Thanks again for giving back to the community

 

Absolutely my pleasure!

 

Good writeup, many can benefit from your efforts..Driller

 

Good info on the TS Panel....did you get a "Free Hammer" with the backlit rubber KB or is that an "Optional Extra"

o.g.

 

Just got off the phone with Robert as the system was booting up. Keyboard swap went very smoothly thanks to this thread, Thanks! The old keyboard lifted easily but there was a plastic grid left in place under the keyboard. That also lifted off easily after flopping the keyboard over. I'm told if you type alot that this rubber emissive keyboard might wear out fairly quickly. With that in mind I did not use any two sided tape. The used (but looks new KB) had a little tackiness to it that held it down okay, and the rest of the re-installation went smoothly. I used three little pyrex container lids to hold the five silver screws, the four larger black screws and the four smaller black screws. This allowed for putting everything back together properly. Following Robert's tip, I used the Fn (function) key held down and tapped the F12 key to allow for four levels of brightness...Yess.....it works! Now I have another TB part (old but looks new) keyboard to put away for a rainy day "just in case".

 

I just added this thread to the " The CF-29 F.A.Q. - Read me before posting " . Good job

 

Great Tutorial on this swap! Maybe now I will get around to installing the Touch Screen I got from Jeff....