screen surface repair - did I have a better option?

Kalm_Traveler · December 22, 2018

Short story - I dropped a sharp pointy thing out of my attic and it decided to jump across the room and scratch my Asus PG348Q screen - not enough to cause the LEDs to break but deep enough that you could totally feel it and see the light refraction.

After googling, all I saw for repair advice was to fill in the scratch with goop like vaseline or lotion - neither of which actually 'fix' the issue as far as I was concerned, and I figured the only professional fix would be to pay Asus to give me a new screen which also seemed stupid since the scratch was just in the outer plastic layer.

This got me thinking, how are scratches dealt with on other objects? Ah yes - for my plastic headlights I use plastic polish to buff them out. I had a bottle on hand and decided to give this a try on the monitor by applying it with a paper towel in a swirling motion for a good 20 minutes.

My fingers couldn't take it anymore, but there was very obvious progress made so I though "ok how can I automate this? ah yes, a dremel with polishing/buffing wheel ought to do the trick!" Except that I broke the attachment for using those wheels. No matter - 20 minute trip to the hardware store for a new Dremel kit and we were in business.

After very gently buffing the scratch with the dremel on ~ 3000 RPM for about 15 more minutes, I can't see the scratch at all. If the screen is off and you look at an angle you can see that area is smoother/polished compared to the rest of the monitor but in use it doesn't appear any differently whatsoever. I did noticed that the area I had been dremel-buffing was slightly blue-tinted for about 10 minutes afterwards but now appears to be the correct color again.

Should I have done something different?

Emanbaird · December 22, 2018

1 hour ago, Kalm_Traveler1 said:

Short story - I dropped a sharp pointy thing out of my attic and it decided to jump across the room and scratch my Asus PG348Q screen - not enough to cause the LEDs to break but deep enough that you could totally feel it and see the light refraction.

After googling, all I saw for repair advice was to fill in the scratch with goop like vaseline or lotion - neither of which actually 'fix' the issue as far as I was concerned, and I figured the only professional fix would be to pay Asus to give me a new screen which also seemed stupid since the scratch was just in the outer plastic layer.

This got me thinking, how are scratches dealt with on other objects? Ah yes - for my plastic headlights I use plastic polish to buff them out. I had a bottle on hand and decided to give this a try on the monitor by applying it with a paper towel in a swirling motion for a good 20 minutes.

My fingers couldn't take it anymore, but there was very obvious progress made so I though "ok how can I automate this? ah yes, a dremel with polishing/buffing wheel ought to do the trick!" Except that I broke the attachment for using those wheels. No matter - 20 minute trip to the hardware store for a new Dremel kit and we were in business.

After very gently buffing the scratch with the dremel on ~ 3000 RPM for about 15 more minutes, I can't see the scratch at all. If the screen is off and you look at an angle you can see that area is smoother/polished compared to the rest of the monitor but in use it doesn't appear any differently whatsoever. I did noticed that the area I had been dremel-buffing was slightly blue-tinted for about 10 minutes afterwards but now appears to be the correct color again.

Should I have done something different?

this is dope, i probably would've just cried and maybe bought a new screen or a new monitor, you didn't happen to take a before and after photo did you?

Kalm_Traveler · December 22, 2018

17 minutes ago, Emanbaird said:

this is dope, i probably would've just cried and maybe bought a new screen or a new monitor, you didn't happen to take a before and after photo did you?

I didn't take a before, but I can take an after with it off if you want to see what I mean about that area looking obviously more shiny/polished than the rest of the screen.

TBH I was just freaking out since I really don't want to buy a new monitor lol

SolarNova · December 22, 2018

So what has likely happend is that you have maybe buffed through or partialy through the Anti Glare layer/coating. The color change was likely heat related.

You got lucky, the layers of a LCD are exceptionaly thin, if u had broken though one of them you likely would have ended up with an unsightly seam that imo would have had to result in you removing that particular layer (the anti glare) entirly, which is its own hassle as you have to remove the adhesive aswell. That is if the Anti glare was a film , rather than a spray on.

Still, if it has worked ..thats great.