Motorola Moto G Battery Disconnect

Step 1

Power your phone off before you begin.
If possible, drain the battery before disassembly. When the battery is charged, there's an increased risk of a dangerous thermal event if the battery is overheated or damaged during repairs.
If the rear glass is cracked, completely cover it with packing tape to contain the glass shards and avoid injury.
Prepare an iOpener and heat the back of the phone along its bottom edge for about two minutes, or until it's slightly too hot to touch. This will help soften the adhesive securing the rear glass.
You may need to reheat and reapply the iOpener several times to get the phone warm enough. Follow the iOpener instructions to avoid overheating.
A hair dryer, heat gun, or hot plate may also be used, but be careful not to overheat the phone—the display and internal battery are both susceptible to heat damage.

At what temperature shold the glass be heated to? My heat gun goes from 250 up to 1350.

Miles Raymond -

START LOW.

These plastics can be almost endlessly remelted, held at temp, etc., if done gently.

With a heat gun, I'd hesitate to go too far past 250°F/115°C too quickly until I was comfortable with the material.

Plastic WILL begin to burn and permanently deteriorate at 350-400°F or so.

Silicone can handle up to 400-500°F.

(Get a cast iron pot or pan to roughly 250°F/110°C, then invert and put a silicone cookie sheet on it to make a work surface that will make life waaaaaay easier. Preheat the device along with the pan for a few minutes, too.)

Filthy Pazuzu -

Step 2

Apply a suction cup to the bottom edge of the rear glass.
Pull up on the suction cup with firm, constant pressure to create a slight gap between the rear glass and the frame.
If the glass is cracked, the suction cup may not stick. Try lifting it with strong tape, or superglue the suction cup in place and allow it to cure so you can proceed.
This may require a significant amount of force, but you only need to open a very slight gap with the suction cup to insert your tool.
If you have trouble, apply more heat to further soften the adhesive, and try again. The adhesive cools quickly, so you may need to heat it repeatedly.
Insert an opening pick into the gap you created under the rear glass.

I'm stuck on this step (literally and figuratively). I've heated it pretty hot and pulled pretty hard on the suction cup, but I can't see a gap…

Andy Mach - 10/08/20

I used a piece of laminating plastic instead of the pick and managed to slide it in!

Andy Mach - 10/08/20

My back delaminated at this point. That is, the clear plastic started to come away leaving the paint layer behind. Mine is (was) the indigo blue one.

Neil Hoskins -

Step 3

Slide the pick all along the bottom edge of the phone to slice through the adhesive securing the rear glass.
Slow down and slice very carefully as you get to the corners. The curved part of the glass along the left and right edges can crack very easily if the pick pushes up against the curved glass.
After being cut, the adhesive will sometimes stick back together as it cools. To prevent this you can leave the pick in this edge after cutting, and continue the next steps with a new pick. Repeat this with each edge, leaving a pick and continuing with a new one.

Step 4

Heat the right edge of the back of the phone to soften the adhesive underneath.

Step 5

Slide the pick along the right edge of the rear glass to separate the adhesive underneath.

Step 6

Heat the top edge of the back of the phone to soften the rear glass adhesive.

Step 7

Slide the pick all along the top edge of the phone to slice through the adhesive securing the rear glass.
Slow down and slice very carefully as you get to the corners. The curved part of the glass along the left and right edges can crack very easily if the pick pushes up against the curved glass.

Step 8

Heat the left edge of the back of the phone to soften the adhesive underneath.

Step 9

Slide a pick along the left edge of the phone to slice through the rear glass adhesive.

Step 10

If the glass remains stuck, re-heat and slice the adhesive repeatedly as needed.
Lift the rear glass carefully, making sure it's fully separated from any adhesive.
Remove the rear glass.
During reassembly, pause here to replace the adhesive on the rear glass using a precut adhesive card or high-strength double-sided adhesive tape, such as Tesa 61395.
After closing your device back up during reassembly, stack something heavy, like a textbook or two, on top of the device for 30-60 minutes. This ensures a strong adhesive bond.

When cleaning old adhesive off the back glass, be careful not to scratch the inner coating of the glass. If you scratch this coating with tweezers, it will leave visible “nicks” on the back glass.

Sarah Braden -

Step 11

Use a pair of tweezers to carefully peel up the black tape covering the battery.
Remove the tape.
If possible, keep the tape intact so it can be reused during reassembly.

On my phone the sticker was covered by another NFC tag that was attached to the board under the cover. I yanked it out, breaking it in the process, but if you peel that sticker off the batter sticker first and leave it attached at the end, you should have more success.

Stuart - 04/05/21

Yes, there's the NFC tag that isn't mentioned, with its connection to the left. Thanks for the tip, Stuart; I gently lifted mine to the left and it seems to be intact. I guess I won't know until I try to pay for something.

Neil Hoskins - 10/08/22

Step 12

Use a Phillips driver to remove seventeen screws securing the plastic cover:
Eleven grey 3 mm-long screws
Five black 2.5 mm-long screws
One silver 3.5 mm-long screw

The holes for the black screws are marked with a small triangle to differentiate them from the holes for the gray ones. I found this super helpful when reassembling!

Jamie Bell -

Step 13

Insert the pointed end of a spudger into the notch at the top left edge of the plastic cover.
Pry up with the spudger to lift the upper edge of the cover and release the clips holding the cover down.
Remove the plastic cover.

When reinstalling plastic cover, alignment is critical for underlying contacts to line up. Test all functions before sealing up the phone. If camera or speaker don’t work, recheck plastic cover installation and correct until all phone functions operate.

Eric Oberer - 07/05/21

Step 14

Use the pointed end of a spudger to pry up the battery connector and disconnect it.
During reassembly, this is a good point to power on your phone and test all functions before sealing it up. Be sure to power your phone back down completely before you continue working.

What is the black part the battery is connects to called? The black part connected to the body of the phone.

Slippery Steve -

Be very careful on this step! If you pry it out too roughly the connector will break. If you aren't very precise when putting the plug back in you will smash either the tiny tabs on the plug or the connector itself.

rami.slicer -