Personal & toysYou will see this often

Mobile phone

Also called smartphone, cell phone.

Most of a phone is not salvage. The vibration motor, the speaker, and a healthy battery are. The camera is MIPI and will not become a webcam. Boards are nothing but unmarked BGA.

A donor is the dead machine. The parts below are what is still worth removing from it. “Leave it” is a part that is physically in there and should stay in there: too dangerous, too worn, or only useful as part of a repair you are not doing.

What you are looking at

A scrapped machine is a box of parts that failed at different times. The reason it was thrown out is often one bad piece. The motor, the cord, the supply, and the screws are frequently still good. This index says which is which.

Why it is in the trash while the parts are not

A cracked screen or a tired battery. The vibrator did not fail.

Before you open it

Do this while it is still unplugged, cool, and not leaking. If the pack is swollen, stop. A heat gun on a lithium pack is how fires start; do not 'soften the adhesive' with a flame.

Where the dead machine usually is

Junk drawer and cable box — In the house
Repair-shop scrap — Commercial
Home office — In the house

Repair shops will not give you swollen batteries, and you do not want them.

How it comes apart

Screen-first on most modern phones, and the screen breaks. For parts, the back cover is the goal. Unplug the battery connector before anything else.

Tools: Spudger, Pentalobe or Torx driver, Isopropyl.

What to take

The table is the short version. The notes under it describe that part inside this machine, not only the general description.

Parts in this donor
Part	Call	How many	How often	Where to look
Vibration motor	Prize	1	always	A corner.
Speaker driver	Worth pulling	1–2	usually	Bottom speaker and earpiece.
Lithium pouch cell	Worth pulling	1	sometimes	Under the cover.
Inductive charge coil	Bonus	1	sometimes	On the back, inside.
Neodymium magnet	Bonus	several	sometimes	Speaker and lid.
Tactile switch	Bonus	2–4	usually	Volume and power.
USB webcam	Leave it	1–3	always	Camera modules.
Electret microphone	Leave it	1	usually	Microphone.

Prize

Prize — take this firstVibration motor1 · always
Coin ERM or an LRA. ERMs spin on DC. LRAs need their driver.
A corner.
Two wires or a spring contact.
Almost always good.

Worth pulling

Worth pullingSpeaker driver1–2 · usually
8 Ω class, under a watt.
Bottom speaker and earpiece.
The grille is glued.
Distorted if it was drowned.
Worth pullingLithium pouch cell1 · sometimes
A thin pouch with a protection board.
Under the cover.
Only if it is flat, not spicy, and holds voltage.
Swollen is recycle.

Bonus

Bonus, if you are already in thereInductive charge coil1 · sometimes
A Qi coil. The phone still needs the handshake to charge; the coil alone is an inductor.
On the back, inside.
Peel gently.
Fine.
Bonus, if you are already in thereNeodymium magnetseveral · sometimes
Small discs.
Speaker and lid.
Easy to lose.
Strong for the size.
Bonus, if you are already in thereTactile switch2–4 · usually
Side buttons on a flex.
Volume and power.
Model-specific.
Good.

Leave it

Leave it — present, not yours to reuseUSB webcam1–3 · always
MIPI CSI. Not USB.
Camera modules.
Do not expect a PC to see it.
Useless without the original SoC or a dedicated bridge you already know.
Leave it — present, not yours to reuseElectret microphone1 · usually
MEMS on a flex, not a simple electret, on anything recent.
Microphone.
Model-specific.
Hard.