Replacement Screen Cover Window Bezel for FLIR E4/E6/E8 Thermal Camera

If the plastic screen cover on your FLIR Ex series thermal camera becomes damaged or scratched, this is a DIY option for creating a replacement yourself! 

Repair Difficulty: Moderate 
This repair requires a number of steps, but with care should be easily achievable by most people even if you have only a little repair experience. Before attempting this repair, I strongly recommend watching the first 5 minutes of this video first, to get a little bit of an idea of how the camera is assembled.

You will need: 

• Torx T9 screwdriver
• Box-cutter / utility knife / stanley knife
• 3mm acrylic/plexiglass/lexan/polycarbonate sheet
• Rotary or fixed belt sander
• Plastic safe adhesive glue
• Double sided adhesive tape
• 3D print of screen bezel
• Printout of screen window template
• Safety glasses/goggles
• Lens cloth

3D Print setting recommendations:

• 0.12mm layer height, 0.15mm first layer
• Print your first layer very slowly, to ensure the first layer is well formed.
• Any material of preference is generally suitable. PETG or PLA are easiest, but PETG or ABS will offer better thermal stability.
• No supports are required if you print face down (as oriented in the .STL file)
• A .STEP file is provided if you would like to make modifications.

Overview Instructions:

1. Disassemble Thermal Camera
2. Remove old screen window/bezel
3. Print 3D file
4. Cut new acrylic/polycarbonate window to fit file
5. Stick window into bezel using double sided adhesive tape
6. Insert button board into bezel
7. Glue bezel with new window onto front housing
8. Reassemble Thermal Camera

Detailed Instructions

• Before attempting this repair, I strongly recommend watching the first 5 minutes of this video first, to get a little bit of an idea of how the camera is assembled.
• There is a downloadable PDF provided showing the location of the screws.

1. Remove battery from camera
2. Where the battery was inserted, unscrew two screws.
3. Remove bottom metal piece from battery area.
4. Remove metal trim piece from inside the front area on the camera. This part is clipped in. Use plastic tools to carefully pry it loose, and avoid scratching up the metal fascia.
5. Two screws will now be visible from under the metal trim piece. Unscrew and remove these screws.
6. Remove the front camera shutter assembly as one piece, and set aside.
7. Remove the trigger button. Gently pull it straight out. If it gets caught, stop and wiggle it. It should come out easily.
8. There should now be one screw visible near the middle of the camera. Unscrew and remove.
9. Under the top flap at the charging port, there are two screws hidden on the side. Unscrew these screws and set aside.
10. The main housing front and back should now be loose. Place the camera on a flat surface with the lens pointing up, and carefully pull up the front housing. Note: The main camera electronics should all stay with the back housing. This is important as there are still cables attaching the electronics to the back housing.
11. Now, you need to detach two cables: (a) the cable plugged into the top of the camera and (b) the flex cable plugged into the underside of the screen. Once these two cables are detached, you can remove the electronics module from the back housing.
12. Now, it is time to separate the front bezel from the back housing. This is firmly glued in place. The glue is fairly brittle, and with a little prying will crack relatively cleanly along the join. You may need to use a bit of prying from the front of the camera around the outer edge of the bezel, and some firm pressure from inside the camera pushing the window outwards.
13. Remove the button assembly that was sandwiched between the old bezel and the back housing.
14. First we want to cut the acrylic sheet approximately to size. Cut out the window template you have printed out, and stick it onto the acrylic sheet. Do not remove the protective film from your acrylic yet, to prevent it from being scratched by the following steps.
15. Take a utility knife, and use it to firmly score your acrylic sheet. Leave a wide margin from the window template.
16. Put on your safety glasses. You should then be able to cleanly snap the sheet along your score line by hand. 
17. Take the roughly-sized window, and use the sander to remove excess material to reach the desired size as indicated by the template.
18. Cut thin strips of double sided tape, and stick these on the inside of the printed bezel. Try to maximize the area covered, but do not overlap these strips.
19. Press the window into the bezel. Firmly press down the window all around the bezel to ensure a secure attachment with the adhesive.
20. Re-install the button assembly into the rear housing, threading the flex cable through the small rectangular slot in the rear housing.
21. Take the rear housing, and carefully run a thin bead of glue all around the area where the bezel will attach. You may want to practice doing this on some paper first. You may also need to find some kind of attachment that will let you dispense a very thin bead of glue. Note: some glues will release vapours that will damage acrylic. Check your glue for compatibility with your 3D printing material and window material before gluing together!
22. Let the glue fully dry, and the vapours dissipate.
23. Clean the LCD window and the inside of the bezel with a lens cloth or soft cotton fabric to remove any dust. You may want to use IPA to remove any fingerprints.
24. Time for reassembly! The last 3 minutes of the video linked before also show this process.
25. First, re-connect the flex cable to the connector on the underside of the screen. Yes, this can be quite fiddly, just take a deep breath if you get stuck.
26. Plug in the other cable into the front of the electronics module. Tip: The ferrite bead on this cable should go inside the rubber bumper, close to the back housing.
27. Re-install the front housing. 
28. Screw in the middle centre screw, holding the two housings together.
29. Re-install the trigger button.
30. Re-install the front shutter assembly onto the front of the camera. Screw down using the two screws from before.
31. Re-install the two screws on the top of the camera under the rubber flap.
32. Re-install the metal ring on the bottom of the battery compartment, along with the two screws.
33. Click in the front metal bezel in place.
34. You have successfully fixed your thermal camera!

If this guide helps you, I would love to know. Please comment below so I can join in your success. :-)