Sloppy hinges on TM4230

The hinges on my TravelMate 4230 have some slop to them. Other than that the lid stays up on its own and is not super loose when opening or closing it. It will stay in any position but any movement wiggles it and I think it is and will only get worse?

I am still under 1 year warranty but they want me to ship it off to Texas for who knows how long?

Of course I use and rely on it everyday and do not want to be without it.

My fear is that it will keep getting worse and the warranty period will be over (this May)

I am fairly mechanically inclined but I know it is hard to dismantle these things unless you know where all the key fasteners are.etc

More importantly can I even fix it?

Is it just something loose or do I need parts?

I need to fix it myself but need some guidance for this model and to know the mechanics of these hinges and if they are fixable or not?

<embed style='width:400px; height:326px;' id='VideoPlayback' type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://video.google.com/googleplayer.swf?docId=-7095914841949117737&hl=en" flashvars=""> </embed>

 

Post deleted

 

You must be looking at a different Acer, there are no screws visible "On the hinges" the closet screws are on the bottom side of the laptop no where near the hinges.


thanks

 

u have to open the bottom then unscrew, from the bottom, the top plate covering the power button. then u can access the screws for the hinges

 

Nope, you are thinking of another laptop. they are not all the same.

I have every screw out of it, hdd,fan,dvd,battery,ram and all screws visible. The plate covering the power button is part of the entire top plate which is connected to the keyboard and touch pad which is connected to the MB. And the top cover plate will not come up at the hinges untill the connection to KB & Mouse are disconnected. I suppose I have to keep dismantling.?

This has got to be the hardest laptop to access the hinges.

I cannot find any service manual for it, It is nothing like any other Travelmate that I have seen on the internet. It is some kind of derelict model Acer put out.

?

[edit] now I even have the heatsink out, might as well clean the thermal paste and put some fresh AS5 on there.

I look like this guy right now. except I am fully grounded and not on my bed.
Oh, and more importantly, my laptop is nothing like his as far as construction.

<object width='425' height='355'><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/pPdw-pkS88k&rel=1"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/pPdw-pkS88k&rel=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width='425' height='355'></embed></object>

 

Post deleted

 

Thanks that looks like the proper manual

I think I found the same one (thanks to the pdf title on your pic) and downloaded it here.


I am having trouble getting that plate over the power button off. It is so tight (that it does not look like one piece) and not knowing where the snaps are makes it hard. I have broken to many plastic parts in the past and am afraid of F@$#%^ this one up.

I think I am on the right track now with at least some documentation. Now I just hope it is something I will be able to fix once I get there. If not at least everything will be clean.

thanks again for the help!

Post edited by ATG, reason: not allowed

 

Acer tech support are liars. At least the one guy I talked to on the phone. I told him about my problem and of course he did not want to tell me if I had something I could fix or not. He said I would need a part that I could not buy so either I send it to them now or buy an extended warranty.

He had my video and everything.

Now that I have dismantled it etc. I see no way any tech that knows what is up could think my problem was related to anything else than loose screws and cheap plastic housing/parts. At least they would know that this is the most likely cause of the problem. $%#%$#

My monitor has always had some (very little) play in it and I think most of it is the flex of the housing the monitor is attached to. This movement got worse on my LT and the screws became loose making it increasingly worse.

I went ahead and removed the monitor completely to access the 2 screws that are directly under the monitor to tighten them. I tightened every other screw as well in hopes of reducing some of the fex.




I also cleaned and re greased (arctic silver 5) my cpu heatsink and my temperatures have dropped ~15C.
!
I also cleaned a heavily soiled fan.
Thanks Incursis for the clue to that manual. I just could not believe that the piece over the power was its own piece! & Everybody else told me I had to remove screw on the bottom etc! I guess on every Acer but this one you do!?

Between this issue and another issue trying to install IIS components when the system asked for the XP disc that of course I did not get from acer and the files could not be found on the hidden partition or the recovery disc I made. And Acer was no help and actually stopped returning my emails (another story)

I build my own desktops and it is great not relying on anyone but yourself. I think I may build my next laptop so that I know where to get every part, have an unlocked Bios, clean install of windows oem disk etc etc etc..

F$%%$ acer and there $200 warranty, their "just ship it to Texas"

why don't they torque the screws on the systems? I suppose they would not make all the extra money on servicing.

I am done ranting. thanks again for the help.

Edited by ATG, reason: not allowed

 

lol
i was right after all

 

not really. there were no screws on the bottom that needed to be taken out to get to the mon.hinges.

thanks for the replies though!

cheers