Hinge fix how I did it | NotebookReview

ontonowonopon Newbie

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Hi, my m11x r1 hinge finally went wrong yesterday. It always had a click as the screen was opened or closed past a certain angle and although I was gentle with it it got worse. Last night the left side came loose, so surgery was required.
Unfortunately I don't have a camera at the moment, so I'll have to try convey an impression using only the power of words. Here's what I did:

Pulled off the black plastic strip along the top of the keyboard, revealing the hinge.

Pulled away the bottom of the screen housing either side of the hinge, clear of the hinge assembly. This reveals the two metal brackets that screw the hinge onto the screen. I only had to pull this screen 'frontage' clear of the screen up to about 2/3 the way to the top of the screen (it pulls away easily from the sticky tape holding it in place). This gave me enough room to work in.

The left bracket's screws had come out of their holes in the screen. The screws had apparently been grinding around in their holes because there was what looked like black plastic powder in the holes. It looked to me like the screws were screwing into plastic. The screws had tiny nuts on them I think. The right side bracket was just fine.

I mixed some clear Araldite and worked it into the holes behind the bracket. Then I pushed the bracket back into place so that the araldite squished out of the holes and onto the screws and around them. Then I relaxed the bracket again and got a wedge of cheese. The screen had to opened to its maximum angle to gain access, so I wedged the cheese under the screen to support the bracket while the glue set (60mins was enough). Turns out the cheese was exactly the right angle and it had a non-slip surface which held it firmly in place during the operation.

After an hour I flowed some superglue into the narrow slot above both metal brackets where they meet the screen. The superglue satisfyingly flowed right into the gaps. This was the belt to the araldite's braces.

Today it's like a new laptop. The casing is all firmly clicked back into place and the hinge, I am pleased to say, is firm and smooth with no nasty sounds at all!