Permanent fix for hinges?

Just wondering if there is a permanent fix to the notorious hinge problem? Can you at least order the hinges from emachines or somewhere and put them in yourself, rather than sending it out if you're out of warranty? If so what do they go for usually?

 

Yes, there is a fix, and here's how I took care of mine...

Keep in mind that the hinge on the 68XX series seems to be quite stiff. This is a good thing, as it keeps the screen in the position you put it. However, it also puts more stress on the plastic of the hinge, causing it to crack.

When mine first happened, I sent my 6809 back to eMachine under an RMA and they fixed it, but a few months later, the same problem developed again. This time it was out of warranty, so I had to either live with it or fix it myself.

I noticed that the crack was visible when the lid was closed, but that the crack closed-up when I applied upward pressure to open the lid. With the lid in the closed position, I carefully squeezed a VERY small amount of super glue into the crack and wiped away the excess. I then partially opened the lid and inserted a small block about 2" think to apply upward pressure and let the unit sit, undisturbed for a few hours.

This has fixed my hinge problem.

I tote my 6809 between home and work and back every day and with so much flexing, it's understandable that the material might not take the stress.

Hope this helps!

Tony

:gateway:

 

Jeff,

I hope you were able to fix your hinges.

One of mine has opened back up, and I will need to try another "fix".

One thing I have noticed, is that one needs to be REALLY careful when closing the lid on the M6XXX series, as that is when the most stress is put on the hinge. In other words, if there is a weakness there, closing the lid acts as a lever to "pry" the crack open.

I close mine VERY carefully, but have decided that it's realy a cosmetic issue. If it gets really bad, there're some post floating around that eMachines/Gateway will fix it, even if it's out of warranty (mine is).

Tony

 

eMachines actually has a permanent fix for them as they realized the problem and manufactured hinges with a slightly larger opening. The problem was the plastic pieces had too tight of clearence and because of that the actual hinge was putting pressure on them and cracking them.

Contact eMachines and see if you can get some of the redesigned hinge covers. I have them on my computer and they are perfect. I open and close the screen a lot and have no problems. I bought my laptop as a factory reconditioned model with them already on so I got lucky. You may have to buy the pieces, but I'd rather shell out a few dollars than have a laptop with cracked body parts.

 

Thanks, Supergoat, that's a good tip. I'll give it a shot...

 

I had the hinge problem as well, however mine was totally ripped off. My laptop is out of warranty and when i contacted emachines technical support they said they would fix it for free.
I think they are doing this because its a faulty hinge common through all emachines.

Hope this helps!