MSI GX620 Broken Plastic around Hinge - Urgent Help (images) !

Hello all !
Ive had my MSI since August last year (1year and 1month ago) and I have used it a lot, every single day. however not much transportation (it lays on my desk on a day to day basis).

Yesterday as I was closing the lid to turn it off, I hear a "crack" sound and noticed some pieces of plastics falling off the right hinge. I overviewed the problem and noticed the plastic that wraps the right hinge broke in pieces!

I have taken appart the front frame of the LCD screen, and you can clearly see the problem. The lid continued moving while the plastic fatigated, as previously reported from other users, the extreme "hardness" of the hinges caused this- .













pictures were taken with nokia 5800.

As you can see from the pictures, the damage is not critical, as this can be reglued. However, to avoid further damage, I'd like to loosen the hinges pressure. (im open to ideas for the repair too!)

Now I have my laptop unmounted, the LCD against the couch, writting to you guys, because I dont know how to loosen the hinges to avoid further damage. I read somewhere that with an 7/32 inch socket, but if I find one of those, I dont really know where to put it in to loose them.

Im currently living in France so I dont really have an MSI support, and I'd like to consider taking to a repair shop as a extreme case. Also I dont want to trash MSI for this incovenient, yes the plastics are cheap and break, but I knew that in advance before getting this laptop , which I love so much, and I took the risk of owning it and traveling abroad, however I never thought it was gonna happen really as it felt pretty solid. I guess it was just a matter of time

Thank you for your help!

 

Oh boy, this reminds me of the horrible Alienware m15x hinges. They would break pretty much the same way as yours did. Anyway, sorry to see this happened on yours. With the Alienware hinges, most guys used WD40 or some kind of grease to lubricate them so they could move more freely. Perhaps that may work for you.

And I suggest two part epoxy for repairing the broken plastic parts.

Btw, your Nokia takes pretty awesome pics.

 

Yeah pics are awesome quality.
rkcomputer might have the parts you need.

I think one of thier people is on this forum.
website here:
MSI Barebone (Whitebook) And MSI Brand Notebook-Laptop Replacement, Repair & Service Parts

Otherwise keep an eye on ebay.
Lots of msi notebooks used the same chassis.

 

Hello Fellas.
Just a quick report. I managed to rebuild the plastic part with dual-composite epoxy. it was fairly easy, however since I bought a "long lasting hard duration" epoxy, it took a while to dry, so I had to re-shape the cream every once in a while until it stood by itself. it was like watching paint dry !! xD but oh well, here is some pics:






Now that this is done, I can re-epoxy again the metal hinge to the metal plate and that will be it.

I reinforced too the other side to avoid future damage, as well as lubbed the hinges with WD40 and now you can move them more easily (plastic doesnt bend anymore, gee.)

Well, I guess within the "windows" laptops, MSI is "more windows" as you have to do double the work.

Cheers! out !

 

Nice work man! That's exactly what m15x owners were doing to fix theirs. It should definitely hold up for a long time. Glad to see you fixed it.

 

Hello DonLduk.

I really am glad to see this information. Just just have this problem, at least I think so, I have not removed the front panel but the gray shell has a crack and trying to close it I heard the same "crack" and now I have to keep open the laptop to prevent the crack increases.

I wonder what kind of glue you used and if you could tell me the brand, to try to repair it. It is very expensive to take to a service shop.

Thanks!

 

Great write! I have this same problem after to years of daily use. I will try to do the same. Just a question. Your wrote:

What do you mean with that? They are originally tighten with screws, right? But you have to glue them because even with the epoxy in place, the screw doesn't get firm in place?

Thanks in advance and sorry for my English, i´m from Argentina.

 

Rkcomputers is a ripoff. Not only price gouging, but charging $33 ground shipping for 3 items that weigh less than a pound. For $200 for the a and b panel, you should get the entire replacement chasis.

 

Ha

Or the entire laptop casing

BTW, gx630 may be a good source for parts, they tend to be pretty cheap.

 

yes exactly, the entire laptop casing would be the chasis. At 200 that is still price gouging.

 

We DO NOT price gouge, any repair parts are ALWAYS more costly than the original item.

The Cost for an "A" panel and "B" panel are not $200.00, You said you purchased 3 items?

If you add up all the available parts for purchase-repair it would be 3 x the cost of the original notebook computer.

As for the shipping, UPS just increased their rates and all items are shipped fully insured and signature required. $33.00 does sound high but my guess is either you are rural delivery or there is a delivery surcharge in your area for some other reason. We use UPS realtime shipping which pulls the rates from our zip to your zip directly from UPS.

 

While you're here rob, do you have an MSI gt627/GT627Q/GX620 motherboard?
If so, how much are they and do you ship to australia?

 

All boards are special order, we are not allowed to sell-quote items in the forum. Either email me or sales with the same questions and we will answer. For the system-board you will need to supply us with the notebook serial number, board part and revision numbers off the original board for us to quote and check availibility.

 

ok I understand.

 

ok, you're right 179.42 total. Seems totally reasonable for 2 pieces of plastic, with $23 worth of shipping (they weigh less than a pound combined...). .This would be the first time I've ever heard of being charged a surcharge by any carrier for living in the capital of my state, but I don't buy it (literally). I just paid $60 (ups) to have a 50lb lcd shipped to me across the country from CA to NJ, so I highly doubt $22 is worth having something shipped to me from NY to NJ that weighs less than a pound.

I for one wouldn't even consider buying this at this price, but again, that's my opinion.

 

Just remember, they have NEW stuff. You pretty much cant get that anywhere else.

Of course it is always a better idea to buy a new gx630 if someone on Ebay thinks its in between the gx620 and the gx640 at the end time of the auction for the motherboard.
The value of buying more than you need and reselling some of it is completely subjective.

 

A bit of a grave dig folks, but I have TWO of these wonderful, horrible Laptops.

Mine is in at MSI for a second time. First time BOTH hinges died was right before the 1 year mark, and 11 month mark on the second (Yes, both broke at the same time). MSI repaired for free, I paid shipping to them and had to argue for that price tag of free.

Not even 9 months later...mine is back at MSI, they quoted $100 to replace both lids. I told them again that if they had made the pivot as part of the screen and not the keyboard it wouldn't even be an issue. They are now repairing for free again.

Oh, and TODAY, the second one cracked again. Guess I'll be sending that one in after the first one returns.

A great machine based on specs for the price, but TERRIBLE design. Probably why most MSIs now have the reverse hinge configuration.

 

Sorry this post doesn’t have better photos – I decided to post after the fix was complete.

Gbl's version of the GX620 MSI hinge repair

Like many others I tried the original epoxy hinge fix but after a few months the plastic around the hinge broke off completely.

What I used
- 2X 20mm x 120mm by 1.5mm thick steel plate
- 3.5mm drill bit
- 10X 3mm (15mm long) Phillips headed bolts and nuts (used to decrease the size of the head inside the laptop frame)
- 10X 3mm washers
- 4mm nut as a spacer – Used on side with missing/broken plastic from lid
- Electrical tape
- Black spray paint

This fix assumes that you know how to use a drill and have already removed your LCD screen – The LCD screen removal can be found on youtube - GX620 disassembly

When my laptop hinges broke, one hinge broke off the lid completely and the other ripped the inbuilt brass nuts from the lid. This meant two different fixes were required.

Shear broken hinge – Plastic cracked off lid (refer to pic 1)

1) This first thing I did was to strip/remove the vertical brass nuts from the hinge area of the laptop. I did this by over tightening a hinge screw into the brass nuts and continuing to tighten until the nut was stripped from the plastic body. (refer to Pic 2)
This is showing the location of the vertical nuts to drill out with 3.5mm drill bit once the brass nuts have been removed.

2) Then I drilled 3.5mm holes in the locations where the two of the two vertical brass nuts were located.
Note - The top hole will be drilling through the aluminium lid as well as the plastic so I would recommend, assuming that you haven’t sheared off both hinges, that you drill the side with the plastic first as this gives you a location/template on where to drill to ensure the correct positioning of the screen in relation to the hinge (original location).

3) I used the hinge as a template and marked out the location of the two vertical holes on each steel plate. After drilling the two holes in each steel plate I attached the plates to the laptop to check for fit and clearances. Also using washers and the 4mm nut I spaced out the plate from the hinge. Used on the side with no plastic. (refer to Pic3)


4) I then marked the drilling locations on the lid. I picked 3 spots where I was able to avoid all clips and attachments in the plastic frame on the inside of the lid. (refer to Pic4)
30mm --- 40mm---- 30mm--- Top Screw


6) After drilling 3 holes on both sides of the lid I attached the lid and steel plate to the laptop. Once inplace, properly spaced and clearance checked I marked the holes in the laptop lid onto the steel plate using a black marker.
7) Then all you need to do is drill 3.5 mm holes as marked on the steel plate
8) Paint the plate
9) While the laptop was apart I put electrical tape on all exposed wires (near the hinges) as I’ve found that overtime these fine wires can wear through the insulation/plastic sheath resulting in a loss of your wireless antenna.
10) Attach the painted steel plates and drilled lid to laptop the with correct spacers, washers to ensure desired closing position. I found placing the bolts through the holes in the hinges first then adding the spacers followed by the lid then attaching the plates with nuts on the end to be the easiest
11) Reassemble laptop LCD screen.
12) Once you’ve confirmed that your laptop/screen is running correctly lock the nuts inplace using a threadlocker e.g. locktite. Note - thread locker is quite thin and may run/spread, have some tissue/rag in place to remove any excess.

Final product

 

Terminator look. Great job. My hinges are strong enough now. The notebook already 2 years old, but no damage on the critical points. Knock knock...

 

You don`t even know how cheap lcd cover and lcd bezel are . Parts are very cheap but all operations in service are very expensive ( work of service guy, testing, burning and others costs).

 

The reason I came up with the fix was due to the fact that I had already replaced the lid, the screen bezel and the stainless steal frame attached to the LCD panel once and I wanted a more permanent solution.

Now it's bullet proof!!

gBl

 

iv been looking every were for the Phillips headed bolts and nuts and cant find them any were, were did you get yours from??

 

This is what I did, rock solid:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/not...lloy-lid-hinge-mount-overhaul-pic-inside.html



The lid is from a Dell d830