How to drill a hole in a notebook without cracking it?

Well My Clevo M860TU has constantly had issues with an extermely hot hard drive. There are no vents near it and the fact that it reaches 70C and still runs is amazing. In fact part of the plastic on the drive is melted.

I plan to drill the base plate of the notebook which is plastic but my main concern is how do I drill it without cracking the plastic?

Thanks

 

Just use a drill bit that wont bite too hard and press very lightly.

If you use something like a dremel with its high speed you have an even better chance of having no issues.

That said. Even normal drill bits wont crack plastic very easy even with a lot of force. Something like plexiglass breaks easy but general plastic is pretty darn resilient.

I drilled holes in my C90S, and just last week I drilled through the plastic back panel of my Madcatz Fightstick TE to do a modification to it. Nether case required any special attention to prevent cracks.

Oh and as far as drill bits and that "bite" one for metal will try to take less materiel per rotation than one for wood.

 

For the soft plastics in notebooks, you won't have cracking issues if you apply light pressure. If the rotation is too high, you could create too much friction which in turn makes the plastic too warm and gooey. This makes the plastic grip into the grooves of the bit and messes up everything.

TL;DR version: Light pressure, low speed.

 

Thanks for the tips guys!!! Ill be trying it out in a few days!

 

be sure to post some pics when done

 

DO NOT use the dremel at high speed. It'll melt the plastic and make a mess. Just a slow speed and go slow and steady.

 

I found a metal drillbit which I think should work, it shaves off less per rotation than a wood bit.

Should I drill through the plastic straight into wood (have wood directly underneath the plastic) or should it have nothing underneath?

Thanks for the tips so far guys

 

I'd put wood underneath, just so you don't drill your leg or something.

 

yeah some wood to stabilize and let you drill without hesitation.

also what was said about the dremel @ high speed is not true in my experience. Dremel drill bits are made so that they dont really have much friction, at full speed I never have melted or messed up plastics before.

A regular drill though like a high speed electric one can definitely melt plastic if you go full throttle and cause problems. Especially large bits that drill slow like a hole saw or forstner bit.

When I did the cooling mod for the C90S I used an interesting bit for large holes, and then covered the holes with "modders mesh" (screen) and hot glued it on with high temp glue from the inside.

 

Thanks for the clarification Vicious

 

Also you can put ducktape over the area where you drill so even less chance of cracks. I know alot of people do that when drill tiles in a bathroom

 

masking tape or painter's tape on the finished side as well. ducT tape leaves residue, especially as a drill/saw spins through the adhesive.

 

Found some of the old mod pictures.

Link

That mod worked great, it dropped temps by a very large amount especially with use of a cooling pad.

 

That's the drill I use for such situation
HITACHI Power Tools: Products > Cordless > 3.6-Volt > DB3DL 3.6V Lithium Ion Screwdriver,

It has adjustable speed.Also I start using a small bit and increase size

 

+1 to start with small bit then increase gradually.

 

Im questioning whether to go through with it, I drilled a similar piece of plastic earlier today to the one at the base of my notebook and it had a bit of cracking =.-;

 

Gotta go slow speed and increase bit size by size >
If by any chance bit gets jammed that's when you may force it and cause some cracking //
Do some test in a similar piece of material instead of you computer and see the best approach to it

 

Go slow, tape it down solid to whatever is underneath it. You get cracking when you get flex. If you have a good backing (wood is ideal), you won't get nearly as much cracking.

Use a drill bit with a small of flutes as you can find, or just use a dremel sanding bit to sand a hole through. I'd honestly try the dremel first. A standard wood-boring or metal drilling drill bit can bite hard and cause some major cracking: http://www.rplastics.com/plasticdrill.html

 

Wouldn't it be better just to remove the bottom panel than drilling some holes. If your worried that thing might fallout use tape.

 

i hv seen ppl drilled thin ply wood without cracking it..
the method they used is by covering the surface to be drilled with masking tape before drilling.. the masking tape is believed to hold the surface of the plastic and prevent cracking.. any how i not sure whether this way is working onot.. good luck.

 

also masking tape to help prevent drill bit sliping on smooth surfaces

use HSS Bosch Step Drill Bit for drilling clean holes in plastic (or metal)
drills up to 5mm thickness(can do thicker but hole will be stepped 2mm difference) . diameter holes it can drill 4mm-6-8-10-12-14-16-18-20-22-24-26-28-30mm > variable trigger speed cordless drill set at low speed an control speed with trigger to slow down more. light pressure, never force bit into plastic. Excellent for enlarging holes whereas using normal drill bit to enlarge hole can sometimes catch into plastic cause split.

 

take it slow

 

I don't get it way you need a hole in first place?

 

Not sure if its been mentioned, but a notebook cooling pad might be able to solve your problem

 

agreed, it's far less risky than "drilling a hole"

70° C isn't that extreme anyways.

 

Use a wood bit and press down really hard at slow speed

 

No way. If it's not clamped down you'll either jump the bit or spin the piece and ruin the finish.

 

dude, I'm telling you, that is the best way. I would also say that you should squirt down the whole case with WD-40, so you can keep the bit well lubricated.

 

That is what i would use.

Use a hand held pin vise drill to punch your initial hole and then from there use this style of a stepping bit to widen the hole to the desired size.

Increasing the hole size in small steps is what will reduce the stress to the materials more than just about any other thing you can do.

With the right increases to size you can drill holes into anything from wood to glass, the trick is to just take it easy and increase the hole size in as small a step as you can to not stress the materials.

 

watch this and u r good to go , just be sure u do it from the outside side
YouTube - Hp laptop MOD to stop from overheating

 

I am using a notebook cooler always have and if you look under accessories I wrote the buyers guide and several reviews

Also for HDD 70C is VERY VERY VERY high. Hdds are designed to run up to 60C and then the discs may start warping.

The problem is actually the design of the notebook, the hdd is in a heat trap within the laptop even if the rest is cooler the HDD area will still suck up all the heat

 

i basically followed this:-

http://forum.notebookreview.com/sager-clevo/416414-clevo-m570tu-cooling-overhaul.html

bought a cheap hand-drill and 2mm cobalt drills bits from ebay. Secured athe backpanel to a piece of scrap wood. Used an awl to provide a starting point for the drill bit to bite into; worked like a charm. No cracking whatsoever.

 

Step drills work really well for making super round holes in thin material. Regular drill bits do not make very round holes, they are slightly elliptical. Generally speaking, on thick material I start with an undersized drill bit and then use a reamer for final size.