Wobbly screen, is it fixable?

[JonathanGennick]

The screen on my wife's Thinkpad has a terrible case of the wobblies. Open the clamshell, grab the top of the display, pull it back and forth, and you get a good inch of play. The top of the lid will flop back and forth for that distance because the hinges are loose inside the base. In other words, I can pull the lid forward an inch before the lid begins to turn on the hinges.

This problem has been there since day 1, and it got worse in 2004 when IBM replaced the LCD panel. I should have dealt with it before now, and I've decided not to put the problem off anymore. Is it possibly something I could fix myself? The laptop is an R40 model. Is it difficult to open up the bottom case in order to tighten the hinges inside? Am I better sending it in to IBM? I'm not sure whether the machine is even still under warrenty.

[JHEM]

There's no way to tighten the hinges.

Replace them. I doubt if it's still under warranty, get the hinges off eBay.

How's the snowmobiling in Munising?

God, I love the UP!

Regards.

James

[JonathanGennick]

Thanks James. I'll see if the machine is still under warrenty. I should at least check that.

What's troublesome is that the entire hinge mechanism wobbles. the panel connects to a couple of vertical, metal pieces that fit into the case. It's those metal pieces that wobble badly. Since they're at the bottom of the screen, that wobbling is greatly magnified at the top.

Snowmobilng. Not sure about that, actually. I've been in Dallas all week, just got back last night, and we've clearly had a lot of melting. Now, there is still one to two feet of snow in my yard, but I really don't know the current conditions out on the trails. I uusually pay more attention to the cross-country ski trails, but I really haven't been out on those lately either. For some reason, I've just not gotten out much this winter.

[JHEM]

Sounds like you might have some screws loose!

Open it up and tighten the four screws that secure the display to the lower case.

ftp://ftp.software.ibm.com/pc/pccbbs/mo ... 3n6183.pdf

Regards,

James

[Red_October_7000]

Exactly how I fixed the wobbly screen on my buddy's X20. Now if only I could do something about my R30's screen, which is tighter than... well, you get the picture.