Creaky right palmrest - FIXED! Thanks IBM!!!

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#1 Post by **K. Eng** » Tue Aug 31, 2004 7:24 pm

Edit 10 Dec 2004 - The creak is gone and my ThinkPad T40 feels super solid

After trying fruitlessly for days to fix my palmrest, I gave up. So I called IBM yesterday morning and told the customer service guy my story (basicallly that palmrest was busted after repair) and asked him for FRU # 91P8399. He checked and verified that it was a Customer replaceable palmrest and had one sent to me.

It's the palmrest without the touchpad!

I just installed it and it is like night and day... so much more solid and sturdy than the old wrist rest! Will post pics later tonight if I get a chance.

-- original post ---

My T40 has developed a creak in the right hand side of the palmrest. The general area is dirrectly the the right of the right side UltraNav button below the right ALT key.

Reseating the palmrest doesn't fix the problem. I can push up and down on this spot, and whenever I rest my palms on it it goes *creak* *creak*.

This is no joke and it is making me unhappy

any ideas?

edit - curiously, I the RH side creak only occurs when the notebook is on my lap. If I'm sitting at a table and put my wrist down on the RH side of the rest, no noise or flex in the palmrest occurs.

#2 Post by **K. Eng** » Sat Sep 04, 2004 10:58 pm

I figured out what was wrong!

The screws that secure the side of the touchpad were waaaay too tight, causing the palmrest to bow upwards and the right hand side to creak when pressed down.

Flightvector · #3 Post by **Flightvector** » Sun Sep 05, 2004 1:35 pm

Did your thinkpad come this way from IBM, or was the palmrest disassembled before? It seems that the T40/41 get a good share of creaks, I wonder how much of it has to do with the tightness of the screws/workmanship over just plain plastics material quality. I get occasional creaks on my T42, but this is usually only when the chassis gets flexed.

#4 Post by **K. Eng** » Sun Sep 05, 2004 1:55 pm

My ThinkPad did not come like that from IBM.

Around last March or so, my system board failed and I sent the unit to the repair depot. When it came back, I noticed that the righthand side of the palmrest did not feel as solid as it used to. Some days it would feel fine, and other days it would make creaking sounds when I rested my right hand on it.

In the past few days it got really bad so I decided to do some more investigating, which paid off.

Leon · #5 Post by **Leon** » Tue Nov 23, 2004 1:00 am

I have a T42 with BAAAD creaking in the same place (to the right of the touchpad). I looked at the hardware maintenance manual, but looking at the screws that attach the palmrest, could not see any that looked like they "secure the side of the touchpad". Which screws were too tight that solved the problem? Has anyone else solved this problem any other way?

anashaus · #6 Post by **anashaus** » Tue Nov 23, 2004 3:31 pm

I have just purchased a T42p. It developed a very pronounced creak on the right hand palm rest after a couple of days. Any ideas would be GREATLY appreciated.

s0larian · #7 Post by **s0larian** » Tue Nov 23, 2004 5:12 pm

Today I got my T40p back from the IBM Service. The system board has been replaced. Before the service there was no palm creaking at all, now I got it as well. I tried to loose the screws a little bit like K.Eng mentioned it in this thread, but it didn't help for me. It is definetly not because of the plam rest, I think it must have to do something with the systemboard. Perhaps I will open my TP in the next days and see if I can find the cause for creaking.

rocky01 · #8 Post by **rocky01** » Tue Nov 23, 2004 6:13 pm

i seem to recall someone using a business card between the plastic palmrest bezel and the pcmia slot housing and it getting favorable responses from other users on the verge of a conniption ...

Leon · #9 Post by **Leon** » Tue Nov 23, 2004 7:10 pm

this problem is on the RIGHT side!

darrenf · #10 Post by **darrenf** » Thu Nov 25, 2004 4:02 am

This problem is caused by a strip of plastic in the palmrest that fits in between two matching strips of plastic above the hard drive.

The solution is probably to either fill in between the strips above the hard drive with epoxy or shave one or both of them down. I have not tried either, BTW. I would not suggest filing down the strip on the bottom of the palmrest because it probably adds some strength to the palmrest.

If anyone plays around with this, please let me know how it goes.

-darren

Leon · #11 Post by **Leon** » Thu Nov 25, 2004 10:50 am

no one else in the forum has fixed this creak??

IR0NMAN · #12 Post by **IR0NMAN** » Thu Nov 25, 2004 11:47 am

I guess getting ear plugs will fix the problem...

just kidding

hershey · #13 Post by **hershey** » Sun Nov 28, 2004 6:29 am

seriously though - does this problem lack a solution?

Leon · #14 Post by **Leon** » Sun Nov 28, 2004 10:59 am

or do very few have the problem.. maybe I should call for a new palm rest?

hershey · #15 Post by **hershey** » Sun Nov 28, 2004 1:59 pm

yeah maybe I should also?...

Leon · #16 Post by **Leon** » Mon Nov 29, 2004 1:41 pm

will THAT solve the problem? anybody with experience in this?

#17 Post by **K. Eng** » Mon Nov 29, 2004 2:31 pm

I will do my best to help you guys out.

I got my ThinkPad back from EZServ on Saturday (system board replacement, second time, grrr...) and as I feared, the palm rest was really really creaky on the righthand side. Again. Just like the first time it came back from EZServ.

I got really annoyed and took out the palmrest and keyboard and reinstalled them.

There are 8 screws holding the palmrest to the base.

Along the front of the T40 are 5 screws. The leftmost front screws (the one by the IR port and the one directly to the right of it) I tighened a fair bit. The rightmost front screws I left slightly loose (could turn them easily in either direction, but will still stay in place).

There are also 3 longer retention ones that hold the palmrest near where the palmrest plastic meets the side parts of the plastic chassis. I left these tightened enough that they won't fall out, but loose enough that they could still be tightened more.

The creaking went away.

I don't know why new T4x machines don't exhibit this RH side creaking, while a lot of them coming back from EZServ do exhibit this creaking. I suspect that mounting the palmrest too tight on the 14" T4x causes the plastic to bow upwards, creating a sort of bubble that can be pushed up and down. This causes a plastic strip on the bottom of the palmrest to rub against two plastic strips on the top of the HDD bay, causing more noise.

Hope this helps. I don't know if what I did will work on other T4x machines.

Leon · #18 Post by **Leon** » Mon Nov 29, 2004 6:50 pm

anyone with a T42 who has had or solved this problem?

#19 Post by **K. Eng** » Thu Dec 09, 2004 12:48 pm

With regards to the solution that I posted above,

It has the unfortunate side effect of making the front, righthand side of the palmrest creaky.

The area right above the right speaker now creaks if I press down on it, and there's still a bit of creaking near the touchpad.

On top of that the touchpad now creaks

I have a new fix in the works. I'll post again in a few days if it works out.

PetraM · #20 Post by **PetraM** » Thu Dec 09, 2004 2:20 pm

My RH palm rest also creaks. Just started two days ago. I was really happy to find this thread here! I've got a T42p that is just over two months old. The problem is that it creaks also when you press left arrow which is really annoying.

I thought of taking it back to where I bought it and asking the guys there but if you guys say the notebooks come even more creaky from a repair then I should consider repairing it myself.

Aren't the T series notebook considered to be sturdy? Or is the titanium something stuff just a way to sell them at a bigger price?

I even accused my boyfriend of destroying my keyboard. Really glad to find it's a common (though not too common I hope) problem.

Petra

#21 Post by **K. Eng** » Fri Dec 10, 2004 11:33 am

The fix is in... edited original post to reflect so.

RoadHazard · #22 Post by **RoadHazard** » Fri Dec 10, 2004 1:31 pm

I'm probably lucky enough not to get any creak in the palm rest since the beginning. But after I swap the palm rest to a non-touchpad version, I feel that it's even sturdier than the one with touchpad. Not that this is a solution but just want to add some comment.

RoadHazard · #23 Post by **RoadHazard** » Fri Dec 10, 2004 1:35 pm

Oh BTW, I bought the new palm rest on my own. I should have called IBM and complained about the creaking like the OP did.

Creaky right palmrest - FIXED! Thanks IBM!!!

Creaky right palmrest - FIXED! Thanks IBM!!!

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