Owner of a new T40. Some questions.

[SebastianProoth]

Hello all!

I just found this forum the other day and had a good look around, its a great place for all you Thinkpad enthusiasts.

I have a question as I just bought a Thinkpad T40 on eBay. It was a really good purchase as well as the system is in perfect condition except one thing:

Does anyone have a "quick fix" for tightening the resistence on the lid of the machine? To be a bit more specific, I would like it to be less "floppy"

Maybe I will stick a photo of the machine up when I take one, I know how the community here likes to share what they have.

Thanks for any help!

Sebastian.

[syedj]

Hi Sebastian,

Welcome to the forum!

As far as I know there is no "quick fix" for the LCD flex except for changing the hinges but I am not 100% sure. In the past at least I have changed the hinges to make the lid tighter. Perhaps someone else has a better idea.

[jargoone]

I second syedj's comment: there really isn't any way to fix this other than to replace the hinges. Having done this myself, I will say that it's not for the faint of heart. The LCD panel assembly is tricky to get apart and back together correctly.

If it bothers you that much, your best best might be to buy an entire LCD panel assembly, swap it out, and sell the old one. Replacing the whole thing is far easier than replacing a component within.

[SebastianProoth]

Thanks for the welcomes!

Thanks for the quick responses there guys. I might look into a new display for the unit...although that might be just opening a can of worms with new problems. The casing on my T40 is perfect, the keyboard could do with replacing as it is a bit shiny and I am currently looking into buying a new UK one for it.

[syedj]

Thanks for the welcomes!

Thanks for the quick responses there guys. I might look into a new display for the unit...although that might be just opening a can of worms with new problems. The casing on my T40 is perfect, the keyboard could do with replacing as it is a bit shiny and I am currently looking into buying a new UK one for it.

If the casing is perfect I would suggest just try to live with the screen flex because the new LCD panel assembly that you might find might not be so clean.

In my opinion, replacing the keyboard will certainly give you a much better overall experience. ThinkPads have probably the best keyboards in the whole industry.

[underclocker]

Welcome to forum and congrats on the T40.

I know it's obvious, but did you try tightening the hinge screws? There are five that you can tighten that are directly responsible for securing the hinges plus two that help.

Four are on the back, on either side of the battery. One is under the keyboard bezel (top piece) to the left. Plus the two bottom keyboard bezel screws help secure the display, as well.

I recently had a loose display on an R51 and tightening all the screws fixed it.

Two notes: DO NOT OVER TIGHTEN! Just tighten a little past where the screw stops, if you muscle it, you will crack the plastic! (This is especially true on the palmrest!!!!!)

If this doesn't work, you can pick up hinges. I have some that I'd be happy to let go for a nominal charge, like postage plus $10. But remember, changing hinges on a T4x is time consuming.

Good luck.

[SebastianProoth]

Thanks for the tips...

I haven't broken out the screw driver yet with this machine yet I have owned many thinkpads in my time and tightening the external screws never seemed to help. I know when I used to do model work sometimes a door would be floppy and we would squeeze the hinges with pliers and they would tighten up just enough.

As for your offer of the hinges, I might very well be interested in taking you up on that. I have taken apart and put back together a T30 and a T42 and a million of the other brands in my time so replacing the hinges probably would prove impossible.

I am for sure buying a new keyboard for this unit as I am a bit of a perfectionist (obviously...) and would like the machine to look equal all over.

Out of curiosity what do you guys usually use to clean your screens? I would use Windex if I still lived in the US but here in England they use something different to clean glass that is inappropriate for computer screens.

-Sebastian