T61 Broken Hinge - Question

[EAkamai]

Howdy!

Was surprised to see this TPad break like that. Was beginning to think it was immortal

Everything works great otherwise... and thanks to one of the Precious people on this forum
I hope to get the parts to 'make it whole' again. But I have a question.

I've done quite a few laptop repairs but very few TPads and never did any LCD repair on TPads.

I've rarely - if ever - did a repair and\or disassembled a system UNTIL I had the replacement part(s) in my hot hands.
It seems to be a kind of 'Catch-22' where I will not know how much is broken without disassembling it.
I KNOW the right hinge is broke which cracked the back right part of the (bottom?) plastic LCD Cover (bezel?).
The top cover appears unharmed and I removed that in order to assess what else I need.
I can't see any damage on the (roll cage) under the cover but I really can't confirm until I disassemble it.

When it's used at our 'HQs' we use it with an external LCD. Will we be able to use it while it is disassembled
and waiting for the correct parts to arrive? I can't see why we wouldn't be able to do that if we're careful.

I'm also curious about two (3) other things:
1. We don't see anywhere in the HMM a section\procedure on just replacing hinges.
2. Does Lenovo provide replacement hinges we can purchase? (I'm not hopeful they do)
and we heard that most of the replacement hinges sold on ebay etc. are cheaply made.
3. I'm curious which [replacement] part contains these hinges?

We can't thank you enough for any help on this!

[Cigarguy]

I lucked out and got a set of pristine hinges for my T61 from TuuS. Was a lot of work but I followed the MM. Nice tight hinges now where as before it was flopping by about 2" and was driving me nuts.

Personally I'd PM TuuS and see what he have with regards to the hinges.

[EAkamai]

Was a lot of work but I followed the MM.

Thanks!
Where in the HMM do they have the procedure for hinge replacement? Did I somehow miss it?

Personally I'd PM TuuS and see what he have with regards to the hinges.

Yes, we are already in contact about it.
But I still wonder if it can be used [with external monitor] while awaiting parts?

I guess I can assume from your answer that Lenovo doesn't offer replacement for any of the parts?

I'm in the process of disassembling it now.

Thanks again!

[Cigarguy]

On the 15.4" model page 117 "2050 LCD magnesium frame (LCD cover kit) and frame assembly"

These MM are great as it shows you step by step how to disassemble everything. Some digging may be required of the user though.

edit - no you can't assume from my answer that Lenovo do not offer replacement parts. I never tried to contact Lenovo so I don't know. I only said that I lucked out and got some mint condition hinges for cheap from TuuS. That is not the same as saying I can't get new replacement hinges from Lenovo.

[RealBlackStuff]

Remove palmrest, keyboard and KB-bezel.
Disconnect the antenna wires from the wifi card.
Then remove the whole lid (only a few screws for the hinges and the LCD-cable).
Restore palmrest, keyboard and KB-bezel.
With ethernet cable and attached to an external monitor you can continue using the laptop's bottom.

[EAkamai]

With ethernet cable and attached to an external monitor you can continue using the laptop's bottom.

Thank you very much for this info!

[EAkamai]

Thanks to this forum and especially TuuS, our TPad is again 'road ready'.

I can't thank everyone enough for helping me get it together and working again.

All the years I've been repairing laptops I can't remember having that much trouble with the bezel on an LCD repair.
It was nasty. I was about to post for any tips, suggestions or ideas... but I was able to persevere and get it right.
All that work for ONE lousy broken hinge!

A miracle, considering the HMM was incorrect and not as detailed as I would have liked when it was correct.
We downloaded at least 5 different HMM files and even though some file sizes were different, they had the same
inconsistencies with what I was dealing with.

Thanks again to everyone for success with this 'Old Friend'.
Now how do I get rid of the paranoia every time I open and shut the lid?!

[Cigarguy]

Glad you got it working. I feel your pain and frustration. I sympathize with you, the T61 screen, screen bezel, and hinges are not that easy to replace.

[twillis449]

There is a lot of fuss in this forum about T61s and Nvidia graphicd gpu problems, but in my mind the worst thing about T61s is the hinge design. It is just bad - thin and small metal piece at a critical part part of the system; and the whole computer seems to be carefully crafted to make it as difficult as possible for the home repair person to relace them! I used to have a Dell Latitude D600 that also had crappy hinges, but at least Dell seemed to recognize that they would fail and the design made them much easier to replace!

[EAkamai]

There is a lot of fuss in this forum about T61s and Nvidia graphicd gpu problems, but in my mind the worst thing about T61s is the hinge design. It is just bad - thin and small metal piece at a critical part part of the system; and the whole computer seems to be carefully crafted to make it as difficult as possible for the home repair person to relace them! I used to have a Dell Latitude D600 that also had crappy hinges, but at least Dell seemed to recognize that they would fail and the design made them much easier to replace!

You are Spot On twillis!
Also, check out the small amount of plastic material on the right lower part of the bezel right where that hinge sets... Super thin!
But then the entire inside\front bezel is very thin. That's why I was so worried about breaking it.

Thanks again for all the help
Thank you TuuS!