Thinkpads Forum

Hello,

I've had this W520 for about a year (warranty may or may not be due, I'd have to check).

So far I've had two cracks in the palmrest; one is below the TrackPoint's right mouse button- ignorable but I'm mentioning it anyways.

The second one, that occurred today, is quite a bit more substantial, above the USB 3.0 ports.

It's been handled carefully over the 10 months that I've had it (I haven't dropped it on the floor or anything like that; though I transport it daily in a laptop pack); though interestingly enough there is a small sign of wear (the finish is worn off and the plastic is still just as thick) on that side of the machine which doesn't extend all the way through the plastic (the crack goes through the thickest part of the plastic though).

Is there a way to repair this?

If not, where can I get a replacement rest (I'm accepting the fact that the stickers will be a loss but that's a small price to pay)? Is it covered by warranty or will I just be better off finding a replacement somewhere?

Thanks.

Obviously if you can get a warrant repair (especially if onsite), that would be the way to go for best quality. (Personally, I would consider losing the stickers a plus.)

To self-repair... If I didn't care about it possibly not looking exactly right and just wanted to reinforce the plastic and if I could remove the cracked piece, I would look for a recycling code and hope to see PS for polystyrene or ABS. Then I would tape off the adjacent areas and brush plastic model cement into the crack until the plastic softens just a bit. Might have a needle applicator instead of a brush. Clamp it with several rubber bands and wait several hours for the material to re-form and the solvent to evaporate.

(Use the thin watery kind, not the gel... and not Duco cement which doesn't really dissolve the plastic at all. I thought Testors/Model Masters used toluol, but their current MSDS is showing a blend of Xylol, Ethyl Benzene, and Butyl Acetate. Yeah, I guess they reformulated it. Found an old MSDS online that shows just toluol and mustard oil (?!). Guess you can't get that anymore.)

Obviously if you can get a warrant repair (especially if onsite), that would be the way to go for best quality.

It's a flat-out replacement; I don't have on-site warranty (I have a depot repair). Though I'm assuming that there would be a service center somewhere in my area that area is a... little inconvenient to get to.

Honestly, I'm not entirely sure if that would even be covered under warranty or if it's just "normal wear and tear" (I suppose I'd have to ask a rep) which TBH is my biggest issue; I don't want to send the machine away for 6-8 weeks and find out that they won't do anything

I will probably acquire the replacement part and install it myself regardless sometime within the next month regardless if I get it for free or not (since this laptop still has lots of useful life in it; especially with the new SSD I've got coming for it).