Thinkpads Forum

I have try to safely remove the black plugs that hide the screws without success. I have try to use a small bladed screw driver, a sharp pointed tip tool but will not fit into the very small openings around the perimeter of the plug. The plugs are hard plastic and do not have give to them!

I am at a lost as to want exact tool one can use to pry it out without damaging either the lcd frame or the plug itself.

Since a lot of you have done this; how do you exactly do it safely?

Harry

P.S. I am tempted at just drill it out! And buying replacement plugs to fit it in!

But there must be a better way to do it!

The plugs are actually flat plastic plates.

I usually use a very sharp knife (a box cutter) and get under one edge and pop it up. They fly everywhere! Sometimes you will put a kink in the plate and it won't look nice.

Once I remove the plug, I usually tack it to the palmrest area of the keyboard so it won't disappear.

If the adhesive goes bad, you can use adhesive film (3M) or rubber cement.

Hope this helps

a needle or straight pin works great.
gently sliding under an edge

Thanks eriqesque and Bruce Guttman for the answers.

I will try a very small needle and see if that works during the long holiday weekend. I will try to devise a way to catch the plug when it pops out and flys! I thinking of taping it to the frame before trying to pop it out.

Thanks again. Will think about how to do precision work during Thanksgiving and will tell you how it went.


Harry

I have tried various methods including the ones suggested above, but the best tool yet I used is the Exacto trimming knife. It has been a must-have for me since it is also valuable in other printed circuit work. If you can get one (available at office and school supplies stores), pick the one with a needle-point cutting blade. Since the tip is so thin, flat (almost) and hard, kinked and flying discs can be minimized or avoided. The tip is brittle though, so do not use a lot of lever force.

Rick Aguinaldo,

You have the best idea yet! I will try to find my extacto knife!

Thanks!

Harry

Harry,
You could be right about the plugs that cover the screws around the lcd bezel. Some of the old Thinkpad models I worked on, the plugs are hard rubber, and for those I used my jeweler's screw driver.
Cheers,
Rick