T42 Broken Hinge!

[fefrie]

I know, I am shocked too.

The part that broke is the left hinge that contains all of the wires into the lid. The *metal* part that snapped is the section that is screwed to the base that connects to the wide flat screws in the back. The lid is held into place with just the long screw.

Has this ever happened to anyone before? I did a quick forum search for "broken hinge" and nothing.

Do I have to get a whole new lid assembly? And will it have to be a special sxga lid assembly?

Ugh...

[ajkula66]

Hinges break quite often. It's the forum's search function that is not working too well...

You can replace just the hinge, no need for a lid swap. It must be a hinge from a T4x lid that matches the size of yours (14" and 15" have different hinges), everything else is really a non-issue.

[fefrie]

So much for claiming TP's have unbreakable hinges and are better than Dell's.

I have an 14"SXGA screen. Will that be any different from a standard 14"xga screen?

Are the mounting holes in any different position on the LCD screen itself.

It's so stupid how small the left LCD hinges. It's just a small sliver. On the right side it's this huge trapezoidal shape.....

[ajkula66]

I don't recall anyone ever stating that ThinkPad hinges are unbreakable...

Haven't dealt much with recent Dell models. The older ones from 6-7 years ago were not machines I'd ever want to work on...but that's me.

Hinges are the same on all 14" T4x models, the only thing that matters is left vs. right...

[fefrie]

I just assumed and never read of anyone ever having such a problem. Hopefully an easy fix.

[Harryc]

Use the maintenance manual and take it slow ... http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site. ... MIGR-46464
The part number for the hinges are in the manual as well. EBay is a good parts source.

So much for claiming TP's have unbreakable hinges

That's a ridiculous statement, and I agree it's a comment I've never heard.

[fefrie]

Well I've always longed for a t4x long ago. It always seemed that t4x's were the de facto standard for the longest time.

I've never heard of anyone saying that the hinges were indestructable. I've always just assumed that they were since they were made of metal bolted into metal.

In any case, I should have no problem installing it. I;ve already torn apart my t42 to replace power jack which is worse than replacing a hinge I thing. With replacing the hinge, I won't have to take the mother board off.

[itsramesh]

I guess finally this had to happen to my 7 year old T42. The left hinge broke.
I think the part number is 91P8388 and listed for 45$ on Lenovo parts site.

I checked out ebay and there seem to be "new" hinge sets (I guess they are equivalent parts and not the original one) for quite cheap.
Anyone has experience with these products?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/260443991459?ss ... 1438.l2649

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 0799745373

PS: My thinkpad has now become a standby machine used by my wife for email and facebook! So don't want to spend anymore on it than required.

[Countessjaye]

Hello there, I, too, have broken that left hinge (the fat one w/ the wires in it) on my T42, also broken is the plastic "scoop" piece (about one inch long) which is formed and a part of the screen bezel it would seem.

Help?

I have at my disposal a t42 for parts - actually it is pretty perfect but has a GPU issue... then I have a 15" one that is just shot but maybe I can get the bluetooth stuff out of it and put it in to the "new" one. Oh, both the others are 14", no BT.

So is it easier to replace the hinge and the bezel and I think somehow my mouse stopped working (bottom buttons only stopped) on my original t42??? oh also the keyboard works so much better on the other 14" t42... migrate that too...

OR

replace just the gpu somehow on the otherwise-perfect t42?? or the mobo? on the otherwise-perfect T42?

LAST if I am able to determine that I can put the BT card into one of the contender machines, then is there some way to get the corrects sticker/indicator lights panel off the 15" and put it on a 14" machine?

geesh i hope this thread bumps otherwise it looks like the last comment here was years ago.

i am not a super-experienced laptop tech, just a chick with a decent set of tools.

[systemBuilder]

Hinge replacement is the #1 most difficult maintenance procedure for a Thinkpad, since it's basically the most fundamental part of the laptop. I replaced an LCD and it was difficult, but it was easy compared to replacing the hinge.

With about 2 hours of work and a $17 hinge set you can replace one hinge on your own. Make sure to take plenty of coffee breaks so you don't just smash the laptop with a hammer. And make sure to start with at least 3 yogurt cups to hold smart parts and some masking tape to hold the small parts, and take copious notes on how you disassembled the thinkpad. Also, get all the tools together in advance : micro-precision screw drivers, pen knife, etc.

I don't know what is the plastic "scoop" part of the bezel. You might want to simply buy a new display, it would take only 1/3 of the time to install it, vs. a new hinge. However, when I bought a new display it turned out to be flakey and i had to send it back, so buyer beware. You might even want to buy a like-new display, as our display started to have matrix failure only about 18 months after hinge replacement. The hinges are plastic and when they fail, it's a signal that maybe other majors parts of the laptop will be failing soon. I imagine your screen is probably only at 60% brightness (or less) vs. a new screen.

Good luck !!!

[ajkula66]

The hinges are plastic and when they fail, it's a signal that maybe other majors parts of the laptop will be failing soon. I imagine your screen is probably only at 60% brightness (or less) vs. a new screen.

To all future readers of this thread: please disregard the misinformation above.

The hinges are NOT plastic.

A broken hinge means is NOT an indicator of any other part(s) failing.

[poshgeordie]

To show how common this fault is, someone arrived on my doorstep a couple of days ago clutching their T40, having just snapped the LH hinge off - turns out he'd been carrying it around by the lid - tut, tut!

Checking my stock of LH hinges I only had one left having previously replaced a lot over the years. Have lots of RH hinges....

The job's not difficult to do in fact, requiring a partial strip down of the TP to remove the screen, and then all the screen outside screws, removing the screen bezel, and then the two screws attaching the hinge to the screen.

Click on the How To list in my sig and then the T4x Screws, which will help with stripping and reassembling the main part of the Thinkpad - sorry, it doesn't include dismantling the screen.

[schmaud]

I had this a few years ago,

was som 20$ in material and ~ 1/2-1h work.

http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=59859

[systemBuilder]

To all future readers of this thread: please disregard the misinformation above.

The hinges are NOT plastic.

A broken hinge means is NOT an indicator of any other part(s) failing.

I am sorry for the mistake, obviously, the right hinge is made of steel, but the left hinge IS INDEED MADE OF PLASTIC and IT BREAKS MORE OFTEN. And in our case, we carried our laptop properly for 6 years, and it had a new LCD @ 1 year old. That Samsung LCD was used basically every day for 5+ years. When the hinge finally broke, the display broke several months later. Those are FACTS.

[ajkula66]

I am sorry for the mistake, obviously, the right hinge is made of steel, but the left hinge IS INDEED MADE OF PLASTIC and IT BREAKS MORE OFTEN. And in our case, we carried our laptop properly for 6 years, and it had a new LCD @ 1 year old. That Samsung LCD was used basically every day for 5+ years. When the hinge finally broke, the display broke several months later. Those are FACTS.

While you most certainly are entitled to your opinion, you're *not* entitled to your own set of facts...

Hinges on T4x series are NOT plastic, left OR right. Never were. Period.

[poshgeordie]

Mmmm got to agree with George.

@systemBuilder - do you mean the plastic bits which are part of the actual hinge bit?

I've never in years had those bits break, rather it's the diecast metal part which sits on the top of the base assembly, but I guess it's always possible.
Can I suggest applying heat to the broken part and see if it melts as plastic would, or just gets hot as metal would - feel free to report back with the result.

PS. Don't do it when the hinge is still attached to the screen