Found a Cause of "Worn Out" Hinges

[wswartzendruber]

The lid on my launch-day T400 had gotten progressively looser until one day it was like it had suddenly lost half of its strength. I thought that the hinges had just completely worn out. So I decided to order new ones. The T400/R400 Hardware Maintenance Manual gives two possible replacements for my configuration:

43Y9643
43Y9644

I ordered the cheaper Kato ones for $26.00 US. When they arrived two days later via UPS, I swapped the old ones out and put the new ones in. Upon closer inspection of the old hinges, I found that one was still in perfectly good, working order. The other looked like this:

Broken T400 Hinge

So it seems that neither hinge really wore out. One remained in perfect condition while the other slowly wedged apart, gradually allowing for extra play. Also, the part number on the old hinge is not listed as a suitable replacement, if at all.

[Harryc]

That looks like metal fatigue. Not an encouraging sight on a newer Lenovo product.

[wswartzendruber]

I remember something about certain ThinkPads having titanium hinges. Any clarification? My old man's T60 is still working like a champ after taking thirteen months in Iraq.

[rkawakami]

That T400 hinge certainly looks like the X22 hinges I posted about a couple of years ago: http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.ph ... 48#p542148

By any chance is "Reell" stamped on the hinge or perhaps a Patent #?

[wswartzendruber]

The only identifier I found on the hinge is the one in the picture. It's definitely an IBM part number, but I can't find the manufacturer.

[Brian10161]

An old Toshiba I had for work did that after it was about 7 years old. I ended up having to use string to hold the lid open because both hinges did the same thing (my boss didn't want to spend 30 bucks to order new parts O_o).

The one I had completely came apart though, it wouldn't hold the display up at all, almost felt like it would just come off with enough force.

Cheap metal I say, or poor design. Weird on a TP though.