screen hinge loose/broken, layman fix?

[akorn]

Hej!
I have had my SL500 for 2+ years now. The power jack got internally loose quite early on, luckily it still does what it should, so I have not taken action there. Recently, the left screen hinge has loosened (it flexes backwards by about 5 mm), so now I leave the laptop open in order not to risk the wiring getting affected (the machiene is a desktop replacement anyway).

My question is: Can an electronics layman exchange the hinge? If so, where does one get hold of the spare part? I have the hardware manual for my SL500, so being a physicists (but not an engineer) I would certainly dare to try it. Any report on successful repair missions would be appreciated.
Cheers,
akorn

[akorn]

forgot to mention the exact model: ThinkPad SL500 (2746-9BG)

[Harryc]

The hinge set is FRU# 43Y9690
http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R4 ... Categories

Here's the maintenance manual, review the hinge replacement procedure there. Post questions here.
http://support.lenovo.com/en_US/guides- ... MIGR-69929

[akorn]

Thanks for the links!

It IS a lot of steps that I would rather not try to go through before knowing that I can succeed. What about, e.g., ESD, do I need to get equipped in this respect. Any user experience would be appreciated.

Cheers,
akorn

[Harryc]

Basic electronics says to wear an ESD wrist strap when working on the innards of a computer.