Broke m15x top/power panel's white ribbon connector, help

After years of use, my m15x has gotten louder, hotter, and less and less performing (due to throttling). I could feel almost no air ventilation, so I opened it up, disassembled the CPU & GPU heatsink/grills, and found *enormous* amounts of dust covering the air grills that pretty much blocked it. I cleaned out all the dust, reapplied thermal paste on the CPU..

Except one problem: When I took off the top panel in the front (the one with the power button, and "the information bar").. I managed to disconnect the ribbon connector. It snapped off, including breaking off the soldered little prongs from the PCB.

I can reconnect the ribbon connector to the two metal clips, and it sorta stays in place, but it doesn't fully connect to the metal pads on the LCD (I can see there's air between it). If I push / position it _just_ right with my hand, I can get it to connect and boot up my computer (which works fine, not loud anymore, and super fast), showing that it's just the power panel that's broken.

I'd rather not spend 15 minutes getting the positioning right to power it on (and I have a feeling the more times I do this, the more I'll stress it and break the prongs too)... so how do I permanently re-attach the ribbon connector to the PCB?

I have a soldering iron, however I think it's way too small for me to hand solder. I also have sugru and superglue, but I don't think either will be very helpful in precisely locking in the right position.

I'm thinking about buying a new top panel, but what is this actually called? I've tried googling for parts with no success...

 

After fiddling with the connector to try and get a stable connection, I managed to turn it off once and it doesn't turn on again no matter how many times I try. Seems like it might be broken even more :/

I tried SMD soldering but couldn't get it to work. I found some panels (searching for 'Hinge' found them) on ebay, but since I'm from Australia it'll take 1-2 weeks..

Anyone know the schematic for 16 pins?

 

Okay! So after some more investigation, I have found out that the AWM 20798 (16 pin 0.5mm inverted) cable that connects to the power panel, and the motherboard is broken. This is probably due to rough pulling. The connectors on the ribbon flex cable are broken on one side.

I took the keyboard out and managed to take out the flex cable. I've tried splicing it without luck - the plastic wrapper covers the pins, and trying to separate the two layers results in some pins being stuck to the top wrapper, some pins stuck to the bottom wrapper.

I'm going to use my soldering iron to try and melt the plastic wrapper, while preserving the pins.

Progression:

Yesterday afternoon: Games are running slow
Yesterday evening: Crap, I broke off the power button ribbon connector
Yesterday night: I need thermal compound and isopropyl alcohol
This morning: Where the **** can I find isoproyl alcohol?
This afternoon: It doesn't boot, looks like my attempt at reattaching the ribbon connector failed
This evening: Oh, I see, the ribbon itself is broken
Now: Let's try melting the plastic...

*sigh*

EDIT: Do _NOT_ try melting the plastic to splice the cable. It somehow shrinks with heat, and the fumes from burning the plastic smells toxic :/

Latest progression: I feel a bit sick from the fumes.

Anyone got any practical ideas?

 

Try to burn the plastic instead of melting it. Don't worry about the fumes, it's not THAT bad )
I went through the same thing on a hp laptop a while ago, but I managed in the end to separate the two layers with a thin needle after burning it a little with a lighter.

 

Nice! How did you handle with the needle through?

 

Burning the end of the ribbon a bit made plastic thicker and I managed to insert the tip of the needle between the layers. But I guess it was easier in my case, all the connectors remained on one layer in the end.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

Ok, that didn't work, just burned it and shrunk the edges :/

I ended up slotting the needle into the base ribbon connector, and trying to connect the pins by poking it. It works!

I guess I'm staring up this laptop with a needle LOL.

 

A temporary fix is to use the ribbon cable from the trackpad. The trackpad sucks on the M15x anyway so it is win win. It is what I did!

 

I actually have to get a new touch/power/hinge panel now, I'm waiting for it to be delivered.

However, the needle trick no longer works. I've tried many times, and now when I move the needle among the connector, the fans & alienware lights only turn on for a fifth of a second, instead of starting permanently. Have I shorted anything on the otherboard?!

Hopefully replacing the touch/power/hinge panel and using the ribbon to connect (instead of using a needle to connect some pins to start) will fix it.. I hope my motherboard isn't shorted :|