Y560 hinge issue explained

Yes, there is a Y560 thread, but I feel would be better served in its own thread.

The hinge issue is frustrating and unsightly... but even worse, it causes structural damage on the inside of the laptop.

The cause of this issue is this wire bundle here:



I labeled showing that it extends further along the axis of the hinge, inside the laptop. This wire bundle actually rests below a piece of metal in this area here:




The issue arises when someone tries to open or close the laptop. The hinges exert an upward force on the piece of metal mentioned above whenever the lid is opened or closed (but especially when opened) - on both sides of the laptop. However, on the left side of the keyboard, the wire bundle also gets pushed upwards by the hinge. This means more stuff trying to occupy less space... something's got to give eventually. The right side of the Y560 does not have the hinge issue because it does not have the wire bundle.


Now I said something has to give... enter this screw here:



That particular screw is on the left side of the notebook, right underneath the circled area in the second photo. It is supposed to screw in to a plastic column of sorts, holding the plastic in the area in the second photo down ti the bottom half of the laptop. Because of the force that the wire bundle exerts on the 2nd photo area, after opening/closing the laptop a bunch of times that plastic column will break... meaning that the screw is no longer holding the top piece to the bottom piece.

With nothing holding it down, the upward force of the hinge+wires will cause the plastic in the second photo to bulge upward in a rather nasty manner. Sometimes it will cause the plastic tabs holding the top piece to snap out of place - not doing any real damage yet, but annoying to have to put back.



Anyway there's my explanation of the hinge issue


EDIT: I know the photos are out of focus, and it bugs me, but I only have one good arm at the moment so gimme a break

 

Thanks for showing that copaman. Hopefully this will get addressed correctly and fixed properly.

 

i think Lenovo should increase their focus on what hinge design they select for the ideapads. Ideally they should consider something similar to the Thinkpad hinge design.

 

That screw and the opposite one are bolting into the plastic cover where the speakers are. The columns in which the screws go in are made of a pretty hard plastic, which will eventually break, as mentioned above.

Another design failure in my opinion is that the hinges' bolts don't protrude from one way to anther. They are fixed on the chassis only from one part, making their' vertical oscillation bigger as the lid gets open more often.

One solution (I use), after the plastic columns from inside broke, was to take the metal pieces in which the screws go and hold them in place manually while I tightened the screws before I put the whole plastic back (the one with the speakers). This way those 2 screws are well tightened and the hinge movement is way reduced.

 

For anyone still saying the Y560 built quality is ok, I will let the pictures speak for themselves. The laptop is used every day, with extreme caution, because I know it's built like b*&#it.

You can see the broken pieces in which the display is fixed. In the last 2 weeks the display reached a very high angle of free movement, so I decided to take the laptop apart and investigate what was going on.

Well, here it is: the base is made of very crappy plastic. The hinges on the display move very hard, as they should, but the plastic of the base doesn't keep up with them and eventually brakes into pieces.

Best thing to do by Lenovo would be to make and distribute a metal base to replace the plastic one. Of course, we won't see it coming, right?

In the last picture you can see the glued pieces of plastic. I don't know how much they would hold, but I guess it's just a matter of time before they brake again.

That being said, this is my LAST Lenovo laptop I ever bought!!

 

Lao (or anybody else): can you tell me please, how did you remove the front plastic cover with the touch buttons and speakers grilles? i unscrewed all the screws, but something is still holding it. Something in the area of touch buttons. I want to try repair my lenovo on my own. Thanks a lot.

 

Lao (or anybody else): can you tell me please, how did you remove the front plastic cover with the touch buttons and speakers grilles? i unscrewed all the screws, but something is still holding it. Something in the area of touch buttons. I want to try repair my lenovo on my own. Thanks a lot.

 

It was pretty hard for me the first time. It has some small plastic hooks underneath. You must pull it harder the first time. After that it will come off easily every time. You just need a little more courage.

 

thank you very much. and is it necessary to remove the keyboard too? i mean, if there aren't some more screws, which are holding the plastic cover. thanks

 

Plastic first, then keyboard.

 

i used to do notebook warranty repairs and this kinda hinge breakage is very common for every notebook brands, of course apart from lenovo's thinkpad models...

 

I have a temporary resolution for the left hinge. When you open the CPU cover you can see the loose/broken hinge. I placed a peace of rubber between the metal peace and the main board. That seemed to limit the movement to a minimum. I don't want to take the laptop apart at this time since that would void my warranty so at least for now that will have to do.

 

Thanks, Copaman. My IdeaPad is still under warranty but judging by what others have said, I'm sure Lenovo would find a way to say that this isn't covered. Anyway, I took a look and you are right. Those plastic cylinders (underside of hinge cover) with brass inserts that receive the screws from underneath are crap. In fact, the one in question in the left hinge area had broken off completely just by merely opening and closing the laptop under normal use. Here's how I fixed it.

I took a regular 1 5/8" sheet rock screw used for METAL studs (not wood!). These have a self-tapping end to them. I inserted this in the screw hole on the bottom of the LP (your third picture) and up through the hole in the metal piece that the wires, etc are adjacent/attached to. I turned the screw until it threaded the hole in the metal. I then discarded the sheet rock screw and ran a machine screw in. It threaded perfectly into the hole in the plate and tightened the whole hinge complex up. I forget the length of the machine screw I used - either 1/2" or 3/4" but it did NOT protrude into the hinge cover and I simply snapped the hinge cover back on. The cover still had a few unbroken posts so those screws held it down adequately.

Ridiculous to have to do this I realize. We are in a throwaway society. But my IdeaPad is working great now. Oh, btw, the rounded screw head does not protrude past the pads on the bottom of the LT so it doesn't come into play or touch the surface (table, etc.)

Jim