how to fix wobbly hinges (T410s)

Hi,

Does anyone have any tips on fixing wobbly screen hinges (on a T410s) ? Options ...

• Get if fixed by Lenovo - seems to be impossible, they deny the existence of '10 series machines ! Actually I phoned them and since it's well outside of warranty they don't want to know. I had hoped I could send it off and pay for a repair but it seems this is not an option. I was quite surprised by this - I was expecting it to be fixable, but expensive to take this route, but it seems to be unavailable.
  
  
• Get it fixed by an approved repairer - this also seems to be very hard. I can't find any approved list of repair centres on Lenovo's byzantine website. On the phone they advised me to search online, but I can't find anything particularly reputable or nearby (I'm in the UK).
  
  
• Fix it myself - a couple of problems. (1) From looking at the hardware maintenance manual it seems you're meant to disassemble the whole machine (more or less). I've never done this, so am a bit reluctant, but if this is the only option I guess I have to give it a go (including the weird bit where it mentions cables to the screen being taped down - what do I re-tape them with ? Maybe I should attempt to re-aply thermal paste for the CPU when I'm poking around in there ?). (2) Where do I get the hinges from ? There are lots of suppliers online, and on eBay. Are any of these better / worse than any of the others, in terms of quality of what's supplied, or will any supplier do ? Is there no 'official' place to get these parts ?

The left hand side of the screen surround is beginning to pull apart, so I'm currently left with a laptop whose screen I don't dare move. Any advice is appreciated. Oh, fourth option - buy a new laptop (let's park that option for now, well at least until I break mine by poking around inside).

 

Just realised I missed a question mark from the thread title ! So it now reads like "here are some instructions on how to fix wobbly hinges". Oops. If a mod sees this, and is able to, please add the question mark !

 

Hello, Lenovo T410s hinge isn't very hard to repair, but you need prying tools and a few different phillips head screws.



pay attention to the very end(6:10). First try to tighten the 2 screws.

Here's a bit of an issue though, if the hinges are wobbly, it may have to get replaced. which means you have to go through with what the whole video shows, and more to disassemble the monitor to replace the hinges. The parts should be the same almost throughout, it's essentially a piece of magnesium or aluminum alloy, as far as dimensions and materials are right(which you can't see or test easily).

For the price of getting it repaired in Canada for example, the labour on its own costs over $80, which means I have better luck with a new laptop on e-bay which would cost around $150 if I get lucky on e-bay.

Personally, I'd repair it myself, but if it were the first time I'm working on a laptop, I'd order a new laptop before going at it, since it's almost guaranteed that you will break some parts in process. I broke several keys on my first laptop trying to open it up.

 

(picture from some online seller)
Hinges are attached to the laptop frame from the behind, seen in the picture and bottom. Tighten those 4 screws.
If it still feels wobbly, take the front bezel out and tighten the rest 6 visible screws. There is couple screws behind a sticker that's easy to remove with a knife edge, rest of the bezel removes just with a gentle pull from the inside edge outwards.

Sometimes those screws just become loose over time. If tightening won't help, then it is replacement time.