Repairing broken video module screw bases for Clevo D900K

After much research into what might be causing my computer to fail to boot. I think my problem might be associated with the broken screw bases holding the video module to the motherboard. I was hoping Gophn or anyone else with a serivce manual could help me out. I need to find out whether or not there is a specific procedure in resolder the screw bases to the motherboard. Thank you.

 

Welcome to the NBR forums.

LOL. Actually my notebook has the same issue. When I brought my notebook in for swapping out the videocard module, I believe they broke the screw base.

I did not realize this until a week later when the notebook would intermittently POST and no POST... and crash randomly (they could not figure out why on the phone).

I opened it up and saw the same thing you are describing. I was not going to drive back up to City of Industry to let them do this... so I made a slight adjustment to secure down the card... even if the base screw was broken.

I failed to permanently solder it back onto the board... it worked for a while, and broke off the board again.

SO... (my solution, ghetto as it may be)

I made sure that the base screw is where it should be on the board, then I securely push down the module and screwed in the rest of the screws. Then...
- i took a scratch piece of paper
- folded it to make a thick and hard "paper brace"
- placed it on top of the module (top of the area where the base screw broke off... or is loose)
- made sure to not block the fan
- made sure that the panel can fully close... but have a slight bump.

- (THE KEY) I screwed the panel VERY securely back onto the notebook, which securely held the "paper brace" down on the video module. And it has been 100% ever since.

And I routinely check on it every month, during my dust cleaning (fan and vents).

Hope this helps,
- Gophn

 

Side Note: This is not the first time I had to do a ghetto improvisation .

When I first modded my PSX, I accidentally ripped off the optical cable from the board... and failed to solder it back perfectly... so I did the same thing:
- folded a piece of paper to make a brace
- used a chopstick (broke it to fit and hold down the section where the brace is)
- fastened down the inner caging and casing of the system

And it still games perfectly today.

I am the only person I know that has a chopstick keeping my PSX working. LOL.

 

HAHA nice

 

The same problem with broken gpu mount screws after factory repair happened to me. Apparently a dot of solder was holding two mounts to the board until they failed last week.

Unfortunately, the chopstick repair did not fix the problem.

Is it possible to hook up an external graphics card to replace the built in unit?

 

As far as I know, the only external graphics cards available are usb/expresscard docking stations with vga/dvi ports, you could try one of those but it would be useless for anything demanding (eg. gaming)

 

okay ... well there are 2 options from my experience repairing circuit boards in the past (i used to be a technician at ibm) first this can very easily be re-soldered if it can be accessed just do not apply heat for very long or to high of a temp..

a second and very STRONG and easy method involves going to your local hobby shop. get a small bottle of a glue known as "CA" glue. make sure to get the "thick" viscosity not anything less as it will run and make a mess. the gel works great also but i dont like working with the gell. you will also need a bottle of "activator" both items should cost no more than about 12-15$.

PRACTICE first on a scrap piece of any kind of plastic or material.

they way this glue works is you get both ca glue and activator ready and put a small (but large enough to cover the surface you are reapiring) amount of this between the broken plastic. now place the pieces together. VERY quickly grab the activator and spray a couple squirts on top of the newly applied glue. this will cure the ca glue instantly. this stuff is similar to crazy glue but dries SUPER STRONG AND ROCK SOLID.. now once this sets (should take no more than maybe 10 seconds or less), run another small amount around the cracked area over where you just glue the crack back together. and again spray quickly with 3-4 squirts.

i GAURANTEE THIS WILL BE SUPER STRONG. i own a car audio shop now and we mold plastics together all day long with ca glue. it hold up to a ton of abuse and i will tell you it WILL NOT come loose again, about the only way i could see it coming loose and this may not even happen is if the screws are stripped and they are super hard to remove. and then when putting large pressure on them while removing them you may (i mean possibly) break the bond.

please do not get this on anything you dont want glued or anything you dont want to possibly turn white.. as this has a similar effect as crazy glue when drying but due to you accelerating the drying process it will not turn that area you are repairing white. ill make a small video showing how to use it for you.

 

uploading the video now for you. honestly once done this glue is stronger than when the plastic was bonded together in the first place lol.. and yes this will hold pretty much anything down. you can use this to glue the solder joints as well but if the solder needs to actually be conducting they will need to be re-soldered as this does not conduct..

 

video up for you: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0vxpuW351fA

 

You know those little screws that are on the end of graphics cards or any card for that matter? I unscrewed some of those and used them to fix this issue.