Sager NP8153 Cracked screen bezel

Hey guys,

Yesterday I noticed that my screen bezel is cracked in the lower left corner. I'm guessing this is a stress fracture from opening the lid. Should I be concerned about this crack and if so how can I fix it?

Thanks

 

As long as the LCD isn't damaged, there's not much to worry about. It shouldn't have arisen from opening/closing the lid, though.

 

the LCD is fine. Yeah I'm not sure exactly how it cracked. I've never dropped this laptop and there's no signs of blunt damage. I live in a super hot climate and my A/C is off when I'm not home, so maybe the heat stressed the bezel? The location of the crack definitely seems like the weakest spot when I open and close the lid. The hinges of the lid are quite stiff

 

Typically the plastic holds up just fine to heat. I don't think I've seen a stress fracture occur from normal use, but then the frame/bezel is the thinnest piece of the entire case, so it's not totally unbelievable. Just be gentle with it from here on out; if it occurred from normal use, it's hard to say whether any other faults might develop or not.

 

Is there a way I can loosen the hinges, so there's less force exerted on the bezel? Comparing it to my macbook pro, the hinges are a lot stiffer and requires quite a bit more force to open the lid

 

You can, but you might open up a new world of potential damage. If you take the bottom case off, you can spot two silver, metal tabs, one next to each heatsink. Those are the hinges, and they secure the lid to the top case assembly. Loosening the screws for those, though, might result in too much pressure on the standoffs. If those break, you could be looking at needing to replace the entire top portion of the chassis.

 

Loosening those screws will only result in a more flimsily attached hinge, but will not make the lid easier to open. It'd just move/wobble a bit before it actually starts opening the lid (at the same force-level as before).

Some hinges use an external spring and these may be tension-adjusted by turning a nut. Unfortunately, the Clevo P650RS uses an internal coiled spring and these cannot be adjusted after they've been assembled. Well ... maybe if you managed to remove the coil then you might sand it a bit and force it back in. That's a big 'if', though.

Mind that a bezel is just a cosmetic shell, hiding the hinges, wifi+bt antennas and camera. They're not directly attached to the hinge and serve no structural purpose. However, they can break due to a faulty hinge; if the hinge separates from the lid then it can end up in an awkward angle and then push/break out the bezel. Your image doesn't show anything like that, so that little crack shouldn't be anything to worry about. Might verify all is still sound by removing the bezel and checking underneath. There's no screws with this design, so just use your nails to un-clip it.

 

If there is no stress marks otherwise on the lid then you are ok structurally.

 

Thanks for the info guys

 

If you do want to replace it then it's not too bad a process or cost at least

 

True, the frame lifts off fairly easily and just pushes into place, just need to be somewhat delicate when pushing it into place to avoid damaging the clips.