Cracked Hinges on VPCZ1290x

After 14 months of use, the hinges on my VPCZ1290x are really showing their age. They are cracked and the screws are falling out. When the laptop screen is closed, it doesn't fit flush with the body of the laptop. When the screen is opened, you can hear cracking. I have scheduled a repair through the Sony web site, which is enormously inconvenient as I cannot afford to be without this laptop for any period of time, let alone 2 weeks. What can I expect from the repair process? For people with broken hinges, does it come back in good shape? What is the real-life experience in terms of how long it takes these to get repaired? Also, are there any local options (Phoenix, AZ) for quality repair on Sony laptops? I miss the days when Sony (and Dell before that) would send technicians out to my office to repair a broken laptop.

 

Ask them why they wont do that? I requested they do that for me, and they eventually did (then again, I KNOW they have technicians in my area, in both Nor Cal and SoCal). If they don't have technicians in your area, then nothing they can do, i guess.

 

Don't forget that we are living on a quite big planet! I can tell you my experience with Sony Serv. in Germany and you can read many comments about pretty much any other part of the world but you will notice they do not coincide!

But for the sake of the thread - I was told that a repair of a vaio laptop generally takes no longer than 3-4 working days. This said - mine took 5 or 6.

How it will go with the warranty is a different question. Discussions there and attempts from their side to put it all on you can and will delay the process. This was also the reason why it took 5-6 days in my case.

 

I really hope that I will not have to use a sony product warranty because from all stories heard and read.. it sucks bad.

Goodluck to you.

 

Perhaps the user can try tightening the hinges him/herself?

I'm sure others can help with the directions.

 

try to get this fixed as quickly as possible. I had the same problem with mine and ended up with a cracked screen which might cost over 500 dollars to replace, and in addition, I have no idea how to fix the hinge as it is a bit raised and cracked.

 

I'm not trying to be wise guy, but is there anything more to it than to tighten the screws?

 

I believe so. I personally don't have this problem (yet) *knocks on wood* But from what I've read, it seems like the general consensus is that all you have to do is tighten the screws. What some members also do is stick some loctite in the screw threads so the problem won't come back.

 

You can fix this yourself by removing all of the screws from the baseplate (take note of what screws go where because the threading has different lengths). You also need to remove the two screws securing the RAM access panel otherwise the keyboard assembly won't come out.

Once all the screws are removed, carefully lift the keyboard assembly by tilting it towards you. There should be no resistance. You need to be careful because the keyboard ribbon cable is still attached and its very easy to break.

Once the keyboard assembly is out the way you will see 2x sets of 3 screws on the bottom edge of the display bezel. You need to tighten these. Don't tighten them too much otherwise the lid will catch on the back of the hinge when you open and close it. It takes a while to get this right and theres a degree of trial and error because you won't be able to tell if you have tightened them too much until you replace the keyboard assembly pop in the rear baseplate screws and try to open the lid. If the lid catches on the hinge you have gone too far and you need to loosen the screws. This is one reason why I don't recommend securing the screws with superglue.

This will stop the hinge from being wobbly and stop it from cracking. The hinge mechanism itself is metal enclosed in a plastic shell. The plastic shell cracked on mine but this can be superglued if you wish. It doesn't really matter either way since its just a shell.

Please be aware that if you use too much force removing the baseplate screws you can apply alot of pressure on the screen and one of two things can happen:

1) you can scratch the screen with the keyboard.
2) you can create areas of stuck/dead pixels if you really drive the screwdriver down hard.

I recommend sandwiching some pliable soft material between the keyboard and the display to prevent this from happening or alteratively try to remove the baseplate screws with the lid open (which can be a bit unwieldy but its an idea nonetheless). I'm guessing that opening up the notebook in this manner will void any warranty you have left though.

 

There's no stickers in the Z to make Sony know that you took the thing apart. As long as you don't say anything, you should be good.

 

As someone about to do this (one of my hinges is a little wobbly), I appreciate the tips.

A quick question - are the screws supposed to be left loose then? Or are we supposed to loosen the screws (if not already loose), push the hinge into the proper position, and then tighten the screws?

 

I recently had a somewhat scary but ultimately successful foray into opening my Z11 up and putting it back together - even fixed the SSD that had somehow come loose and was registering as "failed." But since putting it back together, my screen does creak a bit on the left side, where the easily accessed screws are. Might I have tightened them too much? Before I did this, my lid opened and closed smoothly and never wobbled. Thanks.

EDIT: @Hayte: HELP! - I now see that it is just the plastic hinge cover over the left side hinge that is making the creaking noise. It is not cracked, but there is a small gap between it and the black tab that comes down from the screen bezel. On my other Z13, it looks the same but the movement is very fluid and there is no creaking. Would you think I somehow put it back together slightly misaligned and that's why it now creaks? If I grasp the lid about 1/2 way between the left edge and the middle (in front) it moves without making the creaking noise. When you mentioned that these plastic covers may be crazy glued, but not the hinges themselves, could you possibly clarify just how one would do this? Would it require taking the keyboard off again? I can reach the place where the sliver plastic hinge covers converge with the black tabs from the screen bezel, and if I hold them together, no creaking sound either. Could I crazy glue this "gap" without removing anything, since I can see and reach it by tilting the screen back?I'm not so sure how I would get the crazy glue in and the two plastic parts to bind together given their shape, location and the unfortunate laws of gravity. Alternatively, if I was just to be careful opening and closing the screen - in which case the cracking sound does not occur - can I expect things to remain as they are, or will they continually worsen?

I know I am sounding obsessive here - well, actually, I am obsessive about this beauty, and I hate myself for possibly causing premature wear on this otherwise magnificent machine. I have sold the Z13 and am jealous to give up the absolutely perfect and pristine chassis for one with just a bit of signs of age. Is this a mechanical problem or a psychological one?

Thanks so much.