PowerBook 160 help (broken hinge mount)

If it is just one of the plastic screw posts(with metal threaded insert) you could attach/sturdy it up a bit with some strong glue. Probably might be a good idea to coat on the sides of and around the other posts with some glue as well.

Either way, you really want to stop moving the hinges and fix this as soon as possible because more damage will result in leaving it.

If all else fails and you _really_ have no other option then you can put a bolt+washers through the whole thing. It is not the best choice though because you damage the exterior plastics.

Alright, I opened the lid of my PowerBook 160 and it opened up just fine. However, I cannot get the screw covers below the LCD out. How can I get them out?

I assume you are speaking of what Apple refers to as the "Clutch Covers". From the service manual:

Before you begin, remove

the following:

•Main battery

•Display bezel

1 Cover the keyboard with

a clean cloth or sheet of

paper.

2 Using a T-8 torx driver,

remove the four display

mounting screws.

3 Remove the display

from the housing and

EMI shield.

4 Place the display face-

down on the keyboard.

5 Pull off the three clutch

covers.

6 Using a T-8 torx driver,

remove the six

mounting screws from

the left and right

clutches.

7 Remove the left and right

clutches from the

display housing.

Alright, thanks wackymacs! I was talking about the screw covers that cover the bezel screws though.

You can try the tiniest flathead screwdriver you have.

This is what I use:



A needle or pin would probably work just fine too. Be careful with those however as if you poke it in too high you could rip through and damage the face of it.

prolly be fine though.

Alright, I checked the screw posts and everything seems to be fine, no obvious loose spots, etc. What should I do now about the hinge casing gap? It's not that big, but I'm just a bit worried.

Can anyone please help? I would appreciate it VERY much! ^_^

detatch, fill with putty epoxy, tighten, clean, let dry?

Alright, I checked the screw posts and everything seems to be fine, no obvious loose spots, etc. What should I do now about the hinge casing gap? It's not that big, but I'm just a bit worried.

Click to expand...

Did you actually remove the outer casing of the back/top of the lid(what you see when it is closed), or did you just remove the inner plasticwith the hole for the LCD?

Just the inner lid.

The screw posts/mounts/whatever I am talking about are on the inside of the outer lid. Little threaded brass rings embedded into plastic posts. The plastic holding the rings tends to break.

So that causes the actual hinge break? 8-o If that's true, I will take a look into it as soon as possible.

Well, it is not so much a hinge break as it is a hinge mount break.. but people call it a broken hinge.

Still though, check to see if this your problem or not, you might have a different issue.

Alright, thanks!

The gap seems to be not that big anymore after I tightened it up a bit.

Could it just be that the hinge screws loosened up BTW?

Possible but check anyway. You will be able to tell if they are loose or not in the process.

If you tighten up the screws, just be very careful that you don't tighten them up too much. If you overtighten them, the brass rings that the screws go into will break free of the old and weak plastic, and you'll have just ruined that display back panel.

With this being such a common issue on PB1xx series machines, and with it being something that will happen to just about every PB1xx series machine one day, I'm stickying this topic.

Alright, thanks!

Common problems include stripped threads and cracked/detached posts. I will defer to our resident chemist, equill, but I've enjoyed some success with reattaching detached posts using acetone as a solvent and simply keeping the parts pressed together. No doubt there are better ways (and the correct solvent is a function of the type of plastic being bonded), but that's one method that has worked for me in the past.

Acetone works well at melting abs plastic, its a common way to make glue for abs plastic, grind some up melt it in acetone, when applied the acetone will evaporate leaving solid plastic behind give or take 80% of the original plastic's strength

One of my hinges were off and i looked at it. One tip for anyone trying it, GET THE SCREEN AT A GOOD ANGLE TO GET TO THE SCREWS!!! After you expose the hinge screws, when i tried to move the back to make it easier, another one snapped. Now i have to rebuild another one. Quick question, are all 4 hunge screws suposed to be in, mine only had 2 :O . I'm gonna try the acetone fix from the post above probably, or solderding iron, if i get it done, and find the camera, I just might make a writeup with pics.

are all 4 hunge screws suposed to be in, mine only had 2

Click to expand...

Compare the front with the back. Take note of where the screws you initially removed were.

Alright, so I've finally got some more time to take a look at the issue.

So if I'm not mistaken, the actual problem is the threaded brass rings breaking free from the plastic casing, right? I'm assuming that those plastic casings are the ones that need to be strengthened.

Thanks!

...or is the main issue with the LCD back housing breaking at the screw areas?

Let me know. Thanks!

-J

On the machines I've seen, the plastic that the brass screw rings are moulded into seems to break/snap.

I am not trying to be rude, but did you even take your powerbook apart yet?

Alright, thanks!

and at @MacJunky: I haven't really have had time yet to do so completely since I started the topic :/ The last time I attempted to do so, the interior hinge screws seemed a bit tight, and I was a bit nervous about messing up the screw plastic. Next week will be when I'll have more time though, and I haven't had time to even come to the forums for a while now. From what I've seen in my PB 160 so far, the screw ring plastic seems to be the one weakening, but I also read on a post here a while back (I think it was from you?) that stated that the LCD back case was part of the problem too, so I was just curious.

Also, gorilla glue should be fine, right? Or would I have to get some epoxy instead?

Hi,

I had more or less the same issue with my 5300.

The 5300 is well knowned for broking his hinge mounts (mine was repaired under the Apple program once, but started again)

I fixed the PB with an epoxy glue (the metal hardened one)

http://img848.imageshack.us/img848/2725/dsc00237if.jpg

It is possible to use a flat metal screw to hold the two halves together, if the plastic post breaks off inside the monitor housing. Use a very small bore drill bit to very gently (a hand crank drill is best, really) go through the hole all the way through to the other side, then get a phillips or torx screw that is just the right width. I did this recently for a PB150 that had a bad hinge, and it turned out looking pretty good. I did not have to use a nut and washer on the face side, as I thought I would - the screw base is exactly flush with the top surface of the PB so it looks quite decent. On the inside, you need a screw head that is just slightly larger than the recess, so that it tightly presses the two sides of the monitor housing together. Total repair cost was about .45 for the screw. Not too shabby.

The hinges themselves cause the plastic at the screw areas in the LCD housing to break.

The old grease in the hinge, between the spring and the shaft, has hardened over time and instead of keeping the hinge lubricated, the old grease is now making the hinge very difficult to rotate and puts too much force on the fragile plastic with the 4 screwholes in the LCD bessel.

Best solution is to take the hinges apart, remove the old grease from the shaft and spring with WD40, and then soak in White lithium grease ( the foaming kind ). This will loosen up the hinges again.

Nico

Good idea. Maybe at the same time, us with good plastics still we could probably use metal hardened epoxy and just re-enforce the standoffs.

i fix these with JB Weld, and the cool thing is, its already the same color as the plastic, if mixed properly!!

i use the same method when you open up these 100 series power books to find broken stand off all over. i just goop some jb weld in there pop post back in the way it was originally and let it sit over night... in the morning strong and good as new... !!!!!

If you can get some photo of the exact piece your referring to, I could probably make a custom one and/or fix yours. Uniserver can speak to my machining skills. If you can post something let me know.

The problem is that the hinge mounts on the 100-series PBs are part of the top display case. To make a true replacement, you'd have to make the entire back case. It may be possible to machine a replacement "block" that you could cement into a prepared area surrounding the original mount location.

something like that or tap/thread the current one with a larger, more robust screw. Bore it out and epoxy a steel inserted threaded rod in there and use a larger screw. Lathe down the screw head size so it will fit.

So what was the conclusion on this? I got a 165c that has busted insert retainers in the hinge area and was going to try JB Weld. I dont want to use the screw method because the site of a screw coming out the toher side is devastating to me. lol. I am picky like that.

I would try solvent welding. If you need filler, grind up some compatible plastic with a file and mix the filings with solvent. It will meld with the original plastic and make a very strong bond. Just don't spill any solvent, that stuff will instantly mark anywhere it drips. The stuff I have is Methylene Chloride, it's sold for welding acrylic but it works well on ABS too. Plumbing cement for ABS pipe ought to work too.

Well there isnt anything left of the posts, they have all crumbled away leaving only the jagged remains on the base.

Anyway, Where to get solvents? only thing around here is lowes and home depot is here too but its a haul.

I guess I have to experiment with acetone and old pieces from leftover powerbook parts. Problem is, I have to leave the brass fittings and etc in place because theres nothing left, its all crumbled and busted away, so ill have to melt the plastic as a slop in acetone, and brush it in place.

Problem is, What brush? arnt brushes plastic too?

I am most likely going to do it this way:

http://www.1000rr.net/forums/lounge/56168-do-yourself-abs-repairs-cheap-solution-fixing-fairings-2.html

Only problem is, I know using acetone or other solvents for welding is a problem because it creates air bubbles in the plastic as it hardens and drys. Problem with that, its in the hinge area so that can weaken it enough to re-break you think?

Also what brushes or spout style bottles would be ok with acetone sludge? Almost need 3D printers to extrude new posts. And just use ABS glue to insert the post onto the original plasic, and use a bit of acetone to soften the replacement post to insert the brass ring. That would be ideal.

The only way I've done this before was to take what I could of the old bits of the threaded socket and lightly superglue them in place. I then scored the area around it with an xacto knife. I made a rectangular form as large as would fit inside the empty space around the standoff before filling it with JB Weld. After fully curing, I filed and fitted the JB block to fit snug with the hinge.

I had to rebuild the bezel side also as the cylindrical area had cracked out. With that side, I completely filled it, then used a drill press to recreate the hole. It has been nice and solid since but admittedly, I've also been rather ginger with it too.

I'd be rather careful with dichloromethane, it's not particularly nasty, but it's certainly not a friendly substance. You can't really work with much of it unless you're in a very well ventilated space or a fume hood.

Dichlorowhatsahoosit isnt abs compatible.