laptop screen doesn't stay in one position anymore (it falls over easily)

[dpopiz]

it's a thinkpad 570. the screen was always really good about staying at the angle I move it to. but I think just today it suddenly got messed up. I didn't drop it or anything, but it's totally different now. now if I have it at anything more or less than about 80-100 degrees from the base, it falls.

 

[johnjkr1]

Replace the hinges? Sometimes you can just swap the plastics out and move the lcd to the new plastics, depends on the laptop though.

 

[vegetation]

The hinges have probably cracked. You can get these replaced, though sometimes you need to buy the whole front cover. Look on ebay for salvage parts. I replaced my Dell Inspiron's lcd cover, which was integrated with the hinges. Cost only $15 in parts. Though of course, Dells are a lot more common, one of the main reason why I like to buy a laptop that is mainstream, cheaper easy to get salvage parts.

 

[dpopiz]

thanks all. I found hinges on ebay for $17 shipped. but first of all, how do I disassemble it to get at the hinges? does ibm make service manuals or something of the sort available to the public? for one thing, I want to first see if I can fix it and save $17. but I'm going to need to know how to take it apart to replace the hinges anyway.

 

[0roo0roo]

spill a little soda

 

[HeinekinMan]

Download the Hardware Maintenance Manual for 570 Systems

I've never attempted to do this but the manual shows plenty of pics to give you an idea on what to do; doesn't appear to be too complex; you may want to make sure you have the right tools so you don't damage any of your existing fasteners and any plastic parts...good luck!!