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Inspiron 5547 laptop right side hinge problem
I bought this laptop in November 2014. For the last few days I was hearing a click sound whenever I open the laptop. And today also I heard the click sound but while closing the laptop I found the right corner edge is popped open. I contacted Dell Support for this issue and explained them what happened. They told me that this is a damage happened on the laptop and I am not covered by accidental damage coverage. So I have to pay for this one to be fixed. I explained them that I’m using this laptop as everyone else does like opening a laptop to work on it and closing it when am done with my work. But no use, I was told this is beyond warranty I have to pay $160 and wait at least 12 working days to get it fixed.
As this problem has been faced by many customers and this is a manufacturing defect basically, dell should repair it for free.
dwwebb
4 Posts
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November 28th, 2016 08:00
I just spent $60 for a new upper and lower 5547 case which I will install myself; being that the laptop is out of warranty and I'm sort of adept at such things. The problem is that of poor case design. The hinge on the left side of the screen has a "leg" extending towards the front of the laptop that helps absorb the torque of the lid opening and closing. The right side hinge has no such "leg" so that the screws that are embedded into the friction nuts in the plastic case work loose over time and cause the hinge to detach from the body of the laptop. Once detached, the right hinge acts as a pry-bar to open up the right side of the case just behind the ethernet port. The hinges take quite a bit of force to move. In preparation for the new case, I have loosened the nut at the ends of the hinge axles and cleaned and lubricated the hinges to allow for easier action while opening and closing the LCD lid. This may be an ongoing maintenance issue with these hinges, as the mechanism is open to dust contamination causing increased torque over time in opening and closing the lid. We'll see how this goes.
lagerman
3 Posts
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October 9th, 2017 08:00
dwwebb how has your fix gone? I am looking at the same problem with a laptop I bought for my son for grad/uni. Only 2 years in service and the hinge goes. I buy for my high school and have been buying many dell laptops over Lenovo so this is very disappointing and makes me nervous. Like you I am pretty handy but really can't believe I have to rip a 2 year old laptop apart and pony up $80 bucks to fix a clear design flaw. I am also going to have to grab our school laptops and lubricate all the hinges to reduce the likelihood this will happen and i will look bad. Disappointing! My 10 year old Camry just keeps going because they know how to design.
dwwebb
4 Posts
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October 9th, 2017 09:00
The new case has held together fine since the fix; however, the unit does not get constant use. As I mentioned in my earlier post, I loosened the nut at the end of the hinge just enough to allow the lid to stay open. The hinges had become harder over time to open and this led to the failure of the case where the hinge screws connect, thereby causing the hinge to pry the case open at the corner when opened. This is a definitely a design flaw on these models.