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35 Posts
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383982
N5110 hinge break: irreparable?
Hi there,
I have an out of warranty Inspiron 15R N5110 (3 years old). Our fan stopped working, so I opened the body up to have a look at it, but found during the disassembly that our laptop never came with a metal hinge bracket for the base part of the right hinge. Because of this, when I unscrewed the hinge screws, the screw holders (typically below and held firm in place by the metal bracket) snapped off.
It doesn't look to be something I can replace, because what snapped looks to be a part of the bronze/metal frame that runs throughout the bottom of the casing.
The part that snapped looks a bit like a tiny screw end cap, insulated in a ring of metal-looking plastic.
If you know the part of the machine I'm talking about, Is there any way this could be fixed? Because otherwise I have a £800 paperweight!
Thanks Dell team.
CAVEMANTECH
2 Posts
6
December 26th, 2013 21:00
Hello :)
I'm a tech working in a very small cave........
what I know is all the dell n5110 has the same problem
when the warranty ends and after a couple of years the hinge brakes
so far I have fix 7 of the same models same problem
here is what you would need
* Soldering iron kit
*Nipper
*Couple of long screw with spacers(Washers)
The top screw is the original
First take out the broken part from the hinge
and use the nipper to cut off the plastics
heat up the soldering iron
then place the metal on the place where it use to be
( The smooth part facing bottom )
and this is the tricky part :)
FAILING ON PRESSURE AND OVER HEATING WILL MAKE IT MORE WORST :(
use the soldering iron to heat the metal apply pressure gently
Finishing it you must put a spacer(washer) between the space to prevent loose or shake
but I ran out of spacers so I just left it that way :)
and incase the plastic body is over damaged there is plan B :)
hope this will help you :)
Vivek Raut
3 Posts
1
August 18th, 2015 07:00
CaveManTech,
Hello :-)
I had also the same hinge problem and followed exactly what you suggested and voila.. problem solved.
Using soldering iron fixed the brass nuts in broken holes and used two little longer screws to fix the hinge.
Only addition is, I fixed one more screw from bottom for more strength.
Thanks for sharing the info, really helped me to save conversion of laptop into a $700 paperweight :-)
hope this will help others having similar hinge issue :)
DELL-Shrikanth G
618 Posts
0
August 28th, 2013 20:00
Hi Pierreism,
Sorry about the situation. Looks like it is a part of bottom assembly however could you please send me a couple of pictures so that I can assist you in a better way?
Pierreism
35 Posts
1
August 29th, 2013 07:00
Oh, I really should've done that before I put everything back together :emotion-10:
I'll have pictures for you in the coming days when I have time to take it apart again. Sorry about that!
Thanks for replying.
DELL-Shrikanth G
618 Posts
0
August 30th, 2013 02:00
Sure Pierreism you can send me the snapshots once you have taken it out apart. Waiting for you response.
Pierreism
35 Posts
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September 21st, 2013 08:00
The left hinge has a bottom bracket, sorry.
Pierreism
35 Posts
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September 21st, 2013 08:00
Hi again,
I've posted pictures below.
As you can see, the screw entry points from the bottom frame have snapped off which means the right hinge isn't stable/secure.
As you can also see from the gunk around it, I tried to superglue it back together. (it doesn't work, no amount of superglue can take the pressure created by bending the hinge.)
I realise that voids the warranty and means you guys don't have to help, but I'm literally posting as a last resort. The warranty expired long ago.
This also doesn't seem to be a very complete hinge construction. I might be missing a metal frame bracket at the bottom, because the right hinge has one.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/0903/headpin/1.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/0903/headpin/2.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/0903/headpin/3.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/0903/headpin/4.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/0903/headpin/5.jpg
Pierreism
35 Posts
0
October 20th, 2013 13:00
So, I guess, no hope?
AdgeTimick
5 Posts
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October 20th, 2013 14:00
Wow, this is no good. I came here because my Dell Inspiron 15R N5110 fan cover broke and a little piece of the plastic fell into the fan. The fan jammed and started smoking, so I shut my computer down, but I was worried about opening it up just because there doesn't seem to be a good way to access the fan without taking multiple pieces (like the keyboard) off, at least not according to the service manual. Now seeing that a hinge might break or even be faulty, I'm even less confident about trying to get this plastic piece out of the fan. I can hear the piece rattling around when I turn over my laptop, but no amount of shaking or tilting is getting it out of the fan assembly.
Any tips on taking it apart to get to the fan while avoiding the hinge problem, Pierreism?
Thanks, and hopefully somebody from Dell will get back to you soon about this hinge issue.
Pierreism
35 Posts
0
October 21st, 2013 06:00
Yes access to the fan requires pretty much a complete disassembly as it's located on the bottom of the motherboard. So that means unscrewing every screw on the bottom, taking off the optical drive, keyboard, palmrest, display, motherboard, complete heatsink, THEN the fan.
The good news is I didn't have a problem locating or replacing it. It's just this damn hinge problem.
To make things more complicated, my motherboard doesn't seem to be the same as others I've seen online and on YouTube. There must be international variants or something, because on this video of someone taking apart an N5110, at 3:18 you see them take off the display and the right hinge looks markedly different from the photos I posted above. For one, that assembly has a metal bracket on the bottom of the right hinge, whereas mine does not.
It might be good to get a second pair of eyes, actually. If you do plan on taking apart the machine, could you post pictures of what your right hinge looks like? You don't have to take the display off or unscrew it just yet, but pictures (like mine) would be helpful. You might need to zoom in a bit and use flash.
All I can recommend is that you use a sharp Philips head and don't wear down the screw notches. Everything else I had no problem with.
mbaylon72
1 Message
0
October 22nd, 2013 23:00
I could send pictures, but they look just like yours. Happened tonight just trying to get access to the hard drive.
Have you been able to fix this? I am thinking of using epoxy to fill those holes in the base and using longer screws.
Pierreism
35 Posts
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October 23rd, 2013 06:00
Oof, sorry to hear that. AdgeTimick, you might want to hold off on disassembling that hinge until you get a closer look at it.
As for a fix, that may be possible. I tried 2 different super strength super glues, both of which couldn't take the pressure, and in the process got those small screws stuck into the caps that snapped off. I can't get them out without sawing them off, which is why I'm waiting for more info from DELL before going any further.
A proxy plus a longer core might work as long as its the strongest you can find. It's not ideal if you ever want to take it apart again, though.
AdgeTimick
5 Posts
0
October 23rd, 2013 07:00
seems I may have actually lucked out. I used a bit of a MacGyver trick and put a leg of stockings/pantyhose over the tube of my vacuum, then turned it on and put the tube over the fan assembly (didn't even open up the computer). I shook the computer a bit and sure enough, the piece that broke off and fell into the fan got sucked out and was sitting on the end of the stockings. seem to be problem free since. sorry I couldn't help with any pictures, but maybe the Dell people will reply again now that there's been some more activity on this thread. hope my problem and I have at least helped in that way.
Pierreism
35 Posts
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October 26th, 2013 20:00
Bumping for Dell to respond!
Could really use a final answer on this.
Pierreism
35 Posts
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November 20th, 2013 14:00
Bumping again.