Inspiron 5548 Case Separating at Corner by Hinge

There was a previous thread, first posted on March 9, 2015, titled, “Inspiron 5547 laptop pops open at the right side joint while closing”.

The post says it was answered by Manish 18508, but after reading through this entire thread (55 posts in all), I can tell you that no one has sufficiently answered the problem.

I bought a 5548 on May 22, 2015, and I have the same issue with mine. I too contacted Dell customer support, and I was told like the rest of you that warranty would not cover it because I broke it.  That simply is not true.  Even considering that when I purchased the laptop through our Employee Purchase Program, and directly from Dell, I also purchased the three-year Premium Warranty.  After getting nowhere with customer service, I decided to see if I could fix it myself.  Some background information on me: I am an electrical engineer working in the corporate office of one of the largest electric utilities in the country.

As you read further you will see that this is a material and workmanship problem. Think about it, how else could all of you have broken your laptops by simply opening and closing the lid?

My laptop looked just like the photos in the post, and made the same snap-crackle-and-pop whenever I opened or closed the lid.

Here’s what I found when I opened the laptop: The bolt going through the center of the hinge was so tight that I could not force it opened by hand.  Because of this, it pulled the brass nuts embedded in the upper case out of the holes where they had been pressed in during manufacturing.  It had also broken the lower case where the screw goes through so that there was no longer anything left for the screw to tighten the upper and lower case halves together.  Lastly, the hinge not opening properly caused the two wires for the wireless antenna to be ripped out of the crimped on connectors, so I saw two bare ends sticking up with no way to re-attach them.

I was able to re-attach the brass nuts back into the upper case with Gorilla Glue, and I glued a flat washer to the back side of the lower case. I also had to use a 15/64” ignition wrench to loosen the bolt and nut in the hinge about 2 or 3 flats, which was VERY difficult to turn!  The hinge now opens and closes freely as intended.  All of this proved to be an adequate repair for the case and hinge problem.

Now, as for the wire connectors on the wireless antenna, Dell tells me that there is no part number for the antenna, and the only way I can get a new one is to purchase an entire new Touch Screen Display Assembly, which I found on eBay for $219.

Hmm….How do they explain this next photo?

I think it’s time for Dell to be a responsible manufacture, step up to the plate admitting this is their problem, and help their customers.