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Question

How can I repair the hinge and bezel on my laptop?

Jun 25, 2011 7:55AM PDT

My relatively new HP Pavilion dm4 1065-dx, for some reason, has a broken hinge. That sounded like a minor problem, till I found out that it wasn't. The hinge, which is totally busted, although it still opens and closes, is bending the bezel, as well, and I was informed by a Best Buy associate that it would cost me several hundred dollars to have them replace the bezel and the hinge, because it would involve replacing the screen, as well. Any ideas? I don't want to have to hook up an external monitor.
If somebody could just find the bezel, or a place that could replace it, I would be perfectly fine removing the screen from the bezel and putting it in a new bezel.

Discussion is locked

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Answer
What you need to know
Jun 26, 2011 6:28AM PDT

Is the panel+bezel+other bits and pieces are one FRU so you can't get just the broken bits.

I'm sure you've figured out this but didn't know why.

OK, my brother broke a hinge and since the laptop was years old we only wanted to get more time from it and did not care if we rendered it impossible to repair again later. To that end I opened it up enough to put in some metal pieces to act as a splint to reinforce the area then used that foam glue Gorilla Glue to fill it in. Then I sanded the area down and repeated that a few more times.

Since the color was terrible I put the laptop inside a plastic baggy then cut out the area I wanted to paint. A little tape work to expose just the area I wanted to paint and then to the garage and a tarp. I used that Krylon Plastic Paint spray and put on about 3 or 4 thin layers and let it dry over night.

Pulled the tape and removed it from the bag and the glue+splints+paint job is still working a year later.

Sadly a few want me to write a step by step but it's more art than procedure.

Final cost? About 20 bucks for glue and paint (tops.)
Bob

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Metal
Jun 26, 2011 8:56PM PDT

Sounds good. The only problem is that my laptop has a metal shell on the outside. Would that make it any harder?

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Oops
Jun 26, 2011 9:00PM PDT

My bad - my son must have logged in to his CNET account on this computer and I didn't notice until now. That message was from me.

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Depends on the person making up the repair.
Jun 27, 2011 5:48AM PDT

Here my little shop has the means to grind and cut metal. That means that I'd want to craft more metal splint pieces and imagine more ways to get this done.

So far I've yet to see the metal crack unless it was sat on or a pencil/pen was left in and the cover shut. Sorry to read this thread but it's all about cost and making a fix or solution if we don't want to buy the FRU.
Bob

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Need help and clarification for your hinge repair
May 28, 2014 2:27PM PDT

Hi, could you explain (or show photo) what 'open it up enough' means? I need to do the same repair. HP service center representative told me: HP repairs the broken hinge of Pavilion dm4 1165dx by replacing the entire LCD display unit (at a hefty cost) and 7 - 9 days of turn-around. You can take it or leave it.

Cost aside, no one can afford the loss of productivity for being without a laptop.

Do you know any reputable laptop repair shop in the Los Angeles, CA area?

Thank you.

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Sorry. No shop I know would have done that work.
May 28, 2014 2:40PM PDT

My background is diverse from machine shop work, micro-electronics, circuit building and code. So for me it was a matter of finding a way to open it, craft a metal splint, add epoxy and then sand and paint. No shop I know does such work. And the laptop lasted a few years until it's new owner drowned it in soda.
Bob