Hinge repair tip - Chicago screws

[Larry Sabo]

I just finished repairing a hinge mount on an Acer Aspire E1-527P using epoxy and a "Chicago screw." It's the Chicago screw that I'm so pleased about discovering. The hinge itself was okay, but the plate to which it is riveted snapped and the posts in the top cover to which it was also screwed broke away. (See the picture links below.) I could not find a replacement top cover anywhere; the Win8 laptop is only a year-and-a-half old and has a touchscreen, so it would be a shame to trash it.

To repair it, I removed remaining traces of torn foil and scarified the top cover plastic beneath the hinge mount stub, to give the epoxy something to bite into, and then epoxied the stub to the top cover. To absorb the hinge load and prevent the epoxy from breaking away, I drilled a hole through the top cover and installed a 8-32x1/4" Chicago screw. Had to cut a couple of mm (1/8 inch) off the female part of the screw so it would fit withing the limited space. Drilled a hole through the top cover and inserted and tightened the screw. Works great! I could have used more screws, but I think just one should do the job. Seems very secure.

Broken left hinge: http://prntscr.com/7212jq
Good right hinge: http://prntscr.com/7212ev
Repaired left hinge: http://prntscr.com/7212ow
Repaired left hinge exterior view: http://prntscr.com/7212t6

I should really paint the exposed part of the screw black to hide it, but I've spent way too much time on this job already.

 

[SpaceSquad]

Nice job. With a laptop beat up that bad a little metal circle on the bottom is sure to not upset.

Man I hate how crappy bottom cases are on a lot of laptops out there...

 

[wavey]

Good work Larry.

In these situations I also loosen the nut on the hinge a little, just to relieve the stress to the repair. (But not so much as to leave the lid all floppy like)

 

[Larry Sabo]

Thanks, Mike and Dave. I did loosen the nut on the left side but tightened it again later because the lid was just a little too loose. Lid movement is smooth yet secure now and shows no sign of stress that might jeopardize the repair. Those Chicago screws are great, as they have a broad, flat head at each end and don't look like a hack job on the outside. The only problem with them is holding the exposed end so you can torque the screw down without rotating the other end. The screw I used was made of aluminum and holding the end with pliers left visible damage to the screw, which I had to file smooth again.

 

[frase]

Nice work Larry, well done Yes wavey I do the same especially on the crappy HP envy models.

 

[HFultzjr]

Great job and tip Larry!

 

[Larry Sabo]

Thanks, Harold and fraise.