Loosening Powerbook g4 Ti Hinges
- Thread starter greystash
- Start date
MacUp72
Well-known member
my 800Mhz DVI Ti also has some stiffer hinges.. it, too get better when it was in usage, so its a temperatures thing. But I rather have one with stiffer but intact hinges than one with loose ones. I just cleaned the hinges with a little bit of lighter fluid but it didnt change.
jeremywork
Well-known member
I took a risk and sprayed mine with PB B'laster a few years back. It made a significant difference, maybe 80% of the way back to new. It's still pretty smooth today, and hasn't ruined any of the paint/finish.
If you try this, use plenty of paper towels to keep the spray off the screen and keyboard, and keep the computer on its side for each hinge, so gravity carries drips away from any other components. Give it some time to dry, then hold paper towels directly on the hinge and invert the TiBook a few times to get any other drips to come out. After a few cycles of opening and closing the lid, it should hopefully feel easier.
If you try this, use plenty of paper towels to keep the spray off the screen and keyboard, and keep the computer on its side for each hinge, so gravity carries drips away from any other components. Give it some time to dry, then hold paper towels directly on the hinge and invert the TiBook a few times to get any other drips to come out. After a few cycles of opening and closing the lid, it should hopefully feel easier.
MacUp72
Well-known member
oh, that seems to be indeed a real creepy oil..
greystash
Well-known member
Hey @jeremywork, do you remember how much PB B'laster you used on the hinges? I've just ordered some as my hinges have really seized up. Hopefully this fixes it!
jeremywork
Well-known member
A little goes a long way. It's a very low viscosity fluid, like WD-40 or water. I'd expect only a small immediate improvement, but quite a bit more with some careful exercise of the hinges over the course of 10-20 minutes. In my experience the trick is controlling the trigger so you don't drench it unnecessarily.
beachycove
Well-known member
Old grease can develop a glue-like quality, which is what the problem seems to be here — the grease in your hinges has deteriorated. Old grease can bind to an extent that is truly remarkable. I saw it on an OMC outboard motor (another of my hobbies) a couple of years ago, where the throttle advance plate had more or less to be struck with a hammer (not a good idea!) to move, whereas the action should have been buttery smooth and fingertip. The old grease, once the flywheel came off so as to access the area, worked almost like contact cement. The exposed parts, which are meant to slip lightly over each other, had to be pried apart after being treated with a solvent. Once cleaned and regressed, however, all was well.
PBBlaster (which stinks mightily for several weeks, by the way) presumably has served jeremywork in this instance by rejuvenating the old grease, to some extent or other. It is a solvent, so it will presumably penetrate whatever grease was used in PowerBook hinges. Pretty much any creeping oil should have much the same effect. Though in an ideal world you’d really want to clean out old grease so as to re-pack with new, that hardly seems possible with a PowerBook hinge, so some sort of oil is probably your best bet.
The same problem of grease turning to an adhesive seems to affect old hard drive bearings. I have occasionally managed to revive failing drives, and address noise issues, by adding a small drop of light machine oil to the central bearing. Some drives actually have a screw allowing access to the bearing, making this operation easy. I haven’t yet witnessed a failure obviously attributable to this small surgery.
A small note: standard WD-40 is not a penetrating oil, or even a proper lubricant, but is technically a “water dispersant.” If you use it, it will in time gum things up again. Mightily. There do seem to be WD-40 penetrating oils, but I would avoid those and opt for another product personally.
PBBlaster (which stinks mightily for several weeks, by the way) presumably has served jeremywork in this instance by rejuvenating the old grease, to some extent or other. It is a solvent, so it will presumably penetrate whatever grease was used in PowerBook hinges. Pretty much any creeping oil should have much the same effect. Though in an ideal world you’d really want to clean out old grease so as to re-pack with new, that hardly seems possible with a PowerBook hinge, so some sort of oil is probably your best bet.
The same problem of grease turning to an adhesive seems to affect old hard drive bearings. I have occasionally managed to revive failing drives, and address noise issues, by adding a small drop of light machine oil to the central bearing. Some drives actually have a screw allowing access to the bearing, making this operation easy. I haven’t yet witnessed a failure obviously attributable to this small surgery.
A small note: standard WD-40 is not a penetrating oil, or even a proper lubricant, but is technically a “water dispersant.” If you use it, it will in time gum things up again. Mightily. There do seem to be WD-40 penetrating oils, but I would avoid those and opt for another product personally.
greystash
Well-known member
Thank you both, unfortunately my attempt was unsuccessful 
It's still just as seized up and it feels like the frame is going to snap If I keep at it.
It's a shame the hinges can't be taken apart, I guess I need to find another screen assembly. I disassembled the LCD last week to see if I could replace the hinges but they're fixed to the screen assembly
It's still just as seized up and it feels like the frame is going to snap If I keep at it.It's a shame the hinges can't be taken apart, I guess I need to find another screen assembly. I disassembled the LCD last week to see if I could replace the hinges but they're fixed to the screen assembly
greystash
Well-known member
I ended up trying Lubeco Bar & Chain Oil 100 and found that it worked. I cleaned everything out of the hinges with some CRC spray and then applied the Lubeco Bar & Chain Oil with a syringe. I applied a lot and dried off the excess oil after it had worked its way around the hinges.
It smelled bad for about a week and movement is probably near 80 - 90% of what it would have been when purchased new. No issues after using it for a month which is great!
It smelled bad for about a week and movement is probably near 80 - 90% of what it would have been when purchased new. No issues after using it for a month which is great!
