PB 1400 hinge issue, and cracking plastic

[AndyO]

I have a PB 1400cs - I'm the original owner so me and it have been through a lot over the years!

I recently booted it up, and aside from a screen that takes a while to settle down to usable contrast/brightness, it seems to be working pretty well. However, the plastics on the back of the display is cracking along one hinge, and obviously is beginning to fail.

I read somewhere on here recently that this can be (or is) caused by the hinges stiffening, and there's a lubricant that might help, and therefore reduce the stressing of the plastic. Trouble is, I think it was posted in the great-data-loss era when the forum crashed, so I can't find a reference to it.

Can anyone point me at the right stuff? All I can find on Amazon is '3-in-1 Lock Dry Lube', which might be the right thing, but I'd rather have the experts point me in the right direction than guess for myself.

And... I suppose the next obvious question would be whether there are any modern-day replacement options for the plastic panel?

 

[LaPorta]

I am no expert, but I am the one who recommended the 3-in-1 because it seemed to work pretty well for me so far. My entire writeup was lost, and I have yet to recreate it. It would involve disassembling the screen to the point where you can take the hinges off. Put one side in a vise. Hose down the hinge with the 3-in-1, then use pliers to work the hinge back and forth to let the lube work its way in. Repeat a few times until it feels looser, then replace.

As for the panel, someone was designing one to print or manufacture, but that thread, too, was lost, and I haven't heard from the designer since. Hopefully, he will start again.

I will someday investigate other lubricants/greases: I have two/three more 1400s for parts, so I can test on their hinges to see if anything works much better.

Another tip: when opening the machine, open the lid just enough to get your finger down inside so you can apply most of the force needed to lifet the lid down where the hinge actually is. Same when closing the machine: push it closed by pressing on the cracking area (over the hinge itself). That will prevent it from stressing the plastic further. Remember: the shorter the lever from a point, the less force is applied to that point.

 

[AndyO]

That's excellent help, thanks!

Yeah, it is very stiff, and it makes sense to keep the level of force used to a minimum. I was sadly a bit careless with it once I'd begun to use it again, not realizing I was causing it damage. Right now it is left open, but that's not tenable in the longer term, and it does deserve to be fixed while it can be!

Sad that the threads were lost, but I do remember your writeup - at least in outline.
Thanks!

 

[AndyO]

It rewarded my ordering of the 3-in-1 from Amazon by now refusing to boot up. The power light is on, and oddly, glows very dimly if the power adapter is unplugged, though the battery has been dead for years. But black screen, no chime, no internal life such as the drive spinning up. Sadly, it seems to need more than merely loosening the hinges!

And I had thought that it was the one vintage Mac that would last forever!

 

[LaPorta]

The dimming light is simply capacitor power drain after unplugging. Does the light stay on no matter what?

 

[AndyO]

It goes out after a while, or immediately if I remove the battery. The battery doesn't hold a charge that I know of, but I assume it is simply completing a circuit. I did try and boot with the battery removed entirely, because I recall a laptop that failed with similar symptoms that booted without the battery but not with it, but same result. No life except the power light.

 

[AndyO]

I was tempted to give the 1400 another chance, not least after realizing that there's a reset button on it that I hadn't pressed. So I plugged it in, and pressed reset. It booted up perfectly. Not sure if it began starting up before I actually pressed reset though, because it boots as soon as the power adapter is connected. But at least temporarily it was back in the land of the living, and I was able to use it for a couple of hours. Shutdown was also normal.

My SnowBook must be getting frustrated, because its getting no use while the 1400 still works!

 

[LaPorta]

We do need a long-term replacement for the case. These are too nice of machines to let die.

 

[AndyO]

I agree. Mine isn't too bad, except for the crack in the top above the left-hand hinge, but even though it's the base model, it's a great laptop, and I'd really like to keep it in use.

Which of course means I ought to open it up and see what else needs to be done to it in the way of preventative maintenance - though I have no skills in electronics or soldering, so I'm not sure what I might hope to achieve!!

 

[EtherRad]

I had the design printed and prototype sent to me but the whole thing was off by like 1/4 an inch and I’m not sure how. I was so deterred that I haven’t picked it up since.

 

[LaPorta]

Cody, it was you who designed it? Maybe we can pick this up where we left off. I can help you. I can certainly take measurements off here.

 

[EtherRad]

If you have fusion or any other auto cad software that could read my files, I can send them to you that way you could see each of my measurements when you’re measuring

 

[LaPorta]

I've worked with it a tad, if you send over the files I will find a way.

 

[EtherRad]

Ok great! I will send it when I get home.