• Updated 2023-07-12: Hello, Guest! Welcome back, and be sure to check out this follow-up post about our outage a week or so ago.

PowerBook 160 help (broken hinge mount)

tomlee59

Well-known member
Common problems include stripped threads and cracked/detached posts. I will defer to our resident chemist, equill, but I've enjoyed some success with reattaching detached posts using acetone as a solvent and simply keeping the parts pressed together. No doubt there are better ways (and the correct solvent is a function of the type of plastic being bonded), but that's one method that has worked for me in the past.

 

Osgeld

Banned
Acetone works well at melting abs plastic, its a common way to make glue for abs plastic, grind some up melt it in acetone, when applied the acetone will evaporate leaving solid plastic behind give or take 80% of the original plastic's strength

 

ryan55

Active member
One of my hinges were off and i looked at it. One tip for anyone trying it, GET THE SCREEN AT A GOOD ANGLE TO GET TO THE SCREWS!!! After you expose the hinge screws, when i tried to move the back to make it easier, another one snapped. Now i have to rebuild another one. Quick question, are all 4 hunge screws suposed to be in, mine only had 2 :O . I'm gonna try the acetone fix from the post above probably, or solderding iron, if i get it done, and find the camera, I just might make a writeup with pics.

 

JRL

Well-known member
Alright, so I've finally got some more time to take a look at the issue.

So if I'm not mistaken, the actual problem is the threaded brass rings breaking free from the plastic casing, right? I'm assuming that those plastic casings are the ones that need to be strengthened.

Thanks!

 

JRL

Well-known member
...or is the main issue with the LCD back housing breaking at the screw areas?

Let me know. Thanks!

-J

 

LCGuy

LC Doctor/Hot Rodder
On the machines I've seen, the plastic that the brass screw rings are moulded into seems to break/snap.

 

JRL

Well-known member
Alright, thanks!

and at @MacJunky: I haven't really have had time yet to do so completely since I started the topic :/ The last time I attempted to do so, the interior hinge screws seemed a bit tight, and I was a bit nervous about messing up the screw plastic. Next week will be when I'll have more time though, and I haven't had time to even come to the forums for a while now. From what I've seen in my PB 160 so far, the screw ring plastic seems to be the one weakening, but I also read on a post here a while back (I think it was from you?) that stated that the LCD back case was part of the problem too, so I was just curious.

Also, gorilla glue should be fine, right? Or would I have to get some epoxy instead?

 

J English Smith

Well-known member
It is possible to use a flat metal screw to hold the two halves together, if the plastic post breaks off inside the monitor housing. Use a very small bore drill bit to very gently (a hand crank drill is best, really) go through the hole all the way through to the other side, then get a phillips or torx screw that is just the right width. I did this recently for a PB150 that had a bad hinge, and it turned out looking pretty good. I did not have to use a nut and washer on the face side, as I thought I would - the screw base is exactly flush with the top surface of the PB so it looks quite decent. On the inside, you need a screw head that is just slightly larger than the recess, so that it tightly presses the two sides of the monitor housing together. Total repair cost was about .45 for the screw. Not too shabby.

 

nvdeynde

Well-known member
The hinges themselves cause the plastic at the screw areas in the LCD housing to break.

The old grease in the hinge, between the spring and the shaft, has hardened over time and instead of keeping the hinge lubricated, the old grease is now making the hinge very difficult to rotate and puts too much force on the fragile plastic with the 4 screwholes in the LCD bessel.

Best solution is to take the hinges apart, remove the old grease from the shaft and spring with WD40, and then soak in White lithium grease ( the foaming kind ). This will loosen up the hinges again.

Nico

 

techknight

Well-known member
Good idea. Maybe at the same time, us with good plastics still we could probably use metal hardened epoxy and just re-enforce the standoffs.

 

uniserver

Well-known member
i fix these with JB Weld, and the cool thing is, its already the same color as the plastic, if mixed properly!!

i use the same method when you open up these 100 series power books to find broken stand off all over. i just goop some jb weld in there pop post back in the way it was originally and let it sit over night... in the morning strong and good as new... !!!!!

 

haplain

Well-known member
If you can get some photo of the exact piece your referring to, I could probably make a custom one and/or fix yours. Uniserver can speak to my machining skills. If you can post something let me know.

 

mcdermd

Well-known member
The problem is that the hinge mounts on the 100-series PBs are part of the top display case. To make a true replacement, you'd have to make the entire back case. It may be possible to machine a replacement "block" that you could cement into a prepared area surrounding the original mount location.

 

haplain

Well-known member
something like that or tap/thread the current one with a larger, more robust screw. Bore it out and epoxy a steel inserted threaded rod in there and use a larger screw. Lathe down the screw head size so it will fit.

 

techknight

Well-known member
So what was the conclusion on this? I got a 165c that has busted insert retainers in the hinge area and was going to try JB Weld. I dont want to use the screw method because the site of a screw coming out the toher side is devastating to me. lol. I am picky like that.

 

James1095

Well-known member
I would try solvent welding. If you need filler, grind up some compatible plastic with a file and mix the filings with solvent. It will meld with the original plastic and make a very strong bond. Just don't spill any solvent, that stuff will instantly mark anywhere it drips. The stuff I have is Methylene Chloride, it's sold for welding acrylic but it works well on ABS too. Plumbing cement for ABS pipe ought to work too.

 
Top