PowerBook 170 display housing disassembly help

[3lectr1cPPC]

I’m planning on getting some hinge fix parts printed for my PowerBook 170 and 540 soon, but my 170 has an issue. The right side screw standoff has broke, so I can’t unscrew the right side screw to get inside the display assembly, it just spins. Any ideas on how to get in non-destructively? All I can think of is opening and closing the hinge until the other standoffs all break so I can just lift the back off, but there’s got to be a better way. There isn’t enough room to get at the screw thread with pliers to hold it in place, as the stand-off direct to the left of that one still holds.

 

[AndyO]

Can you simultaneously apply pressure to the front and back panels at that point (or right next to it) to effectively jam the broken standoff in place, while you then unscrew it?

 

[3lectr1cPPC]

Tried that already but no luck. The metal thread has completely broken free of the plastic.

 

[jeremywork]

I had one stick this way. Unfortunately the only way I got it out was to carefully insert thin needle-nose pliers behind the standoff, which required making the problem slightly worse before starting to fix it. This was before 3D printed parts were around, so I just carefully realigned the standoff in order for a massive amount of epoxy to finish the job.

Fwiw, gratuitous epoxy seems to hold up on plenty of cheaper wintel laptops, too. In cases where only one or two plastic mounts were used on the base to hold the screen hinges, breaking free would cause top case separation, additional plastic cracking etc. Even after a few years of daily use, the epoxy-globbed ones feel solid.

 

[3lectr1cPPC]

Issue is only one on the right side is damaged so I have no room to get in at all. I suspect I’m going to have to open it a bunch until the other one gives then try that. Without drilling the screw out which I obviously don’t want to do, that’s the only way I can think of.
What type of epoxy do you use? I’ve heard JB Weld works good. Issue is that so many Wintel laptops stress crack instead of the standoffs giving out which is a whole lot worse. Luckily the 1400 is the only PowerBook to do that. I’ve got a goal this year to learn 3D modeling so I can start building hinge fix parts for other laptops, like the 5300 series PowerBooks.

 

[jeremywork]

Issue is only one on the right side is damaged so I have no room to get in at all. I suspect I’m going to have to open it a bunch until the other one gives then try that. Without drilling the screw out which I obviously don’t want to do, that’s the only way I can think of.
What type of epoxy do you use? I’ve heard JB Weld works good. Issue is that so many Wintel laptops stress crack instead of the standoffs giving out which is a whole lot worse. Luckily the 1400 is the only PowerBook to do that. I’ve got a goal this year to learn 3D modeling so I can start building hinge fix parts for other laptops, like the 5300 series PowerBooks.

Yeah, there was a lot of wincing as I force-pried the standoff out from the plastic as it crumbled. The thickness on the lid *should* mean nothing will show on the outside.


This stuff should do the trick. Rather unfun to work with and it really takes its time to set IIRC, but holds up in most cases better than the material it's bonded to.
In the Wintels I really would just pour a solid epoxy foot spanning all the way from the pitiful hinge-spikes to at least halfway down the keyboard area. In some systems there are components in the way but there's usually some creative way to get it done, especially since the system is essentially scrap parts otherwise.

 

[PB170]

Haven't tried this myself, but instead of using a screwdriver, perhaps you could get a pair of tweezers (preferrably with some type of hooks at the ends) and use them to pull the screw towards you, and utilize the friction between the insert and the hinge to keep it in place while, carefully, trying to unscrew it?

 

[3lectr1cPPC]

The 170 god himself has been summoned
Alas, this doesn't seem to work. Can't grip it at all.

Edit: I got it! For anyone who might have this issue in the future, here's what I did.
1. I opened the screen as far as it would go.
2. Then, I carefully applied more pressure to make the screen open a bit farther than it was supposed to go. I noticed that when I did this, turning the screw would become more difficult. Eventually, having done this enough, it gripped something or other and started coming out.

 

[PB170]

The 170 god himself has been summoned

Haha

Edit: I got it! For anyone who might have this issue in the future, here's what I did.
1. I opened the screen as far as it would go.
2. Then, I carefully applied more pressure to make the screen open a bit farther than it was supposed to go. I noticed that when I did this, turning the screw would become more difficult. Eventually, having done this enough, it gripped something or other and started coming out.

Great that you fixed it! Sounds like the same basic idea, but with a less finicky method

 

[3lectr1cPPC]

rightmost standoff is broken at the bottom but otherwise intact, the one to the left of one totally 'sploded after some pressure went on it while I was removing the LCD. It was already on its way out. I'm going to have to print a hinge fix part really soon. Left side standoffs are ok, for now that is.

 

[pezter22]

I got a 3D printer for Christmas and one of the first things I printed was a hinge support for my PowerBook 145b.
The plastic on these old laptops are so brittle. My previous fix of using some epoxy around the standoffs was messy and ugly. These hinge supports are so much better. Just use a solder tip to melt the inserts into the new support. I used a two part Loctite plastic superglue with an activator to bond them to the back of the screen case.
Here's a link to the 3D file.

Modified Powerbook 100 Series Hinge by cadenya_

This Does Not Compute made a video on fixing a PB 145b and used this design file but modified it, but didn't include the modified file in his description. After more than a week without him responding to my question if he could add his modified one, I learned TinkerCad and made a modified one...

www.thingiverse.com