Is there some'secret' way to easily remove screw cap covers when dissassembling?

Robert Macy Inscribed thus:

I use a watchmakers screwdriver, carefully. :-) They are also stuck in with DS tape.

See pages 122 and 125:

'Looks like you have to insert the tip of an X-Acto 11 blade and pry them off. It will probably uglify the screw caps though.

Luckily, the caps are sold as part of P/N 26P9654 for 22 bux including shipping: eBay 380113424356

Screw kit (including nylon-coated screws) for T20, T21, T22 and T23 series: v M2.5 x 14 mm, bind head (15) v M2.5 x 11.5 mm, flat head (5) v M2.5 x 4.8 mm, flat head (20) v M2.5 x 3.5 mm, flat head (10) v M2.0 x 13.5 mm, pan head (15) v M2..0 x 4.0 mm, small head (10) v Hex stud D-sub (10) v Coin screw (1) v Security screw (1) v Blank cap, enhanced port (5) v Screw caps, rear (5) v Screw caps (5) v Screw caps (painted) (10) v Screw caps (not painted, thin) (10) v Screw caps (not painted) (5)

--Winston

When the authorized service centers repair the laptops, they usually have to order (or have on hand) replacement adhesive covers. I find this a waste of money and product to have to buy something every time you open the laptop.

I found that on most laptops, a hole punch and some double-sided sticky tape works great.

Or maybe some rubber cement.

Thanks.

Remove the BALONEY from my email address.

----------------------------------------------------- Matthew Fries Minneapolis, MN USA snipped-for-privacy@baloneyvisi.com

"Quit eating all my *STUFF*!" - The Tick

Try drilling a small hole through the center and use a dental pick or similar to carefully pop it off. Cleaner and less noticeable than the chewed-up appearance that often results from prying at the edges.

Tiny screwdriver and pry up.

If you want to do it without destroying the screw cover, use a vacuum pickup tool and vacuum pump:

Grab the screw cover near the edge and pull up. Don't try to pull on the middle of the cover.

If you don't mind building a dedicated tip, a solder sucker might work (I have't tried it).

les_pdf/62p9631.pdf

Thank you for that URL!

The step by steps are easy to follow.

However, for some reason after getting to the inverter PCB, replacing with 'new' one from eBay, the LapTop still does not light up the screen.

Worrisome is the fact that I have a bracket, screw, and a broken off boss left over after re-assembly.

But that's only mechanical stuff.

Whups. Sounds like the backlight itself is worn out or is turned off.

I take it you can bounce light off the screen to see that an image is presented on the display, yes?

From page 28: "Screen blank mode Screen blank mode has three variants, as follows: If you press Fn+F3, or the time set on the ?LCD off timer? in IBM BIOS Setup Utility expires, v The LCD backlight turns off. v The hard-disk drive motor stops. v The speaker is muted."

Also see p. 54 for LCD troubleshooting tips.

--Winston

Check for volts input to the inverter board. I had one laptop that had a blown fuse. Fuse was near the graphics chip and looked like a cap. Chased my tail on that one for a while.

Hook the ground clip of your scope probe to the tip to form a loop. Waive it around in the vicinity of the inverter. You'll be able to tell if it's running.

Great tip! Totally forgot to try that!

obiles_pdf/62p9631.pdf

pg 54 doesn't say much, just reseat connectors, hmmm

I did finally verify the image is appearing ON the LCD, all I need now is the backlight and I'll have a working Laptop again, plus free parts- bracket, boss, and screw.

(...)

Sounds like progress. :)

--Winston

The irritating factor in the excess parts is that the bracket was left on the 14mm screw that holds down the keyboard bezel, and appeared to fit in that area EXCEPT that with the bracket in place where it fits comfortably, the screw does NOT reach ?! I think it is an EMC grounding bracket and probably won't have much to do with the operation [I hope}

(...)

Post a link to a picture, please. Is it the little bracket shown on the top of page 85?

--Winston

no idea how to post a pic?

I can attach it.

Typical reason for this is putting a longer screw in the wrong place.

I think sci.electronics.repair is non-binary.

Suggest sign up to a photo sharing site like photobucket and provide a link to your photo.

Ferinstance here is a snapshot of a TIG weld joint that I did with my little Miller 150. The object in the top left corner is the tip of a ballpoint pen:

or:

--Winston

I concur, but this is why I want to see a photo. It isn't clear if we have a misalignment problem or a 'length' problem.

--Winston