New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:

Cracked lid

post #1 of 66
9/3/03 at 12:38am
Thread Starter 
So in the last couple of weeks, some cracks have appeared at the left hinge on the lid. They are getting worse. My lappy has never been subjected to excessive force or dropped or anything like that.
These are purely from the stress of opening and closing the lid.
A little bothersome that I'm starting to have durability issues after 8 months. My battery has also completely failed in the last week.
Anyone else???

Crap.

B
Reply
Reply
post #2 of 66
9/3/03 at 12:47pm
We've never had a case of any lids cracking from use (out of MANY laptops sold). On the other hand all brands of batteries have had experience failing in every laptop Sager or non-Sager.

Contact Sager for issues such as these.
Reply
Reply
post #3 of 66
9/3/03 at 4:29pm
Thread Starter 
Yeah, I thought it was kind of odd too Adam. That's why I was wondering if anyone else had it happen....

My laptop has traveled around the world in the time I have owned it. It hasn't been anywhere but home for the last 3months. The cracks didn't show up until recently. These cracks eminate from the left hinge cutout and extend to the leftmost edge of the lid.
What really sucks is I archived my desktops to a recycler in Nor Cal a few months ago!!!
I hope Sager can fix it fast!!!

As far as the battery, when I contacted Sager a few months ago they told me my battery life was normal at ~30 minutes on a full charge. Guess not.

B
Reply
Reply
post #4 of 66
9/3/03 at 4:32pm
Thread Starter 
Oh, and when I said Crap (previous), I didn't mean my Sager. I meant that I knew I was going to loose my Lappy for a couple of weeks to get it fixed.

B
Reply
Reply
post #5 of 66
9/8/03 at 12:36pm
bwalker5, I'm have what seems to be a very similar problem. Again, like you my 5660 has not suffered any trauma (I treat it like it's my baby), and is about 9 months old.

It has two cracks. The first is on the lid and seems to be from stress opening and closing, the second is between the volume up button and microphone, I don't have any idea what caused it.

My laptop rarely leaves the table it is sitting on.





Justin
Reply
Reply
post #6 of 66
9/8/03 at 1:37pm
Thread Starter 
Don't have the front one yet...
Mine is going to Sager this Thursday. They gave me a RMA for it.
One of my cracks is IDENTICAL to yours. The other starts about 1/3 of the way towards the center on the same hinge relief.
Makes me feel better to know that I'm not alone!!!!
But it sucks!!!!!! ( I guess I would rather be alone than have these cracks!!!)

Blake
Reply
Reply
post #7 of 66
1/20/04 at 4:40pm
I have the same problem on my 5680 and ive only had it for 3 weeks
Reply
Reply
post #8 of 66
1/20/04 at 4:56pm
Thread Starter 
So instead of losing my lappy for a couple of weeks, I bought a new cover from Sager for $25. Replaced it myself.
And it cracked after 1month also. My guess is the hinge is excessively tight.
It is not "hard" to open at all and doesn't seem tight, but that is the only way I can figure that this happens.
I also noticed that all of the cover screws were loose when I took it apart.
This would contribute to the stress fracture.
The design is poor. There is really nothing to distribute the load of opening and closing the lid. There is a thin piece of sheet metal that covers the interior of the the lid. It also gets clamped by the bottom screws. It will flex just as easy as the plastic.
I will try it again, but this time, I'm going to epoxy the crap out of both hinge areas and make sure the sheet metal is glued to the cover.

Sucks...

Blake
Reply
Reply
post #9 of 66
1/22/04 at 5:04pm
I never did anything with the cracks I had. I thought about sending it back, but it wasn't worth it to me if they were only cosmetic.

I slapped a piece of clear 1" tape around the area with the crack just to catch the pieces if they ever fell off.

The single hinge crack in the photo above forked off into 3, the longest of which now reaches the seam on the side of the LCD.

I still love the laptop but hope to see an improved structural design on the screen hinge.

Justin
Reply
Reply
post #10 of 66
1/22/04 at 5:29pm
Thread Starter 
So much for nobody else out of many not having the problem. Seems like it is a common issue.
How many people have it and don't know about these forums.....
Still wouldn't go any other way on laptop though... Besides the battery dieing, this thing has been Excellent!!!! I junked my Desktop and this is the only PC I use now...

JDS, contact Sager Tech support and ask them for a new cover. At $25 it isn't that bad.... You will probably want to add the Epoxy to it too... May happen again if not.....
I will post after I replace it again...

Blake
Reply
Reply
post #11 of 66
1/22/04 at 6:35pm
Could this possibly be due to temperature fluctuations? Does your lappy experience extremes in heat/cold?
Reply
Reply
post #12 of 66
1/22/04 at 6:36pm
No - its from normal use. I had the same problem with my 5660 and Sager replaced the lid from me because I got the RMA when I was within warranty although the laptop reached them a few days after the warranty expired.

You will get a new cover with "Notebook" on it
Reply
Reply
post #13 of 66
1/22/04 at 7:10pm
Thread Starter 
Hey Bratag...Nope. The cover never gets hot. Or cold for that matter... It is purely stress. My cover gets opened/closed about 2-3 times every day. Sager was going to warranty it but I'm not afraid to dismantle anything, so I did it myself. Also couldn't stand to be without it for even a DAY!!!!
If Sager had done more to strengthen the hinge area, these things would weigh 12lbs!!!!!!
Wow!!! Only 2 problems in the year that I have owned it... Cover and Battery!!!!
I guess I'm happy!

Blake
Reply
Reply
post #14 of 66
1/22/04 at 11:50pm
Well for saying that nobody else not has the problem... I do not have it.
I own my 5620 which shuld be the same design more or less for 1 year and 9 months and it has no cracks at all. Sure battery life is non-existent but I never cared about that :]

My laptop _has_ travelled A LOT around the world but when I put it down somewhere in my new place I leave it on 24/7 with the Lid open. I change the angle sometimes when I use it though.
Reply
Reply
post #15 of 66
1/23/04 at 1:20am
I just got mine back from a crack repair. It's covered under warranty, if you want to pay the shipping :-)
Reply
Reply
post #16 of 66
1/23/04 at 10:52am
LOL

Crack attack

I'll keep the crack thank you Need more crack!!
Reply
Reply
post #17 of 66
1/23/04 at 2:40pm
Anyone care to post a small tutorial on how/what to epoxy to prevent this sorta thing?
Reply
Reply
post #18 of 66
3/11/04 at 10:21am
My 8887 hinge is suffering the same thing. Could you post the contact info so I can order a new lid?

Quote:
Originally Posted by bwalker5
So much for nobody else out of many not having the problem. Seems like it is a common issue.
How many people have it and don't know about these forums.....
Still wouldn't go any other way on laptop though... Besides the battery dieing, this thing has been Excellent!!!! I junked my Desktop and this is the only PC I use now...

JDS, contact Sager Tech support and ask them for a new cover. At $25 it isn't that bad.... You will probably want to add the Epoxy to it too... May happen again if not.....
I will post after I replace it again...

Blake
Reply
Reply
post #19 of 66
3/11/04 at 11:53pm
The problem is that the hinge is too tight. If you remove the top cover so you can access the nut on the hinge assembly, you can loosen it just slightly and remove a lot of the stress on the lid. You won't have any more problems with the lid cracking!
Reply
Reply
post #20 of 66
3/12/04 at 2:13am
Thread Starter 
Sorry for not responding... things have been crazy!!!!
I haven't done anymore on the lid...Just ignoring it.
#2 has almost completely desintigrated. I still have lid #1 so if I ever get around to fixing it, I will post.
I don't think my hinges are too tight though. #1 lasted for almost a year before it started cracking. It is a bad design. I recently took apart an IBM R40 and the screen has a metal "cage" around it to take the load, not the plastic. My old Dell7000 was the same way. And they are BOTH lighter!!!!
Looks like its getting to be more common Huh???
I will loosen the hinge next time its apart and see if that helps too...

Blake
Reply
Reply
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:
  Return Home