Dell Inspiron 15R-5537 screen replacement nightmare

[Larry Sabo]

<rant>

Man, this thing is a pain in the neck to work on. You can't remove the bezel by pulling up around the bezel inside edges and lifting off the bezel, because the lower lip of the bezel curls under the lid back. There is not enough clearance between the case and the lid to allow the bezel to be lifted out. You have to remove the laptop top cover (which was a chore in itself) and then the whole screen assembly in order to remove the bezel.

Even getting the hinge covers off was nearly impossible and I broke one of the little tabs that holds one of them in place. I think I'm supposed to remove the whole screen assembly to remove the hing covers! And the hard drive can't be removed without removing the top cover, either. I couldn't find a service manual or even a YouTube video on this new model variant, so it was a challenge.

The customer came to me very frustrated because Dell wouldn't cut her any slack on replacing the screen under warranty (or even consider a goodwill discount on the repair) because the laptop is just two weeks old. I don't have the heart to charge her for the extra time and frustration it has caused me.

</rant>

 

[tpcg]

Service manual to a close model..page 47 starts the display
ftp://ftp.dell.com/Manuals/all-prod...p/inspiron-15r-n5110_service manual_en-us.pdf

 

[HFultzjr]

<rant>

Man, this thing is a pain in the neck to work on. You can't remove the bezel by pulling up around the bezel inside edges and lifting off the bezel, because the lower lip of the bezel curls under the lid back. There is not enough clearance between the case and the lid to allow the bezel to be lifted out. You have to remove the laptop top cover (which was a chore in itself) and then the whole screen assembly in order to remove the bezel.

Even getting the hinge covers off was nearly impossible and I broke one of the little tabs that holds one of them in place. I think I'm supposed to remove the whole screen assembly to remove the hing covers! And the hard drive can't be removed without removing the top cover, either. I couldn't find a service manual or even a YouTube video on this new model variant, so it was a challenge.

The customer came to me very frustrated because Dell wouldn't cut her any slack on replacing the screen under warranty (or even consider a goodwill discount on the repair) because the laptop is just two weeks old. I don't have the heart to charge her for the extra time and frustration it has caused me.

</rant>

Now that you've done one.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kdH3GDU1Zxs

If this is not the model, my apologies.


Harold

 

[Larry Sabo]

Thanks. Videos on screen changes for this (N5110) model indicate that I should have been able to pop the bezel without having to remove the palm-rest/top cover, but that's not the case. Normally, one can just pop the hinge covers but not on this model. Even after removing the top cover, disconnecting the video cable seems to require removal of the motherboard, as the LVDS connector is on the underside of the motherboard, at the top edge. The connection looks very fragile, so I just left the cable connected while I removed the screen.

I've changed a lot of screens in the past 15 years or so and can't recall anything so aggravating to work on, other than an Alienware M15. I left a post on the Dell forum sharing my frustration with this model.

Edit: Strangely enough, that Alienware belonged to this same customer!

 

[HFultzjr]

I hate when that happens.

Find a video/resource that looks like it will work, only to find some minor (major) differences.

Been there, done that.

 

[mr m]

Dell 15R-5537 service manual.

ftp://ftp.dell.com/Manuals/all-prod...op/inspiron-15r-5537_Owner's Manual_en-us.pdf

 

[Larry Sabo]

Thanks, Harold.

Must just have been a bad day. I was probably put in a bad mood by another customer who brought me an old Acer with a liquid spill, which she needed repaired ASAP because she uses it in her business and her new Win8 laptop isn't ready yet (being prepped by BestBuy). I dropped everything on Saturday to tear down the Acer and there didn't seem to be any liquid on the MB, but it just refuses to start up. So she gets the new laptop and drops it off on Sunday during dinner to have MSO 2013 installed and her data transferred. BestBuy tried to install MSO but failed. She asked "Shall I call back tomorrow at 2:00 for a status report?" No!

I decided to check the part number on the Dell laptop screen first, as it was checked in before my business customer, thinking "this should just take a few minutes." That's when the fun started. Arghhh!

 

[Larry Sabo]

Thanks, mr m. I looked on the Dell site and it wasn't listed. Safely tucked away for the future now!