I need of a cheap product to keep laptop hinge from breaking

[Appletax]

Client had me replace the broken DC jack on their Dell Inspiron 15 5559 laptop from around 2016 and she also bought a much newer and faster refurb laptop from me. She is working to transfer everything over, but wants to keep the old laptop as a backup.

I discovered that the left hinge has 3 hinge screws and 2 of them are loose, so the hinge is at risk of breaking.

I was thinking that it would be cool if there were something fairly cheap that could clamp the bottom of the case and the palm rest keyboard piece together to reinforce the hinge.

Kinda like this: https://www.printables.com/model/80567-laptop-hinge-bracket

But without the piece that holds open the display. Thinner metal would be better that is strong and will allow the display to be shut without being damaged.

 

[ThatPlace928]

Client had me replace the broken DC jack on their Dell Inspiron 15 5559 laptop from around 2016 and she also bought a much newer and faster refurb laptop from me. She is working to transfer everything over, but wants to keep the old laptop as a backup.

I discovered that the left hinge has 3 hinge screws and 2 of them are loose, so the hinge is at risk of breaking.

I was thinking that it would be cool if there were something fairly cheap that could clamp the bottom of the case and the palm rest keyboard piece together to reinforce the hinge.

Kinda like this: https://www.printables.com/model/80567-laptop-hinge-bracket

But without the piece that holds open the display. Thinner metal would be better that is strong and will allow the display to be shut without being damaged.

What would happen, if you simply tightened the 2 loose screws? Would that work or is the base unstable?

 

[Larry Sabo]

I discovered that the left hinge has 3 hinge screws and 2 of them are loose, so the hinge is at risk of breaking.

"Loose," like the plastic hinge mounts are broken, or loose because the screws are simply not tightened? Besides checking that screws are tightened periodically, I'd check the hinge tightness and adjust as necessary at the same time. Clamping the base to the palmrest is not likely to secure the hinges to the base, unless there's a shim between them (the palmrest and the hinge top side) To be extreme, you could replace the existing screws with bolts that go through the bottom of the bottom cover, like in this video.

 

[Markverhyden]

Just drill through new holes as needed. Put a backing plate on the bottom underside and use screws nuts a large diameter wash about. Does she really need a laptop? If not just set up the old one a a "desktop" with external, BK, mouse, and display. To be honest most of these situations the old machine never gets touched.

 

[Appletax]

I just dealt with a laptop with a screw that kept spinning just like the two on the above mentioned laptop. I tried a new screw that I had on hand and it did the trick. I will mail her two screws to try herself and see how that goes. It's not a major issue at all now that she has her new laptop (an HP ZBook 15 G5 w/ i7 hexa, 32GB RAM, 512GB NVMe, 4GB Quadro, 4K DreamColor display). Her old laptop = i5 dual, 12GB, 1TB HDD - slow, slow, slow). Talk about an ultra-massive upgrade!

 

[dcomp12]

I just dealt with a laptop with a screw that kept spinning

Those are the WORST!

 

[Mick]

Probably not highly-recommended, but I've fixed these spinning screws with a wrap of PTFE tape in the past. This is for cost as much as anything - by the time they've worked loose, you're not usually dealing with a machine worth much anyway. and the client doesn't want a huge bill.

 

[nlinecomputers]

Geez the bottom of this chassis, where the hinges mount, is $36 on Amazon. Just replace it.