Hinge Stuck - PLEASE HELP!!

[LGSinATX]

Hinge for the lid is stuck on left side - HP Pavillion notebook (late 2012).   I see it's a common problem.  Does ANYBODY know how to fix this?  Please?

Please post answer here.  The "employee" who contacted me asked for all sorts of personal identifying info and didn't offer any help. Scam. Or poor customer service, not actually providing any help.

[Huffer]

10 year old laptop. HP will not be offering any free help. The fix is to disassemble, identify the broken parts and replace. It can be a pretty big job. Hinges are relatively cheap however and if you can so the labor it is a viable project. Post back if you want to discuss further but you will have to provide an exact model number. 

[Anand_Andy]

Hi @LGSinATX,

Welcome to the HP Support Community

I understand you are facing an issue with your HP Pavillion Notebook. Not to worry I will help you to get a resolution to resolve the issue.

I'm sending out a private message to assist you with the next course of action. 

Please check your Private message icon on the upper right corner of your HP Community profile Next, to your profile Name, you should see a little blue envelope, please click on it or simply click on this link.

Hope this helps! Keep me posted. 

Please click “Accepted Solution” if you feel my post solved your issue, it will help others find the solution. Click the “Kudos/Thumbs Up" on the bottom right to say “Thanks” for helping!

[LGSinATX]

Thank you. Unfortunately, the lid is stuck closed so I can't retrieve the model number.  I'm not asking for free service.  I'm asking the community if anyone knows how to fix this or can point me to instructions. Tossing it and buyng a new one isn't an option because of the files I have on the hard drive.

If I understand you correctly, the fix is to disassemble the laptop and install a new hinge, and the model number is needed to order the replacement part?  Do I also need the model number to get instructions on how to disassemble?  Or just start unscrewing everything on the screen side to access the hinge recess? If I can open it, then I can get to the "about" section and pull off the model number.  ... Or I could ask IT at work. With the number of HP laptops we have, and this being a coming problem, they'd have to have some kind of manual.

[LGSinATX]

Thanks for the PM. As I mentioned, I do not have the model number.  This is going to require a repair and I'm not sending my laptop away for service.  Can you just point me to an instruction manual of side kind? Or a local HP facility? 

[LGSinATX]

Ok, now I'm at my wit's end because I can't get any actual help. The PM from the HP employee led to a broken link. Is there a list somewhere where I can find a local repair facility. I have critical information on this laptop that I need to access. And I can't open the lid.

[Huffer]

Sorry I backed out when the HP person came in. Generally the model or product number is on a label on the bottom of the case so just pick it up and look under there. The label can have some tiny print on it you can read with the camera on your cell phone as an enlarger. 

https://www.hp.com/us-en/shop/tech-takes/how-to-find-hp-laptop-model-number

Most but not all laptops made in the last 10 years are disassembled with the bottom turned up. You remove a bottom plate then you generally can disconnect the hinges and have the lid come off so you can get inside the screen housing and remove the upper hinge mounts. Please do not force anything and break any plastic pieces or the cost of doing this goes way up. I have done this repair quite a bit so can walk you through if you stay with me but be advised it takes some fine motor skills and patience. And you may have one of the rare models for which this description of the procedure is incorrect but we will deal with that if I find out the model. The procedure is very specific to specific models. 

In the USA there is always Best Buy Geek Squad or some of the office stores have computer repair depots. These types of places vary quite a bit in their competence, price and honesty, however. Some cell phone repair shops will work on laptops. The mom and pop computer repair store is a bit of a dying institution, I hate to say. 

[LGSinATX]

Thanks @Huffer. The HP people don't do anything but give you a link to contact HP support, but that requires all sorts of info just to progress to the next level (name, address, email, phone #, and importantly, a model number I don't have) .   

There is no label, I've already checked and rechecked 5 times, hoping the next time I looked, it would magically appear.  😉

I'm pretty handy disassembling & reassembling things, so this Doesn't look impossible.  Just methodically remove screws until it opens enough to disengage the broken hinge?

[LGSinATX]

Hi again, and thank you.  I have the battery out and the hinge covers off. The model & serial #s were located under the battery.

HP Pavilion Notebook

Model 15-ab243cl

Prod ID TOEO1UA#ABA

What look like hinges are made of metal and appear undamaged. Whats puzzling me is they're behaving as though the lid was locked.  I've checked to make sure I don't have a lid lock that I might have engaged accidentally. (You'd think after 10 years, I'd know if there was a lid lock -- and no, there's no latch.) I'm going to continue removing screws until the back cones off.

[Huffer · Accepted solution]

Here is the Service Manual:

Manual 

Yours may not be an actual Star Wars model but shares the same components. If you can get the back off you can see the hinges where they bolt into the bottom of the chassis on p. 64. If you just remove those screws bolting the hinges in you should be able to get the screen assembly off. Then you open the screen assembly by taking off the frame or bezel and page 77 shows how to get the hinges out and replace them. 

Display hinges are available using spare part number 809030-001

https://www.ebay.com/itm/273062944420?hash=item3f93d1dea4:g:yZ0AAOSw8A1afh1N&amdata=enc%3AAQAHAAAA4M...

Your hinges have likely seized up. Or at least one of them has. But you only replace them in pairs. So for $10.33 if you replace the hinges and the plastics and points where the hinges screw into the chassis are still intact, there is a good chance your problem is fixed. 

Post back if you need any more help. I could likely find you a video but the Manual should be all you really need.