Replacement Hinges Question

[Ben93]

Hi pals,

I'm just after some advice really.

I've had this laptop a while now - about two years. Within a couple of months of owning it, one of the hinges broke. Then after a while, the second one started to go as well. I really should of got it fixed earlier, but I haven't got round to it. The laptop still runs OK, but I've obviously a bit worried about it going kaput in the near future unless I manage to sort out the hinge issue.

My questions are really as follows:
Does every single HP laptop have different hinges? I'm looking on ebay at the minute for some used replacements and there's so many different options. I would of thought all HP Envy 17 laptops would have the same hinges...am I wrong to assume this? I'll give you an example: there's this one: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/HP-Envy-17-1000-Series-17-1050ea-RIGHT-Screen-Bracket-Hinge-FBSP8028010/18... - then there's this one: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/HP-Envy-17-J-17-J141NA-LCD-Screen-Support-Hinge-Bracket-6055B0025601-LEFT...

I'm basically not sure which hinges I should be buying.

Secondly, looking at the pictures, is there anything else I might need replacing? I need a new battery as well, so I'm just trying to work out whether it's worth getting everything fixed on this laptop or just waiting for it to die and get a new one.

Thanks for any help/advice you can give.

My laptop produce number is F7T68EA#ABU if that's any help.

Ben

[iomare]

Hi Ben,

I'll try to help you with hinge problem and finding a battery online.

First let me answer your question. Not every model uses different hinges. A serie will have the same hinges and sometimes more series will have the same hinge. When searching for parts it is easier and safer to use the part number of the part we need and perform search online with part number. The part number for the hinges for your model   as we can see on page 22 of service manual is 720238-001

Examples:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/New-For-HP-Envy-17-J-LCD-Hinges-6055B0025601-6055B0025602-DW173-SZS-L-R-/...

https://www.uk-laptop-part.com/mobile_product_info.php/products_id/406391?language=

The ones you linked will also work. Now, before buying the hinges I would remove the base cover of the notebook and see what is happening in those corners. On pages 55-59 of service manual you can see the steps to remove the base cover. If you look on page 56 at the first picture, the two screws which are under the rubber feet, are they still holding the top and bottom part together? 

Now once you remove the bottom cover, you can take a look at the hinges (called display hinges). Sometimes it is not the hinges which have broken, but that they have come loose from the top cover and when moved are pushing against the bottom cover. If you look at the first picture picture on page 64 of service manual are the screws still holding down the hinge to the top cover? Have they come loose or the holders have broken? Why is the hinge pushing down on the bottom cover and seperating it? It is possible to get new top cover if necessary and if broken many times I have had to invent solutions to keep prize down, such as using strong plastic epoxy cement...

So let me know how it looks like in there!! 

Now if you need to replace hinge you can remove the display panel by following the steps on page 50-53 of service manual and then follow steps on page 63.

Here is link to service manual:

http://h10032.www1.hp.com/ctg/Manual/c04091762

You can also take a look at these HP videos which can help with fix

https://h20574.www2.hp.com/results.htm?SID=5354973&MEID=D65F8896-4BC7-42C6-9407-849566150917

Now the battery, the battery has part number 710417-001 and you can find quality compatibles or original online:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_2?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=710417-001

It is a nice and powerfull computer you have, so I believe it is worth the fix.

Let me know if you need further help,

David

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[Ben93]

Bloody hell, David, what an amazing, in-depth response! I hope someone from HP is paying you something for your time? If not, they deserve shooting.

I've actually taken the back off my laptop quite a few times due to the fan becoming blocked. I'll have a look later to see what I can see in relation to the points you've mentioned.

Thanks a lot, pal.

Ben

[iomare]

Your welcome Ben. No, no pay  I am a volunteer, have always liked fixing computers and solving problems.

Sometimes real difficult when I do not have the actual computer in front of me. 

Anyway, let me know how it works out and if you need any further help.

All the best,

David

[Ben93]

Hi David,

Well HP are very lucky to have someone like you on their forum.

I took the back off and had a look. I don't actually think it's the hinges that are the problem per say, more so the bits of plastic that screws for the hinges go into. They looked very worn down. I think replacing the whole of the bottom section just for that might be quite a lot of hassle, unfortunately. I did manage to tighten some of the screws and it has made it slighly better. What does your strong plastic epoxy cement suggestion involve?

Thanks, pal.

Ben

[Ben93]

I might as well be cheeky and ask you one other question while I've got your attention - is a 5400mAh battery the biggest I can get in terms of power for my laptop? I'd be happy to pay a bit more if I could get a big longer on my battery life sort of thing. Sort of like this: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Ninjabatt-586006-361-586007-541-HSTNN-Q64C-593550-001/dp/B013UIL1DI/ref=sr_...

Cheers.

Ben

[iomare · Accepted solution]

Hi Ben,

Yes, from the pictures we can see that it is not actually the hinges, but the "screw holders" which have broken loose from the top cover. Now, you could replace the whole top cover with part number 720271-001. However, this will be quite expensive.

Anyway, if you use a strong plastic epoxy cement (thick glue) you can try to place "the screw holders" back onto the bottom cover. It is not the easiest job as you have to be carefull to not get any in the actual "holder" where the screw goes. You have to try to recreate the plastic seats which on your PC have broken off. Where the plastics seat is still there and the screw holders have pulled out you can use some kind of superglue to place them back in.  It is like a modelling job, however it does not matter how it ends up estetically inside the PC. 

I have in the past (mainly to keep prize down) in such a situation also performed a different action (usually when the screws attach to base cover, which is not your case, since they attach to top cover in your case), is to drill a hole through one of the the broken screw holders all the way through the case. Then use a flat headed torx screw (it should be truly flat headed and the head should be thin and quite large to have more surface area to grip, it should not have a cone shape at top of screw) and place the flat headed part on the exterior and the nut inside the PC fastening the hinge. Estetically it can be quite strange :smileyhappy:, however if done well it can actually look OK (or at least different than the rest of PCs:smileyhappy:). You can even find slightly colored screws such as metalic blue. This way you can choose the midlle screw of the hinge and by performing such a fix it will be stronger than when it was new. I would still try to place the other screws with the epoxy technique described above. 

Now the battery. Yes, you could use an extended  battery in your PC if you can find one. HP does not produce a higher capacity battery for your model. Looking online the only one I found which is for your model is this one:

https://www.amazon.com/Bay-Valley-Parts-9-cells-10-8V-7800mAh-New-Extended-Replacement-Laptop-Batter...

Let me know if you need further help or clarification of what I have written above.

Regards,

David

[Ben93]

I've had a little play around with a glue gun and some filler that I used on my alloys. It's better than it was previously. I've ordered some more screws from Hong Kong, so I think once I can get them in all place it will be OK.

Thanks for all of your detailed help/advice, David. I honestly can't believe HP don't give you anything to say thank you for helping their customers out. Defies belief really.

Take care.

Ben

[Huffer]

I am going to try not to rain on the party here but the only fix for this is to replace the hinges. Glue is a really terrible idea. 

I am not there so I cannot prove my point but I have fixed dozens of laptops with this kind of issue. Put the glue gun away. If a laptop was meant to be glued they would be made that way from the factory. 

[Ben93]

No offense, Huffer, you come across as a bit of a bellend. Try giving the sarcasm a bit of a rest ay.

It doesn't need replacement hinges. It's the plastic screw cases that need replacing.

Of course a laptop isn't meant to be glued (I don't think anyone has said they are btw), but when the build quality is bad as a HP  laptop, sometimes you have to come up with other ways to get it to work the way it should.

All I'm trying to do, and what iomare has been helping with, is comeup ith a practical and cost efficient way of making my laptop last a little longer. If the glue and filler stops working in a couple of months, so what? It's better than paying a silly amount to get an old laptop fixed.