Hinge broken on iBook, got to change the screen?

[yoak]

My wife accidentaly dropped our ibook with the screen open.
It landed on the corner of the screen, and the right hinge cracked a bit.
It still close, but not perfect. It also seems that the hinge get worse every time I open and close it, so I left it open.
It happened a couople of weeks ago, and the machine it self runs perfect (or so it seems, no trouble since)

I took it to my local Apple center and they said the hinge is a part of the screen, so to fix it they´ll have to change the screen. This is very expensive, especially due to the fact that it still works perfectly.
The guy added that they MIGHT be able to improvise and just glue (or whatever) the hinge.

Has anyone here had similar thing happen?
What do youthink are the chances that they can fix it without changing the screen?

 

[jadekitty24]

I can see having to replace the bezel but not the whole screen. Thats a little extensive and costly for a broken hinge

 

[VanMac]

I would think there is a way to fix the hinge. Hasnt happened to my iBook, but I replaced the hinges on my 5 year old dell. Got a replacement hinge kit on eBay.

Try a google search in hinge replacement kits, etc.

 

[opusthe2nd]

Got a friend with one, with a bad G3 Logic board. Would that screen work for you?

 

[yoak]

Thanks guys.
I did a search on google, and I found a hinge replacment kit for $60, so I just have to have it sent to Norway
The guys at my local Apple center obviously didn´t have a clue.

If I buy it, do you think it´s difficult to repair the ibook myself?
I don´t think so, but I have never opened a computer for anything else than adding RAM

 

[jadekitty24]

I don't know from experience but I wouldn't think it would be too hard. Just do a lot of research on it before you attempt it. Ahhh...to drop an iBook with the screen open and STILL have it work. Thats one hardy machine

 

[VanMac]

Thanks guys.
I did a search on google, and I found a hinge replacment kit for $60, so I just have to have it sent to Norway
The guys at my local Apple center obviously didn´t have a clue.

If I buy it, do you think it´s difficult to repair the ibook myself?
I don´t think so, but I have never opened a computer for anything else than adding RAM

Shouldnt be too hard. Look around for some nice step by step instructions with photos.

Have a clean surface, jewellers screwdrivers, little bin for parts, etc. Just be very patient doing it. There is usually fragile wiring/ribbon cable going to display...dont want to damage that.

You can do it.

 

[FFTT]

Broken Hinge on 12" 133.GHz G4 iBook :-(

This evening my daughter comes down and asks how long her NEW 12" iBook is covered under warranty. I ask why and she tells me she tripped over the recharging cable and knocked it off her desk open.
The plastic hinge is broken and came detached from the left pin, so the display is twisted out of skew so badly it won't close.

PB fixit offers a complete display for $399 which is insane because the actual display is fine.

These guys advertise hinge replacement starting at $195.00
http://www.macservice.com/hinges.cfm

I wonder if anyone in the Washington D.C. area might do it for about the same or less.

The problem is trying to ship the iBook with an open twisted display.

First 14" of snow, no power for 12+ hours and now this.
What a weekend.

 

[istonedu321]

Thanks guys.
I did a search on google, and I found a hinge replacment kit for $60, s
:

that looks to be cheaper than your price

 

[calebjohnston]

warranty didn't want to cover the damage I assume?

do you maybe have a type of insurance that covers the damage?

 

[TLRedhawke]

The problem with iBook hinges is that they're wholly and completely a part of the display bezel. That's why it looks so attractive. The best thing to do would be to find someone with a broken display, and buy the whole display module from them. That way, you can replace the whole bezel, but put your screen into it.

If it was JUST the hinge that had broken, it would be easy to repair. The problem is that in breaking the hinge (the metal bit inside the display module), one nearly always breaks the plastic display bezel. It's the bezel that is the pain.

 

[FFTT]

Looking at the damage on my daughter's iBook, you can see that the plastic
hinge is a separate part, but it looks like you would have to take the entire
display apart to replace the plastic hinge housing.

The metal hinge support assembly is avalable, but this looks like a very involved repair even for the most confident technician.

The $195 starting quote supposedly covers parts and labor, so I may have to eat humble pie and figure out a way to ship the iBook OPEN.

 

[yankeefan24]

This evening my daughter comes down and asks how long her NEW 12" iBook is covered under warranty. I ask why and she tells me she tripped over the recharging cable and knocked it off her desk open.
The plastic hinge is broken and came detached from the left pin, so the display is twisted out of skew so badly it won't close.

PB fixit offers a complete display for $399 which is insane because the actual display is fine.

These guys advertise hinge replacement starting at $195.00
http://www.macservice.com/hinges.cfm

I wonder if anyone in the Washington D.C. area might do it for about the same or less.

The problem is trying to ship the iBook with an open twisted display.

First 14" of snow, no power for 12+ hours and now this.
What a weekend.

just a sidenote, your title says that you have a 133 GHz ibook. so tell me, where can i get that ibook. i will pay good money for a computer 88.667 times the speed as my powerbook.

To get on topic, i can see why apple charges for a new display to get the hinge. If you look, its soldered on to the screen. I believe that having a non-apple certified repair company do a repair for you voids the warantee.

Good luck though!

 

[wnameth]

that apple store is being ridiculous, i was a technician at a apple retailer for a while, i did many hinge replacements, its only a 30$ part.

 

[FFTT]

Yup it looks like maybe $30.00 worth of parts just like when you have the
auto shop replace your timing belt.

I'm so depressed.

 

[Ms. B]

Broken hinge - $1000 repair quote

I have been searching for help for my son - the hinge on his Mac laptop broke (didn't even drop it - it just broke) and he lost all use of the monitor.University of Notre Dame mac repair department told him it'll cost $1000!!! to fix it - advised him to buy a new laptop. From what I've read here - this sounds beyond outrageous. Am I right?

 

[killuminati]

I have been searching for help for my son - the hinge on his Mac laptop broke (didn't even drop it - it just broke) and he lost all use of the monitor.University of Notre Dame mac repair department told him it'll cost $1000!!! to fix it - advised him to buy a new laptop. From what I've read here - this sounds beyond outrageous. Am I right?

I was quoted $1500 when the same thing happened to me with my powerbook. As mentioned above, it's because the whole screen has to be replaced.

The guy told me that he could just try fixing it with some old parts. It cost me 400 and it still did not close properly. It ended up finally getting fixed 9 months later when I dropped it open from 5 feet and it magically fixed itself. Maybe you should try dropping it?

 

[Ms. B]

I was quoted $1500 when the same thing happened to me with my powerbook. As mentioned above, it's because the whole screen has to be replaced....

Thanks for your input.. it helps.

 

[treblah]

I have been searching for help for my son - the hinge on his Mac laptop broke (didn't even drop it - it just broke) and he lost all use of the monitor.University of Notre Dame mac repair department told him it'll cost $1000!!! to fix it - advised him to buy a new laptop. From what I've read here - this sounds beyond outrageous. Am I right?

If he didn't drop it have you tried calling AppleCare?

Here are some other thoughts:
1. The hinge replacement is not that hard to do with some patience. Do what I did and check eBay a few times a day until you find what you are looking for. I replaced the hinge in my iBook and I had never done anything like that before and it wasn't too difficult.
Look for his Powerbooks service manual here.

2. Buy a cheap Monitor/Keyboard/Mouse and turn it into a 'desktop'. this would be the least ideal solution but it's better than throwing the thing away.

 

[Ms. B]

If he didn't drop it have you tried calling AppleCare?

Thanks once again. I'm usually a do-it-yourselfer but this scares me. There's a couple of places on the Net that will pick-up, repair, and return for $265.-$299. One is called TechRestor - I forget the other one. Have any of you heard anything about these services?

 

[DaveP]

I have replaced a broken hinge and cracked LCD on my iBook. If you replace the entire display assemply it is easier, but more expensive. On ebay, I was able to buy a G3 LCD swap it into my G4, and then also got a new bezel for my broken hinge. If you follow the guides on pbfixit.com and have a bit of experience/are carefull it really is not difficult to display the entire display. Swapping displays is a little trickier as I was unable to find any online documentation and just sort of had to figure things out myself. Instead of paying $300+, I was able to only spend $120. So if you are a little brave you can save money. From my research before, $265-$299 is very cheap, if it's legit, that's a good deal. I don't know anything about those places though.

 

[gman71882]

This evening my daughter comes down and asks how long her NEW 12" iBook is covered under warranty. I ask why and she tells me she tripped over the recharging cable and knocked it off her desk open.
The plastic hinge is broken and came detached from the left pin, so the display is twisted out of skew so badly it won't close.

sounds like a GREAT Candidate for the New MagSafe Power connector
On all new Macbook Pro's and Hopefully Macbook's (ibook) replacement

 

[stevep]

Try this thread:
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/163426/
and maybe this one:
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/165430/

It's a difficult repair as you need to take both halves (screen and base) of the laptop apart, but its obviously not impossible - after all it was put together by a human in the first place. Use the pbfixit guides - print them out before you start and tape the screws to the screw guide drawings as you go so they all go back in the right place.

 

[disconap]

I've done it before, it's not too bad. What sucks is finding the part; I was very recently in the market for one for a G3 ibook, but a lovely soul here on Macrumors graciously offered to help me and supply one out for a very fair price, which saved me the hassle of bumming a favor from the lazer welders down the street (standard welding likely would melt the metal hing parts)...

But yeah. It's about a 3 hour or so repair, possibly longer depending on how good you are at prying plastic apart.

 

[Ms. B]

replacing hinge/LCD cable on Mac powerbook

I found this series of photos re: replacing broken hinges. I hope those considering doing it yourself will find this informative, as I did. (Not real informative - but enough to seriously admire those who have done this!)

<http://www.cj7jeep.com/ibook_disaster/index.html>