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Latch Mechanism adjustment, question for the pros . . (cause of lid warp?)

P

protomind

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jan 5, 2009
11
0
I have a slight lid warp when my MBP is closed, I have determined the cause of the problem, and that is the mechanism upon which the latch grabs upon. When I peer into the holes (the slot like holes the latch descend into upon closure) I have notice that one side of the mechanism is clearly uneven with the other one, meaning one side is closer to the top of the macbooks uppercase causing one latch to grab further down into the macbook. This leaves one side further from full closure then the other, which in turn causes the lid to rest in a warped looking manner. I also believe that this is the primary cause of severe lid warping. Of course it takes awhile for the lid waring to fully develop.Take into consideration that this is mostly speculation combined with educated guess, it is not like I did a scientific study on the subject.

I was browsing a website which had a macbook pro factory service manual in a PDF form, and they mentioned a "adjustments manual" and said to refer to it for latch and latch mechanism adjustments, for some reason I could not find this chapter in said PDF.

Now I am wondering if this latch mechanism is adjustable, it is obviously accessible by removing the uppercase. I do not happen to have a 00 philips handy to open it with so I am wondering if anyone has any experience with this particular part.

Please let me know if you have experience with this or if you could point me to the adjustments section of the MBP service manual.

Any help is greatly appreciated.
 
Wouldn't the only way to combat this issue be to have latches on each side of the screen rather than the way they had it directly in the middle. I don't see how you could adjust it so that it latches when the screen is a few millimeters higher than it is now (when closed) effectively alleviating the warping.
 
Inside of the book there is a place for each latch to grab ahold of, it looks like this is most likely one piece, I am hoping that it is screwed in and by a simple adjustment of the screws I would be able to even out the latch base. If that makes sense.
 
From the looks of it it just seems like a simple indentation in the base of the bottom plate, but I can't tell what the screws are for...still, I wonder where the adjustments chapter is?
 

Attachments

  • displayhooks.jpg
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Below I have uploaded a photo of where the latch base is located and have drawn circles around each side of the mechanism, I drew a line connecting each side of the mechanism as I beleive this to be one piece.

I just edited this post after realizing what I think the problem is, I just need some help trying to fix it. This is also posted on macrumors.....

Below I have uploaded a photo of where the latch base is located and have drawn circles around each side of the mechanism, I drew a line connecting each side of the mechanism as I beleive this to be one piece.




 
If I understand the nature of the problem you are trying to resolve correctly, you are wasting your time and imagining any latch defects you think you've discovered.

The last generation MBPs are made of extremely flexible material. When the latch is closed, it places some stress on the center of the "lid" which bows it inwards slightly, giving the impression that one or both of the outer edges are higher. The "memory" of the lid material can cause it to retain the subsequent uneven shape.
ALL ONE NEEDS TO DO is flex the lid very lightly when open (up in the center, down at the sides) and the lid then appears even with the lower part of the computer when closed. All one is doing is counteracting the cumulative effect of the latch bowing the center of the lid.
This isn't my bright idea... an Apple service engineer showed me how simple it is to correct. With his palms resting on the front corners of the lid, he simply exerted the mildest pressure on the front center of the lid with his thumbs. Presto... lid closed with perfect symetry.
In time, if you keep it latched for an extended time (like the length of time the MBP sat in its box awaiting purchase), the bowing might reappear. So one just needs to flex it again. It's simply a matter of the materials used not being as rigid as they might be. That's what one gets if one wants light weight computers.
Messing around with the latch mechanisms would be a waste of your time and anyone else's.
This is one reason why the new MBPs have no latch at all.
 
Sir Cecil said:
If I understand the nature of the problem you are trying to resolve correctly, you are wasting your time and imagining any latch defects you think you've discovered.
Click to expand...

My latch mechanism is not even, this is not based on imagination (only a fool would make such a post based solely on imagination) as I have measured it and determined one side of the latch base is much closer to the top of the MBP uppercase deck and one of the two latch hooks does not secure as deeply as the other. It may be that other uneven lids are caused by the mechanism not being seated level or it may not be, I can not say, as I have never inspected other macbooks for this flaw. I can tell you however in the case of my macbook this is why the lid does not sit level.

I am certain that after a year or so of sitting uneven this will cause the lid to actually warp. In my case the lid is not warped except when it gets latched down uneven. I plan on proving this by adjusting this mechanism and showing before and after shots of my MBP. It may be that this mechanism is not adjustable, in that case I will have to resolve this issue in some other fashion.

First on my list is getting a 00 philips. Then removing the uppercase and seeing how the base of the mechanism is secured and if possible leveling it back out.
 
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