Replaced MacBook LCD, Hinge cover problem

[rwelten]

Hi Everyone! I recently broke my MacBook's LCD and I figured that an official Apple repair was too expensive. 685 euros (US$ 1056) ...

So I ordered an LCD from eBay and replaced it myself using this awesome tutorial!
It all went pretty well, screen works! However, I did run into two problems:

1. Getting the hinge cover off.
I did get it off, but it took me ages and I did hurt the casing a bit

2. Putting the hinge cover back ...
Now this one ... I really don't know how to do!

Has anyone got any idea of how to do this? Because it will simply not fit around the inverter and cables.

Any help would be appriciated!

 

[logana]

I hate to say it but you will probably be quicker taking the whole top lid off - the instructions do work but getting the hinge cover plate back on requires about 4 hands !

Topcase off and then loosen off the hinges and you will get a bit more room to work - the problem is snapping the cover at the bottom of the lcd on to the bunch of cables and you really need to do both sides at the same time (4 hands bit).

Good luck and I am sure that there was a thread on here a couple of weeks ago with somebody having the same problem....

 

[rwelten]

Well I did try to get the top lid off following al instructions in the ifixit.com instructions. I just couldn't get the lid off. I did get the left side up all the way to the trackpad but I couldn't get any of the right side up.

Any ideas on that? I did try to take out some more screws then instructed on ifixit to see if that would help ... it didn't.

 

[logana]

There are 4 clips along the right edge above the optical drive slot - best to use a spudger (if you have one) they just need popping up.

Other than that double-check you have removed all the screws - especially all the ones inside the battery compartment.

 

[rwelten]

I've tried to open up the top lid a couple of times now. I'm absolutely sure I took out all screws I need to. But still I can't get the lid up. How hard do I have to pull to get the clips to pop up?

Edit: I did finally get it! So far so good ...

 

[rwelten]

Finished!

Yay! I've finally got it in using the example on ifixit.com. I'd advise anyone that wants to try to replace an LCD without opening the body: Don't. You'll end up breaking something or opening the body in the end (as I did).

Thanks for your help logana.

 

[ksuchlicki]

re: replacing hinge cover

I bought my LCD for $109 and replaced it this afternoon. I had some trouble getting the hinge cover back on which led me to this post. Well, I was not about to take the whole darn thing apart!

So I was able to get the hinge cover back on by:

1) Lining up the hinge cover as best I could & putting it on part way.
2) GENTLY starting to close the laptop cover.
3) When the plastic laptop cover started to bulge a bit near the back (outside) of the laptop, I turned it upside down and could see a bit of the white of the hinge cover sticking out the laptop's butt. It was snagging on the inverter card's chips.
4) Again GENTLY, from the butt of the laptop (outside back), I took a small flat-tip screwdriver and helped the lip of the hinge cover around the inverter card in the 2 or 3 places it was snagging. This allowed the hinge cover to pop into place.

Now if I can only get the damn bezel to fit on properly! Jeez.

 

[l.a.rossmann]

That guide sucks. Never remove the hinge cover. I made the mistake of following all of those whack ass guides a long time ago. Everytime I try to do something new I wuss out and use a guide, and regret it EVERY SINGLE TIME for telling me the wrong way to do something.

I know this machine in the pictures up ahead looks beat to ****, as if it was opened. It was dropped a zillion times. It is a prop, used just for the pictures. However, I do not have any reason to remove the top case to do this job, so don't look at these and get the idea that you have to remove the top case.

http://tweakmy.net/rgt/screenintekguidesblow/one.jpg
http://tweakmy.net/rgt/screenintekguidesblow/two.jpg
http://tweakmy.net/rgt/screenintekguidesblow/three.jpg

See the little tool I made? There are many ways to do it, but I used a vicegrip and spent about an hour bending that little thing so that it requires no effort on my part to insert the inverter connector anymore, it is the perfect shape to wiggle in there and plug in.

It beats the crap out of the pointy stick tools or bending the wires and doing it by hand.

I'm also putting it in behind the display cable instead of my preferred in front of the display cable, but the point of those pictures is to show the tool!

 

[l.a.rossmann]

Also, don't pay $109 for the LCD.

http://cgi.ebay.com/NW-APPLE-MACBOO...emQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item4834af029f

You'll get an original in good condition at a price that can't be beat unless you buy in quantity somewhere else, if you specifically request at the end of the auction to not get an N3 revision.

If a mod is watching, I think I deserve an avatar by now for giving away awesome parts sources and trade secrets!

 

[nserapio]

This is what worked for me...

"So I was able to get the hinge cover back on by:

1) Lining up the hinge cover as best I could & putting it on part way.
2) GENTLY starting to close the laptop cover.
3) When the plastic laptop cover started to bulge a bit near the back (outside) of the laptop, I turned it upside down and could see a bit of the white of the hinge cover sticking out the laptop's butt. It was snagging on the inverter card's chips.
4) Again GENTLY, from the butt of the laptop (outside back), I took a small flat-tip screwdriver and helped the lip of the hinge cover around the inverter card in the 2 or 3 places it was snagging. This allowed the hinge cover to pop into place."

Thank you, ksuchlicki! This is solid advice...I just followed it and was able to pop the hinge cover back in after replacing my LCD. I'd add this pointer: the placement of the thick-ish black-taped cord/cable on the right-hand side (which I think = the LVDS cable?) was preventing me from easily reseating the hinge cover. By gently using a small flat-head screwdriver, I was able to push *up* this cable from behind the top case. This, in turn, allowed me to slide in the hinge cover over the black-taped cord.

Also, there are a lot of guides out there that instruct you to remove the top case completely from the rest of the laptop. In my process, though, I was able to just follow a wonderful video guide from Small Dog Electronics, which presented a far simpler approach (and doesn't require a complete hinge cover removal...wish I had found this guide earlier):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vD_snbFa9Zg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NXLs02jL_Eg