Welding them broken laptop hinges

[Brad Yates]

Has anyone ever broken their laptop's hinges? I just tore my laptop down to find 2 broken hinge assemblies. They cost $100 on ebay (which ain't bad, but I can do better). I don't have a clue what material they're made out of. Aluminum? Magnesium? Titanium? It has a nice ring to it when I flick it though. Is there anything out there strong enough to hold it in place besides my little vise grips? Maybe some sort of epoxy?

 

[jamesgeologist]

I have welded a single hinge on a Toshiba laptop. I used a Lincoln 110 with flux core wire. That was nearly three years ago. The hinge still works and the laptop still works. I just disconnected the battery and was super careful. I didn't even remove the hinge from the machine. I did get spatter on the plastic....but who cares. It was a company laptop and was at the end of its service life. I had nothing to loose. You may want to reconsider if the machine is important to you.....Spencurai has seen my mad welding skilz. He's not impressed!!

Jamesgeologist

 

[spencurai]

I have welded a single hinge on a Toshiba laptop. I used a Lincoln 110 with flux core wire. That was nearly three years ago. The hinge still works and the laptop still works. I just disconnected the battery and was super careful. I didn't even remove the hinge from the machine. I did get spatter on the plastic....but who cares. It was a company laptop and was at the end of its service life. I had nothing to loose. You may want to reconsider if the machine is important to you.....Spencurai has seen my mad welding skilz. He's not impressed!!

Jamesgeologist

I still shake my head and wonder how you pulled that off...I can vouch for it...it still works!

 

[Brad Yates]

Yeah, I think I'll try that. I already have both hinge assemblies out of the laptop, so in case I totally mess up, it won't damage the goods. IIRC the BYU sculpture workshop has a little welder. I don't want to bug anyone for a non-4x4 thing

 

[Brad Yates]

Well that worked. Kind of... I basically destroyed one because the type of metal it was made out of couldn't take much heat. It's zip-tied together and covered in beautiful liquid electric tape. The other I got lucky with so now at least the screen holds it own about +/- 10 degrees from vertical.

 

[waynehartwig]

What kind of laptop is it? If it's a Dell, I have lots of spare parts laying around....

 

[Brad Yates]

it's a toshiba a45. i actually hit some luck on ebay and may be getting a pair for cheap. no body else better out-bid me