**Laptop Disassembly Assistance**

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Zarathustra

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I have a Mecer Xpression DL76 which switches itself off after 5-10 seconds. I've swopped the battery & tried another power supply. I even removed the hard drive. I thought that perhaps it might be a fan which isn't switching on or a heatsink which has come loose. Yes, I'm hoping it is something simple.

I tried taking the laptop apart, but as per Murphy's Law Of Device Disassembly, after removing all the visible and hidden screws which I can find, the bottom and top part still won't separate and I don't want to force the casing apart.

Does anyone know where I can download or get my hands on a service technician manual or something similar for this laptop?!?

I know the saying goes - "If @ first you don't succeed, you're not using enough brute force", but this could be a costly mistake in this case.
 
Good luck getting a Mecer manual for anything. Your best best is to phone/email Mecer/Mustek.
 
On quite a few laptops you need to lift the keyboard. Check around the edges of the keyboard if there are any holes you could put a screwdriver into. If so then you can unclip it and then you will find quite a few more screws etc.
 
Have you perhaps reinstalled the OS without the CPU drivers? Sounds like it's shutting down to protect itself.
 
stroebs: It is a rather old notebook, but still good for most tasks, but no warranty.
rorz0r: This keyboard appears different to most that I've successfully removed in the past. It is 'underneath' the casing with no apparent way to unclip it.
Lounger: It is shutting down without an OS or even when I removed the harddrive. I also suspect that it is shutting down to protect itself, which is why I think that perhaps a fan or heatsink has come unstuck and I want to take it apart.
 
I managed to find the dis-assembly manual for an old Packard Bell of mine, but don't have much faith in finding for a Mecer.
Aren't they just re-branded laptops?
 
The top and bottom halves are usually clipped as well as screwed. You're going to have to attempt some crow bar work by the sound of it...
 
Just a follow-up...Laptop repaired!?! The four screws holding down the heat-sink on the CPU were loose. Tightened them and the laptop is humming along perfectly. Once again, thanks to he/she who is the Master-Of-The-Code!?!
 
It was the first google result :rolleyes: :D
In the last couple weeks I have needed to strip a digicam and a laptop, and for me it is a near impossible task without a service manual.
There are too many things that need to be striped in a certain sequence, and too many hidden screws and clips.
Glad I could help though, and that you got it sorted.

As an aside, if that was the correct manual, then it's proof that the Mecers are just re-branded OEM laptops.
 
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Just noticed now... you must be the first person I have seen here that has a join date earlier than mine, but with a lower post count.
And here I thought I was the Master-Lurker :)
 
In regards to posts, I'm all about quality, not quantity, well most of the time :)

In regards to hidden clips & screws, I think that sometimes things are done on purpose to make it more difficult for people to do their own repairs and rather have to take it to an "authorised" repair center to get to make tons of cash out of those who don't necessarily know better. In other words, things are more complicated than they have to be just to fuel after sales greed.
 
I think the extra clips are to make the product more sturdy and reliable, and I welcome them. I don't think they pay much attention to DIY repairers at that level, too small an audience to make an impact on their revenue...
 
Zarathustra said:
Just a follow-up...Laptop repaired!?! The four screws holding down the heat-sink on the CPU were loose. Tightened them and the laptop is humming along perfectly. Once again, thanks to he/she who is the Master-Of-The-Code!?!
Click to expand...

Ideally you should have removed the old thermal paste & applied new paste. That stuff gets hard and brittle with age rendering it kinda useless if there was a gap.
 
ponder said:
Ideally you should have removed the old thermal paste & applied new paste. That stuff gets hard and brittle with age rendering it kinda useless if there was a gap.
Click to expand...

The Packard bell I did didn't have any paste, so I re-assembled it without any. Not sure if it is the norm for laptops not to have any thermal paste.
 
CodeMaster said:
The Packard bell I did didn't have any paste, so I re-assembled it without any. Not sure if it is the norm for laptops not to have any thermal paste.
Click to expand...

Not the norm. It would / should have had a thermal pad. Something soft at any rate. Would not have been "metal to metal" unless the last techie to work on it left it out...

I would say it's even more important to use paste in a laptop because the cooling solutions are invariably not nearly as efficient as desktop pc's. And it's usually a lot harder to open up and fix them when things go wrong too.
 
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Grouter said:
Not the norm. It would / should have had a thermal pad. Something soft at any rate. Would not have been "metal to metal" unless the last techie to work on it left it out...

I would say it's even more important to use paste in a laptop because the cooling solutions are invariably not nearly as efficient as desktop pc's. And it's usually a lot harder to open up and fix them when things go wrong too.
Click to expand...

Laptops generally have more power-efficient chips, so that might be the reason.
 
CodeMaster said:
The Packard bell I did didn't have any paste, so I re-assembled it without any. Not sure if it is the norm for laptops not to have any thermal paste.
Click to expand...

I would add paste as the thermal transfer efficiency without it would be horrible.
 
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