Best solvent glue for repairing abused Acer 5534 hinge mounts?

[ahhaa]

I've had this long standing 'relationship' with this arty woman- I fix her (neglected when not abused) computer, and she doesn't pay me (or do anything else to balance the books ).

I couldn't hardly believe the condition this Acer is in: paint can rings on the lid, long expired AVG, the 'mouse buttons' in the touchpad have had all their lacquer chipped off by solitaire-playing fingernails, those buttons are askew and I don't expect they will work much longer. The Win7 machine ran slow as molasses, even tho only a third if its hard drive is occupied, and the DVD drawer (and the fan) are full of flannel fuzz. While CheckDisk didn't report any errors, there were 2 gigs of files Disk Cleanup wanted to throw out...

So I had some words with her, and this will be my last time watching her paint dry; as all this started when we were going to put her portfolio on the internet (back before there was even an eBay, much less etsy.)

OK thanks for the venting opportunity, what I'm really asking is advice about the worst of the damage...

The right lid hinge not only supports the screen, but is part of the support for a very wiggly AC adapter jack.
The shell top & base of the laptop were held together by a small screw coming up from below, that 'fell out' and was replaced with some scotch tape. That didn't work too well, and when the screen was opened, the case joint was pushed apart.
Now the stress of that leverage has started to do in the hinge on the other side.

I put an oversize screw in, which has anchored the power jack, but not done much for the cracks gaping open, which will soon become critical.
I'm thinking the only good McGyver solution is to weld the plastic back together with a solvent glue, which I don't have; I do have superglue and superglue gel, but don't think that will hold against the major leverage of opening the machine repeatedly.

Back in the day, I made a few plastic models, and Testors made a thin solvent-type glue for styrene- that would be perfect except I don't see it around anymore.

Thanks for reading all this, btw... any advice out there?

[johns0]

Hate to say it but there is no way to repair those hinges short of replacing them which isn't practical since they are part of the case,they will keep coming apart after being glued since there is a lot of pressure on them when being abused again.

[redwudz]

I've repaired a couple of my laptops with broken hinge mounts. I use JB Weld. Most hardware stores have it.
It's a high strength two part epoxy that can fill and bond.
Just use some masking or other tape to keep it corralled where you want it and use match sticks to place it.
Scratch or rough up smooth surfaces with sandpaper or a knife point.

They use it to repair stripped mounting threads in engine blocks. It's very tough.

[ahhaa]

Thanks guys; do either of you know what type plastic it is likely to be? I know plumbers use a solvent on the pvc that makes a joint stronger than the molded pipe itself, if I can't find something like that, I will give that JBWeld a try- I've heard you can even use it on mufflers!:]

My male pride is at stake; but at the same time I want to go to no expense while having McGyver-like success!:]

[ahhaa]

Ok , fyi, seems likely to be ABS (acrylonitrile butadiene styrene).

Interesting article from the 3D printing crowd on solvent & glues:

http://depts.washington.edu/open3dp/2015/01/polymer-guide-if-you-seek-solvation/

[redwudz]

Most larger plastic moldings will have a recycle symbol on them that will tell you what family of plastic it is. But ABS is the most likely for laptop cases.

Common plastic types reportedly used in laptops are, ABS ABS/PC Acrylic Elastomer LCP LDPE/HDPE Nylon 6 Nylon 6/6 Nylon 6/10.

I would be careful of solvent glues such as used in plumbing as they do melt the plastic and might not work well for edge bonding.

I have also used fiberglass cloth and resin for some plastic bonding to add strength. But I would test any glue/bonder/filler on a small area first.

[ahhaa]

Thanks, Red!

[Nelson37]

It's not going to last. Fix it rigidly in an open position or replace it. Too much stress on the hinge area for a glue to hold.

Failing to properly replace the screws was a serious mistake.

The power and signal cables for the monitor are routed through the hinge area, they are fragile, and often impressively expensive and sometimes difficult to obtain. Putting these cables at risk is a serious error which should be avoided in the future. An unusable system is the inevitable result. DNDTA.

[redwudz]

Well, it's never recommended to glue hinges back in place or even fix a cracked case, but it's still worth a try compared to replacement of the PC. The laptop I glued lasted over a year (Asus) and the case was badly cracked and the hinge mounts broke off. The JB Weld filled in around the hinge mounts and stabalized the case cracks.