Hinge Replacement update!

[Paul_Kim]

A few weeks ago, I made a post complaining about the hinge wobble of my batch 4 framework.

What is considered, normal hinge woble?

Because this definitely doesn’t seem normal for a laptop. Batch 4 framework here This is may Framework on my lap and the display can’t stay upright for proper use. I’ve heard that the hinges were improved in batch 6 and forward. Can anyone confirm? And would it be possible to get those new hinges? Thanks. The last time I contacted Framework about this issue, they said it was “normal”. But this feels a bit too ridiculous to be normal. Any feedback would be welcome. Thanks!

Thanks to Framework’s support team, I was able to get replacement hinges. Because framework didn’t have the means to ship them to my current address(South Korea), I used a shipping company in the US. Overall, the shipping fee was just 9 dollars which I was happy to pay.

Following the official Framework laptop hinge replacement guide, I replaced the parts in about 20 to 30 minutes. I took my sweet time being careful as to not disturb any of the other parents.

Just feeling the new hinges made me realize how weak the original ones were. I could barely move them with my hands.

Now with the hinges replaced, wow it’s a night and day difference. What was once the floppiest laptop display I’ve ever used is now one of the stiffest ones, yet is still able to open with just one hand.

The opening is much smoother than my mother’s LG Gram and feels just as sturdy, if not more, than my sister’s MacBook Air.

Overall, I’m very pleased with the hinge replacement experience, and with this, my only complaint so far is the slight quality control issue on the chassis, which I remedied with a file and sandpaper.

I’, now hoping to get my hands on the upgrade ASAP.

I hope you all have a wonderful day.

[Aurelio]

Oh, Paul, such a wonderful and detailed testimony, thank you so much for sharing that with us.

This is most welcome information! And it speaks volumes to the fact that Framework is actually a very fair company and they care about the customer a great deal; aso, it shows they are still focusing on improving their product everywhere they can. Good news all around!

[dimitris]

Just a quick me too, I finally got bothered enough by my batch 4 borderline loose hinges and ordered the 4Kg kit. Just installed a few minutes ago, all seems to have gone well. Had a little scare with the display not showing anything on the first post-installation boot, opened up and re-seated the display cable, all seems good now.

The feel of the new hinges and the reduced (disappeared) wobble while typing make for a very nice upgrade.

Some comments on the procedure:

• I wasn’t really able to loosen up the antenna cables that are somewhat entangled with the right hinge. The routing “channels” seem to be too tight and I was afraid I’d bend/break something if I used too much force. I was just extra careful/patient moving the old hinge out and the new one in, not an issue in the end.

• Similarly, removing the display cable from its routing channel and, especially, re-routing it inside the channel, took a little extra patience. Again no biggie.

• The third, small screw for the right hinge is a small challenge trying to extract and re-position, due to the relatively strong bezel magnet that’s right next to it. Again just a litlte extra patience does the trick.

• The kit came with a pair of these extra small hinge screws but I didn’t use them, I used the originals instead. These are the small T5 screws, one on each side on the display part of the hinge. Hope this isn’t an issue.