I first noticed this with my 3D printed drawers and thought that it was a flaw in my design or my printing. However, it seems to happen with the original expansion cards too. It seems like the button that “holds” the expansion cards in adds only a pound at most of extra force needed to remove a card. Most of the retention force is the USB-C or friction along the rails. If I knew how to remove the PCB from the expansion cards, I would do some further testing.
I am disappointed. Is there any way we can get stronger springs, or some other more robust locking mechanism in the future? These buttons seem like they just bend right out of the way at the first sign of force. I could imagine that if someone was to change out their cards frequently, the retention of the USB-C would diminish and then the expansion cards would be hardly held in at all.
Anybody else seeing this behavior on their laptops?
Interestingly, the original expansion cards are harder (to the point where I don’t want to break something) after having their innards removed. Seems that the USB-C Helps to keep the card in straight which makes it easier to remove. When there is no USB-C, the card can cock over and jam up when trying to remove it without pressing the button.
I just pulled out a scale to check that figure. Seems I’m stronger than I thought. The real number is closer to one pound added (~0.5kgx9.8m/s^2). The total force is 4-5lbs (~2-2.5kgx9.8m/s^2)
Giving me a heart attack over here LOL. In that case I think that’s probably the strongest locking mechanism they can get away with, but a way to replace (or upgrade) those springs instead of replacing the entire bottom chassis would be a good consideration for future parts
Because of my force needed underestimate or the Newton joke?
One pound still isn’t very much at all. Heavy gun triggers can be up to eight pounds for example. Still sems strange to me that when there is a USB-C, it does most of the retention and limits the ability of the latch many times over.
I can remove the left ports without depressing the release on mine, but the right are really quite in there. I got to the point that I was uncomfortable pulling any harder for fear of breaking something in the release mechanism.
@XenoCow I wonder if it would improve the “locking” or at least the forced alignment by using a USB-C plug (maybe a magnetic tip or cut off a cheap cable, user provided because sourcing them could be fun/expensive) in a little spot at the back of the drawer to provide a little extra “stick” into the bottom of the Framework?