EDIT: Framework recommends that you contact support if you notice this on your laptop!
I’ve had my 12 since the 18th of July and I’ve been using it daily for various tasks, It spends most of the time either in laptop mode while I play Rim World or in tablet mode while I draw on it.
I haven’t been rough with it and it hasn’t been dropped once. Am I over reacting or should I contact support about this? Does anyone else have these subtle stress lines?
They only appear around the hinges on the top and bottom cover and around one of he screws on the front corner, Opposite the hinges.
If you look closely you can see a plane change which would indicate a deformation in the plastic.
The reason I’m a bit worried about this is because these all occur near the hinges and one of the screws. If the plastic is being stressed just by folding and unfolding it I fear it may eventually completely crack and fall apart. Even for plastic this is a bit weird to me.
It’s really tough to tell from the pictures, but it could just be some minor imperfections from the mold process. If nothing else, you could send the pictures to support to get their thoughts. The plastic doesn’t seem too brittle, from my experience, so I would be surprised if it was cracking unless it was being bent really far. But it’s hard to say.
Looking again, they also don’t look to be where I’d expect them to be if it was stress from the hinges. I’m thinking it’s a molding thing. Are you pretty sure they are new and were not there initially, or is it possible they were there from the beginning? Are they getting worse?
I’m not 100% convinced that they are new because I didn’t inspect the case that closely on arrival. But I have found one other imperfection in the case that I know was there on arrival. (its a little black smudge)
Something else that bothers me is that my girlfriend has had her framework 12 since the 18th just like mine, but hasn’t used it once. Hers is free of these little lines.
I agree it’s hard to tell right now, But figured I’d ask others anyway.
If those marks are really stress-related after some weeks, you will see them getting stronger the next 8 weeks. Then you are still in time to get it changed. So, I wouldn’t be too nervous.
I really hope the cases and the hinges are stress-tested.
I keep trying to post about my FW 12, but it keeps being “held for moderator review.” For over an hour now. No idea what that’s about. If a post from me eventually pops up about checking my FW 12 for similar lines, it was the first thing I tried to post in this thread.
Just to be clear, I’ve deleted and re-worded it multiple times. It doesn’t seem to help. Not sure what is getting flagged. So I’m just going to leave it.
I just checked out my FW 12. I don’t see lines like you have (I obviously have a few scratches and scuffs after the durability video I made). If I open and close the display pretty fast, I don’t see it flexing where yours has those lines. If yours is flexing in those spots enough to stress and crack the plastic, I’d definitely reach out to support.
It’s really hard to tell what they are from as i don’t see any flexing when I fold it. I was inclined to believe it could be that i over tightened the screws but that doesn’t explain the mark on the top cover where there is no screw.
I’m just gonna keep using it like normal and see if it gets any worse.
I think it’s likely due to either stress, or some kinda of defect in the plastic, I also have a spot of discoloration that was there out of the box. though its very clearly a defect as its black and not in a place that’s subject to stress.
This speck totally looks like a contamination from molding. Which could be only aesthetic, or an indicator of problems with the plastic they use. It sucks that your unit got a blemish like this, but I wouldn’t make any assumptions, and it’s really not noticeable.
If you got real stress damage however, especially this early in use, that will result in the chassy cracking up and breaking. Stress fractures don’t stop, they only get worse. It could also be a marking from the mold of course, in which case it won’t change with use.
So I hope it’s either not from stress, or it’s just a material issue with your batch and they will get you fixed with a good unit. If they messed up the design this bad, or their manufacturer is is messing up every batch, that could mean designing a fix for and replacing all FW12 chassis, which might be more than they can afford. As the nature of stress damage in ABS means they’ll all eventually break from normal use.
I bet if the employees already noticed this post, there’s some serious panicking going on at FW right now.
I’d like to assume it’s just that I got a wonky case lol. I hope its not bigger than that. Only time will tell.
Now that I’m looking at it, there is a microscopic “scratch” that corresponds to the mark around the screw. I can’t capture it on camera but I can feel it and see it.
It could be that it’s already cracked slightly, or that I scratched it from sliding on my desk.
Strange. At least with a couple of those, I don’t even see how it could realistically bend there. At least, not enough to put stress creases in the plastic. Hopefully it’s just cosmetic, although, that may still be a bummer for you.
IDK if it’s any relevance but the ‘grey’ plastic in some handheld emulation devices (especially around hinges) seems to be less durable than other colours for some reason (something to do with the moulding process I guess)
