Last night was yet another night of trying to fix crap with one of the Versa involving bottom plastic.....probably the weirdest thing so far.....
Basically put, the P/75's trackball - the one out of the M/75, was being erratic.....GRRR. So no Solitaire for me last night.....no Under a Killing Moon....but rather, figure out why the heck I was only getting activity from one roller on the diagonal, then jar the laptop, and it would get no activity on another movement. I seem to have traced this issue down to that infernal plastic once again.
So all the NEC Versa PC-4xx series laptops have cracking plastic issues, but they are very different and varying depending on model and type of screen. The most solid base so far is the 40EC base. It just cracks under the Versa Bays but not much else. Those I easily reinforced with foil tape and they're pretty much solid enough not to chip or crack through the case. The strongest screen is the touch screen because it's practically got it's own heavily attached-to-the-hinge fiberglass (PCB), metal, glass, and ABS plastic structure (Screen and touch circuitry + hinge structure). The touch screen I have is off the M/75. I spent the other night trying to get the flickering fixed and managed to using the VR trimpots on the back, but I'm having problems with green balanced with red and blue (another project for another day) - this is the LCD panel itself though.....not the wiring.
Anyway, back to plastic...
The M/75's biggest failure point is where the screen attaches, probably because it had a much heavier touch screen, and the 40EC....oddly being a non-touch model, has some strenghtening in back via the blank-plated slot for a stylus to be stored. The M/75 and P/75 with touch does not have this (I know all Versa models from the E-series up had touch as an option, as the E-series manual specificially gives a phone number to request it from, and all the other laptops have drivers from the NEC FTP for pen-mouse for DOS). The right corner was cracked up, and it also started having problem with the Versa Bay slots as well.
The P/75's biggest failure point is the whole front line of the case where it bends upward - and this is where the trackball issues come from. Apparently something is pushing or moving in a way in there that it's interfering with movement and/or possibly interefering with the optical sensor for the shutters and causing one axis to act as two, or something, or possibly a short with the case in the area. So I've got some looking around to do. For now, the workaround? Packing Tape, remove the broken out chunks of case (two), and just be careful with it.
While experimenting, I ripped the wire out of the CMOS Battery.....I managed to "hack" it back together by stripping the wire that came off, and wiring it into the connector through the pin hole. I may later try a more modern battery with a similar connector....like those used in modern Dell Laptops - since it's the same connector.
This is leading me down a path where I might start making a series of youtube videos on fixing up old Laptops using various epoxies and other adhesive types and methods and then using them for months and seeing how they hold up. If nothing else, the successful ones I don't want to keep could end up back up for resale or auction somewhere to some lucky buyer/bidder who will have a laptop that has all it's plastic structure related flaws fixed.
Stuff I'm planning to try...(plus some I've already used with varying success)
- J.B. Weld Steelstick - J.B. Weld Steelstick I've found works INCREDIBLE on the hinge covers on the Ultralite Versa, E, V, P, and M series, especially in the center of the hinge assembly where the most pain is. It also allows me to replace those crappy brass screw anchors with coarse thread wood or machine screws which will not strip as easily and hold just as tight, if not tighter. I'm also considering this for sections of the P/75's case where things are cracking out as well, building a thicker wall here and there. The stuff really does bond heavily and it really does make a strong, shapable extrusion. What it's not good for is filling in case cracks.
- J.B. Weld Original - I actually did extrude and repair most of my 40EC's original screen assembly this way. I found the best fix was to loosen the hinge a bit first (that's where the problem starts, and honestly, the Versa Active Matrix screen does not need a very tight hinge to hold place more than solidly enough even at extreme angles). Then, after that, coat the hinge in some form of tape....use foil tape to create a mold inside the case, and then flood the area with J.B. Weld original - with any loose screw anchors also installed, and just make that corner solid or semi-solid. Since then, it's been solid and has not broken again. However, I saw BBSBISHOPCM on Youtube had the same exact laptop and flood filled the area with what I think was 10 ton Epoxy and got a similar result.
- Cyanoacrilate and Baking Soda or CArbon Fiber - the idea I have here, after seeing certain ratios actually SMOKE and heat up, is that I could literally coat the inside of the cracks and fill certain sections of the case with this to build a heavy structure. I'm going to also maybe experiment with this for making replacement parts and repariing and strenghtening other strcutures such as the screen latches and the PCMCIA slot covers. I think if I get the ratio right, I could cause the stuff to heat up enough it will melt and literally mold itself into the existing plastic.
- Plastic Welding - I have a wood burning kit which is really a second soldering iron with multiple tips - I might be able to try this out in some spots.....and use the other tricks here to make some insane structural boosts.
- Fiberglass or Aluminum Mesh Reinforced Automotive Plastic Professional Epoxy - I was thinking this would be great to strengthen the bottom and sides inside the Versa Bays and around the Trackball in front - and get everything aligned and isolated enough on the inside that it won't break again. I get my J.B. Weld from Summit Racing so I can't imagine they don't have other stuff....and one of my talents is "macro" work with stuff designed for larger areas so mayb eI can get this to work.
If this stuff really works well....I might start "rescuing" the "un-rescuable" laptops with structural issues. I see a lot of cheap ones on e-bay that are broken and busted up, some to a point I'd need to fabricate parts, and if I can get to that point using clay molds and various hand-worked plastic work. As frustrating as this stuff is when I'm trying to do something else, I do enjoy dabbling around with rescuing old stuff most people would just throw up their hands and go "I'll just slap DOSBOX on a Pi and call it a day" after they see what is involved - then getting it down to a science where it's just a minor inconvenience and not a major undertaking.