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Opening a Voyager

Posted by Steve on 29 Nov 2002, 4:24 p.m.

First, thanks to everyone who provided their thoughts and experiences about opening/repairing a Voyager series HP. Here's what I found:

The brushed aluminum bezel is easily deformed if you attempt to remove it. I quickly gave up on this approach after the first crease appeared.

I took Raymond's advice (thank you!) and removed all the heat stakes except the bottom row. This allowed me to clean the display without totally removing the PCB. As you swing the PCB out the keys will move around and it's time consuming to move them back into their correct slot.

It took a long time to clean the inside of the display window because there seems to be some coating that flakes off as you clean it. It almost looks like a car window partly covered with ice. I had to clean the window until all of the coating was removed to have it look clear.

Use a razor blade (or Xacto knife) to remove the heat stakes and save them. After the repair is complete you can melt them (I only did a few in evenly distributed locations) with a soldering iron back into place. As you melt them, push the PCB down to get a tight seal. I'm not sure how strong they are, but they seem to hold.

I added a couple of 3M clear plastic rubber bumpers (self stick) to the bottom of the case which will help support the PCB. These, plus the full bottom row of stakes, 8 or so re-melted stakes, and the battery clip, seem to give adequate support for the keyboard.

In conclusion, leave the inside of the display alone! It turns out the "dust" particle I was originally trying to remove is a defect in the display window plastic. By inserting a thin piece of laminated paper, I disturbed some sticky material and caused the problem. I'm basically back where I started, with a weaker PCB, and a small crease in the bezel (not really noticeable, but it stands out to me!). It you can’t clean it with compressed air, leave it alone!

I hope this helps others down the road. Happy calculating,

Steve

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