4 laptop keyboard failure warning signs to look out for

Laptop keyboard problem is common. Problem with your laptop keyboard varies from jammed keys, some keys not working to complete keyboard failure. In this post, I’ll explain to you what causes laptop keyboards to fail, what problems your laptop keyboard may have, and repairs on laptop keyboards.

Keyboard repairs, especially for modern laptops, is usually to difficult for DIY at-home repairs. At the end of this post, if you still need professional computer repairs, drop us a message. We can repair keyboard for laptops, including Apple Mac.

What causes laptop keyboard failure?

Trapped dust and debris

The gaps between your laptop’s keys are where all kinds of dust and debris can get in. Because of how small these gaps are, the dust can stay trapped in there and potentially harm the keyboard that needs repairs.

Things like pieces of lint, or crumbs from eating right above the keyboard can get right into the keyboard and jam it up.

To be fair, keeping your laptop spotless at all times is pretty impossible. It’s natural to get a little dust in there, and your laptop would still work perfectly normal. But when it reaches a point where there is a lot of dust trapped inside, it could become a problem for the keyboard. An accumulation of dust could also cause other hardware problems like overheating and fan failure.

Moisture in the air

It’s common knowledge that liquids and electronics don’t mix. You probably already know not to use your laptop around the pool or in the bath.

But what about rooms with high humidity? You might not be aware about this, but the moisture in the air can sometimes affect your laptop’s keyboard. Just like dust, moisture can get trapped inside a laptop and get you in quite a bit of trouble. So just to be on the safe side, you might want to use your laptop in a cool and dry spot.

Physical damage and liquid spills

Physical damage is another thing that can kill laptop keyboards. These usually occur as accidents. You wouldn’t try to break your keyboard on purpose, would you?

Liquid spills are a very common cause for keyboard failures. Accidentally spilling your drink over your laptop can short out the keys and ruin the keyboard.

If it’s only a water spill, you might be able to use it as normal once it’s dried out completely. In other cases like sugary liquids or wine, it’s a little bit more tricky.

After drying, the sugar in these liquids will still remain between the keys, and inside the laptop. Corrosive liquids like beer and seawater do the worst damage, corroding the connective parts of the keyboard.

Neglect – laptop unused for an extended amount of time

In our computer repair experience, we’ve learnt that neglect can also frequently result in the failure of a laptop keyboard. Some cases of keyboard failure all share this observation: the laptop was neglected and not used for more than two months.

In these situations, users may just be using a different computer, or just primarily using their work laptops more often than their personal ones. Then when they take up their other laptop, they find that some keys are not working.

Often a customer came to me saying “I haven’t used my laptop for 2 months, then I took it out and some keys are not working.”

When this happens to you, you may wonder why the keyboard just fails for no reason. You may feel like you’re the only person who’s come across this issue. It’s just so strange, isn’t it?

But, I hear this every few weeks. It’s become the norm.

If you drive, you’d know that when your car sits in the garage unused for a few months, the next time you drive it, it’ll have problems. The battery may have gone flat. The tire may have gone flat. The steering wheel makes a weird noise and feels heavy. You may not even start the car.

It is the same with your computer.

What if it’s actually…?

Keyboard issues are generally hardware faults. They come from physical damage. Like any kind of computer hardware, laptop keyboards don’t last forever and will begin to fail at some point in the laptop’s lifetime.

Some may think it’s a software or driver issue, or even a possible computer virus, but it’s quite unlikely that those are the case. It could be a connection that’s come loose, but that’s rare.

As a piece of computer hardware, the keyboard will start showing signs of malfunction when it gets damaged. Still, it wouldn’t hurt to update your laptop’s drivers.

Now that we understand the different causes of keyboard failures, we can move onto the kinds of warning signs that you should look out for. These are some obvious and noticeable signs of keyboard failure that you may come across on your laptop.

4 Laptop keyboard failure warning signs to look out for

1. Keys not working

This is pretty straightforward. You’ll notice certain keys don’t respond no matter how much or how hard you press them. Nothing comes out. This could be just a few keys or even a whole row of keys. It’s completely random and unpredictable.

2. Keys repeat itself

This type of malfunction happens when you press a key once and the output appears to be repeated many times. Say your F key is repeating itself. You could press it once and out comes “fffff”. It could get annoying when you’re trying to type emails or work on documents.

3. Keys come out with a different output

Another instance of a keyboard not working properly, this issue happens when you press one key and a different thing comes out. You could press the F key and the number 9 comes out. And then you’ll have to work around this quirk, keeping in mind to press which key for which thing until you can’t take it anymore.

4. Keys are jammed, or stuck

A laptop keyboard is a part with connective points and mechanical parts. Over a period of use, the keys can get jammed, just by wear and tear, or from external factors like dust and liquid spills.

Sugary liquids can cause the keys to stick together, and pieces of debris can jam the keys. So when you can’t seem to press down the keys, or notice that keys are stuck to its base, you know you have a problem.

5. Apple laptops are no exception

No doubt, Apple laptops are well built with premium quality. But its build quality does not help protect against dust and water spill.

Personally, I believe that Apple’s higher quality build does help reduce the damage of water and dust on its internal parts. But this comes purely from the fact that I’ve seen a higher chance of repair success rate on Apple laptops only.

Repairs on Apple laptops are more difficult due to their design, but (counter-intuitively) at the same time easier due to Apple spare parts are widely available in the market.

How can I be sure? Here’s how you can test your keyboard

If you have a spare external keyboard, use it to test whether your keyboard is indeed faulty. Plug in it, and test the keys that you usually have problems with. You’ll be able to confirm that your laptop’s keyboard is indeed faulty when everything works fine with the external keyboard. Then you’ll need to fix this internal problem.

So far, that’s the only way to test whether you have a keyboard failure. Pre-boot diagnostics won’t be able to test the part, and you don’t really need to open up the laptop to check things out.

Opening up a laptop just to see what’s going on when you can already confirm the problem can be unproductive to the problem at hand. This can also harm the laptop as well. That’s a common mistake that users make when they try to fix their computer by themselves. We try to only open up a laptop when we’re actually fixing the hardware, and not as a testing method.

How to fix a dead laptop keyboard

The tricky thing with laptop keyboards is, there’s no fix for only one specific faulty key. Even if one key is dead, the whole keyboard will need to be replaced.

If you see retailers selling individual keycaps for faulty keys, those won’t fix your problem as they are only cosmetic. With that said though, if your problem is merely a lost keycap that’s popped off, then sure, you can get an individual key cap fit back in easy as.

Keyboard repairs are known to be quite complicated, as the keyboard is usually hard to get to. When you open up the laptop to take the keyboard out, most of the time you’ll need to get through the motherboard to reach the keyboard.

The motherboard is a delicate piece of circuitry that takes experienced hands to deal with. If you’re not that confident in your tech repair skills, you might want to get it checked out by a professional.

Laptop keyboard is no longer easy-to-replace for consumers

Back in the early days of computers (the era of Windows XP to Windows 7), laptop keyboards were much easier to be replaced. You simply pop it up from the keyboard frame to install a new one.

Unfortunately, newer models of laptops, especially ultrabooks are no longer repair-friendly for end-users.

Since laptops are getting slimmer and more portable, manufacturers no longer make them easy to replace keyboards.

It’s certainly an improvement in terms of improving the laptop’s appearance, but it comes at a cost. Replacing the keyboard means the laptop battery, hard drive, fan, motherboard, etc have to be removed first before you can even get to the keyboard.

Not only that, most keyboards are fixed into the frame. After removing the broken keyboard, you’ll have a great deal of trouble securing the new one properly. You need lots of experience to do this.

Apple MacBook keyboards are incredibly difficult to replace

Incredibly difficult! Yes it is absolutely difficult to replace keyboards for Apple MacBook laptops ever since the butterfly keyboard design came out.

It is a painful, time-consuming challenge when it comes to replacing keyboards for Apple Mac laptops. You literally have to rip out, break every key in the old keyboard to remove the keys one by one.

There are no more screws to install a new keyboard either. You have to use super glue to help secure the new keyboard. Every mistake is costly and you’ll have to repeat the whole process again.

If your laptop has a keyboard problem, it’s almost inevitable that you’ll need a professional computer repairer to do it for you.

Getting your laptop repaired by a professional

With how complex the process is with most laptop keyboard repairs, you might be turning to a more “hands-off” approach and hand it off to a professional. That’s where we can help!

At Safemode Computer Service, we are always happy to help with any computer issue, from Macbook butterfly keyboard repairs to Windows PC hard drive failures. We are located in Enmore, conveniently in the Inner West of Sydney.

With our highly-rated services and our friendly technicians, trust us to diagnose and fix your computer issues expertly. Call us today or come down to our Enmore store today!

How to save your laptop from liquid damage

If you paid attention in grade school science, then you should know that liquids and electricity don’t mix. We know what can happen when you touch a lightswitch when wet hands, and that same accident can happen when you spill something on your laptop. It can also cause significant damage to the electronic circuits on your laptop.

When these accidents happen, it’s always important not to panic, and always put your safety before the laptop. At the same time, there are also ways to save your laptop from liquid spill damage, as much as you can.

What happens to my laptop after I’ve spilled something on it?

Sometimes an innocent knock from your arm can tip your drink right all over your keyboard. It happens, sometimes these things just do. Just how much trouble are you in? Depending on the type of liquid and how much of it was spilled on the laptop, it can go from completely fine to completely dead. Let’s see why.

Steer clear of these liquids

As computer technicians who have been in the game for a long time, we’ve repaired a fair few liquid spill damaged laptops. It’s not just water spills too, we’ve seen different kinds of liquid damage from coffee, wine, or even seawater. The amount of liquid could also affect the scope of the damage on your laptop. It could be just a splash of water, or a flood from leaving it out near an open window during a rainstorm.

Some common kinds of liquid spills include water, coffee, wine, or soft drinks. Naturally, the more pure the type of liquid, the less trouble it will bring. With drinks like water and black coffee, repairs jobs are quite manageable. This is because it does not leave much residue that needs cleaning up when the liquid evaporates naturally. In certain cases, laptops with water spills can survive without needing any repair work. Still, water can definitely damage or rust up the circuitry and connective points on your laptop.

Sugary drinks and corrosive liquids on the other hand though, are much trickier to handle. These not only ruin electronics, they also leave behind sugary residue that can stick up and ruin your keyboard. This makes it harder to clean the laptop. Even if your keyboard does survive, the sugary substances can cause sticky keys and wreck the keyboards mechanisms.

Corrosive liquids like beer and seawater do the most damage. If these liquids get into the motherboard, they can corrode the connective points and complex circuitry on it. The motherboard is the nervous system of a computer, so this sort of damage could possibly kill your laptop entirely.

Some accidents are hard to avoid, but it’s still a good idea to get a good understanding of what could happen to your laptop if it does happen. It might also make you more careful of your surroundings while you use your laptop too.

What not to do after you’ve spilled on your laptop

You may have heard of certain urban myths or hacks to clean and fix liquid spill damages. Some people may tell you to soak your laptop in a tub of uncooked rice. It is believed that rice can absorb the liquid in the laptop and fix it.

A laptop has a lot of complex components that can’t possibly be saved by rice. This will even bring in starch and dust into the laptop. After a liquid spill, you can’t necessarily undo what’s already damaged with these repair hacks. You might even cause more damage with the rich dust and starch inside the laptop.

What to do after you’ve spilled on your laptop

We’ve mentioned this before, but remember to keep a cool head when dealing with accidents. First thing you should do after you’ve gotten your laptop wet is to turn it off first. Don’t worry about properly shutting it down, just press and hold the power button until it shuts off. We have to be quick and dirty about this.

Remove the laptop from the wet surface, and disconnect it from the power adaptor if it is still connected. If your laptop has a removable battery, take that out too. You should also disconnect other peripherals like USB drives and mice. They draw power from your laptop, so it’s better to be safe.

Now that you’re safe from electrical shock, you can try wiping off the liquid on the laptop’s surface with a lint-free cloth. Turn it upside down to drain and dry, and that’s it.

Run diagnostics on your hardware

After the above steps, you might just be able to turn on your laptop again. If not, you should probably take it to a professional instead.

If you can turn your laptop on and it still runs, the next step is to run diagnostics on your hardware to access the damage. Sometimes it’s not apparent how much of your laptop is affected by the liquid damage, so it’s a good idea to run checks on your system.

Most computers have a built-in diagnostic tool that runs before your laptop boots up. This is known as boot diagnostics, or pre-boot diagnostics. It’s a simple and basic tool you can use to find possible faults and errors on your hardware. You can test parts on your laptop like the hard drive, RAM, or battery.

To run boot diagnostics, you’ll need to press a key specific to your laptop’s brand. This might be “D” if you have a Macbook laptop, or “F12” for Dell, “Esc” for HP, and “Enter” for Lenovo, Acer, Asus, and IBM. Press and hold this key after restarting your computer to run the tests. Your laptop will then detect and report any possible errors on your hardware.

If you do find errors, you should then take it to a computer repair shop. Liquid spill repairs are quite complicated and difficult to perform, especially on parts like the motherboard and keyboard. For badly damaged laptops that are completely dead from liquid spills, it’s best to check with a repair shop to see whether it’s salvageable.

Liquid spill repairs is a common laptop repairs that we see every week, including Apple computers. It may surprise you but this is very common. If you’ve spilled water onto your laptop, you’re not alone. In fact, I’m guilty of this too. I spilled an entire cup of hot coffee onto my Dell laptop.

10 Computer myths debunked: common misconceptions about computer repair

Just like urban legends, there are a few common misconceptions about computer repair that a lot of people believe. Because of how they’ve been talked about so much, people do start to believe them. However, some of these are not true. Oftentimes believing in these myths can lead to misdiagnosis or improper treatment of computer issues. They could make more trouble without fixing the real issue.

Even if some of these myths were true at some point of time, computer technology has advanced so far ahead that a lot of things have changed since then. Those truths don’t apply anymore, and become myths.

As computer repair experts, we thought we’d shed some light on these common misconceptions and bust these myths. Here are the top 10 computer repair myths busted.

1. We can repair only the failed part of a whole component

Most of the time when a piece of computer hardware is failing, you’ll need a full replacement of the part. Computer users will sometimes request to replace only a small part of the component, without understanding how the hardware works. Of course, this doesn’t apply to all computer parts, some parts we can indeed fix the problem area on its own.

Small parts that require complete replacements

An example of this would be laptop video card repairs. In most laptops, the video card is mounted and embedded on the motherboard. That means that it’s impossible to take it out from the motherboard without breaking it. So a laptop video card replacement essentially means a motherboard replacement. There is an exception though, for the Apple Macbook Pro 15-inch 2011 model. The video card on this Macbook is a known issue, which created a demand for an advanced method to replace the video card on its own.

On desktop iMacs from 2012 and onwards, a cracked glass panel on the screen would also call for a complete screen replacement. It is a fragile 27-inch screen panel, and cannot be replaced on its own. This would cost at least $700 to replace the whole screen.

For laptop keyboards, even when one key is not working properly, the whole keyboard needs to be replaced. Each key cap that is mounted on the keyboard is connected to its mechanics, and replacing the single key won’t fix the problem. The key could be jammed, or have accumulated rust on its connective points. Either way, we have to replace the whole keyboard to fix a keyboard failure.

Misdiagnosis?

Sometimes users might misdiagnose their laptop problems as well and request single replacements for the wrong part. We’ve gotten requests over the phone to replace the laptop screen hinge, which is a solid metal part that is quite hard to break. It usually is either the front bezel or back cover of the screen, or the upper cover of the keyboard that is actually broken. These parts may also require complete replacement of the screen, depending on the model of laptop.

2. Batteries last forever

Contrary to some belief, laptop batteries are consumable parts. They last 2-4 years, depending on use and charging cycles. We can expect these batteries to fail just in the same way as the batteries in toys, cameras, and phones.

Failing laptops can expand, leak corrosive liquid, or even heat up quickly and catch fire. So if you notice an error message like “service battery”, or “replace battery”, it’s best you get that checked out as soon as possible.

3. You need to drain your laptop’s power before charging the battery

Laptop batteries are lithium-ion batteries, which allow you to charge it many times without harming its battery life. It will continue to hold charge even after multiple charge cycles.

Some computer users believe that it would benefit battery life to drain the laptop’s power before charging it again. There’s actually no real proof of this, and you can even leave the power cable plugged in the whole time you use the laptop as well.

4. My laptop is not turning on because of a dead battery

Unless your laptop is not plugged in and has no power, this statement is not true. A laptop does not need a working battery to turn on. As long as it has a power supply from the charging cable, it should turn on and boot up just fine.

When a laptop is not turning on at all, this would usually mean a more serious hardware issue. A part essential to the start up process may be faulty, and is causing your laptop to be unresponsive. You could likely have a hard drive or motherboard issue, or even have a faulty video card or RAM. Just remember, you probably don’t need a battery replacement when you can’t turn on your laptop.

5. Having lots of files will slow down your computer

Will having lots of files clog up your system and slow your computer down? The answer is, no. Having more files on your hard drive will only take up its storage space, and not its performance.

The thing that will slow down your computer is having lots of startup programs. These are apps that start running once you boot up your computer. This can cause slow boot up times, or slow down your computer’s performance. You can check on the impact of these startup programs from the “startup” tab of Task Manager. You may also disable these apps from starting automatically from boot up, to smooth things over.

6. A virus is making my computer go crazy

Computer viruses are often the scapegoats of computer issues. They are often blamed for most computer issues, which most of the time turn out to be a hardware issue. Most computer users don’t expect their hardware to fail, so they turn to thinking that they have a virus.

Something like the keyboard making jumbled or incorrect input or image distortions are often incorrectly thought to be virus infections. These are actually hardware failures that need replacing. A computer virus is a program that infects your OS, and can’t damage your hardware.

To be fair, computer virus infections can cause significant changes. Just not damage. Some signs of a virus infection include inappropriate pop-up windows, browser homepage changes, slow performance, and data security breaches. To combat this, make sure you’re browsing the web safely and install antivirus software to protect yourself.

7. Antivirus will stop me from having any computer virus

While antivirus can help you browse the web safely and protect your computer from viruses, there’s no guarantee. Even with a paid subscription of the best antivirus software, computer viruses today are very advanced and can be smart enough to find a way in.

Think of it this way: When we are sick, medicine or treatment from a doctor will cure your illness, but will not protect you from illness forever. Antivirus works the same way, it is definitely useful, but is not effective 100%.

8. Magnets can harm hard drives

Because of how magnets can wipe floppy disks, some continue to believe that magnets can harm other storage devices like hard drives. Hard drives are quite sturdy, and can’t fall from a magnet. Unless it gets hit by substantial force, the hard drive cannot be damaged with simple domestic magnets.

The only magnets that can destroy a hard drive are industrial-strength ones only found in labs or junkyards. These are the magnets that can distort the drive. Otherwise, the only way to wipe a drive is by using software to overwrite its memory sectors multiple times.

9. Wiping the hard drive can fix bad sectors

Wiping a hard drive can delete everything off the drive, including all the files and the OS as well. Users might come up with this idea to fix a failing hard drive, but it will not fix the drive. Bad sectors are permanently damaged parts of the hard drive.

Wiping the drive will only remove the data stored on it, but you can’t necessarily “delete” bad sectors. The only way to fix a faulty hard drive is by replacing it completely. If the damage is not that bad yet, disk repair utilities can sometimes solve some soft bad sectors, but that is not a true fix. It may only buy you another year or so on the drive, until you have to deal with it properly.

10. Only techs can fix computer issues

Just like other DIY projects, you totally can fix your computer by yourself! Most computer hardware replacements are pretty straightforward. You won’t need to get a technician to do them.

Take hard drive replacements for example — they are installed just the same way they are taken out, just by unplugging and plugging in the SATA cable. Even tech beginners can try this and nail it on their first try.

While more advanced computer repairs like motherboard or battery replacements should be left to the professionals, we do encourage DIY repairs. Not only can this save you the time and money, but the sense of accomplishment that comes with it is a pretty good feeling too.

Do your research

Computer myths that have sustained over time should definitely be debunked, as it can prevent you from diagnosing and repairing your computer properly. With a good amount of research, you should be equipped with the right tech know-how to treat your computer.

Need help with computer repairs in Sydney?

You might not all have the time or technological knowledge to deal with your computer issues on your own. That’s where we can help you out. At Safemode Computer Service, we offer the best professional computer repair services in Sydney. We can diagnose and repair computer issues like hard drive failure, liquid spill damage, and virus removal.

Located in the Inner West, our experienced technicians can help you diagnose your faulty computer in no time and offer the right advice to fix it. Call us about your computer issue, or visit our Enmore store today.

Why you should be thinking about your computer’s repairability

As a computer user, you’ve probably owned a fair few devices over the years. When your computer starts to fail, you may see this as a sign or opportunity to buy a new computer. Rather than repairing the part that may be causing you trouble, buying a new computer may be exciting and all, but a simple repair may actually get you a long time on the computer. You might be able to get upgrades to boost your laptop’s performance as well.

All this depends on the repairability of the computer. These days a lot of new models come with flashy features and are more travel-friendly. However, these features come at the cost of the computer’s repairability. This benefits the brand, but not the consumer when they can’t get their computers repaired early into the life of the device. In this guide we will be looking at what makes computers harder to repair and how you should go about choosing a more sustainable device.

What makes computers harder to repair

Using glue over screws

Screws were more commonly used for laptop and desktop computer assembly. This changed with the manufacturing process of gluing parts together instead of screws. Laptop screens are often glued together these days, which makes it impossible to replace only the display screen. With these glued together parts, it’s very easy to break the screen while replacing it.

Other parts that are assembled by glue would also take longer time to repair or replace. The repair technician would have to take the time to melt the glue to take out the faulty parts for repair.

For example, Apple iMac screens are mounted onto its frame using strong double sided tape which make repairs very difficult. This comes with a higher risk of damaging the screen as well. This is also the case for touch screen laptops with screwless designs. Generally “thin” spells out “difficult and expensive to fix”.

Soldering

Traditionally, computers were bulkier and heavier, and actually well made. These days they adopt more of a thinner design for convenience. Assembly of components has changed from “through-hole soldering” to “surface mount soldering” to accommodate for newer designs. This is so that manufacturers can squeeze more power into smaller computers.

With this type of assembly, the computer’s durability is sacrificed. This reduces its lifespan. Having said that, there are still some very durable computers out there in the market, like those that are built as business-grade laptops.

Thin parts and design

The thin designs of laptops and its components make them delicate and challenging to navigate through, when we’re taking out parts to repair. They require more experienced and careful hands to prevent breaking parts that are working normally while repairing the faulty parts.

Some models of laptops are also designed in a way that is very lightweight and convenient for travel. This kind of design then loses a great deal of repairability. Such models like the Surface Pro and Surface Book are often deemed impossible to fix. These models aren’t really made to be opened up, and require a lot of force that will inflict further damage to do so.

Replacement part accessibility across brands

Branded parts from Apple, Dell, and HP have universal part look-up systems with part numbers that you can refer to when ordering. There we can easily find the right part for the specific computer model that needs repairing. They can also be ordered directly from the brand manufacturer or from other suppliers as well.

Other brands might not be able to offer such convenience, namely Acer and Asus. Both brands don’t have universal part numbers for computer components. This way, you can’t readily search for the part that you need for your computer. It would take a little bit more digging around to find the right component. Without part numbers, you’ll have to inspect visually to make sure that you’ve got the right one.

Users of Acer and Asus laptops usually have less repair options than brands that offer more accessible replacement parts. However, it is common that technicians do not always look up parts by part number because searching by part number could limit your choices for parts in the market.

High cost replacement parts

The high cost of certain replacement parts can make the computer’s repair less accessible as well. The cost of these replacement parts can be from how much the brand marks them to be, or that the part is made more advanced and powerful than other alternatives.

Premium brands or models such as Apple, Dell XPS 13, Dell Latitude, Lenovo X1 are more expensive to purchase and more expensive to fix. Simply because they have more expensive components and higher specs parts. If you are prepared to fork out a few thousand dollars to buy a laptop, don’t expect a $100 bill to fix it.

Apple is known as a tech company that makes premium products that run on Apple’s specialised software and operating systems. With that said, replacement or upgrade parts that they make are also quite expensive.

Apple also makes their own proprietary parts and screws specific to only Apple devices. This makes things harder for a regular consumer who does not own the right screwdrivers or tools to fix their Apple laptops. The use of proprietary parts might also give the consumer less replacement or upgrade options for their Apple Mac laptops or desktop computers.

Laptops that come with higher capacity batteries that last more longer than regular ones will also cost more to replace. These batteries are often found in Apple MacBook Air, MacBook Pro laptops and Ultrabook laptops. If the laptop you’re looking at purchasing has a user-replaceable battery, this is a sign that it will be cheaper to replace the battery. This is because it’s simply a matter of sliding out the old battery in place of a new one, something that you can just do yourself.

How repairs are done and how the computer’s repairability affects this

Computer repairs usually go like this: We test to confirm a possible hardware failure, order replacement parts if needed, then repair and do final tests. This promises a thorough diagnosis and a sure solution to the problem detected. A computer’s repairability does play a large part in the process, as it determines how the repair should be tackled. With a lower repairability, more work might be needed to take out other parts of the computer to get to the part that needs fixing. Let’s see how the computer’s repairability affects each step in the repair process:

1. Initial testing

When a computer is not working properly and disrupts usual performance, this may be a sign of a hardware issue. You can then run diagnostics on the device to find out what’s causing these issues. Sometimes these tests involve taking out the part to test on a different desktop computer. If the laptop is not made to be easily opened by unscrewing bottom screws, the process will be more complicated.

Popular makes from Apple, Dell, HP, or Lenovo are often easier to diagnose for problems by yourself. Manufacturers provide built-in testing utilities, better part look-up systems and after-sales support. Replacement parts are also easily identified and sourced.

If it’s easier for you, it’ll be easier for a computer technician to do the testing too. Though we technicians have access to better tools, we still partially rely on support from manufacturers to test and order spare parts. While we at Safemode Computer Service provide free quick testing and free quotes, it is common that some repair shops don’t do the same. The more complicated the tests are, the more you’ll need to pay.

Learn how to test for common hardware failure such as your hard drive or motherboard in our guides.

2. Ordering parts

When parts are not easily found or identified, it makes finding a replacement a little more harder. Replacement parts that cannot be identified via a part number will need to be found by looking with our own eyes. It can be a real inconvenience if you miss something and receive the wrong part after ordering. In some situations, even the manufacturing brand cannot offer any part replacement solutions.

For brands that make their own proprietary parts or screws, it can also take time to source the right tools and parts needed. This is especially for some Apple Macbook laptops that use proprietary pentalobe screws and Apple-only components. You can’t use widely-owned screwdrivers or any other component for replacement repairs. Usually you’ll have to find the exact same component or other compatible alternatives.

3. Repairing or replacing computer parts

Earlier we’ve learnt that a computer’s design can affect how the repairs are done. When a computer is hard to open up, or its parts are less accessible for repair, its repairability is brought down.

Parts of a computer usually aren’t assembled in the same way or position in different models. Some parts are fit in different places compared to other laptops. Parts like the screen, keyboard, and motherboard are unique to every laptop model, and its assembly would also require specific methods. Some easier repairs like RAM and hard drive replacements are pretty straightforward, but can also differ depending on how the part is fixed on the device.

Parts that are glued or soldered on to the laptop are more tricky to deal with. They take more effort to take out, compared to parts that are fixed with screws. Specific tools are needed for these processes, which regular consumers may not even own.

Thin and delicate parts in particular, are also quite challenging to repair. For less experienced hands, one slip could break other parts of the computer. Things like glass screens or thin keyboards could complicate the repair process.

What to buy if you want higher computer repairability

If you’re thinking about keeping your computer for longer, look out for ones that give you better repairability. That way, even when a small component fails, you can repair it easily and might not even need to break the bank. You can look out for this with a computer’s model and design. Popular tech repair site ifixit also offers reviews for popular computer models, which includes repairability ratings.

Screw adhesives

Components that are fixed with simple screws are great for repairability. You won’t need proprietary screwdrivers or tools to take things out. This makes things easier for the regular consumer to fix things. Without soldering or glue, these parts can be taken out quite easily.

Pick something that opens up

Before we get to the components, we also should make sure that the laptop can be opened up fairly easily. Screws will also benefit you in this case. A straightforward opening process will definitely make things easier. If the laptop requires stronger force to open up, there’s a chance that you might also break something inside.

Clever designs

Certain models have clear designs that allow better accessibility and ease when repairing things. Relatively modular and flat designs let you get to a single part effortlessly. You won’t need to take out other components to get to it.

For keyboard repairs, certain laptop models that have a tiny gap surrounding the keyboard also have better repairability. This small gap usually indicates that the keyboard can be taken out from the top. Usual keyboard repairs involve opening up the laptop’s back cover, then taking out everything else to get to the keyboard. By being able to take out the keyboard from the top, we don’t have to go through such a hassle.

What not to buy if you want higher computer repairability

Sleek computer designs that complicate things

As we’ve covered, newer sleeker models often contain flimsy parts that are glued or soldered on. These travel-friendly laptops may seem flashy and all, but having a low repairability may make things very frustrating when something does start to fail. It might not be worth it if you can’t fix things on such an advanced machine.

This also includes specific parts like Apple’s butterfly keyboard, an advanced and thinner keyboard design. Its design makes for a thinner keyboard, where less space is needed as the keys move less when pressed. While it does seem like an improvement, it also comes with a lot of issues like key jamming and failure. Its thin design makes it more delicate, and assembly could also hurt other components like the motherboard.

Touchscreen laptops

Many laptops now come with touchscreen. If the touch function is not a must-have for you, we suggest that you opt for a non-touchscreen laptop instead. A laptop touchscreen is made of two parts, the LED screen that displays images and a touch panel that is sensitive to your fingers’ touch. It is common nowadays that the LED screen and the touch panel are glued together and cannot be separated. This contributes to higher costs to replace either part because you will have to pay for both parts, not just one.

Laptops that aren’t made to be opened up

Models like Microsoft’s Surface Laptops aren’t made to be opened with simple tools. You can only open it up with a great deal of force that might inflict more damage to the laptop. There are usually no repair options for Surface Laptops. Macbooks that use proprietary pentalobe screws may also prevent you from getting inside without the right tools needed.

A final word

Green computing is something we certainly support, and repairing our electronics is a sustainable practice. Computers that are easier to repair or upgrade can give you a longer life on the device. You can keep up or improve your computer’s performance along the line. This means you can keep it for a long time.

When you don’t want the computer anymore, its high repairability can also be good for the environment. As long as it is simple enough to disassemble, recycling the computer will be easier.

Got a question for us?

Our technicians at Safemode Computer Service are always happy to help! We can assist with any repair problems and advise you with your repairs. With highly rated services across Sydney, we can offer check ups and quotes for free instore (Ts & Cs apply). Come on down to our Enmore store today for a chat!

Reported Problems:

An Apple MacBook Air laptop was booked in with keyboard problem.

Owner of the laptop spilled water onto the keyboard of the Mac, since then the keyboard didn’t work properly. Random letters came up when typing. The laptop booted up straight into Safe Boot as if Shift key was engaged.

On this Apple MacBook Air, its keyboard unit is integrated into its aluminium casing. The keyboard is connected to touchpad unit, and touchpad unit is, via a ribbon cable, connected to logic board. Thus the problem may lie within any of these units. Replacing the keyboard unit does NOT guarantee to fix the problem. We have come across a different job (same Apple MacBook Air that had water spilt on) that had the same problem but due to both damaged keyboard and touchpad (demonstrated in another post).

The Repairs:

Using available spare parts and a number of tests, we have determined that the laptop keyboard needs to be replaced.

Let’s first have a look at its bottom cover.

Battery need to be disconnected to stop power going in to the laptop, so let’s take the battery out from the laptop.

There we’ll see logic board, fan and other parts. All these parts need to be removed before keyboard can be taken out.

Take extra precaution here because these electronic parts are sensitive, any “minor” accidental damages can cause great damages to the computer.

Once fan, logic board, wireless adaptor etc are removed from the laptop, we should have the below (speakers not yet removed).

Now let’s take out a same keyboard (integrated in aluminum case).

Different MacBook Air has different keyboard, make sure the part is compatible otherwise it will not fit and will not work.

Now we need to remove the keyboard and bottom casing from the laptop’s display panel. The job is simpler from here. Let’s put in the new keyboard, connect it to the display panel, reassemble the laptop and test it out.

The laptop starts up fine, open TextEdit and check every key.

All the keys are now working as they should. Another Apple MacBook Air laptop fixed successfully.

Looking for Apple Mac Repairs?

Does your Apple Mac have the same problem? Check our Apple Mac Repair services and Contact us now for a Free Quote. Pickup and Delivery is available for your convenience.