Problem with bay slider switch and quality of Lenovo T410

[tony70]

Hi everyone,

I was given a brand new Lenovo T410 yesterday by my IT staff in my office who had ordered it directly from Lenovo UK.

I used the unlock button and slider switch to remove the removeable dvd drive from the bay  a couple of times and the slider switch fell out!  It was a short black plastic piece and  also a metal piece that fell through the empty bay!

has anyone ele had any similar problems with theses cheaper switch parts?

So I called up Lenovo service and was told that there was "physical damage" and may not be covered ny the return to base warrenty, even though a three year next day service warrenty had been purchased.....

I have used for the last six years a T40, T60 and a X60.  Has the quality and workmanshop of the T series of laptops gone down? 

[CorkyG]

Probably, yes.

[lead_org Microsoft MVP Contributor]

can you post a picture of the piece that has fallen out. I have had this problem in an old T42 that i had, usually these slider switch are pretty reliable, but do occasionally fall out.

[rryan]

Hi tony70,

The exact same thing just happened to me with a brand new T410. I held the unlock switch and pulled the eject latch on the expansion bay because I was going to see if a T400 secondary hard-drive adapter would work on T410's. The eject switch popped out when I pushed it to eject the drive. It came out along with the metal piece you describe. 

I took the keyboard off which gives you a better view of the expansion bay cage. After an hour or so of painstakingly fumbling with some long screwdrivers and a flashlight I was able to connect the plastic and metal piece back together (they interlock with each other) and slide the piece back in. Both the metal and plastic piece have to fit into a 'track' in order to go in right and stay bound.

After I managed to get it back into the track (the slider was back in place and it freely slid back and forth from the outside) then you have to re-align the slider with the locking mechanism. This is pretty annoying and I almost caused the spring in the locking mechanism to completely come out (be careful to make sure the locking mechanism does not pop out. I'm afraid if it did, I wouldn't be able to get it back in place.)  The locking mechanism and the slider mechanism fit together to prevent the slider from going to far when the lock is on. You kind of have to see it to know what I'm talking about so just get the slider mechanism back in place and then stare at it for a while with a bright flashlight. 

Overall, I'm very disappointed. The laptop itself feels pretty good -- some incremental improvements over the T400. They also both feel like an improvement over the T60 (lighter, more plastic, but still pretty sturdy). But this slider business for ejecting expansion drives seems braindead. Why couldn't they just keep the mechanism from the T400? I use it daily and it feels rock-solid. 

Hope this helps. I wish I took pictures as I went along, but I didn't think this would be a very common problem. Sad to say, I might be wrong. 

I think this should be covered under warranty. We both did nothing out of the ordinary. You should push for them to replace it on the standard warranty. I probably won't bother since I was able to get it working again, but I have a TPP warranty so I would assume they would cover it regardless.

Good luck,

RJ Ryan

PS: It's helpful to have a second set of hands when trying to fix this.

[Seancho]

Mine fell out too, in the 1st week.    Same thing, a plastic part and a metal part.   Of course a faulty latch would be covered under the warranty.    I just don't have the time to send it in to easyserve.    Very interesting description of your repair, ryan.   Thanks for that, I may have to give it a try tomorrow!  

[Seancho]

Ha!   I got it.     Thanks ryan, I dont' know if I would have messed with it without your story for inspiration.    The key is taking out the keyboard.  

For those with this problem (and there will be more) it's a pretty serious PITA to align those pieces in their slots.   You pretty much have to guess where the pieces should go, because it isn't easy to see.   And you'll need to remove a small metal clip that is covering the hole you need access to.  

After many failed attempts, what finally worked for me was to guide the metal piece into its channel 1st.  Then I  maneuvered the plastic piece into position, with one side in its groove.   Slight pressure then clicked the other side into place.   You may have to pull back the lock to get it in there.   Then when both pieces are in their grooves I reconnected them by lifting the edge of the plastic part, coaxing it over the knob on the metal part with a flat head jewelers screwdriver.

Now having seen up close how the bay mechanism works, I can attest to how crappy it is.    Move the slider in the wrong direction while removing the bay and the two pieces separate and fall out.     This is going to happen to a lot of people.

Disclaimer: I wouldnt attempt this repair without some patience and skill with tiny mechanisms.     Even disconnecting/reconnecting the keyboard is a fairly delicate operation on the T410 (unlike the T400).   Damage that tiny connector and it could mean a new motherboard.   But it is doable if you have the patience.