RM AL51 Fault

[tobyhacker]

Hello all,

 

Has anyone had any problems with the RM AL51 laptop shutting itself off at random intervals? RM diagnose the fault as being a motherboard issue - "loose mountings for CPU"

 

We have 16 of these laptops in our school and 8 of these have developed the same fault.

 

I would like to know if anyone has had similar experiences as I am still waiting on RM to say whether or not this is a large scale fault or whether we were just REALLY unlucky (yes I know they were RM laptops and that we should expect this sort of thing...)

 

Thanks!

 

Toby

[eean]

I've just 3 of them... but they're fine.

[PaulBM]

Attached is a photo of the fault. If you look closely at the four fixings that hold down the heatsink on the CPU, you'll see that the furthest two have lifted out of the main board. This leads to overheating and shutting down of the machine.

 

We found others with only one post out of the main board, these work fine for now, but will almost certainly fail in due course.

 

If you have AL51 laptops badged as RM or otherwise, I'd recommend you check them. It's very easy to check.

 

1. Lay the laptop out flat with the screen folded down on the desk.

2. Remove the plastic panel that contains the power button. It unclips from the left side. Using the slot, a coin or screwdriver can be used to start lifting the panel.

3. Remove the screw holding the keyboard down, in the top left corner.

4. Release the spring click that holds the keyboard down in the top right corner.

5. Carefully lift the keyboard and fold back, to reveal the processor and check the mounting posts.

 

When you have reassembled the laptop, close the screen and check the plastic covers over the screen hinges, they normally need pressing back into place.

[HAFIZUR]

Hi,

 

I have the same problem with one of the mountings coming loose, is there a way to fix this ?

[synaesthesia]

Speak to RM. It may be out of warranty however because it's certainly a manufacturing fault you'll be covered under Sale of Goods act.

If not, or if you just fancy having a go at repair yourself, get some epoxy putty. Remove the cpu, unscrew the mounts, and use the epoxy to firmly secure the mounts to the board from top and bottom being careful with surrounding electrical contacts. Give it 15 minutes to dry (it'll be rock hard within 2 but best do a proper job) and you'll be able to re-mount the heatsink correctly. Perhaps use the epoxy to secure mounts that haven't come away yet as a security measure. It'll be cheap and will outlast the life of the laptop.

[bodminman]

Even though ours are out of warranty, I just call RM and reel off the list of serial numbers we've had the same issue with and they eventually say OK we'll get it collected and repair it.

 

What makes me laugh though is that we had one of these issues a few weeks ago and when I asked whether anyone else was having the same issues, RM said No. Well I told them they were talking rubbish!

Edited April 13, 2010 by bodminman

[Barcrest]

Very late to the game on this one but we too have a pile of them that all failed this way.

[bodminman]

Yep, epic failure on RMs part here.

 

We had loads with the same issue yet they wouldn't admit there was an issue. So basically that has meant no more orders to RM for kit!

[rawlinz]

what if i said i was gonna thank god for finding this thread to sort one of my laptops out, the RM AL51, and yet i opened the laptop up to check but i have no loose mounts on the CPU? LOL............ hmmmm any ideas??? it's still exactly the same symptoms as the original poster had... :~/

[rawlinz]

forget that post, i just put a 1p coin on top of the cpu, then the heatsink on top of that, and now it's fine.. been running for hours. lmao

[bungalow-build]

Hi,

 

I have the same problem with one of the mountings coming loose, is there a way to fix this ?

 

I had same problem as well, took me ages to track it down but the good news is it can be really easily fixed with superglue - just glue the metal stub back into the motherboard. Also need reapply thermal paste to the processor for it to work 100% though not essential first time around. I have had to do it a couple of times more, once when I stepped on the computer, the next after I, and the computer, came off a motorbike, so in other respects it is a pretty robust machine. I think it happens in the first place from the computer flexing when you use it on your knees, but it is a laptop.