Fazza's Laptop Repair Tip - Epoxy Putty..

[Fazza]

I have recently discovered Epoxy Putty which has meant several laptops destined for our Spares and Repairs box have been repaired and are back in production and at around £10 for the putty from places like Amazon it's a very economic repair as there's enough to repair many, many laptops!

 

Here we have a student laptop that has been damaged and has a gaping hole in the corner, normally we'd need to purchase a bottom cover but on this particular laptop are £80 each rather than the normal £30 we'd expect to pay..

 

 

 

Wearing gloves is a must (luckily we have plenty of them leftover from the lockdown days during the Covid19 Pandemic)..

 

 

All you have to do is slice off a small amount of the putty, peel off the plastic on the outside and then rub/mix the putty together so it's all the same colour (1-2 minutes).

 

 

 

It feels a bit like playdoh so all you have to do is take just the right amount and fill the hole in with it and then using some sort of spudger (or a Stanley knife blade) remove any excess amount and shape it to the laptop.  To smooth it out you can use your finger (whilst still wearing gloves) and a teeny-tiny amount of water.

 

 

It will be drillable within an hour or so (according to the packet) but you shouldn't be drilling in to a laptop surely?!  It takes 24hrs to fully cure and then it's done!

 

Here are a couple more examples of it in use:

 

 

 

It may not be the nicest looking repair, but (so far) they have been very solid repairs and have prevented laptops being set aside to be used as Spares and Repairs to fix future damaged laptops.

 

I've not tried doing it yet, but once it has fully cured you could use some very fine sandpaper or (polishing attachment on a Dremel) to improve it's appearance.

 

Edited March 25 by Fazza

[synaesthesia]

I will echo, and strongly repeat once again about wearing gloves.

Before curing, It. Smells. Of. Rotten.Pee.

And no amount of washing your hands will get rid of it!

[3s-gtech]

That's similar to JB Weld isn't it? When used correctly, you can do some ridiculous repairs with this stuff.

[Fazza]

1 minute ago, 3s-gtech said:

That's similar to JB Weld isn't it? When used correctly, you can do some ridiculous repairs with this stuff.

 

Not sure as I came across Epoxy Putty on a random YouTube repair video and when I searched Amazon for it, Gorilla was the only brand I recognised! 🤣

[jthompson]

Is this the same as the 'Green Stuff' that Warhammer nerds like to use for adding free-form details to plastic space monsters?

 

 

[Fazza]

8 minutes ago, jthompson said:

Is this the same as the 'Green Stuff' that Warhammer nerds like to use for adding free-form details to plastic space monsters?

 

 

 

No idea I'm not in to Warhammer.  Although (and don't tell anyone) I have been to Warhammer World (which is based at the factory where all the figures are made) in Nottingham - I didn't play with any of the toys (I assume that's what they're called) I just had brunch in the very odd Bugman’s Bar and then left when my partners best friends family went off to play..

[Fazza]

I've found another use for Epoxy Putty!

 

This time it's on a 32 year old Compaq Contura 4/25 I'm fixing during my lunch breaks (so it will be a while before it's completely repaired)!

 

 

Before I got the Epoxy Putty out I had to melt/heat back in to place the things the screws screw in to (as you can see from the photo above they're missing):

 

 

Now for the Epoxy Putty:

 

 

It's already set, but it's not cured yet (that takes 24hrs) and as I'm on annual leave next week it will be a while before I get to test out this repair to see just how strong this stuff is!

 

Full details on my personal blog: https://www.retrocomputing.co.uk/2026/03/how-to-attempt-to-repair-compaq-contura.html

 

😎

[Fazza]

Currently using Epoxy Putty to repair a broken lid/hinge:

 

Just need to wait 24hrs for it to fully cure and then to give it the real test of handing it back to a Teacher!! 😮🤣😎

[Danp]

Nice work and top suggestion.

[JazzFlute]

On 02/04/2026 at 14:51, Fazza said:

I've found another use for Epoxy Putty!

 

This time it's on a 32 year old Compaq Contura 4/25 I'm fixing during my lunch breaks (so it will be a while before it's completely repaired)!

 

 

Before I got the Epoxy Putty out I had to melt/heat back in to place the things the screws screw in to (as you can see from the photo above they're missing):

 

 

Now for the Epoxy Putty:

 

 

It's already set, but it's not cured yet (that takes 24hrs) and as I'm on annual leave next week it will be a while before I get to test out this repair to see just how strong this stuff is!

 

Full details on my personal blog: https://www.retrocomputing.co.uk/2026/03/how-to-attempt-to-repair-compaq-contura.html

 

😎

 

Is the hinge still repaired and working well?

 

I have 2 Acer Swift laptops with hinge failures which are 5 years old but still great fast laptops and have a feeling its wear and tear and ill have a lot more fail soon so going to try the epoxy on one of them soon.  Thinking about glueing the hinge back down then using a clamp overnight for it to set?

 

Thinking of using this

Gorilla Epoxy 25ml : Amazon.co.uk: DIY & Tools

 

 

 

Good Hinge

 

Broken Hinge

Edited April 24 by JazzFlute

[Fazza]

1 minute ago, JazzFlute said:

 

Is the hinge still repaired and working well?

 

I have 2 Acer Swift laptops with hinge failures which are 5 years old but still great fast laptops and have a feeling its wear and tear and ill have a lot more fail soon so going to try the epoxy on one of them soon.  Thinking about glueing the hinge back down then using a clamp overnight for it to set?

 

Good Hinge

 

Broken Hinge

 

For this repair on your exact laptop epoxy is not a good idea.  I have fixed many modern thin hinges like this over the last few years and (touch wood) none have come back with the same fault.  The answer to your problem is Hot Glue.  It dries solid, but has a bit of flex on it.  Look for Sorin on YouTube (Electronics Repair School) and he will show you how to do it - you basically secure the hinge in place with hot glue, quickly fit the bezel and then use a spring clamp to hold it together whilst it sets/hardens.

 

I do have a few photos showing step-by-step how to do this sort of repair and it's next on my list for a repair tip but I've just not gotten around writing it on here yet!..

[JazzFlute]

2 minutes ago, Fazza said:

 

For this repair on your exact laptop epoxy is not a good idea.  I have fixed many modern thin hinges like this over the last few years and (touch wood) none have come back with the same fault.  The answer to your problem is Hot Glue.  It dries solid, but has a bit of flex on it.  Look for Sorin on YouTube (Electronics Repair School) and he will show you how to do it - you basically secure the hinge in place with hot glue, quickly fit the bezel and then use a spring clamp to hold it together whilst it sets/hardens.

 

I do have a few photos showing step-by-step how to do this sort of repair and it's next on my list for a repair tip but I've just not gotten around writing it on here yet!..

 

Cheers and will do 👍🏻

[synaesthesia]

That epoxy is almost identical to the putty, but the putty gives more bulk and better suited for hinges IMO. I'm using that exact epoxy at the moment for broken screw holes on a laptop where I suspect the teacher used it as a cricket bat!

[Ditto]

A few pots of mini-paints gives you an opportunity to give a little bit more of a clean finish to the fix, but it is purely cosmetic. I believe Humbrol are still around those of you that did a bit of model building back in the day.

[TraceurElmo]

For laptop hinges (particularly our Dell Vostros), I've been using two-part Araldite epoxy and clamping it for at-least 24 hours. Not had one come back yet for another repair, but time will tell on that!

 

The putty sounds a great idea for those cases with a little bit of damage, definetly going to be trying that trick out at some point! 

[jthompson]

6 minutes ago, Ditto said:

A few pots of mini-paints gives you an opportunity to give a little bit more of a clean finish to the fix, but it is purely cosmetic. I believe Humbrol are still around those of you that did a bit of model building back in the day.

You could apply some gold leaf for a refined, tasteful kintsugi effect.

[Ditto]

I was thinking more colour matching, but gold leaf would add a certian style 😄

[JazzFlute]

I'm going for a hot glue stick repair, a touch of Gorilla super glue at the edges if needed, clamped for 24 hours.  Ill let you know if it works and add pics.

[machy]

Weird one. 

Do you think this would work to stick a light extension lead (10m reel) to the back of an IWB?

or is this more "fill" than "stick"

[Fazza]

41 minutes ago, machy said:

Weird one. 

Do you think this would work to stick a light extension lead (10m reel) to the back of an IWB?

or is this more "fill" than "stick"

 

Short answer: No.

 

Long: Answer: Noooooo! 😉

 

Serious Answer: We use Heavy Duty Velcro for that sort of thing (in the past we have even used it to secure an Access Point to the wall) - Heavy Duty Velcro on Amazon

[synaesthesia]

@Fazza where exactly in my office are you hiding? I know you're only the next town along but this is ridiculous

[Fazza]

3 hours ago, synaesthesia said:

@Fazza where exactly in my office are you hiding? I know you're only the next town along but this is ridiculous

 

Did you buy that or was there a pack there when you started?..

[synaesthesia]

17 minutes ago, Fazza said:

 

Did you buy that or was there a pack there when you started?..

lol that's actually a good question... we tidied up over half term, I found it in the back of the cupboard and I've been looking for an excuse to use it so it's been sat on my desk  Did you guys leave it here?

[Fazza]

1 minute ago, synaesthesia said:

lol that's actually a good question... we tidied up over half term, I found it in the back of the cupboard and I've been looking for an excuse to use it so it's been sat on my desk  Did you guys leave it here?

 

Lets just say, a few Hard Disk Drives in some of your desktops may or may not be held in place with it! 😁

[synaesthesia]

! That explains it!

They'll all long gone now thankfully, but I do recall seeing a couple of older Lenovos I think they were. I only remember because I thought it was a step up from my "wedge it in with some blu-tac" method which was a go-to solutionfor many years, before case manufacturers made spaces for 2.5" SSDs