less screws??!!

[abdus]

hi everyone, how are you, i am fascinated by the thinpad series for their special features that are unique, i bought thinpad t61 but i noticed something about it, not all the screws were there, it's weird, i don't know why it is like that, i know that the old thinkpads have many screws to put when assembling but i wonder if it is because the guy who assembled it was lazy to put them back again? i am afraid it could damage the laptop hinge or cause bigger damage than when all the screws are put if it fell down. what do you think? please tell me

[davidgurvich]

Depends where the screw is missing from. Screw that's too long can be worse than no screw. There's an old joke that after you've taken a thinkpad apart and put it together enough times you'll have enough extra parts for another laptop.

[unixed]

Welcome to the forum!
Not all the holes are for screws, two are for liquid drainage if you spill a drink on your open laptop and the screw that locks in the ultrabay device usually gets "lost" without negative consequence.
To see what's "missing", download the appropriate Hardware Maintenance Manual (HMM) from the link at the top of this page. There are little icons near to the holes indicative of their function.

[abdus]

thank you
well, for the laptop it runs well.
i know about that joke and i guess it is true since i disassembled one of them a long time ago, and the good side of the laptop which is the good physical protection by having many screws is the bad side since some screws may not be put again because they may be forgotten.
i have seen the difference of the screws and i know what you mean with those holes or the holes that look like screws. but the holes that are empty are more than the other thinkpad t61 i had before because this seller gave me one first but it had a problem so he allowed me to change to another one which was with less screws hahaha

[davidgurvich]

I had a used T60 with a long, wrong screw. Got it cheap because it was having random shutdowns and keyboard didn't work. Was driving me crazy when everything worked fine after disassembly but once I put it back together;Random shutdowns, keyboard stopped working.

[RealBlackStuff]

Check eBay for: lenovo t61 screwset

[cadillacmike68]

And then there is the admonition in most of the HMMs to NOT re-use screws because they might come loose. IBM / Len tech must have carried a large set of screws with them in their kits.

[RealBlackStuff]

I have worked on hundreds of Thinkpads for nearly 20 years and I have yet to lose any screw!
And (where possible) I always reuse the screws that come with the laptop.
Luckily I have collected plenty of spare screws from broken machines, to replace any missing ones.

[unixed]

And then there is the admonition in most of the HMMs to NOT re-use screws because they might come loose. IBM / Len tech must have carried a large set of screws with them in their kits.

There is a coating on the screw that locks it in place. The only place where this makes any practical difference is the central screw holding the keyboard in position -- you can perceive the difference when typing.

[axur-delmeria]

There's a class of adhesives called "threadlocker" specifically for preventing screws from loosening.

[cadillacmike68]

There's a class of adhesives called "threadlocker" specifically for preventing screws from loosening.

Yeah, I know. I use it in automotive maintenance all the time. But when you remove the bolt / screw, it's no longer adhering.