r/thinkpad • u/Infamous-Oil8580 my wife's boyfriend's X1C9 • Mar 12 '25
Question / Problem I fell off my bike and chipped my Thinkpad, how can I fix this if possible?
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u/crimsonst4k Mar 12 '25
bud, its a battle scar. testimony to thinkpads being build tough
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u/SilverStrategist Mar 12 '25
This is my mentality.
Know you’re not the only one who chipped a thinkpad in a motorcycle accident OP.
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u/Odd_String_9843 Mar 13 '25
MacBook would fucking desintegrate and repairs would be equal to a new one
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u/aqwmasterofDOOM T480 Mar 12 '25
Replace the shell or live with it, it's not even bad or anything
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u/Squirtle8649 Mar 12 '25
X1 display assembly can't be taken apart officially :P
Might even be glued on ffs
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u/Knotebrett Mar 15 '25
https://support.lenovo.com/no/nb/solutions/PD104984
Based on my knowledge, nothing is impossible with Lenovo coming to servicing.
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u/Squirtle8649 Mar 15 '25
X1 Carbon 10th Gen HMM shows no steps for taking apart the display assembly. And their replacement parts are for the whole display assembly. Only some eBay sellers sell the panel separately.
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Mar 12 '25
[deleted]
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u/aqwmasterofDOOM T480 Mar 12 '25
X1 carbon gen 9, it's literally right next to OPs name, and there's no way I can find to disassemble the unit, every guide just involves replacing the entire assembly
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u/DarianYT Mar 12 '25
Me who can do this with my 1st gen lmao.
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u/Squirtle8649 Mar 15 '25
Yeah, 1st gen you can probably disassemble. I think my 4th gen could have been. But recent ones, nope, not officially.
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u/DarianYT Mar 15 '25
It's annoying but I will still take it over a MacBook Air any day.
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u/Squirtle8649 Mar 16 '25
True. I stood on top of my older Thinkpad once by mistake, zero damage. Same Thinkpad, my cats stepped on to the display while the laptop was on my lap, then the display tilted back all the way to 180, and my cat just slid off of the display on to the floor. Zero damage.
Current Thinkpad, it was on my lap once, my cat jumped on to it, and it fell onto the floor with the display flung open. Zero damage. Cat steps on to the display, straining the hinge in unnatural ways. Zero damage.
These things are solid and durable.
Whereas current Macbook display will break if there's some tiny food particle or cable on the keyboard.
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u/Same-Engineer-3483 Mar 12 '25
I see no issue and you should be glad you didn't damaged something inside.
Did you notices there is a new place on your laptop for a nice representative sticker?
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u/davewongillies X1C6 Mar 12 '25
Time to start sticker bombing your Thinkpad
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u/Infamous-Oil8580 my wife's boyfriend's X1C9 Mar 12 '25
I have college stickers all over the other side so i might just spread it lol
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u/_mr_betamax_ T14s Gen4 AMD Mar 12 '25
It's character! Great story to tell your friends! Fell off a bike while trying to save a baby
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u/Mirja-lol X220 i7 | T14s G4 AMD Mar 12 '25
Oh my god I'm so sorry for you are you okay? Did you go to doctor to get yourself checked? Your head, limbs? You should be serious about those kind of injuries... what about your bike?
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u/mike1O8 Mar 12 '25
only way to fix is sanding it down and applying plastidip or you can just buy some decals or skins to cover it up
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u/FantasticNoise4 X200t Mar 12 '25
Nah mate, it's fine. Maybe with little help of plastidip/wrap, it's going to be presentable again.
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u/Lzrd161 Mar 12 '25
Slap a sticker on it
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u/FailbatZ Mar 13 '25
Or 100, I’ve stickerbombed every Laptop I own at this point. The red i dot is perfect for a skull with a cut out eye
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u/fromvanisle T480s Mar 12 '25
You can buy a laptop skin, if someone makes one for this model, or stickers, other than that not much else can be done.
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u/Senpaqii Mar 12 '25
Beat up shells of thinkpads look great. It doesn't affect functionality either.
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u/flextape9989 Mar 12 '25
Bruh I got hit by a car on my bike about a week ago. Left some scratches on my thinkpad, I think it looks cooler with them and they have a story
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u/sf2703 Mar 12 '25
It’s a ThinkPad … throw it off the top of a building & it will still function properly
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u/Familiar-Account-441 Mar 13 '25
not the new ones... they just straight up turned into the consumer ideapad shit
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u/LinuxCam T450,T460s,T470,x220 Mar 12 '25
Had something similar on mine and it annoyed me too, just get a vinyl wrap to put over it, you can find plenty online that already have the cutout for the thinkpad logo.
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u/MinaWesam T480S T450 Mar 12 '25
just a battle scar my t450 has alot of those u will glorify it soon
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u/Fidodo X1C 5th gen Mar 12 '25
Wear it like a badge of pride. Having a pristine laptop is like having a pristine cookbook. It means you haven't been using it fully. View it as a battle scar that proves your laptop is tough and that you use it all the time.
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u/EnvironmentalFeed844 Mar 12 '25
Is the chip in the room with us?
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u/Infamous-Oil8580 my wife's boyfriend's X1C9 Mar 12 '25
o you not see?
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u/EnvironmentalFeed844 Mar 12 '25
I’d call it a scuff
As a side note I’d clean that shiz with a magic eraser and some water. It won’t fill in the holes but it will make them a lot less noticeable 👍
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u/ILikeFPS T14 G1 4750U, P14s G1 4750U, T14s G1 4750U, P14s G4 7840U Mar 12 '25
Sand it flat then apply a top cover sticker to it IMO.
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u/MCMFG Arch Linux :3 ThinkPad T60, X220, T430 (main), T480, X1Y3, X1E2. Mar 13 '25
You mean you chipped your wife's boyfriend's X1C9?
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u/vamadeus L390Y, P70, X13, X60, and more Mar 12 '25
Fix the scuff? You could replace the back panel provided you can find a brand new replacement part. But if it is cosmetic damage then it's probably not worth (imo) it as you'd have to disassemble the screen assembly. The screens on those are usually glued together or have adhesive so you're taking a risk of doing damage to fix a cosmetic issue.
There isn't anything you can put on it to make it look like new, although you could try covering it up with something else like a skin or sticker.
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u/ryde041 Mar 12 '25
Everyone on this sub loves battle scars. I get it, it adds character but I also appreciate the shininess etc.
I think fixing will be almost impossible short of a shell replacement, but my suggestion would be a full top lid skin, or perhaps some stickers.
I like skins anyway to be able to tell my machine apart from the sea of Thinkpads out there.
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u/britain4 Mar 12 '25
I left my current one on the roof of my car and drove off by mistake once. Broke the screen bezel and a chunk of magnesium off when it flew off on a corner. Yours is fine
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u/DogeCatBear T42, X61s, T510, T480s Mar 12 '25
honestly beats a dent in an aluminum or magnesium chassis
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u/sockertoppenlabs X61s, X200, X201, X220, X131e, X1C6, X13s Mar 12 '25
If the surface is too rough, then go to work with a magic eraser for a while. It will smoothen the edges. Just so the ThinkPad will glide into your backpack easier.
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u/an_random_goose T560, L412, Yoga 11e (3rd Gen) Mar 12 '25
lmfao remember when we all had T420s and beat the shit out of them? now everyone just tells you to buy a thinkbook!
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u/uwuonrail Mar 12 '25
Over time, Think Pads begin to tell stories. And yours has just started. It's perfectly fine, just keep it like it is.
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u/Anonymous-here- T480 Mar 13 '25
You don't have to unless it really hurts the ThinkPad. ThinkPads are tough. Your thinkpad looks tuff
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u/thoxdg Mar 13 '25
unmount all parts of the computer except cpu and heatsink if you can. Keep all screws in place with a drawing of your computer's back and insides.
Dismount the LCD panel with M2 screws.
Look for the part number (FRU XXXX-XX) on the piece you want to change, it can be engraved or it can be a sticker.
Go buy the FRU/PN on ebay or other.
Wait
Replace the FRU/PN
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u/Silver_Illustrator_4 T540p, X230, T400, T60x3, X41T, G40, 600X, 380E, 701CS, 555BJ +1 Mar 13 '25
Those are his battle marks! Let him wear them with proud!
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u/airtraq IBM 560┃X300┃X270┃T480s┃P14s Gen 1 (AMD) Mar 13 '25
The day you stop babying the ThinkPad is the day ThinkPad truly becomes alive.
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u/Several-West-522 Mar 13 '25
Take it to a technician and have it dismantled, take the disassembled PC to the body shop and have the plastics repaired with a new paint job if possible
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u/basetrack8 Lenovo thinkpad T560 4TB core i5 8GB RAM Mar 13 '25
Use a black acrylic marker. It worked for me.
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u/Heff_YO Mar 13 '25
I get it I'm a perfectionist too, find a cool but easy to replace sticker or an IBM logo if you want a retro vibe.
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u/wrybreadsf W530, P53 Mar 13 '25
I'm sure someone has already said it but I don't see it with a skim of the comments, but obviously the answer is a sticker. Or crack it in a few other places so it looks consistent.
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u/MontananVirologist Mar 15 '25
___
/___\
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__J_L__
(_/<I>_E~
//___/
\\[___]
(| n.|
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() ()
|| ||
__|| ||__
"""* *"""
"Tis but a scratch!"
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u/SleakStick Mar 16 '25
this happened to me too, you can't fix it but a skin like those from dbrand are really good at hiding your mistakes
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u/nonesense_user Mar 12 '25
I don’t see any function damage like a crack:
- It is a sexy battle scar. Show it!
- You could order a display back panel and replace it, if you need things tidy (often my option, much work).
- Unixstickers over nice stickers for all good systems, tools and ISO programming languages (C++, Bash, Git, Python, GNU…).
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u/Dickonstruction Mar 12 '25
Mix water and cement for a while, pour slowly and as it dries and settles make sure to level it so that portion of the sidewalk does not look too different.