Solution to Iconia 6120 ghost touch issue

cwszalek

I own this laptop and believe I have found the issue and an easy (but ugly looking) solution.  

 

A static charge can build up on the metal casing of the laptop lid which is completely insulated from the rest of the laptop. The charge eventually becomes strong enough to activate the touch sensor in the top screen. The simplest solution isn't pretty but doesn't involve tearing the laptop apart. Just tape a strip of aluminum foil from the metal lid, over the hinge to the metal casing on the bottom of the laptop.  This grounds the metal lid to the same state as the rest of the laptop and prevents the the static charge from building up.

 

As a former laptop repair technician I felt comfortable trying the the various solutions involving taking the lid apart and applying tape, but I found that the problem would return after a few weeks. I've also read all the descriptions of owners sending their laptops back to Acer only to have the problem return despite Acer either replacing parts or declaring no trouble found.  As a former repair tech, I did the same thing an Acer tech would do--I grounded myself and the laptop to prevent causing electro-static damage.  This grounding would cause the problem to disapear and explains why it's been so hard to figure out and why the problem seems to always come back.

 

My aluminum foil fix hasn't been 100%. Ghost touch can still come back in the driest part of winter when I wear a wool sweater and use my Iconia, but holding both the lid and bottom metal plates and grounding myself has been enough to make it go away at those times.