Inside look of the Helios 500?

Anyone know somewhere I can see how the Helios 500 looks on the inside between the motherboard and the keyboard?

I've only found videos and pictures showing as far as the heat pipes, but since I'm considering opening it up further in order to completely clean all the components with 99% IPA due to an unfortunate incident involving an extremely sugary drink I would like to at least see how it looks like, of course preferably I'd watch a video of complete dissassembly and reassembly first.

What I'm most interested in is how difficult it is to reconnect the keyboard to the motherboard since I've experienced serious difficulties with that before when I dissassembled an old Acer laptop a long time ago.

Another thing I'm curious about is where the RAM is located on the front because the spillage was mostly on the left side of the keyboard, if the RAM is located all the way to the right then maybe I don't need to clean it after all.

Accepted answers

JackE

First, KBs are notoriously a PIA reconnecting to the mainboard. My fingers and hands are too big for one thing. Then the KB ribbon end never seems to stay in the mainboard connector with the plastic slider in position. Then the slider ends often break off. So I finally have to use Scotch tape to hold the ribbon down plus a bit of foam rubber so the KB, once in position, presses against the ribbon ends and connector to make good contact. There must be a better way but most laptops are still built this way.

Anyway, since you asked for it, the two images below are the top & bottom views of the PH517-51 mainboard. For your extra inconvenience, the KB connectors seem to have been located on the bottom instead of the top of the mainboard. And the RAM slots seem to be located more toward the middle than the right so may you do have to clean it after all.

Extremely sugary drinks are not recommended for human consumption either.

Jack E/NJ

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/6029997/uploads/editor/8u/8zoh95d1485h.jpg

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/6029997/uploads/editor/b0/t76fq53mdc95.jpg

brummyfan2

Hi,
Remove Keyboard connector tape(B in the first snip), disconnect LED board FPC from the board(C), disconnect USB board FPC from the board(D), disconnect keyboard backlight FPC from the board(E), disconnect keyboard FPC from the board(F), disconnect the Touchpad FPC from the board(G), disconnect the eDP cable from the main board(H), Disconnect power button FPC from the main board(K), disconnect macro board FPC from the board(L), then remove 2 screws (M) and gently lift the motherboard.
The memory modules are in the middle on the board at the back.

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/6029997/uploads/editor/4h/sjpegltcg6bo.jpg

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/6029997/uploads/editor/b8/qkchgs07hzbb.jpg

All comments

JackE

First, KBs are notoriously a PIA reconnecting to the mainboard. My fingers and hands are too big for one thing. Then the KB ribbon end never seems to stay in the mainboard connector with the plastic slider in position. Then the slider ends often break off. So I finally have to use Scotch tape to hold the ribbon down plus a bit of foam rubber so the KB, once in position, presses against the ribbon ends and connector to make good contact. There must be a better way but most laptops are still built this way.

Anyway, since you asked for it, the two images below are the top & bottom views of the PH517-51 mainboard. For your extra inconvenience, the KB connectors seem to have been located on the bottom instead of the top of the mainboard. And the RAM slots seem to be located more toward the middle than the right so may you do have to clean it after all.

Extremely sugary drinks are not recommended for human consumption either.

Jack E/NJ

brummyfan2

Hi,
Remove Keyboard connector tape(B in the first snip), disconnect LED board FPC from the board(C), disconnect USB board FPC from the board(D), disconnect keyboard backlight FPC from the board(E), disconnect keyboard FPC from the board(F), disconnect the Touchpad FPC from the board(G), disconnect the eDP cable from the main board(H), Disconnect power button FPC from the main board(K), disconnect macro board FPC from the board(L), then remove 2 screws (M) and gently lift the motherboard.
The memory modules are in the middle on the board at the back.

JohnFrantzen

Thank you very much both of you!

This will be very helpful! (I hadn't even thought about searching up images of the motherboard, yeah...I'm a noob :P )

JackE said:

For your extra inconvenience, the KB connectors seem to have been located on the bottom instead of the top of the mainboard. And the RAM slots seem to be located more toward the middle than the right so may you do have to clean it after all.

Extremely sugary drinks are not recommended for human consumption either.

I actually think that makes it way easier tho!
The hard part of reconnecting the keyboard was that the cable was super short and you had to somehow connect it between the keyboard and the motherboard, using my fingers did not work at all, I think I used some knitting tools or something that my mother had lying around in order to reach underneath there and push the plug into it's connector.

Yeah unfortunately it seems like the RAM slots are just below the WASD keys which is where most of the spillage went

It also seems the sugar would potentially destroy my left-hand USB-C port (which is the one I'm considering getting a dongle for since it's kinda inconvenient using the ones on the right due to my mouse being there), my precious Thunderbolt 3 ports, my SSD connectors and what seems important even tho I don't know what it is, my PCH....I kinda don't want anything to stop working in 6 months due to corrotion induced by my sugary mishap...I just really hope I don't **** anything up while I try to clean up my mess.

I usually don't drink very sugary stuff, honestly I mostly just drink water, but unfortunately I got sick and my throat hurt real bad so I had made me some ginger + lime tea which really needed to be sweetened up in order to be enjoyable so for this particular cup I added LOTS! of honey....and of course it had to be this exact cup I manage to spill all over my baby

But hey I guess this may turn for the better as I'm quite sure I'll be going through with this cleaning myself and order some really good thermal paste to use so she runs even cooler than before

Thinking about ordering the "Plexgear MX-880 Polarfreeze Nano" which has a cooling effect of 5,15 W/mK (whatever that means, it's a higher number than the rest ^^)

brummyfan2 said:

Hi,
Remove Keyboard connector tape(B in the first snip), disconnect LED board FPC from the board(C), disconnect USB board FPC from the board(D), disconnect keyboard backlight FPC from the board(E), disconnect keyboard FPC from the board(F), disconnect the Touchpad FPC from the board(G), disconnect the eDP cable from the main board(H), Disconnect power button FPC from the main board(K), disconnect macro board FPC from the board(L), then remove 2 screws (M) and gently lift the motherboard.
The memory modules are in the middle on the board at the back.

Thanks a lot for the detailed walkthrough man!
Even tho it feels a bit intimidating having to disconnect/reconnect so much stuff I feel a lot more comfortable about it having a walkthrough like this!

brummyfan2

Hi @JohnFrantzen
You are welcome

yes, it will be a good experience and you seem to be capable of meddling with these machines, so take your time and complete the job, good luck!

JohnFrantzen

brummyfan2 said:

Hi @JohnFrantzen
You are welcome yes, it will be a good experience and you seem to be capable of meddling with these machines, so take your time and complete the job, good luck!

Thanks! Yeah I hope so, I've only disassembled one laptop before and that was an old one that I wasn't too worried about if I killed it.

This time I will be a lot more careful not to break anything or scratch stuff up, I'll also be diligent in making sure I know what screw goes where (on that old laptop I broke of a bunch of plastic screw holders and I definitely made mistakes regarding what screw I used where, I also ended up with extra screws *oops* it still booted up tho

)

I'm starting to get a good idea of how to disassemble it and how to clean it, but I'm wondering if I need to use something to avoid static electricity damage?
Should I use gloves? Do I need an anti-static pad of some sort? Is it enough if I use that wristband thing that comes with this ifixit set?
https://www.ifixit.com/Store/Tools/Pro-Tech-Toolkit/IF145-307-4

brummyfan2

Yes, a wrist band will be fine, something similar to this:https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B019C77CUW/ref=asc_df_B019C77CUW55641636/?tag=googshopuk-21&creative=22146&creativeASIN=B019C77CUW&linkCode=df0&hvadid=214877336784&hvpos=1o1&hvnetw=g&hvrand=15204008876296883825&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9045532&hvtargid=pla-459157143297

JackE

I usually don't but probably should use a wristband at least. If you don't have carpets nearby to buildup a charge on yourself and the humidity is above 50%, it's probably fine to do without. Jack E/NJ

JohnFrantzen

brummyfan2 said:

Yes, a wrist band will be fine, something similar to this:https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B019C77CUW/ref=asc_df_B019C77CUW55641636/?tag=googshopuk-21&creative=22146&creativeASIN=B019C77CUW&linkCode=df0&hvadid=214877336784&hvpos=1o1&hvnetw=g&hvrand=15204008876296883825&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9045532&hvtargid=pla-459157143297

JackE said:

I usually don't but probably should use a wristband at least. If you don't have carpets nearby to buildup a charge on yourself and the humidity is above 50%, it's probably fine to do without. Jack E/NJ

Okay yeah I will be using a wristband and probably also an anti-static mat since if I order for over 80€ I get free shipping :P
https://www.ifixit.com/Store/Tools/Anti-Static-Mat/IF145-036-2

However I'm getting really frustrated trying to figure out how to use this thing when I don't have a computer case to bond with.

I can find thousands of videos and texts explaining how easy it is, you just connect the crocodile thing to your computer case....but no one ever mentions what you do if you don't have a computer case!

I'm getting really triggered :P

Grounding myself seems difficult as I'd have to connect myself to something highly conductive that is directly connected to the earth, but bonding with something seems to be sufficient, is that right?

Does any medium sized piece of metal do?
I suppose my fridge or stove wont do as they already have electricity in them, but I have a chair that's got metal legs, would that do you think?
It's got some plastic pieces on the bottom making the metal part not actually touch the floor, but does that actually matter at all?

vanadium

wow, where can I get a PDF of all the details about the motherboard explained here? Is it only internal to Acer?

JackE

I think a room humidifier would be easier and just as effective as any of the fancy stuff to avoid static discharges. Probably better for your health too if the humidity gets too low in the room. Jack E/NJ

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