How do I completely remove back panel from Acer Aspire R5-471T-71W2 laptop?

Commodore_1995#

You are welcome my friend.

Ant38

Beck18 said:

Beck18 said:

ok, thank you.  In the next few days I will try opening the case again and if it's stuck I will see if there's any way to photograph the inside . . .
I hope to follow up on the thread then.

If it turns out I can't open it more than a little bit, would the best strategy be to stick a larger plastic spatula or credit card towards the inside top of the back panel to try to detach from there -- rather than detaching the adhesion from inside of the chassis? 
I assume anything I detach from the inside of the back panel won't be pulling any hardware off, as it might from the chassis side . . . ?

Hi Again,  I got it open and separated!!  (Pics attached.)  Thanks to you both -- billsey and egydiocoelho! -- for your terrifically detailed and targeted help!  It made all the difference and gave me the confidence to pursue getting the case open and separated. 
Indeed, it turned out that the tape had rolled back and was adhering to the case bottom -- you nailed it!
Luckily, with the help of a friend, I got the back panel off without damaging anything and was able to successfully install a new SSD drive.

Kudos and thanks to you both!!

Hi beck18 I found this thread very helpful thank you. But I had to create an account to warn you that it looks like your battery is swollen from those pictures. I'd recommend looking into replacing it as they can be rather dangerous. 

Ant. 

Beck18

Wow!  Thank you for the sharp eye and for taking the trouble to create an account to let me know!
Any recommendations on where to shop for a replacement?
Is this something that needs immediate attention or can I address it in a month or two?
Might it signify other additional problems with the laptop, or is it likely just an issue confined to the battery?
(The laptop is 4 years old.  I just now invested in a new 1TB SSD drive, but am wondering if I am likely to start encountering multiple hardware issues.  If it's just a battery replacement, I don't mind investing in that.)

billsey

Great job!

Now we have to talk about the battery... See those bulges in the three chambers? That shows the battery is going into failure mode. It's a gradual process but as they swell they can interfere with the touchpad and in more extreme case even push the case apart. Replacement batteries from Acer use either part number KT.00403.027 or KT.0040G.004 and there are also third party sources for them. To replace the battery you take it back down just the same as last time then disconnect the pretty colored cable between the battery and motherboard, then take out the two screws holding it in. Likely there is mylar tape holding the battery cable in place and you'll want to peel it off as well. Pull the battery out, put the new one in, reconnect the cables and tape then reassemble, charge and fire it back up once it's fully charged and you'll be good to go for a few more years.

Ant38

Beck18 said:

Wow!  Thank you for the sharp eye and for taking the trouble to create an account to let me know!
Any recommendations on where to shop for a replacement?
Is this something that needs immediate attention or can I address it in a month or two?
Might it signify other additional problems with the laptop, or is it likely just an issue confined to the battery?
(The laptop is 4 years old.  I just now invested in a new 1TB SSD drive, but am wondering if I am likely to start encountering multiple hardware issues.  If it's just a battery replacement, I don't mind investing in that.)

I don't think it will signify other hardware issues. It's just something that happens to some batteries. 

I've only ever replaced a dell one so I'm not sure on where to get one for your Acer. Maybe one of the more active members of this forum will have some suggestions about that.

I'd recommend immediate action tbh because they can be dangerous. This is a link to a general post about swollen batteries. Ifixit is a reputable consumer company all about right to repair.
https://www.ifixit.com/Wiki/What_to_do_with_a_swollen_battery

Commodore_1995#

@Ant38It is very dangerous to keep a bloated battery installed in the laptop. Now, if you are purchasing a new battery, purchase one that has the same voltage as the old battery:

billsey

Just Google those part numbers, there are plenty of vendors that provide them and they aren't typically too expensive. If you stick with a vendor that has a good return policy you'll be covered even if they send you the wrong thing. The bulging happens when the battery gets a little too flat too often, when the battery gets close to a full discharge the lithium atoms grow together to form a crystal, and the crystal can be sharp enough to cut between layers. The 'ion' part of a Lithium ion battery is a liquid and it migrates through the new holes, which allows it to expand and form those bubbles. If it gets bad enough you could potentially have the crystal short across layers, and that makes for a bunch of heat. Best not to get there at all...

Beck18

Thank you all for the rich, detailed information!!

So I googled the two battery numbers @Ant provided (thank you!) and I found 3 sellers on ebay selling it for between $13.50 to $18.00, e.g.,  https://www.impactcomputers.com/kt.0040g.004.html and
NEW Genuine Acer Aspire E5-771 E5-771G R3-131T R5-431T R5-471T Battery AC14B3K 
(all with over 99% feedback on over 20,000 sales), 
and then for $30 from https://www.impactcomputers.com/kt.00403.027.html.

Anyone have experience buying batteries online?  Any thoughts on buying from impactcomputers vs. ebay?

Beck18

!!!!  PLEASE ADVISE!!!  Got BSOD!!

Hi, So things were going along swimmingly after I had done a Fresh Start on my computer . . . but then . . .

I had just initiated a download of Firefox from Ninite, and the install was taking longer than usual.  After about 10 minutes of waiting for the install to complete, I finally clicked Cancel.  Then the cancel kept going and not completing, so I finally clicked on the X to close the whole process.

During this time, my portable external drive with all my backup data had been plugged into my laptop's USB port, so I decided I should remove the portable drive and then do a restart on my laptop. 

When I clicked on the Eject icon on my taskbar to remove the external drive, and then clicked on Eject, it brought up my Devices list (printers and mouse, etc.) instead of letting me click on the drive to eject it.

So with no recourse, I clicked on the Windows logo on bottom-left of screen and clicked Shut Down to close everything up so that I could remove my external drive when it was no longer powered and blinking.

The strange thing was that after I shut down -- and even after I disconnected the AC, the external drive's light remained lit.  That's never happened before.

Finally, (I think after I long-pressed the power button) somehow, the light went off and I unplugged the external drive from the USB port.

Since then, every time after I press the laptop's power button to start the computer, all I get is the splash screen with "Acer Explore Beyond Limits", the white spinning dots for about 1 second, and then the whole screen goes black!! 

If I move my mouse, I do see my white mouse arrow moving around on the black screen -- and maybe every couple of minutes, the blue spinning "wait" wheel pops onto screen for a few seconds -- but that's it!!!

This is beyond frustrating and demoralizing after all the hours I spent researching how to replace my hard drive, etc, etc.

Could this problem be because of the bad battery?  OR is it likely something else?  Might you have any suggestions on how I can troubleshoot this?

I'm wondering if I should just give up and buy a new laptop (even though I'd prefer not to have to incur that expense right now).

Please advise!!!  Thank you!!!  Thank you!!

billsey

More than likely the hung process that started the whole sequence off had files left open on the drive when you did the forced shutdown with the long press of the power button. That normally isn't a problem, but it can leave the volume marked as in an unknown state, requiring a disk scan at launch in order to make sure the file system isn't corrupted. That can take a long time... Let it get to the black screen then just leave it alone overnight to make sure it's n ot just taking a looong time to do something like that.

Beck18

ok, thanks.  So just basically I should power it back on now and leave it alone until tomorrow.  Will do.

Any idea, prior to the long-press, why the Firefox install might have hung to begin with?

Beck18

billsey said:

More than likely the hung process that started the whole sequence off had files left open on the drive when you did the forced shutdown with the long press of the power button. That normally isn't a problem, but it can leave the volume marked as in an unknown state, requiring a disk scan at launch in order to make sure the file system isn't corrupted. That can take a long time... Let it get to the black screen then just leave it alone overnight to make sure it's n ot just taking a looong time to do something like that.

It's now been almost 15 hours that my computer has been left on, and unfortunately, when I touched the mouse this morning, still all that I saw was, for a moment, a purple-black screen and my mouse cursor.  But I came back a few minutes later and now it's just a solid black screen -- the same solid black as if the laptop was off (even though it's been plugged in for hours and shows two blue lights -- for power).  No visible mouse cursor.

Any suggestions for further troubleshooting?

Commodore_1995#

Have you disconnected the bloated battery? What happens when you press fn + f7 and only f7?

Beck18

Have not disconnected bloated battery.  Should I do that before pressing fn + f7 and only f7?
What should happen when I press fn + f7 and only f7?

Beck18

egydiocoelho said:

Have you disconnected the bloated battery? What happens when you press fn + f7 and only f7?

(Sorry, I had neglected to look at the function keys after your suggestion -- forgetting that they say what they do on the keys!)

I did just now press press fn + f7 several times, and then only f7 several times.  And after each time I tried the touchpad (both moving my finger on it and tapping).

Result:  Absolutely nothing! 
Even though the two blue indicator lights are lit at bottom front edge of laptop, the screen now remains totally dark and inactive, as if the computer is turned off!

(I have not yet taken out the battery.  Might doing so make a difference?)

Commodore_1995#

The bloated battery is installed on the touchpad. Try removing it and then disconnect and reconnect the touchpad.

Beck18

btw, in case it's significant:  fn + F9, and fn + F10 do work (to dim and brighten the backlit keyboard).

Beck18

egydiocoelho said:

The bloated battery is installed on the touchpad. Try removing it and then disconnect and reconnect the touchpad.

ok, I see what you're getting at.  thank you for clarifying.  I'll remove the battery [per billsey's how-to below] and see what happens . . .

billsey Posts: 11,372 Trailblazer

July 24

Great job!

Now we have to talk about the battery... See those bulges in the three chambers? That shows the battery is going into failure mode. It's a gradual process but as they swell they can interfere with the touchpad and in more extreme case even push the case apart. Replacement batteries from Acer use either part number KT.00403.027 or KT.0040G.004 and there are also third party sources for them. To replace the battery you take it back down just the same as last time then disconnect the pretty colored cable between the battery and motherboard, then take out the two screws holding it in. Likely there is mylar tape holding the battery cable in place and you'll want to peel it off as well. Pull the battery out, put the new one in, reconnect the cables and tape then reassemble, charge and fire it back up once it's fully charged and you'll be good to go for a few more years.

Commodore_1995#

Then publish the result here.

Beck18

egydiocoelho said:

Then publish the result here.

Got it open.  Removed the battery.  Below are the photos.

Re disconnecting and reconnecting the touchpad cable, I'm pretty sure that that's just to the right of the  orange straw in last (i.e. 3rd) picture.

I wasn't successful pulling out the cable . . . but perhaps  I'm not understanding where to pull?

I assumed that the black rectangular plastic piece, just above the blue ribbon cable, is where I have to pull.

Tried getting hold of the right and left side-edges of that black plastic piece with my nails and pulling towards me, but didn't work.

Any guidance on how to get it disconnected is welcome . . .

I assumed that the black rectangular plastic piece [in photo below], just above the blue ribbon cable, is where I have to pull, to disconnect touchpad.

Tried getting hold of the right and left side-edges of that black plastic piece with my nails and pulling towards me, but didn't work.

Any guidance on how to get it disconnected is welcome . . .