{"id":1551,"date":"2025-07-19T16:09:56","date_gmt":"2025-07-19T20:09:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bohls.org\/blog\/?p=1551"},"modified":"2025-07-24T15:42:29","modified_gmt":"2025-07-24T19:42:29","slug":"repairing-n2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bohls.org\/blog\/2025\/07\/19\/repairing-n2\/","title":{"rendered":"Repairing Dell Latitude E5550"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

This laptop is almost exactly 10 years old. Originally came with Windows 7, now running Windows 10. The CMOS battery finally gave up the ghost, so I merely needed to replace it, but in this stupid model that entails disassembling the entire kit & caboodle. I broke two of the connectors for the keyboard my first go round, and the power connector on my second try. So a $10 repair turned into a $150 repair, since I then had to get a new motherboard, keyboard, and palmrest assembly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here’s the final tear down and parts replacement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Replacing the keyboard, palm rest, motherboard & CMOS battery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/svg>\n\t\t<\/button>
Ready to begin<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Gotta keep track of a lot of screws. Each step gets its own little box.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/svg>\n\t\t<\/button>
Boxes to Hold Screws & Small parts<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Gotta make sure to follow instructions carefully. Thanks Parts People – The Dell Laptop Experts.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/svg>\n\t\t<\/button>
Step-by-Step Repair Instructions<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

First things first, taking off the back. That’s the first 6 of 51 screws.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/svg>\n\t\t<\/button>
Removed Back<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Out with the battery, RAM, and SSD. Starting to look naked already.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/svg>\n\t\t<\/button>
Removed Battery RAM SSD<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Stacking up the parts to the side, the ones too big to fit in the little boxes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/svg>\n\t\t<\/button>
Parts Stack<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Take out the keyboard. Be extra <\/em>careful unplugging those ribbon cables.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/svg>\n\t\t<\/button>
Removed Keyboard<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Then off with the trackpad and palm rest. It’s a surprisingly big part, a big assembly actually.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/svg>\n\t\t<\/button>
Removed Palmrest<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Disconnecting the 15.6-inch screen. This is scary in theory, kinda easy in practice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/svg>\n\t\t<\/button>
Disconnected Screen<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

And, finally, out with the motherboard. Why is the CMOS battery this hard to get to?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/svg>\n\t\t<\/button>
Removed Motherboard<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Replacing the motherboard, actually. With a new, albeit slower, model.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/svg>\n\t\t<\/button>
Old vs New Motherboard<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Now to reverse all the steps, put her back together. Will it really work?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/svg>\n\t\t<\/button><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

It works! It’s alive!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This laptop is almost exactly 10 years old. Originally came with Windows 7, now running Windows 10. The CMOS battery finally gave up the ghost, so I merely needed to replace it, but in this stupid model that entails disassembling the entire kit & caboodle. I broke two of the connectors for the keyboard my … Continue reading Repairing Dell Latitude E5550<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1551","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-tech"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bohls.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1551","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bohls.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bohls.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bohls.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bohls.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1551"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.bohls.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1551\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1572,"href":"https:\/\/www.bohls.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1551\/revisions\/1572"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bohls.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1551"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bohls.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1551"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bohls.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1551"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}