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In this post I explain how to remove and replace damaged keyboard in an HP Pavilion dv3500 (dv3000 series) notebook. It’s not difficult and if you are careful enough, you can swap the keyboard in about 10-15 minutes.
It’s possible that my guide fits some other HP Pavilion models in the dv3000 line. If the guide works for you, please mention the notebook model in comments after the post.
Before you start, turn off the laptop and remove the battery.
STEP 1.
Remove four screws securing the hard drive and memory covers. Remove both covers.
STEP 2.
One of the keyboard screws is located under the hard drive and it has to be removed.
In order to remove the hard drive, slide it to the left until the hard drive is disconnected from the connector on the motherboard. Now you can lift up and remove the hard drive.
It’s not necessary to remove memory modules.
Remove four screws (green circles) securing the keyboard.
STEP 3.
Carefully lift up the top side of the keyboard as it shown on the picture below.
STEP 4.
Move the keyboard in the direction shown by the yellow arrow.
Be careful, the keyboard is still connected to the motherboard.
STEP 5.
Turn the keyboard upside down and place it on the palm rest.
As you see, the keyboard is connected to the motherboard via two ribbon cables.
Let’s disconnect the small cable (Connector 1) first.
STEP 6.
Before you pull the keyboard cable from the connector, the connector has to be unlocked.
In order to unlock the connector, move the black clip about 2 millimeters in the direction show by two arrows.
On the picture below the connector is shown in the unlocked position. Now you can pull the ribbon cable from the connector.
WARNING! The locking clip (black plastic piece you move) must stay attached to the connector base. If you break the connector, you’ll have to replace the entire motherboard.
STEP 7.
Turn the keyboard over again and access the second connector.
STEP 8.
Unlock Connector 2 the same way you unlocked Connector 1.
Move the locking clip about 2 millimeters in the direction shown by two arrows. Pull the keyboard cable from the connector.
Again, the locking clip must stay attached to the connector base.
On my picture the connector is shown in the unlocked position.
STEP 9.
Remove the damaged keyboard from the notebook and replace it with a new one.
STEP 10.
You can find a new replacement keyboard by the HP spare part number printed on the sticker.
In my case the keyboard part number is 496120-001.
Some sellers reference by the keyboard model number and in my case it’s 492991-001.
You can find a brand new keyboard for HP Pavilion dv3500 dv3000 notebooks here.
December 12th, 2010 at 4:47 pm
reyn,
Yes, sounds like you have to replace the CMOS battery.
Try cleaning the cooling module (heatsink and fan). It’s likely the laptop runs hot because the cooling module clogged with dust.
You can blow off the cooling module using canned air.
December 11th, 2010 at 9:56 pm
Update:
Before I disassemble my laptop, I need to confirm this:
my laptop clock often not keeping time. When I turn it off at night and then turn it on later the next morning the time is not showing the correct time. As long as its powered on everything is fine.
I seem to have to resynch the time quite frequently.
Is that problem because of CMOS (RTC) Battery running low??
I have another problem too with my GPU. I think it’s overheated because the temperature always around 58-80 degree.
My question is:
Is it possible to reduce the temperature by give it thermal paste on th GPU Chipset??
P.S. – Sorry my english is not quite well, since it’s not my primary language…
December 8th, 2010 at 6:11 pm
Jim,
Not sure about that.
I believe a backlight keyboard has an extra cable (for the light).
If you have this connection available on the motherboard probably you can install a new keyboard with backligth.
December 8th, 2010 at 6:08 pm
reyn,
Yes, it’s possible to remove the replace the CMOS (RTC) battery but the entire laptop has to be disassembled and motherboard removed.
You’ll find disassembly instructions in the official service manual for HP Pavilion dv3500 notebooks.
The CMOS battery location shown on the page 78.
December 5th, 2010 at 7:49 pm
i have a HP Pavilion dv3518tx and i have a problem with the CMOS Battr.
I want to replace it with a new one, but I can’t find where it is.
could you post a picture where is it in my laptop, please??
Note: HP Pavilion dv3518tx have exactly the same model with dv3500
December 5th, 2010 at 7:22 pm
Hi,
My keyboard works fine, but I would like to read the keys better. Can I replace my keyboard with a backlit keyboard by following this tutorial or do I need additional modifications?
P.S. – I found something about keys not working based on the GPU heating up here: http://www.nvidiasettlement.com/index.html
Thanks
November 21st, 2010 at 9:18 am
vicky,
Weird! I’ve never seen it before.
You can follow steps 1-5 and remove the keyboard. Under the keyboard you’ll see the fan. Try blowing air into the fan from inside, this will remove most dust from the cooling module. Just don’t forget to block fan so it doesn’t spin like crazy when you blowing air.
November 21st, 2010 at 2:17 am
Update: turns out that the non-working key issue is heat related. The keys work fine until the computer gets hot and then they stop working. As soon as I put a cooling pad under it and it cools down the keys start working again. I need to figure out how to access the fan so that I can clean it out. I’ve tried blowing it out externally but it needs more than that. Not sure now if it’s worth installing the new keyboard even though I already have it?
November 21st, 2010 at 1:05 am
vicky,
Sounds like this is keyboard related problem. I think replacing the keyboard will fix it.
November 19th, 2010 at 12:38 pm
Thanks for the clear instructions!