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In this guide I explain how to take apart an Acer Aspire 5520 laptop.
Also, I believe this laptop is very similar to Acer Aspire 5220.
I’ll go though the following procedures:
1. Removing hard drive and memory.
2. Removing cooling fan and heatsink.
3. Removing keyboard.
It’s possible the guide will work for some other Acer Aspire models. If it works for you, please mention the model number in comments bellow.
In the next post I’ll explain how to remove and replace the LCD screen.
Before you start, make sure the laptop is turned off and battery removed.
STEP 1.
Remove two screws securing the hard drive cover. Lift up and remove the cover.
Remove four screws securing the memory/cooling fan/wireless card cover. Lift up and remove the cover.
In my case the memory cover was seated very tightly.
I had to use a guitar pick in order to separate the cover from the laptop base.
After all covers are removed you’ll get an access to the hard drive, both memory modules, wireless card and cooling module.
STEP 2.
Slide the hard drive assembly to the left and disconnect it from the motherboard.
Lift up and remove the hard drive assembly.
If you are replacing or upgrading the hard drive, you’ll have to transfer the mounting bracket to the new drive.
Acer Aspire 5520 uses a regular 2.5″ SATA hard drive. Any large SATA hard drive should work fine in this laptop.
STEP 3.
In order to remove the memory module, you’ll have to spread latches on both sides of the memory slot.
After the memory module pops up at a 30 degree angle, you can pull it from the slot.
Acer Aspire 5520 can take up to 4GB RAM total. There are two memory slot, so you can install up to 2GB RAM module into each slot.
Memory used: DDR2 667MHz (PC2-5300) SODIMM.
STEP 4.
Remove three screws securing the cooling fan.
Disconnect the cooling fan cable from the motherboard.
STEP 5.
Lift up and remove cooling fan.
Here you can find a new fan for Acer Aspire 5520 laptop.
When the cooling fan removed, you can clean the heatsink using compressed air.
A clogged heatsink can cause laptop overheating and unexpected laptop shut downs.
STEP 6.
If you would like to apply fresh thermal grease on the processor, you’ll have to remove the heatsink assembly first.
Loosen four screws securing the heatsink assembly, carefully separate it from the processor and remove from the laptop.
After that you can apply fresh thermal grease on the processor.
STEP 7.
Remove one screw securing the DVD drive.
Pull DVD drive from the laptop.
REMOVING AND REPLACING LAPTOP KEYBOARD.
In the following steps I explain how to disconnect and remove laptop keyboard. If you would like to replace the keyboard, it’s not necessary to go though all previous steps (except removing the main battery).
STEP 8.
Remove three screws from the battery compartment.
These screws securing the switch board cover.
STEP 9.
Separate the switch board cover from the laptop base using a guitar pick (or any other piece of soft plastic).
Lift up the switch board cover.
Continue removing the switch board cover with your fingers.
Remove the switch board cover from the laptop.
After the switch board cover removed, you can start removing the keyboard.
There are no screws securing the keyboard like in many other laptops.
STEP 10.
Insert your fingers between the top side of the keyboard and laptop base and carefully lift up the keyboard.
STEP 11.
Turn the keyboard upside down and place it on the palmrest.
Now you can access the keyboard cable connector.
Before you pull the keyboard cable from the connector, you’ll have to unlock the connector.
STEP 12.
To unlock the connector, move the brown clip about 2 millimeters towards the touchpad.
Do not apply too much force. The brown clip must stay attached to the connector base.
STEP 13.
On the following picture the keyboard connector shown in the unlocked state.
You see, the brown clip still attached to the connector base.
Now you can pull the ribbon cable from the connector.
STEP 14.
After the keyboard cable release, you can remove the keyboard.
If you are replacing the keyboard, you can find a new keyboard for Acer Aspire 5520 here.
Just in case, I’ll show where you can find the CMOS battery.
In Acer Asprie 5520 laptop the CMOS battery soldered to the motherboard.
March 19th, 2012 at 10:49 am
greetings
where can i find a palmrest i nid a new one
February 24th, 2012 at 1:01 pm
@ Pierre Champoux,
I think you have motherboard related failure. Probably something is wrong with the optical drive controller.
Unfortunately, there is not much you can do to fix this problem. Either replace the motherboard or use an external USB drive.
February 18th, 2012 at 12:12 pm
My internal CD/DVD optical device is not working and is not recognized in BIOS and Windows. It is an ACER ASPIRE 5520 laptop running Windows 7 Home Premium and AMD Athlon Dual-Core TK-55 processor. The problem came while I was upgrading from Vista to 7. I have tried all the usual solutions like removing UpperFilters from the registery. There was no LowerFilters. I did the removing and reinstalling the device. I replaced the device with 2 used but functionning ones. I upgraded the BIOS. I installed Daemon Tools and created 2 virtual CdRom Device. Also, maybe of interest, when I go to BIOS, I can open the reader door with the button. As soon as Windows 7 start, I loose power. If I let the computer go to sleep, when I do wake it up, the device motor start to spin and the opening button doesn’t work. If I use a pin to open it, the motor stop and if I close it, it start again. I need to restart the laptop to stop the motor. If I open the System Informations windows, under Software Environment, Driver System, at the Starting Mode column, it is written Deactivated for:
cdfs, CD/DVD File System Reader
crcdisk, Crcdisk Filter Driver
udfs, udfs
ws2ifsl Driver IFS Winsock
I hope those informations help find a solution.
Thank you in advance for your help.
Also,
February 16th, 2012 at 2:05 pm
@ Peter,
Did you test the AC adapter? It’s possible the AC adapter is dead and the battery doesn’t have enough charge to start the laptop.
February 15th, 2012 at 3:13 pm
i have acer aspire 5520g that eventually refuesses to boot up.when i power it on,it quickly shuts down before it even loads a POST and BIOS settings.Please help…a friend opted i check the CMOS battery,but the battery looks fine.
February 8th, 2012 at 3:18 pm
@ charlie,
I found Acer Travelmate 5520 service manual published here.
The manual has step-by-step disassembly instructions. I hope it’s helpful.
February 7th, 2012 at 4:58 am
Hi,the ACER TRAVELMATE 5520 is quite different from the Acer Aspire Travelmate 5520;it only has one back panel to remove,and no screws under the battery compartment.I will try again though to locate the CMOS battery.Is it a guarantee that taking it out and replacing will reset the BIOS password?
Charlie
January 24th, 2012 at 4:17 pm
@ Catalin,
I don’t think this is a known issue with this model.
If one of the USB ports still works but 2 other ports do not work, probably this is hard ware related issue.
Are these failed USB ports located close to each other? If yes, most likely they are attached to a separate USB board (not motherboard). You can try replacing the USB board.
Here’s Acer part number for the USB board: 55.AHE02.003
Google it and you’ll find it.
No, it’s not related to the BIOS update.
January 24th, 2012 at 3:12 am
Hi,
I have an Acer Aspire 5520g that refuses to let me use all his USB ports
what i mean is that i can only sucesfully use 1 of the 3 USB ports the other one wont work i.e. when i try to put something in that requires a driver install, this always fails and windows tells me that the device is not reconized, or if i put in a cooling pad the fab does not run at maximum speeds. I tried to remove usb ports drivers an reinstall them but no luck. Did fresh windows install and many other things … My question is: is this a known èroblem for this laptop? or can it be the result of an BIOS update (if i remember well i did that) ?
Any ideea would be much apreciated !!
Thx in advance
October 26th, 2011 at 7:25 am
@ vineet,
I think it’s a regular 3V coin battery which is located on the motherboard, about 2 inches below the keyboard connector.
In order to access the battery, it’s necessary to remove the top cover assembly.
Not sure 100%.
If you want to replace the CMOS battery, remove the top cover and you should see it. After that you can search for a replacement by the model number.