In this guide I show how to disassemble an Acer TravelMate P645 series laptop. In this particular case I’m taking apart model TMP 645-M-6839.

Acer TravelMate P645 series design highlights:
– Memory slot easily accessible from the bottom.
– Main battery mounted inside the laptop.
– CMOS battery soldered to the motherboard.
– DC power jack is not soldered.
– Keyboard can be separated from the top case.
– Power button board mounted under the motherboard.

Memory removal

Acer TravelMate P645 has only one memory slot available for RAM upgrade. The memory slot located under the service cover and can be easily accessed.

Maximum memory for this laptop is 12GB (8GB module in the slot and 4GB soldered to the motherboard).

STEP 1.
Remove four screws securing the service cover. Remove the cover.

STEP 2.
Remove the memory module and replace it with a larger capacity module if necessary.

Base cover and battery removal

STEP 3.
Remove all screws from the base cover. Three screws color-coded in yellow are shorter than twelve other screws.

STEP 4.
Pry up the base cover using a thin case opener tool. Continue removing the base cover with your hands.

STEP 5.
Remove the base cover.

STEP 6.
Remove one screw securing the main battery.

By the way, Acer TravelMate P645 series laptop has the CMOS battery soldered to the motherboard.

STEP 7.
Lift up the battery and disconnect the cable from the motherboard. Remove the battery.

On the following picture you can see two batteries for Acer TravelMate P645. One of them is a genuine Acer battery (top) and another one is a fake knockoff (bottom). They look identical but the genuine battery has glossy paper and there is a serial number with MFG date printed in the lower right corner.

Cooling fan and SSD removal

STEP 8.
Remove two screws securing the cooling fan.

STEP 9.
Disconnect the fan cable from the motherboard and remove the fan.

STEP 10.
Remove one screw securing the solid state drive. It’s a 128GB Kingston mSATA SSD.

STEP 11.
Remove the SSD.

Acer TravelMate P645 series laptop supports mSATA SSDs. In this particular example we have a Kingston 128GB SMS100S3/128G mSATA SSD installed but you can use any third-party mSATA SSD instead (do not confuse it with PCIe NVMe m.2 type 2242 drive).

DC jack and Wi-Fi card removal

STEP 12.
Disconnect the DC power jack cable from the motherboard.

STEP 13.
Lift up and remove the DC power jack.

STEP 14.
Disconnect two antenna cables from the wireless card.

STEP 15.
Remove one screw securing the wireless card and pull the card out.

Motherboard and power button board removal

STEP 16.
Remove two screws securing the motherboard to the top case and disconnect all cables.

Most flat cables can be released as shown on the following picture.
1. Unlock the connector by lifting up the locking tab (red arrow).
2. Pull the cable out.

The keyboard cable has a different connector type.
In order to unlock this connector it’s necessary to slide the white locking tab to the direction shown by two red arrows. After that you can pull the cable out.

The display cable connector has a black tab on top. Pull the connector up to unplug it from the motherboard.

STEP 17.
Remove the motherboard from the top case assembly.

Here’s the other side of the motherboard.

The power button located on a separate board (which is mounted under the motherboard).

STEP 18.
Remove two screws securing the power button board.

STEP 19.
Lift up and remove the power button board.

The keyboard in Acer TravelMate P645 series laptop is removable.

Display removal and disassembly

In order to separate the display panel from the top case it’s necessary to open the display 90 degrees and place the laptop upside down on the desk edge.

STEP 20.
Remove four screws securing both display hinges.

STEP 21.
Separate the display panel from the top case.

It is not necessary to remove the display panel in order to take it apart. You can take it apart while the display is still attached to the top case.

STEP 22.
Carefully separate the screen bezel from the display and remove it. There are many hidden latches attaching the bezel to the case. Wiggle the bezel to release the latches.

STEP 23.
When the bezel is removed you can access and remove four screws attaching the LCD screen to the back cover. After that you can separate the LCD screen from the cover, disconnect the video cable and remove the screen completely.

In this guide I show how to disassemble an Acer Aspire 5 A515-54 series laptop (model N18Q13). In this particular case I’m taking apart an Aspire A515-54-51DJ.

During the disassembly process I found some pros and cons of Acer Aspire 5 A515-54 design. Here they are:

Pros:
– Support for PCIe NVMe M.2 solid state drives.
– The cooling fan easily removable and replaceable.
– The battery can be easily accessed and replaced.

Cons:
– The motherboard has only one memory slot.
– The keyboard is permanently attached to the top case.
– The LCD screen is glued to the display cover.

Laptop disassembly steps

For this disassembly you will need only a few basic tools: Phillips #0 or #1 screwdriver, tweezers and thin case opener tool.

STEP 1.
Remove eleven screws from the bottom.

STEP 2.
Start removing the base cover using a case opener tool. Pry up the cover to separate it from the top case assembly. There are many hidden latches securing the cover.

STEP 3.
With all latches released, you can lift up and remove the base cover. Lift up the cover from the headphone jack side.

STEP 4.
There are no screws securing the battery. Disconnect the battery cable from the motherboard.

STEP 5.
Peel off clear tape attaching the battery to the motherboard. Remove the battery.

Acer Aspire 5 A515-54 series battery model: AC14B8K

STEP 6.
Remove one screw securing the PCIe NVMe M.2 solid state drive. Pull the SSD out.

STEP 7.
Remove two screws from the cooling fan. Disconnect the fan cable from the motherboard.

STEP 8.
Lift up and remove the fan.

STEP 9.
Using tweezers carefully disconnect both antenna cables from the wireless card. Grab the Wi-Fi cable close to the golden head and lift up. The cable will un-snap from the card.

STEP 10.
Remove one screw securing the wireless card. Pull the wireless card out of the slot.

STEP 11.
Remove one screw securing the USB audio jack board. Disconnect the I/O cable from the motherboard.

The connector has to be unlocked before removing the cable. Lift up the locking tab at a 90 degree angle (red arrow) and pull the cable out.

STEP 12.
Lift up and remove the USB audio jack board.

Motherboard and display removal steps

The upper right corner of the motherboard is secured under the hinge. In order to remove the motherboard it’s necessary to remove the display panel first.

I will leave the memory module connected to the motherboard.
By the way, Acer Aspire 5 A515-54 series can support up to 20GB RAM total (16GB in the slot and 4GB non-removable built into the motherboard).

STEP 13.
Remove two screws from the right display hinge. Un-route the wireless antenna cables from the guided path on the top case.

STEP 14.
Open up the right display hinge as it shown on the picture.

STEP 15.
Remove two screws from the left display hinge. Disconnect the display cable from the motherboard.

Unlock the connector. Lift up and remove the display cable.

STEP 16.
Open up the left display hinge.

STEP 17.
Lift up one side of the top case assembly (red arrow) and slide it from under the display hinges (yellow arrow).

STEP 18.
Remove the top case assembly completely.

STEP 19.
Remove three screws attaching the motherboard to the top case.
Disconnect the following color-coded cables:
– Keyboard backlight cable (orange).
– Keyboard cable (yellow).
– Speaker cable (green).
– Fingerprint reader (blue).
– Touchpad cable (pink).

I will leave the CMOS battery connected in order to save the BIOS settings.

Here’s how to disconnect the keyboard cable.
1. Slide the white connector locking tab to the direction shown by the yellow arrow.
2. Pull the cable out.

STEP 20.
Lift up the left side of the motherboard and separate it from the top case. The CMOS battery attached to the top case with adhesive tape. Separate the battery from the case.

Here’s the other side of the Acer Aspire 5 A515-54 motherboard. The DC power connector is soldered to the motherboard. Here’s a guide for replacing the DC jack.

As I mentioned earlier, the keyboard is permanently riveted to the top case and cannot be removed and replaced. If the keyboard fails, it’s necessary to replace the entire top case assembly or try this keyboard repair.

LCD screen removal

With the display panel separated from the base we can start taking it apart. You must remove the display in order to take it apart. Otherwise it’s not possible to remove the front bezel.

STEP 23.
Separate the screen bezel from the display cover. You’ll have to wiggle the bezel in order to release hidden latches.

STEP 24.
Continue removing the bezel on the top side of the display.

STEP 25.
After the bezel is removed on the top, you can move to the hinge area.

STEP 26.
Separate the hinge cover from the display. A case opener tool will be helpful here.

STEP 27.
Lift up one side of the screen bezel and separate it from the hinge. Pay attention to how the cables are routed.

STEP 28.
Remove the screen bezel.

When the bezel was removed, I found that the LCD screen is glued to the display cover. There are no screws securing the screen.

I was afraid to proceed with the screen removal to avoid damaging it (I’m taking apart a perfectly working unit). In order to replace the screen it’s necessary to unglue it first.

This set of instructions will help you to disassemble an Acer Aspire R 15 (R5-571TG-59VA) model N16P2 laptop.

In the first part of the guide I show how to disassemble the laptop base and in the second part how to open up the display panel.

You will need the following repair tools: Phillips screwdriver size #0, tweezers, case opener tool.

STEP 1.
Remove twelve screws securing the base cover.

STEP 2.
Pry up the base cover and remove it completely.

STEP 3.
Remove two screws securing the laptop battery.

STEP 4.
Lift up the battery and disconnect the battery cable from the motherboard.

Acer Aspire R 15 (R5-571TG-59VA) N16P2 battery model: AC14B3K.

Exactly the same battery model is used in Acer Aspire R 14 (R5-471T-71W2) N15P6 which I disassembled in one of the previous guides.

STEP 5.
Disconnect the 2.5″ hard drive cable from the motherboard.

In order to unplug the cable it’s necessary to unlock the connector first.
Lift up the locking tab at a 90 degree angle to unlock the connector (red arrow). After that pull the hard drive cable out (yellow arrow).

STEP 6.
Remove the hard drive with the rubber mounting bracket and cable attached.

If you are replacing it with a new drive or upgrading to a 2.5″ SSD drive, you’ll have to transfer the mounting bracket and SATA connector board to the new drive.

Acer Aspire R 15 (R5-571TG-59VA) can support a NVMe M.2 SSD which is much faster than a regular hard drive. The M.2 slot located just above the regular hard drive.

UPDATE: Today I tried installing Windows 10 OS on a 1TB Samsung 970 Evo NVMe M.2 drive. For some reason the installation utility didn’t recognize the drive correctly. The drive was detected but the size of the drive was reported as 0MB. I couldn’t format it. I tried upgrading the laptop BIOS from v 1.07 to v 1.10 but it didn’t help.
At same time, my older 500GB Samsung 960 Evo NVMe drive was recognized correctly. I had no trouble installing Windows 10 OS on that drive.
I’m not sure if this problem is related to the laptop BIOS (maybe will be fixed in the future) or the hardware just doesn’t support latests NVMe drives. I just thought this is worth mentioning.

STEP 7.
Remove three screws securing the USB/SD card reader/Power button board.
Disconnect the I/O cable from the motherboard. This connector is hidden under the black mylar cover.

Here’s how to disconnect the I/O cable.
Unlock the connector (red arrow) and pull the cable out (yellow arrow). Notice that on this connector the locking tab opens up from outside towards the cable.

STEP 8.
Lift up and remove the USB/SD card reader/Power button board.

STEP 9.
Disconnect both wireless antenna cables from the wireless card (two red arrows).
Disconnect the web camera connector from the motherboard (green arrow).

I will leave the wireless card connected to the motherboard but you can remove it if necessary.

STEP 10.
Un-route cables from the guided path on the palmrest assembly.

STEP 11.
Unplug the touchscreen digitizer cable and display cable from the motherboard.
Un-route the cable from the guided path.

STEP 12.
Remove six screws securing the left and right display hinges.

STEP 13.
Lift up the right display hinge at a 30 degree angle.

STEP 14.
Lift up the left display hinge the same way.

STEP 15.
With both hinges lifted up you can separate the palmrest assembly from the display panel.

Later in this guide I will show how to open up the display panel and access the LCD screen.

STEP 16.
Remove six screws (orange) securing the cooling fans.
Remove nine screws (red) securing the motherboard.

Disconnect the following color-coded cables:
– The front LED status light cable (yellow).
– Two speaker cables (pink).
– Two touchpad cables (blue).
– Two keyboard cables (green).

The RTC battery plugged in into the motherboard. I’m not going to disconnect the RTC battery and remove it with the motherboard. The RTC battery is glued to the palmrest by adhesive tape.

Here’s how to disconnect the wide keyboard cable. This connector is a little bit different from all other connectors.

Slide the connector locking tab towards the cable (two red arrows) and pull the cable out (yellow arrow).

All other flat cables can be released the same way.
Unlock the connector and pull the cable out.

STEP 17.
Separate the motherboard from the palmrest assembly and remove it.

There are six screws securing the cooling module (heatsink and two fans) to the motherboard. The cooling module can be easily separated from the motherboard if you have to re-apply thermal paste on the CPU and GPU chips.

Here’s the other side of the motherboard. The DC jack is soldered to the motherboard.

In an Acer Aspire R 15 (R5-571TG-59VA) N16P2 laptop the keyboard is permanently attached to the palmrest and cannot be easily removed.

Taking apart Acer Aspire R 15 (R5-571TG-59VA) display panel

STEP 18.
Carefully separate the display bezel from the back cover. I’m using a thin metal case opener in this step.

There are many hidden latches securing the bezel to the back cover.

STEP 19.
Continue opening up the display panel with your fingers while helping yourself with the case opener.

STEP 20.
Separate the LCD/touchscreen assembly from the back cover.

STEP 21.
Now you can access and disconnect the display cable from the back of the LCD screen.

The LCD screen is glued to the digitizer.

If you are replacing the entire LCD/digitizer assembly, it’s necessary to disconnect two more cables from the digitizer board (not shown in this guide).

Here’s how to disconnect the display cable.
Remove sticky tape securing the connection and unplug the cable from the connector on the LCD screen.

Acer Aspire R 15 (R5-571TG-59VA) LCD screen model: N156HCA-EA1 Rev.C1.

Today I will walk you through a full disassembly of an Acer Aspire R 14 (R5-471T-71W2) model N15P6 laptop. It’s likely this disassembly guide will work for some other models in the Acer Aspire R 14 line. If it works for you, I would appreciate if you can mention the laptop model number in the comments area after this post.

In the first part of the guide I will take apart the laptop base. In the second part I will show how to open up the display panel.

STEP 1.
Remove twelve screws securing the bottom cover.

STEP 2.
Start separating the bottom cover from the rest of the machine. You’ll have to apply some reasonable force because there are many hidden latches fastening two parts together.

Pry up the bottom cover using a case opener tool.

STEP 3.
Remove the bottom cover.

STEP 4.
Remove two screws securing the main battery to the top case.
Disconnect the battery cable from the motherboard.

STEP 5.
Remove the battery.
Acer Aspire R 14 (R5-471T-71W2) battery model: AC14B3K.

STEP 6.
Remove one screw securing the solid state drive and pull the SSD out.

This is m.2 NVMe solid state drive (type 2280).

STEP 7.
Remove two screws securing the USB/SD card reader/Power button board.
Disconnect the I/O cable from the motherboard.

I’ll be removing the I/O cable in order to access the wireless card. If you don’t need to remove the wireless card, you can disconnect the I/O cable from the USB/SD card reader/Power button board.

Here’s how to disconnect the I/O cable from the motherboard.

Lift up the brown locking tab to unlock the connector (red arrow).
Pull the cable out (yellow arrow).

STEP 8.
Remove the USB/SD card reader/Power button board with the I/O cable attached to it.
You’ll have to unglue the I/O cable from the top case. It’s secured by adhesive tape.

STEP 9.
Disconnect both antenna cables from the wireless card.

STEP 10.
Remove one screw securing the wireless card and pull the card out.

STEP 11.
Disconnect two display cables from the motherboard.

STEP 12.
Separate all display cables from the top case.
Remove eight screws securing the right and left display hinges.

STEP 13.
Lift up both display hinges and separate the top case assembly from the display panel.

I will show how to take apart the display panel later in this guide.

STEP 14.
Disconnect the DC power jack cable from the motherboard.

STEP 15.
Lift up the DC power jack and remove the harness from the guided path on the top case.

STEP 16.
Remove eleven screws securing the motherboard and both cooling fans (attached to the heatsink).

Disconnect the following color-coded cables:
– Keyboard cable (orange).
– Keyboard backlight cable (yellow).
– Touchpad cable (green).
– Front LED board cable (blue).
– Speaker cable (pink).
– CMOS battery (red arrow). This connector located on the other side of the motherboard but still accessible.

Here’s how to disconnect the keyboard cable.
Slide the white locking tab to the shown direction about 2 millimeters (two red arrows).
Pull the keyboard cable out (orange arrow).

Here’s how to disconnect the touchapad and front LED board cables.
Lift up the locking tab (red arrow) and pull the cable out (yellow arrow).

The keyboard backlight connector is small. Be careful while unlocking it (red arrow) and removing the cable (yellow arrow).

STEP 17.
With all screws removed and cables disconnected you can lift up and remove the motherboard.

Here’s a photo of the other side of the motherboard.

The keyboard in Acer Aspire R 14 (R5-471T-71W2) laptop is not easily removable. It’s permanently attached to the top case.
The touchpad, on the other hand, can be removed and replaced if necessary.

How to take apart Acer Aspire R 14 display panel.

After the display panel separated from the laptop base (as it shown in the step 13), you can take apart the display panel and remove the LCD screen.

STEP 18.
Start separating the front bezel from the display back cover using a thin metal case opener tool.

Pry up the bezel to disengage multiple hidden latches fastening two parts together.

STEP 19.
Continue separating the front bezel with your fingers while helping with the case opener tools.

STEP 20.
Separate the front bezel (with LCD screen attached to it) from the display back cover.

Now you can access and disconnect the display cable.

Remove sticky tape securing the connection and disconnect the display cable from the LCD screen.

STEP 21.
Carefully lift up the touchscreen digitizer board and turn it over.

I don’t now if your new screen will come with this board attached. I will show how to disconnect the board just in case if your new screen doesn’t have it.

STEP 22.
On the other side of the touchscreen digitizer board you will see three connectors.

If your new screen already has this board installed, all you have to do is disconnect one cable from the side (yellow arrow).

If your new screen doesn’t have this board installed, you’ll have to disconnect two more cables (color-coded in orange) and transfer the board to the new screen.

Here’s how to disconnect the digitizer cable.
Unlock the connector (red arrow) and pull the cable out (yellow arrow).

STEP 23.
Now you can transfer the touchscreen digitizer board to the new screen if necessary.

STEP 24.
With all cables disconnected you can separate the LCD screen from the back cover.

In order to find a replacement screen take a look at the model number on the original screen. The LCD screen permanently attached to the front bezel – it’s sold as one piece.

Acer Aspire R 14 (R5-471T-71W2) laptop has this screen installed: B140HAT02.0

In the next guide I will walk you through the disassembly process of an Acer Aspire R 15 (R5-571TG-59VA) N16P2 laptop.

In this guide I explain how to disassemble an Acer Aspire F5-573 Series laptop. Model number N16Q2. In this particular case I’m taking apart an Aspire F5-573G-78R2.

STEP 1.
Remove three screws securing the HDD/RAM cover.
Lift up and remove the cover.

Unlike in Acer Aspire E5 573, in this model the HDD/RAM cover is removable which makes it easier for HDD and RAM upgrades.

STEP 2.
Slide the hard drive away from the SATA port.
After the hard drive is disconnected you can remove it from the laptop.

Acer Aspire F5-573 series motherboard has two memory slots. In my configuration only one RAM module was installed. I’ll leave it in the slot but you can remove if necessary.

This laptop can take up to 32GB DDR4 2400/2666/3200 SODIMM RAM.

STEP 3.
Remove one screw securing the DVD optical drive.
Pull the drive out. You can upgrade this drive to a 2.5″ SATA solid state drive to speed up the system.
In my laptop I had a plastic replacement, not a real DVD drive.

STEP 4.
Remove all screws from the bottom cover.
Don’t forget three screws located in the optical drive bay. I color-coded them in yellow.
Disconnect the speaker cable from the motherboard. This connector is located in the memory compartment (green square).

STEP 5.
Start separating the bottom cover from the top case.
I found it’s easier to do if you start from the optical drive side.

STEP 6.
Remove the bottom cover.

STEP 7.
Lift up the battery and disconnect the battery cable from the motherboard.

Now you can remove and replace the battery if necessary.

STEP 8.
Remove two screws securing the cooling fan.
Disconnect the fan cable from the motherboard.
Now you can remove the fan and clean it up if necessary. Mine was very dusty.

STEP 9.
The DC power jack is mounted under the right display hinge.
Remove one screw securing the display hinge.

STEP 10.
Open the display hinge as it shown on the following picture.
Now you can disconnect the DC jack cable from the motherboard and remove it completely.

STEP 11.
Carefully disconnect the black and white antenna cables from the wireless card.
Remove one screw attaching the card to the motherboard.

STEP 12.
Pull the wireless card out.

STEP 13.
Unroute both wireless card antenna cables from the guided path on the top case.

STEP 14.
Remove one screw securing the left display hinge.
Disconnect the display video cable from the motherboard. The connector has a black belt on top. Simply lift it up by the belt.

STEP 15.
Open the left display hinge.
Unrout the display video cable from the guided path on the top case.

STEP 16.
Separate the top case assembly from the display.

For the display disassembly instructions please refer to the Acer Aspire E5-574 screen removal guide. All disassembly steps should be pretty much identical.

STEP 17.
In order to remove the motherboard you’ll have to remove two screws and disconnect the USB audio board cable (yellow), keyboard cable (orange) and touchpad cable (green).

In this guide I will show how to disassemble an Acer Aspire E5-575 series laptop. Model number N16Q2.

This is an Aspire E5-575G-57D4 configuration (7th generation Intel Core i5) manufactured in 2017.

STEP 1.

Remove three screws from the service cover. Remove the cover.

STEP 2.

Under the cover you can access the hard drive bay, SSD and both memory slots.

Acer Aspire E5-575 has support for a regular 2.5″ SATA hard drive (missing in my case) and M.2 SSD.

This laptop can take up to 32GB (2x16GB) DDR4 2400/2666/3200 SODIMM RAM modules.

STEP 3.

Remove one screw securing the SSD and pull it out of the socket.

This is m.2 SATA III solid state drive.

STEP 4.

Remove one screw securing the optical drive and pull it out. In my laptop the front bezel is missing so it looks different than yours.

STEP 5.

Remove all screws from the bottom case.

STEP 6.

Remove three more screws located in the optical drive bay.

STEP 7.

Don’t forget to disconnect speakers cable. Both speakers are mounted to the bottom case.

STEP 8.

Start separating the bottom case from the side with the optical drive bay. On the other side the case has cut-outs for the motherboard connection ports.

If you start removing it on the other side, the connection ports will not allow you to lift up the bottom case.

STEP 9.

The battery is not secured and can be easily removed.

Lift up the battery and disconnect it from the motherboard.

STEP 10.

Remove two screws securing the cooling fan and disconnect the cable from the motherboard.

Remove the fan.

STEP 11.

The DC power jack is mounted under the right hinge.

Remove one screw securing the hinge.

STEP 12.

Lift up the right side of the hinge so it opens up at a 60 degree angle.

STEP 13.

Disconnect the DC power jack cable from the motherboard and remove it.

STEP 14.

Disconnect both Wi-Fi antenna cables from the wireless card. You can leave the card connected to the motherboard.

STEP 15.

Remove two screws.

Disconnect the following cables:

• Keyboard backlight cable
• USB/Audio board cable
• Keyboard data cable
• Touchpad cable
• Display video cable

Here’s how to disconnect the display video cable. Simply pull it up.

Here’s another type of connector you will see on the motherboard. In this case you unlock the connector by lifting up the locking tab (red arrow).

In order to unlock the keyboard cable connector you will have to move the locking tab about 2 millimeters to the direction shown on the picture.

Do not apply any force. The locking tab must remain connected to the base.

When the connector is unlocked, you can pull the cable out.

STEP 16.

Remove the motherboard from the top case.

You can access the CMOS battery on the other side.

The touchpad assembly located under the black mylar sheet.

In Acer Aspire E5-575 series laptops the keyboard is permanently attached to the top case.

There are multiple plastic rivets securing the keyboard to the frame.

It’s possible to replace just the keyboard itself without replacing the top case. You will have to remove all the rivets and find a way to secure the metal cover back to the top case after installing a new keyboard.

If the keyboard failed, I would recommend replacing the entire top case assembly.

The screen removal procedure will be very similar for most Acer laptops.

In the next guide I’ll explain how to take apart the display panel and replace LCD screen.

Removing and replacing the LCD screen on an Acer Aspire E 15 (E5-574G-54Y2) laptop is a relatively easy procedure.

All disassembly steps should be the same or very similar for all other models in the Acer Aspire E 15 family.

The screen is mounted under the display bezel which is attached to the display back cover. It’s easier to remove the bezel if you start from the side.

STEP 1.

Insert your fingers between the bezel and the screen. Wiggle the bezel to unfasten it from the cover.

STEP 2.

Continue removing the bezel on the top of the display assembly. You can use a plastic case opener to release hidden latches.

STEP 3.

After the top side of the bezel is unfastened, move the hinge area.

STEP 4.

Make sure the display is opened all the way back. Continue removing the bezel with our fingers on the bottom of the display.

I use a plastic stick to separate the hinge cover.

STEP 5.

Removing the bezel is the hardest part in this guide.

STEP 7.

Now you can remove four screws securing the LCD screen.

STEP 8.

Separate the screen from the back cover and place it on the palmrest.

STEP 9.

The video cable plugged in the the 30-pin connector on the bottom of the screen.

STEP 10.

Peel of the clear tape securing the connection.

STPE 11.

Disconnect the video cable.

STEP 12.

Now you can remove the LCD screen completely and replace it with a new one.

The model number is printed on the back of the screen. The LCD screen model: B156HTN03.8.

Check out this Acer Aspire E 15 teardown guide for removing other internal components.

In this guide I’ll be taking apart Acer Aspire E15 Model E5-573-77S3. The disassembly process is relatively easy.

As always, keep track of screws. For this guide I’ll need a Phillips screwdriver, plastic case opener and tweezers.

STEP 1.

Remove all screws from the bottom of the laptop.

One screw I circled in yellow securing the optical drive.

STEP 2.

Pull the optical drive out and remove it.

STEP 3.

Remove three screws located in the optical drive bay.

STEP 4.

Start separating the top case (keyboard) assembly from the bottom case.

In Acer Aspire E15 E5-573-77S3 laptop all internal components mounted to the top case so we’ll have to remove the bottom case.

STEP 5.

Turn the laptop upside down and continue separating the bottom case from top case.

The side with the optical drive bay should be lifted up first.

STEP 6.

While lifting up the other side, slide the bottom case to the shown direction to separate it from connection ports on the motherboard.

STEP 7.

Be careful, the speaker cable is still connected to the motherboard.

Disconnect the speaker cable from the motherboard. Do not pull by the cable.

Pull the cable connector out by the edges.

STEP 8.

Now you can remove the bottom cover.

With the bottom cover removed you can access most internal components.

Acer Aspire E15 E5-573-77S3 has two memory slots and I noticed that only one is occupied. You can add second 8GB DDR3-12800 1600MHz SODIMM module to upgrade total RAM to 16GB.

STEP 9.

There are no screws securing the battery.

Lift up the battery and unplug the battery cable from the motherboard.

STEP 10.

Lift up the left side of the hard drive about 1/2 inch up.

Pull the hard drive to the left to disconnect it from the motherboard.

Remove the hard drive.

Replacing the hard drive with a 2.5″ SATA solid state drive will improve laptop performance significantly. That’s the best upgrade you can do for your laptop.

STEP 11.

Remove two screws securing the cooling fan.

Disconnect the fan cable from the motherboard.

Lift up and remove the fan.

STEP 12.

In Acer Aspire E15 E5-573-77S3 laptop the DC power jack attached to the harness.

The DC jack mounted under the right hinge.

Remove one screw securing the hinge. Disconnect DC jack harness from the motherboard.

Lift up the hinge so it opens up at a 90 degree angle.

Now you can remove the DC jack harness.

STEP 13.

Remove one screw securing the left hinge.

Lift up the hinge.

STEP 14.

Unplug the display cable connector from the motherboard.

Unroute display cable from the guided path.

STEP 15.

Disconnect Wi-Fi antenna cables from the wireless card.

Unroute Wi-Fi antennas from the guide path.

STEP 16.

Now you can separate the top case assembly from the display panel.

In order to remove the motherboard you’ll have to remove three screws and disconnect the following cables:

• USB board cable (red rectangle)
• Trackpad cable (yellow rectangle)
• Keyboard cable (green rectangle)

In you have failed keyboard, I would recommend replacing the entire top case.

In Acer Aspire E15 E5-573-77S3 laptop the keyboard permanently riveted to the top case.

In the next guide I explain how to remove and replace the LCD screen.

In this guide I will be taking apart an Acer Aspire S3-391-6497 Ultrabook.

I will show how to remove the bottom cover in order to access the cooling fan, SATA hard drive, mSATA SSD drive and other internal components.

Make sure the laptop is turned off.

STEP 1.

Remove all marked screws from the bottom cover.

STEP 2.

Separate the bottom cover from the rest of the laptop and turn is upside down on the table.

The Wi-Fi antennas are built into the bottom case.

Be careful, the antenna cables still connected to the Wi-Fi module.

Before you touch any internal components it’s a good idea to disconnect the battery.

Unplug the battery connector from the motherboard by the edges.

STEP 3.

Remove tape securing Wi-Fi antenna cables.

STEP 4.

Unplug both antenna cables from the Wi-Fi module.

Now you can remove the bottom cover completely.

STEP 5.

Remove one screw securing the SATA hard drive.

STEP 6.

Lift up the hard drive from the laptop and move it away from the battery.

Disconnect the SATA cable.

Now the hard drive can be replaced or upgraded if necessary.

I recommend replacing this regular 2.5″ SATA hard drive to a 2.5″ SATA solid state drive. Doing so will improve the laptop performance significantly. 

Acer Aspire S3 series laptop comes with a 24GB mSATA (mini PCIe form factor) drive installed.

This drive allows the laptop to use Intel Rapid Start Technology which enables systems to quickly resume from deep sleep.

If you manually reinstalled Windows OS on the main SATA hard drive, you’ll have to configure the mSATA drive to work with Intel Rapid Start Technology.

STEP 7.

When the bottom cover is removed, you can easily access the cooling module.

The cooling fan attached to the heat sink.

In order to remove the cooling module you’ll have to remove three heat sink screws and disconnect fan cable from the motherboard.

STEP 8.

The DC power jack attached to a cable. It’s not soldered to the motherboard.

In the following guide I will take apart an Acer Aspire 4743 series laptop.

In my case the full model name is: Aspire 4743z-4861.

STEP 1.

Make sure it’s turned off completely before starting the disassembly process.

Unlock and remove the battery.

STEP 2.

Remove three screws securing the service cover on the bottom.

Lift up and remove the cover.

Under the cover you will find the hard drive, wireless card and both RAM modules.

Remove one screw securing the hard drive.

This laptop can handle up to 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3-12800 SODIMM RAM modules.

STEP 3.

Slide the hard drive to the left to disconnect it from the motherboard.

Remove the hard drive assembly from the laptop.

Upgrading this regular 2.5″ hard drive to a 2.5″ solid state drive will speed up the laptop significantly.

STEP 4.

Remove one screw securing the optical drive.

Pull the drive to the left and remove it from the case.

STEP 5.

Remove two screws securing the keyboard.

STEP 6.

There are five latches securing the keyboard to the top cover.

Push on the latch with a small screwdriver until it moves into the case.

When the latch pushed in, the keyboard will lift up a little bit and the latch will not be able to lock back in.

Do the same with all remaining latches.

STEP 7.

Separate the keyboard from the top cover and turn it upside down. Place on the palm rest.

STEP 8.

Now you can access the keyboard cable connector, unlock it and release the cable.

STEP 9.

Lift up the left side of the retaining tab until it opens up at a 90 degree angle (green arrow).

Pull the cable out of the connector (yellow arrow).

Now you can remove the keyboard completely.

STEP 10.

Remove shown screws from the bottom case.

STEP 11.

Remove one screw securing the top cover (palm rest) assembly.

Disconnect the power button cable (left arrow).

Disconnect the touchpad connector (right arrow).

Unlock the connector by lifting up the retaining tab.

STEP 12.

Start separating the top cover assembly from the bottom case.

I’m using a guitar pick to separate two parts from each other.

STEP 13.

Remove the top cover.

On the other side you can access both speakers, touchpad and power button board.

When the top cover removed you can access the CMOS battery and USB board.

STEP 14.

Before you can remove the motherboard from the case it’s necessary to disconnect two antenna cables from the wireless card.

STEP 15.

Remove one screw securing the motherboard.

Disconnect the display cable and USB board cable.

Here’s how to unplug the display cable.

STEP 16.

Start lifting up the motherboard on the right side.

STEP 17.

Remove the motherboard from the case. It comes out with the power connector attached to it.

On the other side of the motherboard you can access the cooling fan and heat sink.

In Acer Aspire 4743 series laptops the power connector can be easily replaced.

Simply unplug the cable from the motherboard and replace with a new one.