T i m Inscribed thus:

Erm, plastic tubs yes, sealed (as in welded into one piece in the
factory) I believe less so. /IF/ you could get the drum out through
the mouth of the tub you would be ok but on these you can't.
Ironically the tub halves (front and back) were actually designed to
be bolted together with a gasket / seal but some bright spark
suggested they could save 10 screws, a seal and assembly time to they
were welded together after that. The typical 'repair' would be two new
tub halves, the screws, seal (the bearings you were going to replace
anyway) and I understand, different suspension mountings, hence the
write-off (at 13 months).

Mmm. The ones I was thinking about have a series of metal spring clips
around the perimeter of the tub. The bearings are essentially clamped
in place between the lip on the inner side and a plate on the other
with the shaft and pulley, its retaining bolt holding the lot together.

[2] The screen feels a bit floppy on the hinges so I'd like to check
that out and I'm going to fit a new power socket before she takes it
back up to Scotland (400 miles away).

The hinges are a weak point. Check the screws and make sure that they
are tight. If I recall there are three screws in each hinge bracket.

Noted.

Take Care. The wind is wicked at the moment.

It is indeed and that seems to have blown daughter and b/f some work
back up in Scotland as they are both tree surgeons. ;-)

Cheers, T i m

At least something good from the destruction caused by the wind.

[1] Enthused with the progress on these two machines I've picked up a
mates daughters Dell Studio 1535 that had a failed charger a while
back. We bought a replacement charger that I can now prove isn't fully
'Dell compatible' (no chip etc) but they bought a replacement battery
from eBay but that never worked. When you turn it on with the
replacement battery it says:

"Warning: The battery cannot be identified.
This system will be unable to charge this battery"

With the original battery in it says:

"This battery has experienced a permanent failure and needs to be
replaced".

I've since ordered an external charger that should be ok for most of
the Dell batteries so at least I can prove if it's the battery or the
laptop.

They put these "one wire" interfaces into the batteries too !

I've have cheap Chinese made ones that wont charge in a Dell !
Which sounds a bit like the one you refer to above.

--
Best Regards:
Baron.