Oh no! There was a nasty accident, and now an ugly dent is stuck on the laptop. Bad boy OCD then decides to pay a visit, and it is just miserable to see an otherwise perfect laptop ruined by a tiny pothole. How do we fix a laptop dent? Return it to the “smooth” state? Is it even possible to repair it by ourselves?
Repairing laptop dents can be rather tricky, but the common fixes are:
- Cover the dent on the protruding side with a cloth and a flat piece of wood. Tap with a mallet to bring it back into shape.
- Use suction cups to pull the dent back.
- Opening the laptop to push the dent out from inside the casing.
- Use another piece of material to cover and hide the dent.
- Apply plastic or metal putty on the dent to cover it.
That covers the general ideas, but let us walk through more in this guide – Read on!
A WORD OF WARNING
All of these repair methods involve messing with the laptop in various ways – Opening, hammering, and tinkering. Of course, any attempts of DIY repairs will pretty much void the warranty. On top of it, a botched repair can make things worse… So do these repairs at your own risk.
1) JUST HAMMER IT!
This is probably the simplest fix if the laptop is dented on a small corner, bumping out on the other side. You should be able to push it back into shape by hammering on the protruding side, without having to open up the entire computer. But, a big fat nope to the above video. That is not how we should hammer an electronic device back into shape. The appropriate way is to:
- Use a wood or rubber mallet, not a metal hammer.
- Place a piece of cloth on where you want to hammer, to protect it against scratches and further damage.
- Put a wooden block on top of the cloth.
- Lightly tap on the wooden block to flatten the dent. Do not exert too much force and smash the laptop…
2) DENT PULLER REPAIR KIT
This repair tool is meant for use on dented vehicles, but pretty sure that we can apply it to laptops too. Very easy to use. Simply “stick” the suction tool on the dented area, and slowly attempt to pull it back into shape. No need to open and disassemble the laptop.
If you don’t want to get the tool online, you should also be able to get one of these from any auto store. Please be very careful with this tool though, pulling too hard can potentially destroy the electronics and joints inside the laptop.
3) OPEN AND HAMMER
To follow up with the above “just hammer” method, this one is pretty much the same. But it requires opening up the laptop, that is, hammering from inside of the casing. This is particularly good if you can’t get the suction cups to work properly. But of course, a gentle reminder that you need to know how to reassemble the laptop back afterward…
4) THE COVER-UP
This is a method that I will recommend to people with cracked and dented laptops. Please don’t attempt to push or pull on the cracked dent anymore, as it will most likely cause even more damage. In this case, it will make more sense to repair and reinforce the damaged dent.
- Buy a piece of thin aluminum or acrylic sheet, and use superglue to paste it over the dent. That will add to the material strength, and give you back a flat surface.
- Rather than cutting the sheet down to the size of a small dent, I will recommend “carpeting” over an entire area. For example, pasting the sheet over the entire laptop cover.
- Next, clean up the repaired area a little bit, and stick a vinyl wrap over it.
All of these may cost a little more, and take some time to fix – But you get to choose a customized wrap of your own choice.
5) PLASTIC OR METAL PUTTY
If the dent is small, and you don’t want to risk destroying the laptop with “heavy tools”. Just apply a little bit of plastic or metal filler (super glue may also work) to fill up the dent.
If you want it to “look nice”, there is always the option to use a fine sandpaper and/or polish it after the filler has hardened. Yep, you can even stick vinyl wrap over to further hide the dent.
AVOID USING TOO MUCH HEAT & COLD
Now, you might stumble on some repair methods that require the use of a hot glue gun to stick a tab onto the dent, or freezing the dent with dry ice – Please try to avoid using any of those methods. They may work well on vehicles, but remember that you are working on a laptop.
There are plenty of sensitive electronics inside the laptop, and they can be easily damaged when we apply extreme heat… Not to mention that destroying the laptop battery pack by heating is a really bad idea.
IF IT AIN’T BROKEN, DON’T FIX IT.
There is a wise old saying in the techie world – If it ain’t broken, don’t fix it. It is exactly what it means. So what if there is a small dent on the laptop? If it is still working properly, then it ain’t broken, the problem is only a small cosmetic flaw.
Trying to fix that small cosmetic flaw may involve buying a load of tools, and trying out different methods, and there are risks of further damage… Is it really worth all the time and trouble? Well, it is totally up to your own decision… Not going to judge the good folks here with OCD – But just know the potential dangers behind a DIY repair.
LINKS & REFERENCES
That’s all for this guide, and here is a small section on some extras and links that may be useful to you.
- How to Remove a Dent From a MacBook – Techwalla
- How to Repair Minor Dents – WikiHow
THE END
Thank you for reading, and we have come to the end of this guide. I hope this has helped you to better understand, and if you have anything to share with this guide, please feel free to comment below. Good luck and may the cyber force be with you.
Thanks for sharing!