Surface Screen Popped out of Chasis

[Daniel Kim]

My surface pro 3 has its screen popped out of its chassis
This is at the upper right corner of the surface tablet, and I'm wondering what could have caused this. Could it be the fan's doing?
Does anybody else have this happened?

I don't feel too happy about this at all; in fact, I could even slightly read a part of what seems to be a label (that reads: "[XXXXXXX XXX] ANTENNA [XXXXX]") of the inside through the crack.

Should I even worry about this?

 

[Zog1971]

To answer your question, I would definitely be worried about this, but NO-I don't think the fan would cause this. I'll be honest, in looking at the first picture it definitely looks more like the outer frame has been bent or taken some damage. Are you sure it didn't get knocked around possibly? At any rate, I would for sure contact support as my concern would be that it continues to come out. They are secured by glue around all the edges, but I wouldn't just live with this.

 

[jnjroach]

The adhesive that holds the screen as failed, get an exchange....

 

[Daniel Kim]

I did actually drop it once from about two 2 or 3 feet high.
And maybe that's what might've caused it.

But initially I thought the fan, because that's the area where the surface does get kinda hot. I played some CS:GO on it for about two weeks, and the fan would start spinning and such. I thought the heat caused the screen to pop out.
Also, I was worried this could be some battery expanding issue, but what do I know :/

EDIT: "in looking at the first picture it definitely looks more like the outer frame has been bent or taken some damage" (emphasis added). True, it looks like the outer frame is bent, but that, I assure you, is actually my phone camera's tendency to produce fisheye effects on its images. Upon physical inspection with one eye closed (top down), the outer frame looks pretty normal.

 

[GreyFox7]

The adhesive that holds the screen as failed, get an exchange....

I concur with this.

Furthermore there may have been a combination of light application of adhesive in the manufacturing process and possibly a slight misfit when assembled which caused it to pop out. There's no visible edge damage in the photo although the bottom photo may have some fragments possibly from manufacturing or unknown origin after the fact.

 

[RémiM]

My thoughts:

I watched the excellent "Cracking Open" video C-Net made:

You can clearly see at 1.50 minute the area where the screen seems to pop-out.

Here is my quick analyse:



The area where the screen pops-out is definitely the area where the warmest air is extracted from the inside by the fan.

By the way, this area, where the antenas are, has less adhesive than the sides of the chassis for example. It's a weak point.

Now, if you look to the SP3, you can clearly see that the screen is a little curvated towards the inside. This curvature obviously creates tension stresses on the adhesive. Because the glass is probably not curvated, and naturally wants to pop-out.

The adhesive properties of the tape are certainly affected by the heat, particularly where the air is warmer, i.e. right above the fan.

All these things combined together make this area of the screen a good candidate for popping out.

Well, after a quick check up it seems that the screen of my SP3 is a little bit starting to pop out too.

Question: what can we do ? I guess not much... Will it affect the SP3 ? Not much either, since the gap is not wide.

 

[Liam2349]

This isn't normal - but Remi, where you labelled 'heat extraction' is actually the intake. From there, the fan distributes the air across the Surface and out of the other vent holes.

 

[RémiM]

@Liam2349 I am not sure about your statement.

The situation you describe would spray warm air all over the SP3:

The situation I describe would suck in fresh air from the outside and push out the warm air:

 

[jnjroach]

@Liam2349 I am not sure about your statement.

The situation you describe would spray warm air all over the SP3:
View attachment 4300
The situation I describe would suck in fresh air from the outside and push out the warm air:
View attachment 4301

Outside Air is pulled in through the vents and cooled via the fan and heat pipes to be distributed across the rest of the Surface interior...as Liam stated....

 

[RémiM]

Well ok, I've learnt something.

I thought I was in a good track for a Nobel Prize or something with my explanations. Damn.

Thank you guys (@Liam2349 and @jnjroach) !

 

[malberttoo]

Well ok, I've learnt something.

I thought I was in a good track for a Nobel Prize or something with my explanations. Damn.

Thanks you guys (@Liam2349 and @jnjroach) !

+1 for your excellently marked-up diagrams...

 

[GreyFox7]

Well ok, I've learnt something.

I thought I was in a good track for a Nobel Prize or something with my explanations. Damn.

Thanks you guys (@Liam2349 and @jnjroach) !

How about a nice noble prize

(====neon tube====)