Clicking sound when opening lid of my Surface Book Performance Base

[sophie]

I have a Surface Book with Performance Base, i7, 1TB.

When I open the lid of my Surface Book, there is a loud clicking sound, immediately when the lid comes to a rest position.
The sound appears to be coming from the hinge mechanism, inside the clipboard.
I don't think the sound is that of the screen/clipboard settling on the keyboard base.
There is no sound when closing the lid, only when opening it.

I have uploaded a video to YouTube, showing the clicking sound when I open the lid of my Surface Book:

Is a clicking sound upon opening the lid normal?

Could anyone with a Surface Book Performance base: -open the lid, and let it come to a rest position, is there a clicking sound?

Thanks!

 

[MickeyLittle]

I guess you have released it and reattached it?

 

[sophie]

No, I am just opening the lid.
Didn't release and reattach the lid/clipboard.

 

[MickeyLittle]

No I mean have you done it just to make sure it is seated really good. I would do that just to make sure

 

[sophie]

Sorry, I misunderstood.
Yes, I have made sure the clipboard is well seated on the base.

 

[MickeyLittle]

Well something it definitely wrong. I would clean the connectors with a dab of alcohol on the keyboard base and try to blow out the openings of the display and reconnect. If this doesn't work then I would assume it to be a hardware issue and head for the Microsoft Store if you have one within an hour or two away.

 

[JaeMelo]

^Alcohol, baby oil, the blood of a virgin lamb won't do a thing for her lol. I had this exact same issue with my SB about a year ago..

Click Here My 2nd unit exhibited the same sound as yours sophie, and it drove me nuts. If you can, make a backup of all your content and return that thing asap if possible. There is nothing you can do to stop the clicking sound of the metal components binding up inside the hinge.

 

[sophie]

This is actually my 3rd unit with that clicking sound. And like JaeMelo, the clicking drives me nuts.
One unit was lot 1710, the other two lot 1711.

The demo unit in the store had no clicking sound (don't know what lot that was).

The techs in the store say that I should swap out my surface book yet again!!! But from a different lot.
Unfortunately they did not have any units other than the lot numbers 1710 and 1711.

I will return towards the end of the month (still within the 30 days); the store says they should receive other units by then.

This will be my last try; if that clicking is still there, I will get a refund.
That clicking sound is just not acceptable for such an expensive laptop.

Anyways I'll post back and let you guys know what happens with my soon to be 4th unit!

 

[JaeMelo]

Hey sophie, judging from my lot # including yours it would seems like the hinge flaw is completely random and not so much lot # specific.
My clicking SB was a 1602, however my older the 1501, and 1607 were both fine. I also received a SB w/ Performance Base which is 1711 if I recall and that one is totally fine with no hinge noise.

If you want can go for another of whatever lot # they have in-stock and open it up in-store just to make sure you do not walk out with a clicking hinge again.

 

[sophie]

An update...

I picked up a new Surface Book with Performance Base (different batch number - 1718), and this new one has no clicking sound!!
Very happy with that; the clicking was very irritating.

This new Surface Book isn't "perfect" though.

During the first few hours of use, I saw the laptop wasn't charging, and the light on the charger was blinking. Just disconnected and re-connected the charger from the connector on the laptop a few times, and now charging seems fine.
Read on an online forum that this is "normal".

In closing the lid of the laptop, in the last 1/3, there is little rigidity in the hinge, so the lid (clipboard) almost falls on the base as the lid is being closed.
But the good part is that the hinge is more rigid in the upper 2/3 of the rotation; so in the open position, there is less wobble in the clipboard, compared with before.

There is still this issue of browsers or the desktop freezing when using the Pen for scrolling (I talked about this in another thread), but it is less an issue now in Edge.
So Edge has replaced Chrome as my default browser.

I am going to keep this Surface Book, but I got the 2 year Microsoft warranty.

Thanks to everyone who posted their suggestions and experiences!!!

 

[MickeyLittle]

An update...

I picked up a new Surface Book with Performance Base (different batch number - 1718), and this new one has no clicking sound!!
Very happy with that; the clicking was very irritating.

This new Surface Book isn't "perfect" though.

During the first few hours of use, I saw the laptop wasn't charging, and the light on the charger was blinking. Just disconnected and re-connected the charger from the connector on the laptop a few times, and now charging seems fine.
Read on an online forum that this is "normal".

In closing the lid of the laptop, in the last 1/3, there is little rigidity in the hinge, so the lid (clipboard) almost falls on the base as the lid is being closed.
But the good part is that the hinge is more rigid in the upper 2/3 of the rotation; so in the open position, there is less wobble in the clipboard, compared with before.

There is still this issue of browsers or the desktop freezing when using the Pen for scrolling (I talked about this in another thread), but it is less an issue now in Edge.
So Edge has replaced Chrome as my default browser.

I am going to keep this Surface Book, but I got the 2 year Microsoft warranty.

Thanks to everyone who posted their suggestions and experiences!!!

Glad to hear your update and the 2 year warranty is probably a wise decision if for nothing but peace of mind! Best of luck!

 

[JaeMelo]

Sooo... My SB w/ PB developed the clicking hinge sound. It sucks but ehh, I'll live with it. Figured id let you know in case yours randomly starts doing the same also.