Replacing an X250 trackpad destroyed by a Slurpee

Our family has a rule (established by precedent) that when you turn three years old, you get your first laptop. Currently that means a refurbished ex-corporate Lenovo ThinkPad X250, running Ubuntu GNU/Linux.

Recently our daughter accidentally poured a raspberry flavoured[1] Slurpee into hers. I took the usual steps (carefully drying it out) but the trackpad was ruined, gummed up and shorted out with condensed sugar water. It was awful to use (the buttons literally felt sticky), and it wasn't registering clicks.

My attempt to clean out the trackpad with isopropanol and compressed air just blasted alcoholic raspberry syrup everywhere.

Replacement time!

The X250 opened, both batteries and SSD removed, ready for trackpad removal.

A closeup of the old trackpad, destroyed by a Slurpee.

Reassembling the X250 with the new trackpad fitted.

It was pretty straightforward.

Remove the battery.
Remove back lid screws, then unclip and remove the back lid.
Remove the SSD.
Remove the internal battery.
Remove the screws holding the trackpad in place.
Slide the trackpad out sideways, being gentle with the thin ribbon cable.
Unclip the ribbon cable.
Take the spare X250 trackpad you just happened to have in your workshop, and clip in the ribbon cable.
Reverse the above steps in order, finishing with replacing the battery.

Note that all of the above can be done with a small Phillips head screwdriver! I'm not sure *what* I'm going to do when I finally need to upgrade the kids from the X-series.

So now said daughter's laptop will be good for at least another year or two, I've saved myself a few hundred dollars on a replacement, plus earned myself some brownie points in her eyes :)

[1] From the scent, I assume that no raspberries were harmed in the production of the "raspberry" Slurpee.

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Published on Mar 27 2024.