In this guide I will walk you through the process of Lenovo ThinkPad Yoga 12 disassembly. I’m taking it apart in order to remove and replace water damaged keyboard.
In order to access and remove the keyboard it’s necessary to disassemble the laptop completely because it’s mounted under the motherboard.
STEP 1.
Remove ten screws from the base cover.
STEP 2.
Start separating the base cover.
I found it’s easier to do if you start from the back, around hinges area.
STEP 3.
Remove the base cover.
STEP 4.
Remove one screw securing the battery.
STEP 5.
Lift up the battery and disconnect the cable. The battery connector located on the other side of the motherboard but can be easily accessed.
The battery model number: 45N1706.
STEP 6.
Remove two screws securing the 2.5″ hard drive bracket.
Slide the hard drive assembly to the show direction to disconnect from the SATA port.
STEP 7.
Remove the hard drive.
Upgrading this hard drive to a 2.5″ solid state drive will speed up the system.
STEP 8.
Disconnect left and right speaker cables and remove both speakers.
STEP 9.
Unplug white and black antenna cables from the wireless card.
Remove one screw securing the wireless card.
STEP 10.
Pull the wireless card out.
STEP 11.
Disconnect two display cables from the motherboard.
STEP 12.
Remove two screws from the DC-IN socket cover.
STEP 13.
Lift up and remove the cover.
STEP 14.
Remove eight screws securing the motherboard to the palmrest assembly.
Disconnect the following color-coded cables:
– SATA port / Power button / Volume control / board cable (green)
– Logo light cable (yellow)
– Touchpad cable (orange)
– Proximity sensor cable (light blue)
– Keyboard cables (dark blue and pink)
Here’s how to unlock connectors securing flat cables.
Lift up the locking tab first (red arrow). After that pull the cable out.
STEP 15.
Carefully lift up the motherboard and remove it from the palmrest assembly.
While removing the motherboard you will have to unglue the coin-cell battery.
The motherboard has been removed.
On the other side of the motherboard you can access and remove the cooling fan assembly (fan and heatsink). In order to remove the cooling fan assembly it’s necessary to remove four screws from the heatsink and unplug the fan cable.
The coin-cell battery also can be removed and replaced if necessary.
Lenovo ThinkPad Yoga 12 has RAM built into the motherboard. Eight chips located in the lower right corner are RAM chips.
STEP 16.
Remove two screws securing the touchpad.
Carefully pull the touchpad cable up to unglue it from the frame.
STEP 17.
Place the laptop on its side and remove the touchpad.
STEP 18.
Finally, we are at the point of removing the keyboard.
Remove fourteen screws (four large and ten small) securing the keyboard assembly to the frame.
STEP 19.
Unroute the proximity sensor cable from the guided path on the keyboard.
STEP 20.
Lift up the keyboard assembly and remove it from the rest of the laptop.
Here’s a photo of the laptop with the keyboard and touchpad removed.
You can find a new replacement keyboard assembly using the FRU part number printed on the label.
In my Lenovo ThinkPad Yoga 12 the keyboard FRU is 04Y2620.
When installing the keyboard back in place make sure it’s seated properly.
The plastic part slides under the hinge (green arrow).
The metal bracket engages with a metal pin (red arrow). You cannot see the pin on this picture but it’s there.
