Dell XPS 15 9510 Touchpad Replacement

Written By: Esmie

Comments: 3

Difficulty

Moderate

Steps

Time Required

45 minutes

Introduction

Glitching touchpads with erratic cursor movement, not being able to click with the touchpad, and the touchpad being unresponsive are signs that your current Dell XPS 15 9510 touchpad needs replacement.

Tools

Parts

Step 1

Make sure the laptop is powered off and unplug all cables before beginning any repair.
Remove eight 3 mm screws from the underside of the case using a T5 Torx screwdriver.

Step 2

The metal case of the XPS 15 9510 is extremely sharp, so be careful not to run your fingers along the edge when disassembling the laptop.
Wedge the case apart with a nylon spudger.
If the plastic one isn't possible to insert, use the metal spudger to carefully create a small gap first.
Slide spudger along each side of the laptop

Step 3

The metal case of the XPS 15 9510 is extremely sharp, so be careful not to run your fingers along the edge when disassembling the laptop.
Lift the back panel of the laptop off and set it aside.

Please do not miss this warning of it being sharp...
After opening a few laptops for my office, I have generally been fine. But after opening my own XPS... I had sliced my finger badly.

Alipoodle M -

Step 4

Remove two 4.3 mm screws from the left fan and one 4.3 mm screw from the right fan using a JIS #000 screwdriver.

I had to remove three screws in total to remove the right fan. One that is circled in the image above, and two more which hold the small black bracket to the right of the right fan. This bracket, while seemingly there to protect/secure a ribbon cable, also secures the right fan. Perhaps the guide should be corrected to account for this? or maybe there are multiple variants.

Cagdas Uzunahmet -

Step 5

Gently unplug the motherboard fan connector using a pair of tweezers.

Step 6

Unplug the motherboard connector on the other fan using a pair of tweezers.

Step 7

Gently slide and then lift the fans out of their positions.

Step 8

Repeat the previous step and remove the other fan.

Step 9

Using the small battery pull tab, disconnect the battery connector from the motherboard.

Step 10

Remove eight 2.5 mm from around the perimeter of the battery using a Phillips #0 screwdriver.

Step 11

There are many delicate components in the vicinity of the battery, so be extremely careful removing it
Remove the old battery from the laptop.

Step 12

Remove the three 4.6 mm screws that secure the heat sink with a Phillips #00 screwdriver.

Step 13

Lift and remove the heat sink.
Be sure to reapply thermal paste before replacing the heat sink.

Step 14

Remove the six 3 mm screws securing the touch pad with a Phillips #00 screw driver.

Step 15

Flip up the black ZIF locking flap that secures the touchpad ribbon cable.
Disconnect the touch pad ribbon cable.

Step 16

Lift the touch pad up and out of the chassis.

Conclusion

To reassemble your device, follow the above steps in reverse order.
Take your e-waste to an R2 or e-Stewards certified recycler.
Repair didn’t go as planned? Try some basic troubleshooting or ask our Answers community for help.

Author

Esmie

Member since: 23/09/24

121 Reputation

One comment

This guide is incomplete. Step 13 shows removing the heatsink, then step 14 is removing the touchpad, but it's a missing a HUGE series of steps in between which is removing the motherboard to access the touchpad. As-is this guide is not usable.

Derek Selby -