Dell Chromebook 11 CB1C13 Palmrest Replacement

Remove the 7 screws from the back cover with a Phillips #0 screwdriver

Once all 7 screws have been removed, you can start to pry apart the back cover with your fingers/nails or use a plastic opening tool and carefully start to seprate the back cover from the main chromebook. See pic

When prying the bottom cover away from the main chassis, you can follow the order of the colored arrows starting with the red arrows while working your way around to green and so on. However, this order is not mandatory but seems to be the easiest.

Remove the 4 battery screws with a phillips #0 screwdriver.

Remove the battery connector from the motherboard either with a Spudger or your finger. Be careful and try not to pull connector out by the wires.

Remove the 4 data cables. The Trackpad, Keyboard, Daughter Board, and Notification Battery Light.

Remove a total of 13 screws.

(2) Left Hinge

(1) Right Hinge

(3) Daughter Board

(1) Fan

(6)MotherBoard

Unthread the black and white power cables from the wifi card and the fan.

Remove LCD cable connector from the motherboard

Start by lifting up the right hand side of the daughterboard so that it is removed at a slight angle. This is due to the SD card and the SD card port on the side of the palmrest.

First, tilt the entire bottom portion of the chromebook up in order to force both LCD hinges in an upward position. (Forcing the hinges in this position allows you more room to be able to lift out the motherboard and all of its components)

Then remove the motherboard starting by pulling the motherboard data cable up next to the fan. Keeping the fan, heatsink, and speakers attached to the motherboard saves you some time when installing onto the new palmrest.

When removing the old palmrest, you do not need to take off the old data cables or trackpad as those are all included within the new palmrest.

Slide the new palmrest under both LCD hinge posts at an angle. Make sure the keyboard is facing downward towards the LCD

First, replace the daughterboard. Remember, you will need to replace it a alight angle due to the SD card.

I like to replace the speakers first before lining up the motherboard just to get them out of the way. Look for the 2 plastic posts for each speaker as they rest along these to stay secure.

Then replace the motherboard. Keep an eye out for all the data cables as you will want to make sure they are all visible and above the motherboard. This will prepare you for the next step.

When trying to position the motherboard, use the USB and headphone port as your guide. Line these up with their corresponding shapes cut within the edge of the palmrest.

When replacing all the data cables, make sure to press the data cable connectors down flat in order to lock the data cables in place.

Secure both LCD hinges by pressing them both down firmly against the palmrest.

Replace all 13 screws

(2) Left Hinge

(1) Right Hinge

(3) Daughterboard

(1) Fan

(6)Motherboard

Take the two Wifi wires (black/white) and guide them through the one metal clip which is attached to the bottom of the palmrest right next to the daughterboard.

Continue to intertwine the wires through the black clips which are attached all around the bottom of the fan.

Once you have the wires secured and intertwined through the fan clips, take the gold tip connectors at the end of each wire and push (snap) them onto both of the ports attached to the Wifi Card.

Connect the LCD cable connector to the motherboard by pushing the connector down into the motherboards video port.

Make sure to secure the charging port back into its location within the top right corner of the palmrest.

Secure battery by connecting it to the motherboard and then replacing the screws.

Replace the 4 battery screws with a phillips #0 screwdriver. You can actually just replace the bottom 2 screws only as the others are usually the culprits of shorting out the motherboard.

Set the bottom cover/shell on top of the chromebook and line it up the best you can

Start in the top right corner and squeeze the chromebook together. You will hear "snapping"sounds which means that you are properly connecting the bottom cover clips to the main chromebook frame.

Continue to snap together the sides of the chromebook in a rotating fashion starting with the red arrows and moving along to the green, yellow, then orange arrows. Listen for the snapping sounds. See 3rd pic. You do not have to follow the order of colored arrows, but it seems the easiest.

Replace all 7 screws using a Phillips #0 screwdriver. See red circles in pic. Done!