I want to offer a big thanks to everyone in the comments for all the kind words and for sharing your results! It is great to see that this fix has helped to restore touchpad functionality for so many users!
Hello Dash rendar After doing this operation , I noticed 3 new issues , you also? 1) Bump on the surface of the trackpad exactly at the location of the soldering operation, it is ugly 2) strange light electric buzz sounds coming directly from trackpad when you don't touch it, you put your ear close to it, and you ear it as if you hear electricity moving inside trackpad , strange! Before, was not the case! When you put the finger on track pad (contact), this noise disappear, otherwise its permanent noise 3) Device Security Issue After doing this soldering operation, I noticed issues in Windows Security - Device Security Before I could see the 3 features , core isolation, memory integrity and secured boot, and all was on and well. Now, those features are fone completely, cannot see it, just white page, on top written : "Standard hardware security not supported"
@@stevewindsenergy Aside from myself, you are the only other person I've heard from who also got a bump on the surface of their trackpad. Mine isn't bad enough to be a problem or bothersome, thankfully. As far as the other two issues you mentioned, I haven't experienced any odd noises coming from the trackpad or elsewhere, and my computer still shows the three features you mentioned in Windows Security - Device Security. I don't know what to recommend other than perhaps doing some additional diagnosing to make sure the touchpad is indeed the issue (hopefully nothing else was disturbed/damaged when the laptop case was open). Perhaps open the laptop back up and unscrew the grounding wire, or even unplug the entire touchpad, and see if that has an impact on either of the two issues. I suspect the device security issue may be more involved to troubleshoot and possibly some things may need to be checked/reset in BIOS. If you determine the trackpad is damaged, it looks like there are replacements selling on eBay for around $40. There have been a lot of people reporting success using metallic tape in place of soldering, so that might be something to consider if you go this route and need to perform the fix again.
@@dashrendar2625 i spent 1 h with dell technicians on phone and 3 hours with Microsoft technicians on remote assistance, nobody could solve problem of missing my security features core isolation, memory integrity..... I am really so helpless
Pretty sure you had your temperature set too high on soldering iron. Touch pad circuit is just a plastic flex circuit not your normal PCB. Secondly did anyone here think to use a continuity mode to see if the copper pad and plate are actually touching. I have same issue but there is a connection between the plate and the copper pad, how do I know that I used a multimeter to test.
I just wanted to say thank you for sharing your insights on this touchpad issue. I bought the same computer in April 2022 (European model) and after 2 months of ownership it developed the same problem. It's shameful DELL still haven't implemented a solution to this known problem during manufacturing. I was able to apply the same principle of your technique but modified it so I didn't have to do any soldering. I used conductive copper tape with one side adhesive. First I screwed through the copper tape with that screw on the top right corner. Then I ran the tape down to the copper element on the trackpad which I also sanded down. I wrapped the adhesive side of the copper tape along some of nearby structures to help fix it in place and then I folded the tape in on itself to exposed the conductive non adhesive side to the sanded down copper element on the touchpad. I then folded the tape over on itself a few more times to create some thickness which would then be pressed down by the battery, insuring a good contact between the two copper structures was maintained. I can confirm it solved the problem instantly and after 4 days there has been no sign of the issue coming back.
One and 3/4 years of erratic mouse behavior. Checked ohms from copper pad to TouchPad ground shroud. Fluctuates from .2 ohms to 100 ohms. Not a good connection. This fix holds a solid 0 to .2 ohms. No more erratic TouchPad! Thank you for the fix!
Unfortunately, this is more than likely an issue where it's actually Dell's supplier for the trackpad who made the error and Dell can't force them to fix it (or won't because it will cost them money somehow). The same thing happens in pretty much every industry that sources internals from other vendors. Motor on your blender went out? "Yeah, we're working on a fix for that." Permanent LED headlights on your truck keep failing? "There's a recall pending." It's never the manufacturer's legal responsibility necessarily so they dodge it and just keep on making money. Is it dishonest? Yes. Unethical? Yes, again. Is that going to stop them? Absolutely not.
Thanks a lot - I just repaired my touchpad!!! I used double-sided conductive copper foil tape, so no soldering was required and no overheating or damage could happen. Touchpad works like a charm now. Just like it is supposed to.
OMG! I had the first trackpad replaced under warranty and the new one worked for 2 days. So annoyed that I put it on the shelf until I came across this video. SO, I don't have a soldering iron where I am, but I got creative. I made a small rectangle folded piece of aluminum foil (folded tight to be the same footprint of the tab and not too thick...). I then saw that the right tab was the one probably not making good contact. I lightly sanded the copper pad, used a tweasers to slip between the copper pad and tab (making the tab more level with the other area), then put a piece of electrical tape over the whole area that the battery would hold down... BAM! It has worked for over a week! AMAZED!
I used copper tape to ground the copper pad to the support bracket. It's worked perfectly for a few of weeks now. I can't thank you enough. You completely saved me.
I'm curious as well. Did you add the copper wire and taped it down with the tape rather than solder it on? Because I don't have a solder iron and never soldered anything before.
This is the fix i hoped Dell would make but am so very happy that DashRender provided! I used conductive aluminum tape instead of soldering and I've been so happy ever since! I hardly use the trackpad but when I do, I want it to work. Super bummed that I bought this laptop new in January, found out about this known issue right after the return windows closed, and then saw the first occurrences 2 days after the 30 days. Thank you! Thank you!
Same here, just did it today. I got out a soldering iron, but haven't used it much, so I used plain old metallic duct tape instead. Just sanded the copper on the laptop, then pressed down a square sized piece of tape so that it was secure on the copper, covered the tab, and then up onto the metal. Did it on the left side tab as well. Worked great.
It works!!! I used a piece of copper self-adhesive tape, so didn't need to use high temperature and sand the surface. Thank you a lot for your great tutorial!
Thanks for highlighting the poor trackpad grounding issue and proposing a fix. It seems that the leaf springs, located on each side, were originally designed for this purpose but unfortunately become ineffective after a while (oxidation at the contact point?). Soldering a wire grants for sure a better grounding. However, as I have read in some places, there is a *risk of overheating* and damage to the touchpad. I therefore preferred to implement the alternative solution which consists of using a *conductive strip* instead. It makes it possible to cheaply, easily and *safely* establish a *good electrical connection* between the copper contact area of the trackpad and the chassis. This works like a charm: no more trackpad instability now!
My machine was only 1 year old and would have needed its 3rd pad replacement if not for finding this ground was an issue. I bought this Dell because my old laptop (win 7 system) still worked even after falling down a flight of stairs. I used solder as I had read the tape will fail after a while. For anyone wanting to solder, use a fine emery cloth (600 or finer) to clean the copper surface of the pad and then wipe with alcohol. Tin the solder iron, then tin the copper pad and the wire you are using. Then, reheat the tinned pad and drop the wire in and pull the iron away. This will assure you have applied the least amount of heat as the solder will melt quickly. Also assures the least amount of solder on the pad.
Thank you! I used copper adhesive tape and it solved the problem. Was an extremely easy job to do that fixed such a nightmare issue. Thank you so much!
@@Gumdohodi i tried conductive copper tape and it worked for about 10 days, now it's back to glitching again. Next step is soddering for me...hope it holds.
Thank you for this video man. You are awesome. I followed all your instructions and my trackpad works again!! Since I didn't want to risk getting the little bump on the trackpad, I used copper foil tape instead of soldering and it worked.
Thank you. It was your comment that made me follow the same idea since I don't have soldering tools and it worked!!!! I've been putting up with this for a year and spend hours with dell support I'll never get back
thanks for the help. i am so sorry i bought this model. i was always a big fan of Dell, but this time i changed my mind. the pc has a lot of problems, the monitor colors are not good and it makes a lot of noise. also it is not a cheap pc. Dell should have recalled all these models since it is everyone's problem. shameful. never again
I just applied your fix today and my touch pad is now working perfectly! Thank you for figuring this out and for your great video. I have been frustrated for a year with my glitchy touch pad, and now it's great!
Thank you for making this video. I have a little experience with board repair, and I was able to follow along and get it done! It was bothering me for a long time and Dell support was no help
Thank you! I did this fix a couple weeks ago and it's worked flawlessly since. I used solder as well and made sure to use just a small amount as well as flatten it as much as possible. I did not end up with the bump.
i got two sided copper tape and it works. No stress for burning your laptop and no soldering. its just tape. just make a trail to the grounding bolt. no need to scrub anything either. i did both sides to opposite grounding bolts to make it even better and it is working like a charm
Also i had this problem on my dell inspiron 16 7620 oled model. this fix works the same but the track pad looks a little different than the one in this video. the gaps are smaller and its alot harder to get in there and fix
@@crazedxfighter Hi mate.. i too have the exact same model as you... Mines also a 7620 with a oled and a touchscreen.. the touch pad is slightly different from whats shown here.. it seems to be sorta integrated to the frame at the top. however i still have not opened the back cover yet.. I just wanna know is the internal view different from whats shown here? And also did u sand down that surface?
The solution with copper tape from the comments here worked well and it's totally easy! After a useless touchpad replacement by Dell and after over a year with this problem, I can finally use my laptop normally. Thanks for the video and the comments!
I had a Dell technician out 4 times and mailed it back to them once and it was "fixed" only to start screwing up again in a month or so. Just did your fix about 3 weeks ago after it started acting up and seems to have fixed it. Nice work!
Your youtube video helped me a lot, I have a dell inspirion 7610 and the same issue with the touchpad. Thanks to the last part of your video I was careful to apply the soldering iron for a short time, so that the touchpad was not damaged. Now, and after 1 year of purchase my laptop is finally 100% perfect!
To test this out, I used used a small strip of aluminum foil, folded over a few times to give it some thickness, and taped it to the copper contact using electrical tape. The touchpad works perfectly now! I've ordered a roll of copper conductive tape (with conductive adhesive) and will re-do it using the copper tape for a more "professional" fix. Thanks for the video!
Update: I removed the aluminum foil and replaced with copper conductive tape. The touchpad worked perfectly for a few days--but then the same issues started happening again 😞. I'm disappointed that this didn't work for me, as it apparently has for others. I also discovered that when the touchpad isn't working as it should, if I close/reopen the lid the touchpad starts working correctly again (until it doesn't...).
Literally just finished trying this fix with self-adhesive copper tape (I’m too chicken to solder something this expensive). Fingers crossed it works because sometimes I want to throw my laptop out of the window because of the trackpad. Thanks for such clear instructions.
As many other commenters noted, I just used a thin piece of copper tape to solve the issue with the same idea. I scratched the coating of both sides with a small flat-head screw driver and put the tape so that the exposed metal is connected to that bracket/metal piece that has the tabs on it. I did it on both sides to make sure there's enough conduction of the static off the trackpad. On the right side I did put some extra tape to connect it to the area with the screw in case that helps because I don't want to bother opening this again. Hope this helps someone.
Hi DASH RENDAR, thank you so much for your video. I had the touchpad issue, Dell technical support replaced my laptop with "new touchpad version" which failed miserably again. It was a headache until I saw your aportation, YOU WERE RIGHT with the problem. One comment for all the other people, after watching the video I have solved the problem WITHOUT SOLDER just trying to avoid the stetic mark on the touchpad. Just painted those contacts with CONDUCTING SILVER, in my case I have used Kemo Electronic L100 product. It fixed the issue incredibly well and easy. If you go with this solution be EXTREMELY CAREFULL NOT TO SPLASH SILVER on the electronic board. I recommend you to cover it before. Hope it helps anyone, it is a great laptop and it is very sad to have a failure of this type.
Thank you a million I have just used self-adhesive tape and without any Soldering I could fix the issue. Now it works fine and I think the issue is solved. I ordered “Premium Adhesive Copper Foil Tape - Double Sided Conductive - 0.5" from Amzaon.
Omg, thank you so much. I've struggled since nearly two years with this issue. Got already a new touchpad from Dell, but the issue came back.. I'll give it a try tomorrow 🥰
Thank you for the video. I too have a Dell Inspiron 16-7610. Rather than soldering an additional wire for better grounding, i simply did insert an additional wire between the copper plate and the little aluminum tongue. The connection between these two parts was simply too poor to provide good grounding. Now it is much better and my touchpad problems are gone.
Works on Inspiron 16 7620 2-in-1 laptop aswell. I had the same grounding problem it seems. The layout was a little different from the 7610, but very similar process nevertheless. ALSO, the contact pad is way smaller on the 7620, so soldering is a bit more difficult if you want to be precise. I recommend practicing soldering beforehand, so the process goes smoothly on the actual laptop. UPDATE: the issues came back again, so I opened the laptop up again, and I soldered another wire on the other contact pad (exactly like on the right side, the 7610 only has 1 contact pad, whereas 7620 has 2 contact pads). I also reheated the existing solder wire incase the connect was bad somehow. Seems to be working for now. Will update this comment if there's any other problems I run into, but this seems to be working for now.
Thank you very much for this fix. I will try it on my Laptop. Needless to say this is something Dell should have already fix in the recent models. They know they have a flaw in their design and I see this keeps happening. I am very happy with my laptop, but very dissapointed by Dell. Needless to say, this would be the last piece of equipment I will buy from them, because they cannot offer a solution to a "simple" known problem and preffer to ignore the issue. Now, thanks to you I will be able to solve it myself!
Seems I also just fixed the erratic trackpad behavior on my Inspiron 7610 using the advice from the DashRendar video and viewer comments. Used a non-invasive method. Got some 1/4 in conductive on both sides copper tape from Amazon. Assured myself that the sticky side was conductive. I measured about 0.4 ohms per inch. Got to the trackpad using DashRendar's instructions. The copper contact pad seemed to have little surface resistance. So, without sanding, I placed a short piece of tape from the copper pad to the silver-colored metal frame. I overlapped an additional length of copper tape up the frame towards the screw that DashRendar used for his grounding wire. So far so good. Don't have to connect a mouse every time I want to use the computer. Let's see if it lasts. Only problem is that I have enough copper tape to repair a few hundred computers. Many thanks to DashRendar and the commentators.
Been about a month, and so far so good. There was an occasion when cursor went wacky when I used the trackpad, but I'm not so sure it was the trackpad. Perhaps a software issue. @@DragonProtector
Thank you sooooooo much. My touchpad has been replaced twice and the 3rd time Dell gave me a new laptop but the issue is always back!! Then the warrenty expired and Dell refused to fix it! Now thanks to you the laptop is reborn
Thanks a lot for sharing this fix !!!!. It saved my day and I can now use the touchad with pleasure. As others I used adhesive copper to avoid sandering and soldering.
Thank you!!! You really are a lifesaver. I love my Dell Inspiron 16 plus 7620 (newer model, yes, they did the same mistake...) but it had the same issue, now it is completely fixed and I can finally enjoy this great laptop.
Thanks so much for this mate! Mine was problematic out of the box, and it repaired by dell, and that lasted 2 days. I did a bunch of ohm readings to test the earthing, and it was super erratic, from 10ohms up to 400ohm. I removed the weird little foam pad, and used a bunch of adhesive copper tape and a bit of bare wire, instead of soldering.... Not Ideal just wanted to see if it would solve the problem and sure enough it has. If the copper tape ever acts up I'll do a more permanent job. Dell owes you a bonus for this!!
@@laucung88 its gone from a failure rate of all the time, to 1 in 5 times? It's not ideal but I only removed 1 of the weird little foam pads, so if you're in there do both... I think I'll try removing the second one before soldering it
Very helpful video, thanks; it worked well for me. A few notes of my own here. First: if you are using Costco's extended warranty service, beware that the company that you're sending it to is not Dell. And, they will automatically reinstall the whole operating system, so it's advisable to back up your data before you ship, as you will be using a virgin system when you get it back. Second: Use alcohol to clean off the wire and copper pad before soldering (there was no protective layer in mine), and save that q-tip for removing the rosin flux when you're done soldering. This will prevent corrosion. Third: I found two M2 x 3 screws missing from the copper and aluminum cover plates when I got the bottom off my 7610. That's how they came from the factory - missing. This could have accounted for other erratic/grounding problems. Fourth: when removing and installing the battery, note that the outside bottom edges of the battery have small feet that go into slots in the chassis. If not fitted correctly, you'll have difficulty in reassembly. Fifth: Use a soldering pencil with a high heat setting and a very light pressure on the copper, like just the weight of the pencil. The actual soldering should take about one second, no longer. You can use an aluminum tool to lightly hold the wire against the copper if it hovers above the pad.
Thank you so much. If you're careful with the heat, you can apply the fix without any bump at the end. Just get some solder on your tip and on the wire, and you should be able to do it quickly. Has been working ever since (couple days now). Previously couldn't get through a single day without the thing driving me insane.
I can't take a picture because I am not with my tools to take the machine apart again. But I placed to adhesive copper tape exactly where it was placed in this video. The only thing i did differently was to remove the steel screw, place the tape over the hole, and replace the screw driving it through the copper tape for a secure connection. Good luck. I hope this works for you@@Ripknoxx
Thanks for the great vid, I got here from the forum and while the instructions there were clear enough, this video shows just how simple an operation it is.
Just wanted to say this works. I actually found this video after I orderd my laptop but before it arived. I guess Google was like "oh you bought a dell well here's your protentional future" Well it happend. I rememberd this fix, but i didn't have the tools to solder the wire, so i just put the wire between the conductive pad and the ground tab, then atachet it to the same screw you did, and instant change it work great now. Thanks
This is a totally confirmed solution. I did this 18 months ago, not a single trackpad glitch! And it's a nice touchpad, one of the nicest I've ever used.
Worked like a charm! Had this issue a week after purchasing the laptop. After backwards and forwards with Currys Support (Where I purchased the laptop) and Dell, no one would help me out. They advised to go through a third party company to get a replacement and be without my laptop for a month. I used some stranded wire out of a broken phone charger, tinned it and connected it to the copper pad. I tried to solder to that silver shield, but it wouldn't take. So I opted to do the same and loop it around that screw to make a physical connection to it. Continuity tested fine. So booted back up and i'm over the moon with how well it works. Unfortuantly I did get a little bump. Had to set my soldering iron @ 350c as the cheap solder I had laying around didn't want to flow properly. This could be avoided by getting some low melting point / good quality solder or maybe adding some heat protection before soldering. Thanks again :)
I have inspiron 7620 and had the same problem. First I used double-sided conductive copper foil tape, But the problem returned within a few days, Finally I used soldering as shown in the video (I used welding with a small difference, instead of driving it into the bolt, I also welded it to the top.) and it works perfectly. It seems that the copper foil is not making good contact. P.S If you do not heat it for a long time, no marks or defects are left on the outside of the trackpad
Just adding to the chorus. Mine started playing up for the second time (they replaced it about 7 months ago). I'm out of warranty now. This worked. Wish dell would just fix the issue (given you've effectively told them what is wrong and how to fix it) rather than replacing with parts that just break again. When this laptop has reached its end of life (I can usually make them last a fair few years) I'll be getting a different brand.
thanks SO MUCH. i finally got a soldering iron just for this. ended up using a bit of copper from a broken USB cable to make the connection and now it works beautifully!!... sucks because its actually a really good touchpad when its not jumping all over the place...
you are a life saver. Dell changed the trackpad twice but to no use. I have tried this fix and working fine till now. Keep up the good work. Didn't expect this from dell.
Had the problem, did the fix 2 days ago. Problem 100% solved for now. Only place on the enternet I could find a real solution by the way. Used electrical tape instead of welding, i put it tidy and made sure it would be there permanently (i hope it does) , no dent on the pad.
@@abdullahbhatti4757 yes it's working great the laptop much improved. The fix was easy... I was surprised. Just a touch of the solder and run the little wire and it's fixed. It was definitely a grounding problem from the factory......
Thanks for your video. I placed an order for this laptop and then realized the design flaw with its touch pad. I was going to cancel my order, but your solution seems easy enough so I guess I will keep my order.
In my opinion it's certainly a nice laptop for the price, and I especially like the display. I hope it all works out well for you if you decide to keep it.
I have an Acer Nitro 5 and this worked like magic, it seemed like I had to put in a new touchpad as it would work fine for a while and then become eratic all of a sudden but I used conductive coper strips and boom solved !
I went into the kitchen and found my aluminum foil and PVC tape. Applied on the metal tip with tape to put gentle pressure. Now, the mouse pad is working flawlessly. Note: This is not a recommendation
Just followed this video to try and fix the problem but couldn't get good contact soldering, so as an alternative, I took a small piece of tin foil and placed it so that one end would touch the copper contact (after lightly sanding it) and have that bridge onto the metal tab that was above that contact. I made sure to sand a bit of the metal tab to be sure I had efficient contact. Then place a tiny piece of electrical tape to keep it in place. Hope this helps anyone taking an alternative route to soldering.
Thanks for sharing! I was wondering if sanding the contact would be necessary when using tape, so it's good to hear you are having success without doing so. I now suspect the copper pad doesn't have a coating, but rather just a very smooth finish. When soldering though, I imagine roughing up the surface would still be worth doing to promote good adhesion of the solder to the pad.
hey I finally turned on this laptop after like over 2 years. Trackpad half works lol. It works but then glitches and doesnt. So definitely need to do this fix
Thanks a lot for sharing. At my side the trackpad does not work well while the charger is connected but works fine without charger. This confirms a grounding issue and poor common/differential mode imunity. I still have to try with other chargers and better earth connection maybe. And also try to add a choke / filter onto the charger cable...
FYI there is no need to remove the battery. Just below the battery you can see a small part of the copper contact of the touchpad. I put some conductive copper tape and connected that part to the support bracket and it worked. I needed to use the ifixit metal spudger to get that in there to make good contact with the copper & the aluminum(it's a very tight space). I looked for an alternative solution because 2 screws of my battery were very tight and could not be removed, resulting in me stripping them! I could not be bothered putting WD-40 or supergluing a two sacrificial screwdrivers on the screws.
I've been going crazy with the loss of convenience a buggy trackpad brings. Trackpad has been reliably unreliable, and my warranty JUST expired. I'll be trying this soon, and will edit this comment when I do. Also, has anyone that owns this laptop noticed that pushing the laptop from the bottom but approximately below the trackpad will make it click? Or is that just mine?
I'm forced to try this now. Dell tried to fix it 3 times and couldn't. 4th time calling about this and I'm out of warranty and they're saying it's "not the same issue". It's the same exact F-ing issue and Dell is in the wrong. I've spent way too much time dealing with Dell and being without a working laptop when I need it to be a LAPtop (when I can't use a mouse), which is why I bought it - to replace my desktop.
Well...here we are. July 2023. Mike Dell still sits at head of table. I'm on touchpad replacement #5, and each time my DELL service contract sends a tech with a new touchpad 200 miles roundtrip. I'm awaiting now, more than 30 days, for yet a 3rd actual Inspiron from the Dell Nashville folks. The good level 2 Dell phone service rep tried to take the company line...we'll replace the touchpad on this newly arrived refurb'd Inspiron. But I am an electronics engineer. A very good one too. Told Dell NO. Said I am sending bad touchpad refurb back to Dell. But I still have the original, dead in water due to NFG touchpad. They didn't like that I had known of their self admitted issue. Heres the BEST PART...Level 2 dude says to me that they are awsre of the "defective gasket". READ THAT AGAIN. Me and the in home repair tech both knew it has been one of Dell's greatest money wasting issues. I said a year and a half ago that it's a intermittent and thus no doubt the connection is plated. Tech told me not to void the warranty and told me he'll replace the touchpad a million times if I need. And so Dell did just that. Costing you Mr. DELL, way too much $$$ money. Times a few thousand machines??? The poor fellas in New Delhi...they can't sway from their playbook. However WE can get the next machine from HP, Lenovo, or dare I say it...c'mon everyone together...that fruit from the Garden of Steve...Err...I mean Garden of Eden. I have not heard back from my 2 latest requests for my laptop repair ticket. Time to strap a piece of copper bus bar to the chassis of Mike Dell's sports car, and to my Inspiron 16 7610. Oh, and India...if you are watching...last 3 of xpress # are 731. Do your leg work. Thanks to our customer community! 3's Lars
this is brilliant! I had the dell engineers come out at least 3 times before I gave up calling them. Does anyone know another method other than soldering? I dont have a soldering gun at the moment.
Many people in the comments have mentioned alternatives they have had success with, the most common being using conductive copper tape in place of soldering a wire.
Here is what I did that seemed to fix the problem. Open Device Manager. Under Human Interface Devices open I2C HID Device. Select the Power Management Tab. De-select "Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power" After completing those steps, I have not had the smallest problem with my touchpad for the last week.
for those having the same issue in 2023 dell Inspiron 16 7260 2 in 1 its the best solution. I'm having same issue dell support didn't respond. I didn't ground wire but put a metal strip on the trackpad connecting it to the side panel just to check and it mysteriously stopped glitching I guess you should try it too if it works then open your dell to solve through the original procedure as in video
From day 1 - I have this issue, also there is a constant electric discharge on the metal beading on the edges, it is sometimes painful the electric discharge. I am surprised that they are so incompetent to fix this issue in production.
Thanks for making this video, very useful. I did the fix using adhesive copper tape with double sided conductivity (to both contact points), but the same erratic touchpad issue came back after a couple days of use. I opened it up again and did the same thing, but with two layers of tape for some extra thickness, including folding it over at the copper contact point to ensure there's enough thickness there that would press down, and that time it worked great for almost two weeks. The issue just came back... any ideas what could be resolving the problem temporarily but then having it come back over time?
Unfortunately grounding issues are notorious for being erratic like that. In my original post on the Dell Community Forums, while we were working towards a solution, I mentioned that the problem would often disappear by simply removing the back cover of the laptop, only to resurface after a few days or weeks. In your case, it seems the connection might not be sufficient for some reason. There could be a layer of oxide on the metal surface preventing a solid connection, or perhaps the quality of the copper tape is a factor. One troubleshooting step you could take is using a multimeter to check the resistance between the copper pad and the laptop chassis, observing how the resistance changes with different solutions you try. While using metallic tape is the least intrusive and most convenient solution, soldering a wire is probably the most reliable and robust way to make the connection, so if you continue to not have success with the tape that may be something worth considering.
@@dashrendar2625 I might try with the tape one more time and see if I can establish a better connection somehow. I did read some about trying to get some nearby pins to press down tighter onto copper pads as well, seems potentially worth a shot. This is pretty much my only experience with working on electronics so I'm hesitant to go the soldering route is all. Thanks again. I may invest in a basic multimeter as well, I don't have one right now.
@@mattgeorge505If you haven't already, lightly sanding and cleaning the copper as I did in the video, perhaps even some of the aluminum, might help in case there is any surface contamination or oxidation that is preventing a good connection. Some people mentioned they didn't need to do this step, but it might help. Good luck as you experiment, hope you find something that works!
Would anyone be able to share how long this fix has worked for them? Everyone sounds very positive, so hopefully the trackpad issues are solved for good. I've been putting up with the trackpad issues for months. :( My laptop is still under warranty and I would be hesitant to void it, but I'm so skeptical about Dell fixing the trackpad. Would the aluminum tape solution (instead of soldering the wire) be removable/not void the warranty? Thanks for the great video! This solution is the only glimmer of hope I've had after reading dozens of forums.
I have not had any issues since performing the fix, and I highly recommend it! As you noticed, many have also reported success with less permanent solutions such as using metallic tape or taping the wire down instead of soldering it, so you could experiment to the extent you are comfortable. I share your skepticism about Dell fixing the trackpad. The majority of stories I have heard about people going to Dell for support result in replacement of the trackpad, and oftentimes the problems end up returning after a short while.
This seems to have worked for me. It's been a couple of days and no issues whatsoever. I'll update if something changes. BTW it's also possible to simply use some electric tape instead of soldering, it seems to work just fine.
Hey this is an awesome video, but I'm worried about the heat and the bump. I'm curious - why not just try with some real good tape and/or epoxy rather than using hot solder? I am planning to try that first, but would like your opinion.
A lot of people in the comments have reported success using copper tape, which I would recommend. Some have also reported success just taping down the wire using electrical tape. I would not suggest using glue or epoxy because it is not conductive and would be difficult to remove if needed. I wish you well in your repair!
I think soldering wire is the best because the tape may not last long, just be careful even if it only leaves a very small dot but it is stable for a long time.
Thanks for posting this fix. I'm tempted to do this but mine is under warranty. I had the same issue 3 times now. We had the laptop replaced...then the next laptop had the same issue and a tech came out and replaced the touch pad....and now about 45 days later we are having the issue again. I an either do this (and possibly void the warrantee)... I can send it in and be out of a laptop for 10 days or so...or I can have a tech open it up.... what to do, what to do.
If you are concerned about the warranty but are confident in your ability to work on the laptop, you may be able to attempt a less-invasive method of grounding the trackpad in case you wanted to "undo" the fix later. The warranty may be useful if a different issue arises with your laptop, but I wouldn't count on Dell to properly fix the trackpad issue. Based on what you and others in the forums have said I suspect they would just replace the trackpad again according to their protocol without addressing the grounding issue.
@@dashrendar2625 - really apricate the feedback. I think I will try that. I think I'll get a small piece of copper strip and bent down some and drill a hole on one end. I'll put it under that screw you used. It is kind of the same idea you used but spring action to make the contact instead of solder. It looks like this is how it is suppose to make that connection to next to where you soldered but it looks like a steal plate. I'm wondering if it is the two different types of metals coming into contact causing a thin corrosion...or maybe because we press on the touch pad it is pushing out (and bending) that built in spring. Thank you again for the reply. It is a awesome laptop with a taller screen for coding. It just has that trackpad issue! You know it is common when I have had it go out three times on me..and it is only 4 months old.
@@FunWithBits Sure thing. It may be helpful to use a multimeter to assess the connections as you experiment with solutions. Someone on the forum reported initial success using aluminum tape. Good luck!
I used conductive tape and copper wire and it helped to fix the problem for some time, but now the problem has returned. Is there anything else one can try?
Sanding, cleaning, and soldering to the copper pad as shown in the video is probably the best way to ensure a solid electrical connection. Aside from that, all I can suggest is to verify that the tape you are using is conductive on the adhesive side (some metallic tapes are only conductive on the outer face and don't have a conductive adhesive).
Thanks. Question : as there is a "foam pad" between the copper tab and the stanless spring tab, why not "simply" removing that "isolator" If it weren't there, wouldn't there be the same grounding effect between the 2 metals ?
I don't think it makes a good enough connection typically. Some people mentioned that their touchpads didn't come with the foam pads from the start, and yet they were experiencing the issue as well.
I called Dell ProSupport about this exact issue that my customer was having. (I must admit that I thought it was "operator error" or "fumble fingers" because I hate trackpads and always use a Microsoft Mobile Mouse) Anyway the tech immediately acknowledged that it was a known problem and is dispatching a field service tech to my customer's office to fix the problem. I have a mundane question though: What is the brand name of that screwdriver set you're using? I assume it's magnetized due to the screws adhering to the Phillips bits. Having done some previous work on Dell laptops I know you've got to be pretty dexterous with those microscopic screws if you're just using your fingers to put 'em back in place. I'm wondering if the guy who originally came up with this fix was an electrical / electronic engineer, because I never in a million years would've even guessed what the problem was, much-less a solution for it. Bravo to both him and you for helping a lot of (out-of-warranty) folks who own this particular model. A side-note; my customer also complained about this unit getting excessively hot. When I mentioned it to the tech he said (and I quote) "We really don't like to call 'em 'laptops' anymore because of that very thing. We advise people to get a 'cooling pad' to put between the computer and their laps." And it does get pretty toasty after being on for awhile, for sure.
Thank you for sharing this, I been dealing with this touchpad issue for a year, now I just need to find those tools, so I can fix it. But can I just remove the sliver pads on both side or sand it down to remove the obstacle between the copper and ground panel? in that case, all I need is a Phil screwdriver and a sand paper.
I want to offer a big thanks to everyone in the comments for all the kind words and for sharing your results! It is great to see that this fix has helped to restore touchpad functionality for so many users!
Hello Dash rendar After doing this operation , I noticed 3 new issues , you also?
1) Bump on the surface of the trackpad exactly at the location of the soldering operation, it is ugly
2) strange light electric buzz sounds coming directly from trackpad when you don't touch it, you put your ear close to it, and you ear it as if you hear electricity moving inside trackpad , strange! Before, was not the case! When you put the finger on track pad (contact), this noise disappear, otherwise its permanent noise
3) Device Security Issue
After doing this soldering operation, I noticed issues in Windows Security - Device Security
Before I could see the 3 features , core isolation, memory integrity and secured boot, and all was on and well.
Now, those features are fone completely, cannot see it, just white page, on top written :
"Standard hardware security not supported"
@@stevewindsenergy Aside from myself, you are the only other person I've heard from who also got a bump on the surface of their trackpad. Mine isn't bad enough to be a problem or bothersome, thankfully. As far as the other two issues you mentioned, I haven't experienced any odd noises coming from the trackpad or elsewhere, and my computer still shows the three features you mentioned in Windows Security - Device Security.
I don't know what to recommend other than perhaps doing some additional diagnosing to make sure the touchpad is indeed the issue (hopefully nothing else was disturbed/damaged when the laptop case was open). Perhaps open the laptop back up and unscrew the grounding wire, or even unplug the entire touchpad, and see if that has an impact on either of the two issues. I suspect the device security issue may be more involved to troubleshoot and possibly some things may need to be checked/reset in BIOS.
If you determine the trackpad is damaged, it looks like there are replacements selling on eBay for around $40. There have been a lot of people reporting success using metallic tape in place of soldering, so that might be something to consider if you go this route and need to perform the fix again.
@@dashrendar2625 i spent 1 h with dell technicians on phone and 3 hours with Microsoft technicians on remote assistance, nobody could solve problem of missing my security features core isolation, memory integrity..... I am really so helpless
Pretty sure you had your temperature set too high on soldering iron.
Touch pad circuit is just a plastic flex circuit not your normal PCB.
Secondly did anyone here think to use a continuity mode to see if the copper pad and plate are actually touching.
I have same issue but there is a connection between the plate and the copper pad, how do I know that I used a multimeter to test.
Also I might add invest in a fibreglass pen to scratch the copper pad for soldering
I just wanted to say thank you for sharing your insights on this touchpad issue. I bought the same computer in April 2022 (European model) and after 2 months of ownership it developed the same problem. It's shameful DELL still haven't implemented a solution to this known problem during manufacturing. I was able to apply the same principle of your technique but modified it so I didn't have to do any soldering. I used conductive copper tape with one side adhesive. First I screwed through the copper tape with that screw on the top right corner. Then I ran the tape down to the copper element on the trackpad which I also sanded down. I wrapped the adhesive side of the copper tape along some of nearby structures to help fix it in place and then I folded the tape in on itself to exposed the conductive non adhesive side to the sanded down copper element on the touchpad. I then folded the tape over on itself a few more times to create some thickness which would then be pressed down by the battery, insuring a good contact between the two copper structures was maintained. I can confirm it solved the problem instantly and after 4 days there has been no sign of the issue coming back.
Is it still working properly since the fix you made by the time you wrote this comment?
Has the solution with copper tape continued to work?
thanks for the tip. i just did it yesterday, so far so good, hopefully its a permanent fix
after 3 months, it failed with the tape
One and 3/4 years of erratic mouse behavior. Checked ohms from copper pad to TouchPad ground shroud. Fluctuates from .2 ohms to 100 ohms. Not a good connection. This fix holds a solid 0 to .2 ohms. No more erratic TouchPad! Thank you for the fix!
You did what Dell's own engineers couldn't and solved the trackpad issue. Thanks a bunch for the guide!
Dell has no engineers. Dell is just a name they slap on China sourced computers. It's like Google.
Unfortunately, this is more than likely an issue where it's actually Dell's supplier for the trackpad who made the error and Dell can't force them to fix it (or won't because it will cost them money somehow). The same thing happens in pretty much every industry that sources internals from other vendors. Motor on your blender went out? "Yeah, we're working on a fix for that." Permanent LED headlights on your truck keep failing? "There's a recall pending." It's never the manufacturer's legal responsibility necessarily so they dodge it and just keep on making money. Is it dishonest? Yes. Unethical? Yes, again. Is that going to stop them? Absolutely not.
Thanks a lot - I just repaired my touchpad!!! I used double-sided conductive copper foil tape, so no soldering was required and no overheating or damage could happen. Touchpad works like a charm now. Just like it is supposed to.
I slid tin foil under there - wished I had that! It worked thought!
Where did you put it?
OMG! I had the first trackpad replaced under warranty and the new one worked for 2 days. So annoyed that I put it on the shelf until I came across this video. SO, I don't have a soldering iron where I am, but I got creative. I made a small rectangle folded piece of aluminum foil (folded tight to be the same footprint of the tab and not too thick...). I then saw that the right tab was the one probably not making good contact. I lightly sanded the copper pad, used a tweasers to slip between the copper pad and tab (making the tab more level with the other area), then put a piece of electrical tape over the whole area that the battery would hold down... BAM! It has worked for over a week! AMAZED!
which laptop model ?
I used copper tape to ground the copper pad to the support bracket. It's worked perfectly for a few of weeks now. I can't thank you enough. You completely saved me.
hi Glenn , can i ask you if your fix is still working? you have put the tape with the same connections he makes with the wire?
I'm curious as well. Did you add the copper wire and taped it down with the tape rather than solder it on? Because I don't have a solder iron and never soldered anything before.
Is it still working for you ? I am afraid of solding bro
Yep. Still works great.
Look for 1/4" double-sided copper tape.
This is the fix i hoped Dell would make but am so very happy that DashRender provided! I used conductive aluminum tape instead of soldering and I've been so happy ever since! I hardly use the trackpad but when I do, I want it to work. Super bummed that I bought this laptop new in January, found out about this known issue right after the return windows closed, and then saw the first occurrences 2 days after the 30 days.
Thank you!
Thank you!
@@genericallyrandom I used conductive copper adhesive and just stuck the same connection as the video and it works perfectly
Same here, just did it today. I got out a soldering iron, but haven't used it much, so I used plain old metallic duct tape instead. Just sanded the copper on the laptop, then pressed down a square sized piece of tape so that it was secure on the copper, covered the tab, and then up onto the metal. Did it on the left side tab as well. Worked great.
It works!!! I used a piece of copper self-adhesive tape, so didn't need to use high temperature and sand the surface. Thank you a lot for your great tutorial!
Thanks for highlighting the poor trackpad grounding issue and proposing a fix. It seems that the leaf springs, located on each side, were originally designed for this purpose but unfortunately become ineffective after a while (oxidation at the contact point?). Soldering a wire grants for sure a better grounding. However, as I have read in some places, there is a *risk of overheating* and damage to the touchpad. I therefore preferred to implement the alternative solution which consists of using a *conductive strip* instead. It makes it possible to cheaply, easily and *safely* establish a *good electrical connection* between the copper contact area of the trackpad and the chassis. This works like a charm: no more trackpad instability now!
would you mind sharing how you used the conductive strip. I want to try this myself
My machine was only 1 year old and would have needed its 3rd pad replacement if not for finding this ground was an issue. I bought this Dell because my old laptop (win 7 system) still worked even after falling down a flight of stairs.
I used solder as I had read the tape will fail after a while. For anyone wanting to solder, use a fine emery cloth (600 or finer) to clean the copper surface of the pad and then wipe with alcohol. Tin the solder iron, then tin the copper pad and the wire you are using. Then, reheat the tinned pad and drop the wire in and pull the iron away. This will assure you have applied the least amount of heat as the solder will melt quickly. Also assures the least amount of solder on the pad.
Thank you! I used copper adhesive tape and it solved the problem. Was an extremely easy job to do that fixed such a nightmare issue. Thank you so much!
I did the same with conductive copper tape and worked like a gem
@@Gumdohodi i tried conductive copper tape and it worked for about 10 days, now it's back to glitching again. Next step is soddering for me...hope it holds.
Did this 2 days ago… Trackpad works flawlessly now. Thank you
which model i have same type of problem in dell vostro 15 3510 ?
Thank you for this video man. You are awesome.
I followed all your instructions and my trackpad works again!! Since I didn't want to risk getting the little bump on the trackpad, I used copper foil tape instead of soldering and it worked.
Thank you. It was your comment that made me follow the same idea since I don't have soldering tools and it worked!!!! I've been putting up with this for a year and spend hours with dell support I'll never get back
any way you can post a pic somewhere?
thanks for the help. i am so sorry i bought this model. i was always a big fan of Dell, but this time i changed my mind. the pc has a lot of problems, the monitor colors are not good and it makes a lot of noise. also it is not a cheap pc.
Dell should have recalled all these models since it is everyone's problem. shameful. never again
I just applied your fix today and my touch pad is now working perfectly! Thank you for figuring this out and for your great video. I have been frustrated for a year with my glitchy touch pad, and now it's great!
Thank you for making this video. I have a little experience with board repair, and I was able to follow along and get it done! It was bothering me for a long time and Dell support was no help
Thank you! I did this fix a couple weeks ago and it's worked flawlessly since. I used solder as well and made sure to use just a small amount as well as flatten it as much as possible. I did not end up with the bump.
i got two sided copper tape and it works. No stress for burning your laptop and no soldering. its just tape. just make a trail to the grounding bolt. no need to scrub anything either. i did both sides to opposite grounding bolts to make it even better and it is working like a charm
Also i had this problem on my dell inspiron 16 7620 oled model. this fix works the same but the track pad looks a little different than the one in this video. the gaps are smaller and its alot harder to get in there and fix
@@crazedxfighter Hi mate.. i too have the exact same model as you... Mines also a 7620 with a oled and a touchscreen.. the touch pad is slightly different from whats shown here.. it seems to be sorta integrated to the frame at the top.
however i still have not opened the back cover yet..
I just wanna know is the internal view different from whats shown here?
And also did u sand down that surface?
The solution with copper tape from the comments here worked well and it's totally easy! After a useless touchpad replacement by Dell and after over a year with this problem, I can finally use my laptop normally. Thanks for the video and the comments!
which model my vostro 15 3510 has same problem from a yr and i also have changed the tuchpad ?
I had a Dell technician out 4 times and mailed it back to them once and it was "fixed" only to start screwing up again in a month or so. Just did your fix about 3 weeks ago after it started acting up and seems to have fixed it. Nice work!
Your youtube video helped me a lot, I have a dell inspirion 7610 and the same issue with the touchpad. Thanks to the last part of your video I was careful to apply the soldering iron for a short time, so that the touchpad was not damaged. Now, and after 1 year of purchase my laptop is finally 100% perfect!
To test this out, I used used a small strip of aluminum foil, folded over a few times to give it some thickness, and taped it to the copper contact using electrical tape. The touchpad works perfectly now! I've ordered a roll of copper conductive tape (with conductive adhesive) and will re-do it using the copper tape for a more "professional" fix. Thanks for the video!
Update: I removed the aluminum foil and replaced with copper conductive tape. The touchpad worked perfectly for a few days--but then the same issues started happening again 😞. I'm disappointed that this didn't work for me, as it apparently has for others. I also discovered that when the touchpad isn't working as it should, if I close/reopen the lid the touchpad starts working correctly again (until it doesn't...).
WTF!! I closed and reopened my lid and it started working properly
@@jimpeoples
Literally just finished trying this fix with self-adhesive copper tape (I’m too chicken to solder something this expensive). Fingers crossed it works because sometimes I want to throw my laptop out of the window because of the trackpad. Thanks for such clear instructions.
As many other commenters noted, I just used a thin piece of copper tape to solve the issue with the same idea. I scratched the coating of both sides with a small flat-head screw driver and put the tape so that the exposed metal is connected to that bracket/metal piece that has the tabs on it. I did it on both sides to make sure there's enough conduction of the static off the trackpad. On the right side I did put some extra tape to connect it to the area with the screw in case that helps because I don't want to bother opening this again. Hope this helps someone.
Hi DASH RENDAR, thank you so much for your video. I had the touchpad issue, Dell technical support replaced my laptop with "new touchpad version" which failed miserably again. It was a headache until I saw your aportation, YOU WERE RIGHT with the problem.
One comment for all the other people, after watching the video I have solved the problem WITHOUT SOLDER just trying to avoid the stetic mark on the touchpad. Just painted those contacts with CONDUCTING SILVER, in my case I have used Kemo Electronic L100 product.
It fixed the issue incredibly well and easy.
If you go with this solution be EXTREMELY CAREFULL NOT TO SPLASH SILVER on the electronic board. I recommend you to cover it before.
Hope it helps anyone, it is a great laptop and it is very sad to have a failure of this type.
Thank you a million I have just used self-adhesive tape and without any Soldering I could fix the issue. Now it works fine and I think the issue is solved. I ordered “Premium Adhesive Copper Foil Tape - Double Sided Conductive - 0.5" from Amzaon.
I have an appointment with Dell to replace the touchpad this coming week. Now I found the real solution. Thanks.
Fabulous. I was terribly frustrated with the track pad issue. Tried your ground wire fix yesterday. Track pad now works beautifully. THANK YOU>
Omg, thank you so much. I've struggled since nearly two years with this issue. Got already a new touchpad from Dell, but the issue came back..
I'll give it a try tomorrow 🥰
update?
@@DragonProtector it's working like a new laptop. So I don't have any issues on the touchpad 👍
I can absolutely recommend it 👌
ill try the copper tape first then this solder fix@@V1nc3nt00
Thank you for the video. I too have a Dell Inspiron 16-7610. Rather than soldering an additional wire for better grounding, i simply did insert an additional wire between the copper plate and the little aluminum tongue. The connection between these two parts was simply too poor to provide good grounding. Now it is much better and my touchpad problems are gone.
Works on Inspiron 16 7620 2-in-1 laptop aswell. I had the same grounding problem it seems. The layout was a little different from the 7610, but very similar process nevertheless. ALSO, the contact pad is way smaller on the 7620, so soldering is a bit more difficult if you want to be precise. I recommend practicing soldering beforehand, so the process goes smoothly on the actual laptop.
UPDATE: the issues came back again, so I opened the laptop up again, and I soldered another wire on the other contact pad (exactly like on the right side, the 7610 only has 1 contact pad, whereas 7620 has 2 contact pads). I also reheated the existing solder wire incase the connect was bad somehow. Seems to be working for now.
Will update this comment if there's any other problems I run into, but this seems to be working for now.
Thank you very much for this fix. I will try it on my Laptop. Needless to say this is something Dell should have already fix in the recent models. They know they have a flaw in their design and I see this keeps happening. I am very happy with my laptop, but very dissapointed by Dell. Needless to say, this would be the last piece of equipment I will buy from them, because they cannot offer a solution to a "simple" known problem and preffer to ignore the issue. Now, thanks to you I will be able to solve it myself!
Seems I also just fixed the erratic trackpad behavior on my Inspiron 7610 using the advice from the DashRendar video and viewer comments. Used a non-invasive method. Got some 1/4 in conductive on both sides copper tape from Amazon. Assured myself that the sticky side was conductive. I measured about 0.4 ohms per inch. Got to the trackpad using DashRendar's instructions. The copper contact pad seemed to have little surface resistance. So, without sanding, I placed a short piece of tape from the copper pad to the silver-colored metal frame. I overlapped an additional length of copper tape up the frame towards the screw that DashRendar used for his grounding wire. So far so good. Don't have to connect a mouse every time I want to use the computer. Let's see if it lasts. Only problem is that I have enough copper tape to repair a few hundred computers. Many thanks to DashRendar and the commentators.
update?
Been about a month, and so far so good. There was an occasion when cursor went wacky when I used the trackpad, but I'm not so sure it was the trackpad. Perhaps a software issue. @@DragonProtector
Trackpad still wonky. Non-responsive or jittery.
@@cienfield1952 so it failed?
@@DragonProtector Yes. Failed. Sanded contact point and replaced conductive tape. Worked for a while, then went wonky again. Fed up.
Thank you sooooooo much. My touchpad has been replaced twice and the 3rd time Dell gave me a new laptop but the issue is always back!! Then the warrenty expired and Dell refused to fix it! Now thanks to you the laptop is reborn
Thanks a lot for sharing this fix !!!!. It saved my day and I can now use the touchad with pleasure. As others I used adhesive copper to avoid sandering and soldering.
Thank you!!! You really are a lifesaver. I love my Dell Inspiron 16 plus 7620 (newer model, yes, they did the same mistake...) but it had the same issue, now it is completely fixed and I can finally enjoy this great laptop.
Thanks so much for this mate! Mine was problematic out of the box, and it repaired by dell, and that lasted 2 days. I did a bunch of ohm readings to test the earthing, and it was super erratic, from 10ohms up to 400ohm. I removed the weird little foam pad, and used a bunch of adhesive copper tape and a bit of bare wire, instead of soldering.... Not Ideal just wanted to see if it would solve the problem and sure enough it has. If the copper tape ever acts up I'll do a more permanent job. Dell owes you a bonus for this!!
Hi! Use electric tape does it still working bro?
@@laucung88 its gone from a failure rate of all the time, to 1 in 5 times? It's not ideal but I only removed 1 of the weird little foam pads, so if you're in there do both... I think I'll try removing the second one before soldering it
@@miningnosegold thanks bro 🤝
Very helpful video, thanks; it worked well for me. A few notes of my own here. First: if you are using Costco's extended warranty service, beware that the company that you're sending it to is not Dell. And, they will automatically reinstall the whole operating system, so it's advisable to back up your data before you ship, as you will be using a virgin system when you get it back. Second: Use alcohol to clean off the wire and copper pad before soldering (there was no protective layer in mine), and save that q-tip for removing the rosin flux when you're done soldering. This will prevent corrosion. Third: I found two M2 x 3 screws missing from the copper and aluminum cover plates when I got the bottom off my 7610. That's how they came from the factory - missing. This could have accounted for other erratic/grounding problems. Fourth: when removing and installing the battery, note that the outside bottom edges of the battery have small feet that go into slots in the chassis. If not fitted correctly, you'll have difficulty in reassembly. Fifth: Use a soldering pencil with a high heat setting and a very light pressure on the copper, like just the weight of the pencil. The actual soldering should take about one second, no longer. You can use an aluminum tool to lightly hold the wire against the copper if it hovers above the pad.
Thank you so much. If you're careful with the heat, you can apply the fix without any bump at the end. Just get some solder on your tip and on the wire, and you should be able to do it quickly. Has been working ever since (couple days now). Previously couldn't get through a single day without the thing driving me insane.
Instead of soldering, I simply used a small piece of electrical tape to hold the wire down. Worked like a charm, no issues for a week of heavy use
Did you sand the copper pads any
is it still holding up?
I struggled for a year with this problem. This fixed it for me as well. I used copper tape. Add my thanks to the many for posting this.
can you take a picture of the tape and where you put it, I've used both copper and aluminum tape and the problem is still there.
I can't take a picture because I am not with my tools to take the machine apart again. But I placed to adhesive copper tape exactly where it was placed in this video. The only thing i did differently was to remove the steel screw, place the tape over the hole, and replace the screw driving it through the copper tape for a secure connection. Good luck. I hope this works for you@@Ripknoxx
@@mjr4266 that's exactly what I did. I guess mine is just trash
Works perfectly! Laptop is actually usable now, thank you so much for the tutorial ❤
Thanks for the great vid, I got here from the forum and while the instructions there were clear enough, this video shows just how simple an operation it is.
Just wanted to say this works. I actually found this video after I orderd my laptop but before it arived. I guess Google was like "oh you bought a dell well here's your protentional future" Well it happend. I rememberd this fix, but i didn't have the tools to solder the wire, so i just put the wire between the conductive pad and the ground tab, then atachet it to the same screw you did, and instant change it work great now. Thanks
Fantastic vid. Followed each step and the laptop is working flawlessly. I salute you sir
Is your trackpad working fine now?
@@abdullahbhatti4757 Yes, 100% perfect like it should've been when purchased in August 2021. Defo recommend following the video steps
1 week and completely solved so far. Thanks!
One month and still solved. Thanks!
Thank you for your instructions. I fixed my touchpad with conductive tape instead of soldering to avoid problem with the heat.
This is a totally confirmed solution. I did this 18 months ago, not a single trackpad glitch! And it's a nice touchpad, one of the nicest I've ever used.
which model ??
@@Haven_Hue mine is the Inspiration 16 7610, but they all seem to have the same issue
Worked like a charm! Had this issue a week after purchasing the laptop. After backwards and forwards with Currys Support (Where I purchased the laptop) and Dell, no one would help me out. They advised to go through a third party company to get a replacement and be without my laptop for a month. I used some stranded wire out of a broken phone charger, tinned it and connected it to the copper pad. I tried to solder to that silver shield, but it wouldn't take. So I opted to do the same and loop it around that screw to make a physical connection to it. Continuity tested fine. So booted back up and i'm over the moon with how well it works. Unfortuantly I did get a little bump. Had to set my soldering iron @ 350c as the cheap solder I had laying around didn't want to flow properly. This could be avoided by getting some low melting point / good quality solder or maybe adding some heat protection before soldering. Thanks again :)
Great vid dude. Helped me perfectly understand what was wrong with the trackpad and how to fix it.
Thank you took about 15 mins, I knew how to crack it open. Thanks Jack and DashRendar!
I have inspiron 7620 and had the same problem. First I used double-sided conductive copper foil tape, But the problem returned within a few days, Finally I used soldering as shown in the video (I used welding with a small difference, instead of driving it into the bolt, I also welded it to the top.) and it works perfectly. It seems that the copper foil is not making good contact. P.S If you do not heat it for a long time, no marks or defects are left on the outside of the trackpad
Just adding to the chorus. Mine started playing up for the second time (they replaced it about 7 months ago). I'm out of warranty now. This worked. Wish dell would just fix the issue (given you've effectively told them what is wrong and how to fix it) rather than replacing with parts that just break again. When this laptop has reached its end of life (I can usually make them last a fair few years) I'll be getting a different brand.
thanks SO MUCH. i finally got a soldering iron just for this. ended up using a bit of copper from a broken USB cable to make the connection and now it works beautifully!!... sucks because its actually a really good touchpad when its not jumping all over the place...
That's great to hear! I agree, it's a nice touchpad once its fixed.
thank you so much. I fixed my trackpad as same as your guideline and problem is solved
you are a life saver. Dell changed the trackpad twice but to no use. I have tried this fix and working fine till now. Keep up the good work. Didn't expect this from dell.
Is it still working for you?
@@v_v_v342 Still working fine!
Dell are rubbish. Is this still OK now Sir?
Did this process today with the copper tape instead of soldering, praying it works!
does it still work bro?
@@laucung88 I’ve had like maybe one erratic moment since. Not perfect, but definitely worth it.
@@jacobmurphy8579 thanks bro 👌
Had the problem, did the fix 2 days ago. Problem 100% solved for now. Only place on the enternet I could find a real solution by the way. Used electrical tape instead of welding, i put it tidy and made sure it would be there permanently (i hope it does) , no dent on the pad.
Can you help me to solve this problem?
Great video, I did this a few days ago, and mine is now working great. A big thanks to all.
Problem solved......
It's been a few weeks now, is your trackpad still working fine?
@@abdullahbhatti4757 yes it's working great the laptop much improved. The fix was easy... I was surprised. Just a touch of the solder and run the little wire and it's fixed. It was definitely a grounding problem from the factory......
Thanks! it works, dell did replace my touchpad but same after 2 month, This video fix it! thanks!
Thanks for your video. I placed an order for this laptop and then realized the design flaw with its touch pad. I was going to cancel my order, but your solution seems easy enough so I guess I will keep my order.
In my opinion it's certainly a nice laptop for the price, and I especially like the display. I hope it all works out well for you if you decide to keep it.
I have an Acer Nitro 5 and this worked like magic, it seemed like I had to put in a new touchpad as it would work fine for a while and then become eratic all of a sudden but I used conductive coper strips and boom solved !
lol i saw the video after I knew where the connceter should be I pressed down on the area hard... this fixed the problem (one week without issues)
What a freaking legend! Why didn't I find this video earlier...
Seems to work perfectly! Thanks a ton dude, saved my laptop!
I went into the kitchen and found my aluminum foil and PVC tape.
Applied on the metal tip with tape to put gentle pressure. Now, the mouse pad is working flawlessly.
Note: This is not a recommendation
I have asus g15 ga502iu, and this fix work fine for me. Thanks
Wow I've been interested in this laptop but never knew it had this issue. Thanks for the vid!
Working like a charm. thanks so much
Just followed this video to try and fix the problem but couldn't get good contact soldering, so as an alternative, I took a small piece of tin foil and placed it so that one end would touch the copper contact (after lightly sanding it) and have that bridge onto the metal tab that was above that contact. I made sure to sand a bit of the metal tab to be sure I had efficient contact. Then place a tiny piece of electrical tape to keep it in place. Hope this helps anyone taking an alternative route to soldering.
Thank you
I just did this... didn't sand the contact and just used duct tape and so far the track pad works fine now.
Thanks for sharing! I was wondering if sanding the contact would be necessary when using tape, so it's good to hear you are having success without doing so. I now suspect the copper pad doesn't have a coating, but rather just a very smooth finish. When soldering though, I imagine roughing up the surface would still be worth doing to promote good adhesion of the solder to the pad.
thank you! you`re a legend..... you should get payed for this
hey I finally turned on this laptop after like over 2 years. Trackpad half works lol. It works but then glitches and doesnt. So definitely need to do this fix
Thanks a lot for sharing. At my side the trackpad does not work well while the charger is connected but works fine without charger. This confirms a grounding issue and poor common/differential mode imunity. I still have to try with other chargers and better earth connection maybe. And also try to add a choke / filter onto the charger cable...
Best fix ever! Thank you!!!
thank you for the video. i fixed my inspiron 15 5510 with this also!
FYI there is no need to remove the battery. Just below the battery you can see a small part of the copper contact of the touchpad. I put some conductive copper tape and connected that part to the support bracket and it worked. I needed to use the ifixit metal spudger to get that in there to make good contact with the copper & the aluminum(it's a very tight space).
I looked for an alternative solution because 2 screws of my battery were very tight and could not be removed, resulting in me stripping them! I could not be bothered putting WD-40 or supergluing a two sacrificial screwdrivers on the screws.
I've been going crazy with the loss of convenience a buggy trackpad brings. Trackpad has been reliably unreliable, and my warranty JUST expired. I'll be trying this soon, and will edit this comment when I do.
Also, has anyone that owns this laptop noticed that pushing the laptop from the bottom but approximately below the trackpad will make it click? Or is that just mine?
Thanks so much
A small contribution from my side, a copper tape might do the job, no need to open the screw or do solder work
I'm forced to try this now. Dell tried to fix it 3 times and couldn't. 4th time calling about this and I'm out of warranty and they're saying it's "not the same issue". It's the same exact F-ing issue and Dell is in the wrong. I've spent way too much time dealing with Dell and being without a working laptop when I need it to be a LAPtop (when I can't use a mouse), which is why I bought it - to replace my desktop.
Well...here we are. July 2023. Mike Dell still sits at head of table. I'm on touchpad replacement #5, and each time my DELL service contract sends a tech with a new touchpad 200 miles roundtrip. I'm awaiting now, more than 30 days, for yet a 3rd actual Inspiron from the Dell Nashville folks. The good level 2 Dell phone service rep tried to take the company line...we'll replace the touchpad on this newly arrived refurb'd Inspiron. But I am an electronics engineer. A very good one too. Told Dell NO. Said I am sending bad touchpad refurb back to Dell. But I still have the original, dead in water due to NFG touchpad. They didn't like that I had known of their self admitted issue. Heres the BEST PART...Level 2 dude says to me that they are awsre of the "defective gasket". READ THAT AGAIN.
Me and the in home repair tech both knew it has been one of Dell's greatest money wasting issues. I said a year and a half ago that it's a intermittent and thus no doubt the connection is plated. Tech told me not to void the warranty and told me he'll replace the touchpad a million times if I need. And so Dell did just that. Costing you Mr. DELL, way too much $$$ money. Times a few thousand machines???
The poor fellas in New Delhi...they can't sway from their playbook.
However WE can get the next machine from HP, Lenovo, or dare I say it...c'mon everyone together...that fruit from the Garden of Steve...Err...I mean Garden of Eden.
I have not heard back from my 2 latest requests for my laptop repair ticket.
Time to strap a piece of copper bus bar to the chassis of Mike Dell's sports car, and to my Inspiron 16 7610.
Oh, and India...if you are watching...last 3 of xpress # are 731. Do your leg work.
Thanks to our customer community! 3's Lars
this is brilliant! I had the dell engineers come out at least 3 times before I gave up calling them. Does anyone know another method other than soldering? I dont have a soldering gun at the moment.
Many people in the comments have mentioned alternatives they have had success with, the most common being using conductive copper tape in place of soldering a wire.
Here is what I did that seemed to fix the problem.
Open Device Manager.
Under Human Interface Devices open I2C HID Device.
Select the Power Management Tab.
De-select "Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power"
After completing those steps, I have not had the smallest problem with my touchpad for the last week.
that does not work
This worked for me.
Many, many thanks.
@@jacek130 It does (well, it does for me).
Unfortunately, It didn"t work for me.
for those having the same issue in 2023 dell Inspiron 16 7260 2 in 1 its the best solution. I'm having same issue dell support didn't respond. I didn't ground wire but put a metal strip on the trackpad connecting it to the side panel just to check and it mysteriously stopped glitching I guess you should try it too if it works then open your dell to solve through the original procedure as in video
I was wondering if this procedure solves the issue on that particular model. Thank you.
From day 1 - I have this issue, also there is a constant electric discharge on the metal beading on the edges, it is sometimes painful the electric discharge. I am surprised that they are so incompetent to fix this issue in production.
Thanks for making this video, very useful. I did the fix using adhesive copper tape with double sided conductivity (to both contact points), but the same erratic touchpad issue came back after a couple days of use. I opened it up again and did the same thing, but with two layers of tape for some extra thickness, including folding it over at the copper contact point to ensure there's enough thickness there that would press down, and that time it worked great for almost two weeks. The issue just came back... any ideas what could be resolving the problem temporarily but then having it come back over time?
Unfortunately grounding issues are notorious for being erratic like that. In my original post on the Dell Community Forums, while we were working towards a solution, I mentioned that the problem would often disappear by simply removing the back cover of the laptop, only to resurface after a few days or weeks.
In your case, it seems the connection might not be sufficient for some reason. There could be a layer of oxide on the metal surface preventing a solid connection, or perhaps the quality of the copper tape is a factor. One troubleshooting step you could take is using a multimeter to check the resistance between the copper pad and the laptop chassis, observing how the resistance changes with different solutions you try.
While using metallic tape is the least intrusive and most convenient solution, soldering a wire is probably the most reliable and robust way to make the connection, so if you continue to not have success with the tape that may be something worth considering.
@@dashrendar2625 I might try with the tape one more time and see if I can establish a better connection somehow. I did read some about trying to get some nearby pins to press down tighter onto copper pads as well, seems potentially worth a shot. This is pretty much my only experience with working on electronics so I'm hesitant to go the soldering route is all. Thanks again. I may invest in a basic multimeter as well, I don't have one right now.
@@mattgeorge505If you haven't already, lightly sanding and cleaning the copper as I did in the video, perhaps even some of the aluminum, might help in case there is any surface contamination or oxidation that is preventing a good connection. Some people mentioned they didn't need to do this step, but it might help. Good luck as you experiment, hope you find something that works!
Would anyone be able to share how long this fix has worked for them? Everyone sounds very positive, so hopefully the trackpad issues are solved for good. I've been putting up with the trackpad issues for months. :( My laptop is still under warranty and I would be hesitant to void it, but I'm so skeptical about Dell fixing the trackpad. Would the aluminum tape solution (instead of soldering the wire) be removable/not void the warranty?
Thanks for the great video! This solution is the only glimmer of hope I've had after reading dozens of forums.
I have not had any issues since performing the fix, and I highly recommend it! As you noticed, many have also reported success with less permanent solutions such as using metallic tape or taping the wire down instead of soldering it, so you could experiment to the extent you are comfortable.
I share your skepticism about Dell fixing the trackpad. The majority of stories I have heard about people going to Dell for support result in replacement of the trackpad, and oftentimes the problems end up returning after a short while.
Works for me! Thanks.
Thank you, Legand
This seems to have worked for me. It's been a couple of days and no issues whatsoever. I'll update if something changes. BTW it's also possible to simply use some electric tape instead of soldering, it seems to work just fine.
Hi! Use electric tape does it still work bro?
Hey this is an awesome video, but I'm worried about the heat and the bump. I'm curious - why not just try with some real good tape and/or epoxy rather than using hot solder? I am planning to try that first, but would like your opinion.
A lot of people in the comments have reported success using copper tape, which I would recommend. Some have also reported success just taping down the wire using electrical tape. I would not suggest using glue or epoxy because it is not conductive and would be difficult to remove if needed. I wish you well in your repair!
I think soldering wire is the best because the tape may not last long, just be careful even if it only leaves a very small dot but it is stable for a long time.
Thank you so much!!
Thanks, did it and it worked!!!
Thanks for posting this fix. I'm tempted to do this but mine is under warranty. I had the same issue 3 times now. We had the laptop replaced...then the next laptop had the same issue and a tech came out and replaced the touch pad....and now about 45 days later we are having the issue again. I an either do this (and possibly void the warrantee)... I can send it in and be out of a laptop for 10 days or so...or I can have a tech open it up.... what to do, what to do.
If you are concerned about the warranty but are confident in your ability to work on the laptop, you may be able to attempt a less-invasive method of grounding the trackpad in case you wanted to "undo" the fix later. The warranty may be useful if a different issue arises with your laptop, but I wouldn't count on Dell to properly fix the trackpad issue. Based on what you and others in the forums have said I suspect they would just replace the trackpad again according to their protocol without addressing the grounding issue.
@@dashrendar2625 - really apricate the feedback. I think I will try that. I think I'll get a small piece of copper strip and bent down some and drill a hole on one end. I'll put it under that screw you used. It is kind of the same idea you used but spring action to make the contact instead of solder. It looks like this is how it is suppose to make that connection to next to where you soldered but it looks like a steal plate. I'm wondering if it is the two different types of metals coming into contact causing a thin corrosion...or maybe because we press on the touch pad it is pushing out (and bending) that built in spring. Thank you again for the reply. It is a awesome laptop with a taller screen for coding. It just has that trackpad issue! You know it is common when I have had it go out three times on me..and it is only 4 months old.
@@FunWithBits Sure thing. It may be helpful to use a multimeter to assess the connections as you experiment with solutions. Someone on the forum reported initial success using aluminum tape. Good luck!
I used conductive tape and copper wire and it helped to fix the problem for some time, but now the problem has returned. Is there anything else one can try?
Sanding, cleaning, and soldering to the copper pad as shown in the video is probably the best way to ensure a solid electrical connection. Aside from that, all I can suggest is to verify that the tape you are using is conductive on the adhesive side (some metallic tapes are only conductive on the outer face and don't have a conductive adhesive).
@@dashrendar2625 Do you think the width of the copper wire matters?
@@lukashermann6762 Up to a point perhaps, but I really couldn't say definitively. Anything around what I used (24 gauge) should do just fine.
Thanks. Question : as there is a "foam pad" between the copper tab and the stanless spring tab, why not "simply" removing that "isolator" If it weren't there, wouldn't there be the same grounding effect between the 2 metals ?
I don't think it makes a good enough connection typically. Some people mentioned that their touchpads didn't come with the foam pads from the start, and yet they were experiencing the issue as well.
I called Dell ProSupport about this exact issue that my customer was having. (I must admit that I thought it was "operator error" or "fumble fingers" because I hate trackpads and always use a Microsoft Mobile Mouse) Anyway the tech immediately acknowledged that it was a known problem and is dispatching a field service tech to my customer's office to fix the problem. I have a mundane question though: What is the brand name of that screwdriver set you're using? I assume it's magnetized due to the screws adhering to the Phillips bits. Having done some previous work on Dell laptops I know you've got to be pretty dexterous with those microscopic screws if you're just using your fingers to put 'em back in place. I'm wondering if the guy who originally came up with this fix was an electrical / electronic engineer, because I never in a million years would've even guessed what the problem was, much-less a solution for it. Bravo to both him and you for helping a lot of (out-of-warranty) folks who own this particular model. A side-note; my customer also complained about this unit getting excessively hot. When I mentioned it to the tech he said (and I quote) "We really don't like to call 'em 'laptops' anymore because of that very thing. We advise people to get a 'cooling pad' to put between the computer and their laps." And it does get pretty toasty after being on for awhile, for sure.
I'll try conductive tape.
Thank you for sharing this, I been dealing with this touchpad issue for a year, now I just need to find those tools, so I can fix it.
But can I just remove the sliver pads on both side or sand it down to remove the obstacle between the copper and ground panel? in that case, all I need is a Phil screwdriver and a sand paper.