15 February 2010, 19:19 | #1 |
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fixing a faulty key
ok I did search. but this thread:
http://eab.abime.net/showthread.php?...=sticking+keys - ends too soon for any solution. I only have 1 bad key I think, on my a500. It's the down arrow key. The one under Del/Help not the one which is also '2' (if you know what I mean) I seriously need to get this key to work so I can play Pipe Mania properly lol. Any idea what's causing it not to work? It jumps back up again (so that's ok). What cleaning should be done? I tried to lift the key but I didn't force it out because I didn't want to damage it... I guess there's contacts underneith. Thanks for reading |
15 February 2010, 19:48 | #2 |
Settler
Join Date: Feb 2007
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Posts: 1,760
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Its most probably the membrane. Can never be too sure withot seeing it but ive had 2 cases where my AMIGA keyboard membrane has stopped working. You cant get a used repacement off ebay for about 3 pounds.
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15 February 2010, 21:40 | #3 |
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Actually it's most probably the rubber elastomer that's under the key stem.
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23 March 2010, 04:34 | #4 |
Fanatically Amiga.
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Location: Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
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Hi,
Bumping this thread. I just tried to get my A1200 out of storage, and its going... SEMI fine. Some keys are not working, 6, Y, H, N, 8 (Number pad), and F1 works when it wants to. Are the suggestions in this thread still relevant ? What is a likely fix? |
23 March 2010, 04:55 | #5 | |
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Quote:
You need to take apart the keyboard and examine how does the key works. There can be a spring missing or out of place, or rubber tube is damaged, or key terminals bent. Take it apart don't be afraid. |
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23 March 2010, 05:04 | #6 | |
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Quote:
You could have different problem like spilled juice or milk or beer, it just need some cleaning . |
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23 March 2010, 05:44 | #7 | |
Fanatically Amiga.
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Quote:
took the KB out, opened it up and reBlew out any crap I could find, sand, dust bunnies, whatever.... Cleaned the graphite pads with Isopropyl, put the KB back together, cleaned the Ribbon contacts......, Works a treat. [edit] its happening again, with more keys doing it now. Might be time for a new membrane Last edited by whiteb; 23 March 2010 at 06:54. |
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23 March 2010, 07:06 | #8 |
Precious & fragile things
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The fix is different for each type of keyboard technology.
I recently fixed my A500 which has plastic spacers inbetween two metal 'fingers', I found the best approach was isopropyl and a toothbrush. Membrane types is best with a coarser cloth like denim and isopropyl, clean everything really well. |
23 March 2010, 11:24 | #9 |
The 1 who ribbits
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on the a1200 keyboard it wears where you attach it to the motherboard, theres a simple fix involving cutting a bit off the end of the flat cable and cleaning the green stuff off.
do a search as theres a thread about it round here somewhere |
23 March 2010, 11:39 | #10 |
AmiBay MegaMod
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Touch up the graphite pads with a soft pencil then brush off the excess dust. I used to repair a lot of older calculators with membrane keyboards using pencil graphite.
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23 March 2010, 12:16 | #11 |
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Noooo, just wipe the pads with normal copier paper until they're no longer shiny. The pencil makes a mess and doesn't last as long as getting rid of the burnish on the rubbers. :-)
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23 March 2010, 13:46 | #12 |
AmiBay MegaMod
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If the pads are worn out, that won't work, Jope.... although conductive paint (the type used to repair PCB tracks) is quite good for this too.
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23 March 2010, 15:46 | #13 |
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Are we talking about the same pad? I mean the rubber.. It's about 3mm thick and the paper trick wears it down maybe hundredths of a millimeter. The pads on the membrane / pcb don't wear out nearly as much.
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23 March 2010, 19:58 | #14 |
AmiBay MegaMod
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Erm, no... we aren't talking the same thing here, are we?
(/me shuts up) |
23 March 2010, 20:12 | #15 |
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Probably not.. If the black blobs on the membrane/pcb are somehow worn, then it's quite a difficult thing to fix those.
I have had a few where the previous repairman as replaced the blobs on a C-128 keyboard with some solder.. Wasn't a very good substitute.. :-) I guess conductive paint is among the best for that side of the problem. :-) |
23 March 2010, 22:08 | #16 |
AmiBay MegaMod
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I thought so, because you can at least build layers of conductive paint up; that's quite a tough thing to do with solder without damaging the board.
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24 March 2010, 01:34 | #17 |
Fanatically Amiga.
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What I do not get though, is if its the ribbon cable losing contact with the motherboard connector (Worn Graphite contacts), is why only SOME keys do not work, and the rest do ?
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24 March 2010, 01:38 | #18 | |
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Quote:
http://eab.abime.net/showthread.php?t=51596 |
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24 March 2010, 09:38 | #19 |
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The keyboard is a matrix of horizontal and vertical lines that are connected together. If a vertical line stops making contact, all the keys that rely on that vertical line die.
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