Keyboard repair
Volume Number: 5>replyPtr Issue Number: 1>replyPtr$ Column Tag: The Electrical Mac>replyPtrE Keyboard Repair 
>replyPtrX $By Richard Clark, Mission Viejo, CA>replyPtrz The Incredible Dying Keyboard>replyPtr $UI have a confession to make - I don’t own a Mac Plus. What I do have is an ancient>replyPtr N512Ke which began life as an early 128K. It’s had two power supplies (“analog>replyPtr Rboards” to those in the repair business), two keyboard cables, a new 512K mother>replyPtr Wboard, and an Incredible Dying Keyboard. A different key dies about once a month now;>replyPtr / there’s no warning, the key just stops working.>replyPtr m%The Incredibly Frustrating Repairman>replyPtr‚$OFixing a broken key is supposed to be simple for the repairman - you just open>replyPtr Vup the keyboard, remove the old switch, and solder in a new one. It’s a five minute>replyPtr˙ Sjob, and that includes waiting for the soldering iron to warm up. There’s only one>replyPtr Oproblem: “the rest of us” can’t get the special keyboard switches that Apple uses. >replyPtr XAfter a run-in with one particular dealer who refused both to sell individual switches >fixBtnName Wand to fix the keyboard (he wanted to sell a new keyboard for $130), I decided to open>replyPtr )up the keyboard and see what I could do.>replyPtr `*Fixing Dead Keyboards is Easy (and cheap)>fixBtnNameQ$RI learned that, with some limited soldering and mechanical skills, most keyswitch>fixBtnName] Vproblems can be fixed. You remove the switch, make an adjustment or two, and replace>fixBtnNamei it in the keyboard. It’s easy and works almost all of the time. So far, I’ve managed to>fixBtnNameu Trepair 11 out of 12 dead switches myself (and the one failure was because I tried a>fixBtnName /shortcut which damaged the switch beyond repair.)>replyPtr $RNotice that these repair techniques only work in the case where the switch is the>fixBtnName Rculprit. Also, I haven’t tried these with one of the new ADB keyboards, but Apple>fixBtnName Nseems to be using the same switch supplier, so this should work. Also, these>fixBtnName Ytechniques may not apply to “locking” keyswitches (like the Caps Lock). If the entire>replyPtr Skeyboard is dead, then I can’t help you (except to say “take a good look at your>replyPtr Xkeyboard cable” because if you stretch the cable too much you can pull the connections>fixBtnName Tapart inside of the clear connectors.) If the whole keyboard is dead, and it isn’t the>fixBtnName· Ucable, then you’ll need a new keyboard since Apple doesn’t supply the spare parts for>replyPtr ,fixing the keyboard electronics to anybody.>fixBtnName˘$SNow that we’ve gotten the disclaimers out of the way, we’ll discuss what you’ll>replyPtr Yneed. First, you’ll need some basic soldering equipment: a soldering iron, solder (use>replyPtr Oonly rosin-core solder, not acid-core) , and some sort of solder remover. The>replyPtr Tvacuum-type removers seem to work better than “solder wick” for keyboard work. Aapplication) Usmall can of flux remover (sold in Radio Shack as “cleaner/degreaser”) is optional>replyPtr5 3but helps tidy up the keyboard after you’re done.>replyPtrA$I
>replyPtrX $By Richard Clark, Mission Viejo, CA>replyPtrz The Incredible Dying Keyboard>replyPtr $UI have a confession to make - I don’t own a Mac Plus. What I do have is an ancient>replyPtr N512Ke which began life as an early 128K. It’s had two power supplies (“analog>replyPtr Rboards” to those in the repair business), two keyboard cables, a new 512K mother>replyPtr Wboard, and an Incredible Dying Keyboard. A different key dies about once a month now;>replyPtr / there’s no warning, the key just stops working.>replyPtr m%The Incredibly Frustrating Repairman>replyPtr‚$OFixing a broken key is supposed to be simple for the repairman - you just open>replyPtr Vup the keyboard, remove the old switch, and solder in a new one. It’s a five minute>replyPtr˙ Sjob, and that includes waiting for the soldering iron to warm up. There’s only one>replyPtr Oproblem: “the rest of us” can’t get the special keyboard switches that Apple uses. >replyPtr XAfter a run-in with one particular dealer who refused both to sell individual switches >fixBtnName Wand to fix the keyboard (he wanted to sell a new keyboard for $130), I decided to open>replyPtr )up the keyboard and see what I could do.>replyPtr `*Fixing Dead Keyboards is Easy (and cheap)>fixBtnNameQ$RI learned that, with some limited soldering and mechanical skills, most keyswitch>fixBtnName] Vproblems can be fixed. You remove the switch, make an adjustment or two, and replace>fixBtnNamei it in the keyboard. It’s easy and works almost all of the time. So far, I’ve managed to>fixBtnNameu Trepair 11 out of 12 dead switches myself (and the one failure was because I tried a>fixBtnName /shortcut which damaged the switch beyond repair.)>replyPtr $RNotice that these repair techniques only work in the case where the switch is the>fixBtnName Rculprit. Also, I haven’t tried these with one of the new ADB keyboards, but Apple>fixBtnName Nseems to be using the same switch supplier, so this should work. Also, these>fixBtnName Ytechniques may not apply to “locking” keyswitches (like the Caps Lock). If the entire>replyPtr Skeyboard is dead, then I can’t help you (except to say “take a good look at your>replyPtr Xkeyboard cable” because if you stretch the cable too much you can pull the connections>fixBtnName Tapart inside of the clear connectors.) If the whole keyboard is dead, and it isn’t the>fixBtnName· Ucable, then you’ll need a new keyboard since Apple doesn’t supply the spare parts for>replyPtr ,fixing the keyboard electronics to anybody.>fixBtnName˘$SNow that we’ve gotten the disclaimers out of the way, we’ll discuss what you’ll>replyPtr Yneed. First, you’ll need some basic soldering equipment: a soldering iron, solder (use>replyPtr Oonly rosin-core solder, not acid-core) , and some sort of solder remover. The>replyPtr Tvacuum-type removers seem to work better than “solder wick” for keyboard work. Aapplication) Usmall can of flux remover (sold in Radio Shack as “cleaner/degreaser”) is optional>replyPtr5 3but helps tidy up the keyboard after you’re done.>replyPtrA$I