Hello all,
I hope this is the right place to post my question, and that it's not bad form to start off with a "argh, please help me!" post.
I have a Unicomp Model M. I think it's the Space Saver one, not the 84/85 key thing but the one in the same case as the oddly-named Ultra Classic. I bought some new keys for it to add a bit of colour and yanked the old ones off. I decided to give it a clean because it was full of bits of old sandwiches and stuff.
Having reassembled it, I find that the spacebar no longer works, which is inconvenient. And annoying, as it's one of the few keys I didn't remove for cleaning. It appears that it's actually stuck in the "on" position. I'm assuming it's a mechanical problem as it appears to be the only key affected.
I tested it using another keycap that was easier to fit and noticed it didn't sound quite right: the "click" was rather quiet and weak-sounding compared to the other keys. I wondered if it might be the spring but having swapped it with the neighbouring key, the problem persists. As far as I can tell, the rocker underneath
appears to be moving, but I'm not really sure what to look for.
My best guess is that a piece of the sandwich debris has got jammed between the rocker and the membrane. If this is the case, perhaps I can fashion some sort of proddy thing using a bent paperclip. The problem is, I have no idea what I'm doing or what sort of damage I may wreak. Does anyone have any suggestions?
As an aside, is it just me, or do the newer Unicomp keyboards have a nicer "key feel" than the old ones? I'm somewhat loath to say it as the e.g. 2004 vintage Space Saver I'm using now (the old 85 key one) is a really nice, heavy, solid thing, where the newer ~2011ish 105 key unit is a little creaky in comparison; but the latter does feel like it has a lighter and crisper keystroke.
