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Author Topic: IBM Model M 1391401 Mushy Keys  (Read 3790 times)

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Offline THEGUY69

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IBM Model M 1391401 Mushy Keys
« on: Thu, 12 January 2017, 23:57:35 »
Hello, I just recently purchased a second hand Model M 1391401 keyboard with the legendary buckling springs off ebay. It appeared to be in great shape until I finally got the board in my hands. It looks fine but the issue is most of the alphabetic keys don't feel great. They Click but they feel very mushy and don't really spring back up. Keys on the other side of the board such as the number pad feel fantastic and have a very responsive feel while most of the other keys feel very mushy and makes my Dell QuietKey look good. I figured maybe the infamous plastic rivets were to blame here, but after disassembling I found that all except 1 rivet is still in tact, and that missing rivet is beneath the number pad, where it feels the best. Is there anything else it could be? or could I have just gotten a simply worn out model M, if there is even such a thing???


Here is a video showing what I mean. The First Key I press is a good feeling key, while the second Key is mushy.
« Last Edit: Fri, 13 January 2017, 00:34:47 by THEGUY69 »
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Offline mike52787

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Re: IBM Model M 1391401 Mushy Keys
« Reply #1 on: Fri, 13 January 2017, 09:19:37 »
I would advise you to go ahead and buy a new set of springs from unicomp. It seems that your board has been very well used, and while that is not a common thing, many model ms were used in office settings, or government jobs and have been used "to death".
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Offline klennkellon

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Re: IBM Model M 1391401 Mushy Keys
« Reply #2 on: Sat, 14 January 2017, 23:53:01 »
Could also send it to PhosphorGlow and he will make the keyboard 150% better
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Offline THEGUY69

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Re: IBM Model M 1391401 Mushy Keys
« Reply #3 on: Mon, 16 January 2017, 18:11:25 »
Quote from: klennkellon on Sat, 14 January 2017, 23:53:01
Could also send it to PhosphorGlow and he will make the keyboard 150% better

Ive already decided to do a full tear down and replace all the springs and pivots. Ive order new springs and pivots from unicomp and already drilled out all the holes in the plastic barrel plate for the bolt mod. Just waiting for bolts and nuts to come in as well. Plus why let someone else have all the fun when I could be having the fun fixing it myself :D
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Offline THEGUY69

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Re: IBM Model M 1391401 Mushy Keys
« Reply #4 on: Wed, 18 January 2017, 23:14:02 »
Btw if anyone cares, i finally replaced all the springs and hammers and did the bolt mod(btw the bolt mod is not for the faint of heart) and threw it all back together and it works perfect. Clicky and not mushy in the slightest.

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Offline RandolphCarter

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Re: IBM Model M 1391401 Mushy Keys
« Reply #5 on: Fri, 20 January 2017, 21:32:01 »
Quote from: THEGUY69 on Wed, 18 January 2017, 23:14:02
Btw if anyone cares, i finally replaced all the springs and hammers and did the bolt mod(btw the bolt mod is not for the faint of heart) and threw it all back together and it works perfect. Clicky and not mushy in the slightest.

Lots of us care!

Glad the bolt mod worked out for you, I have a well used black label Model M I'll be doing this to in a bit.

Performing the bolt mod was really harder than swapping out all the springs and hammers?
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Offline rowdy

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Re: IBM Model M 1391401 Mushy Keys
« Reply #6 on: Mon, 05 June 2017, 22:24:52 »
Quote from: THEGUY69 on Wed, 18 January 2017, 23:14:02
Btw if anyone cares, i finally replaced all the springs and hammers and did the bolt mod(btw the bolt mod is not for the faint of heart) and threw it all back together and it works perfect. Clicky and not mushy in the slightest.

Hooray!

There's rarely a Model M that cannot be brought back to life with a little TLC.

Or sometimes a lof ot TLC.

Also thank you for posting a followup - so often we are left wondering whether the plan worked or not.
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Offline fohat.digs

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Re: IBM Model M 1391401 Mushy Keys
« Reply #7 on: Tue, 06 June 2017, 16:07:15 »
The underlying question is whether most or all of the rivets near the center were broken.
That would account for the bad feel because the plates were not being held together.
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Offline THEGUY69

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Re: IBM Model M 1391401 Mushy Keys
« Reply #8 on: Tue, 06 June 2017, 21:38:38 »
Quote from: fohat.digs on Tue, 06 June 2017, 16:07:15
The underlying question is whether most or all of the rivets near the center were broken.
That would account for the bad feel because the plates were not being held together.
Sorry for such a late follow up  :)), but it was definitely the springs. There were only about 4 broken rivets on the back of the plate.
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