geekhack
geekhack Community => Keyboards => Topic started by: arapineau on Wed, 22 April 2020, 10:13:17
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So I bought this thing on ebay for €50 plus shipping.
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So the board seems to be some sort of AT compatible keyboard judging from the LEDs and the connector but it doesn't work properly with a cascade of adapters up to USB, and by that I mean everything you get from the board is random key strokes.
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As you can see, the case is very yellowed/browned but the keycaps are fine except for the space bare so we have probably some ABS/PBT combination here.
There is a double labeling on some caps that seems to be made with dye sublimation process.
Anyway this thing is dirty so you know what that means.
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All the parts are screwed in place with machined screws and brass inserts.
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The switches looks like to be BTC foam and foil and are very very scratchy, hopefully a good cleaning will improve that.
The chassis is very rusty under the paint.
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To be honest everything about this keyboard was harder and longer that usual to clean, beside the chassis being very rusty, the keycaps were very keen in retaining their dirt, and there was also all the barrels that hold the sliders, and I wonder if it was really worth it. Maybe I should invest in better tools like a Dremel and an ultrasonic cleaner?
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But I did it anyway, at least as much as I could.
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And there is the final result and a Dell AT102 for size comparison.
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The switches are way less scratchy than before but that's not perfect. I think applying some grease would help a lot.
Also I'd like to retrobrite it but I don't have a big enough container right now.
On a side note, the cable gained some ugly color spots after cleaning.
Overall I think this board looks nice and that's the only one I have right now with that kind of switches so that's nice.
Anyone has suggestion on what should I do to make this work on a modern PC? Should I buy a Soarer converter?
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You restored a keyboard that you can't even test for function? I don't know that even I would do that.
What did you use to remove the rust from the plate? copper or brass brushes with a little oil to help float the rust off of the surface work well, although if you're painting anyway I imagine a steel bristle brush would work even faster. Copper is softer than the steel, but harder than the rust, so it usually ends up removing the corrosion without harming the finish. Did you repaint the whole plate, or just touch it up? I have used some appliance paint for touchup on a Unitek K151L, since I already had that lying around.
Dremels are wonderful to have. I don't know that I would use one for a keyboard restoration myself, but maybe? I do want an ultrasonic myself, for various cleaning purposes. Not sure that I want how much space one that I would want would take up though.
Nice job on taking care of that old board.
Which adapters have you tried? My beige badge Zenith Z-150 doesn't work with literally anything, except for direct connection to certain computers with ps/2 ports. A Soarer's converter would be your best bet, if that didn't work, you could also flash TMK and try that.
I like to build my own, and that's what I would do in this case, since it could be using the XT protocol, and that might require an extra reset wire that's usually not present in converters unless they're meant specifically for things like the Leading Edge DC-2014. Some boards also do not like not having pull-up resistors.
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What can I say? I don't like the idea of having filthy keyboards laying around, plus it's not your usual board so that's kind of a duty to preserve it. And I opened it anyway so I could as well go all the way.
To remove the rust I used a flat tip screw driver and I scratched the chassis everywhere to see if there was rust underneath the paint, and I did found a lot of spots that were not visible from the outside. Once I found a sport I scratched around until I found no more rust, then I used this thing
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which sucks and has no force at all. Removing the rust with that was a slow and grinding process (literally as the brush was literally eaten away).
Then I cleaned up the chassis with water, dried it up and applied several layers of anti rust paint all over it.
This is the adapter I have, some sort of generic crappy-o device, I don't even know if it is an active converter, it kinda worked with AT NMB boards though.
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Another thing I forgot to mention is that, if the board is really rusted, one trick some people use to remove paint and rust is a vinegar bath, usually cut with some water. I'll probably dunk a ZKB-2 plate into the stuff in the near future since there's no point in even trying to save the original finish with how rusted it is. Some say it can eat the steel itself if you leave it in too long, but I think the jury is still out on that.
Yeah, if that thing's really cheap, I could imagine a copper or brass brush from a hardware store would work a lot better. lol
That adapter is probably passive. I know I have at least one around that's very similar, and that literally came with some ancient (very used) keyboard that probably never saw a modern computer, years ago.
If it didn't work, that does make me wonder whether or not the signal could be more XT-like. Some keyboards with an AT-ish layout like that did use the XT protocol. Then you have weird ones like the beige label Z-150 though where it is closest to AT, but apparently different enough to work with almost nothing at all, even Soarer's converter.