geekhack
geekhack Community => Keyboards => Topic started by: mashby on Sat, 29 December 2012, 20:24:34
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I'm doing a thorough cleaning of my IBM Model M tonight using the guide at this web page (http://www.preater.com/modelm/) and this YouTube video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ly4khUtrCjw) tonight and the thought occurred that while I have everything apart there might be other maintenance things I could do as well.
Any suggestions?
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How many of the plastic studs have popped off? If a lot are missing, consider doing a bolt mod. When you have the keyboard all apart it gives you a chance to make sure the membranes, barrel plate, and backing plate are clean. It's a lot easier to clean the barrel plate when it's separate from the rest of the keyboard and you can give it a good scrub with soapy water.
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To avoid breaking melt-rivets: NEVER clean a Model M without having it secured in the LOWER chassis. You will have full access to what you need to get at and a much lower risk of damaging rivets.
When the backplate assembly is removed from the ABS housing, store it upside down, rivets up, on a flat surface. "Oh noes, this wear-"no. Just no. It does no lasting damage to the springs when you do this properly, and prevents additional rivet breakage. Oh, and only ever do this with the keycaps ON. If you do it with the keycaps off, you will damage the springs and barrels both.
Do not ever pull on the cable from the controller/backplate side for fixed cable keyboards. Not ever. The ground strap can be damaged very easily, which means the cable is scrap. If you do this to an M5 or M13, the keyboard itself is essentially scrap - the Y-cables are unique per model and purest unobtanium.
If it doesn't actually need a bolt mod, don't bolt mod it. Bolt modding is a risky proposition and you can scrap the keyboard. Find something to practice with before you do it.
Don't. Mess. With. The. Controller. Handle it with extreme care, do not let it near anything but isopropyl alcohol and air, and be gentle with it. There's a chance it will be much more brittle than it looks, even though they are tough, and fixing them can be a huge pain. If it has a heat shield (metallized cardboard) do NOT lose it, do NOT damage it, ALWAYS reinstall it. These were used on a variety of controller variants as they put out sufficient heat to damage the ABS chassis.
When all else fails, you can often find replacement parts from Unicomp. Though obviously you want to avoid replacing parts if you don't have to. ;)
Think that's about everything!
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Thank you for all the feedback. I successfully cleaned the keyboard and got everything back together.
Overall the keyboard is in great shape. It was absolutely filthy, but it cleaned up nicely.