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geekhack Community => Keyboards => Topic started by: MANISH7 on Sat, 25 April 2009, 18:12:59

Title: Compaq MX-11800: Making the spacebar less stiff
Post by: MANISH7 on Sat, 25 April 2009, 18:12:59

I just got my Compaq MX 11800. I'm very happy with it. Tactile feedback, ergnomically light but not too light, very cheap. I also like the layout as it is compact yet standard.

My only complaint is that the spacebar is stiff. I can live with it but I'd rather not. If I can get this resolved, I'll go ahead and order another 4 Compaqs. Stock for myself, give to family members, or sell back on Ebay if I wish.

I don't know much about cherry switches so I will do research / seek advice about opening it up. What can I do to make the spacebar less stiff? Thanks.

Title: Compaq MX-11800: Making the spacebar less stiff
Post by: o2dazone on Sat, 25 April 2009, 18:18:58

http://my3c.com/D5/viewthread.php?tid=4625&extra=&page=1

Pry it open and replace the insides with a key you use less frequently

Title: Compaq MX-11800: Making the spacebar less stiff
Post by: MANISH7 on Sat, 25 April 2009, 18:29:38

Thank you very much!

Title: Compaq MX-11800: Making the spacebar less stiff
Post by: o2dazone on Sat, 25 April 2009, 18:33:07

np gl and report back to us :]

Title: Compaq MX-11800: Making the spacebar less stiff
Post by: o2dazone on Tue, 05 May 2009, 17:43:29

Sorry to necro this, but I just did this with some primitive tools at my job. A bobby pin and a paperclip let me pry the two switches apart and swap the insides. Damn those stabilizer bars are a ***** when you pry them up with the key

Title: Compaq MX-11800: Making the spacebar less stiff
Post by: MANISH7 on Tue, 05 May 2009, 17:59:38

First I split them apart and it was too hectic. So I just took off the entire key switch so you just see a small hole. I swapped the grey switch of the space bar with the brown switch of the pause / break button. That was much easier and worked out well. Thanks!

Title: Compaq MX-11800: Making the spacebar less stiff
Post by: o2dazone on Tue, 05 May 2009, 21:00:56

nice, glad you got it worked out- how were you able to remove the switch from the pcb?

Title: Compaq MX-11800: Making the spacebar less stiff
Post by: MANISH7 on Tue, 05 May 2009, 21:19:30

Quote from: o2dazone;89359

nice, glad you got it worked out- how were you able to remove the switch from the pcb?

it came out like a pin when i pulled the key switch from the bottom. both key switches worked from after the swap. maybe there's variation within models?

Title: Compaq MX-11800: Making the spacebar less stiff
Post by: keyb_gr on Fri, 08 May 2009, 15:27:23

So they put a grey spacebar switch on a board with browns? Eww. That's plenty stiff enough for one with blacks (and I'm not too comfortable with it either).

EDIT: OK, according to the wiki there are like 3 different types of grey switches. A board with browns would have the 80 cN tactile version (light grey I think), while the one I was referring to should be the 105 cN linear version.

Title: Compaq MX-11800: Making the spacebar less stiff
Post by: itlnstln on Mon, 11 May 2009, 07:23:36

The spacebar on the MX-11800 was stupid stiff.  I swapped out the guts on that key with Pause/Break.

Title: Compaq MX-11800: Making the spacebar less stiff
Post by: cchan on Mon, 11 May 2009, 14:54:10

I thought the exact same for both my '3000, my '11800, and my '8100. Now my 3000 has a blue in spacebar, and my 8100 has a clear, and Manish has my 11800.

Title: Compaq MX-11800: Making the spacebar less stiff
Post by: itlnstln on Mon, 11 May 2009, 14:59:55

My 3000 came with a brown in the spacebar, but it was a custom 'board for DataCal, so they might have made them using different specs than their normal production runs.

Title: Compaq MX-11800: Making the spacebar less stiff
Post by: watduzhkstand4 on Wed, 13 May 2009, 15:04:03

I have the same keyboard and I want to do the same except I want to put blue cherries on my keyboard. Where can I find brand new blue cherries? How much do they go for? Thanks in advance!

Title: Compaq MX-11800: Making the spacebar less stiff
Post by: itlnstln on Wed, 13 May 2009, 15:19:32

You can find a cheap blue Cherry 'board here: http://www.geminicomputersinc.com/g80-3000lscrc-2.html, but it might be a little too much for just a switch transplant.  I haven't seen a whole lot of blue Cherry "donors" show up on eBay.

Title: Compaq MX-11800: Making the spacebar less stiff
Post by: watduzhkstand4 on Wed, 13 May 2009, 15:24:00

Quote from: itlnstln;90613

You can find a cheap blue Cherry 'board here: http://www.geminicomputersinc.com/g80-3000lscrc-2.html, but it might be a little too much for just a switch transplant.  I haven't seen a whole lot of blue Cherry "donors" show up on eBay.

hahaha it's cool. Thanks for showing me the site!