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geekhack Community => Keyboards => Topic started by: snarfarlarkus on Tue, 29 September 2015, 17:22:50
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Hey guys, just received my Omnikey 102! The spacebar is a bit stuck I believe from transit but I can't remove it. Please help me out? CHeers
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Use 2 butter knives or flat screwdrivers and pry up both ends. There are 2 plastic tabs in the underside of the spacebar and 2 plastic tabs in the front plate. If any of these come loose and/or stay attached to the wire, it is no big deal. All can be re-installed.
Did you use the keyboard for a few hours to really get a feel for it?
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Thanks fohat! I just pryed it out now, is the spacebar meant to have a tactile click like every other key? My space bar is linear yet its still a blue alps? Maybe I need to clean it or something.
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Yes, that's also supposed to be clicky. If it feels linear, maybe the switch has been damaged or it's in a bad condition.
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Yeah, it must be in bad condition. I'll open it up and relube it, etc. Hopefully it'll come right. Also, anywhere to buy replacement caps? My up arrow stem of the keycap is stuck inside the slider... Previous owner didn't take too much care of it or it was just sitting in inventory for 20 orso years.
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Replacement Alps keycaps are a big problem... as far as I know the only companies making them are Matias and some obscure Chinese company that also makes Apls clones. Otherwise you have to salvage them off old keyboards. I haven't found any backlit Alps keycaps for sale yet.
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Hm... Matias are laser etched and are $50 a set but I only need one keycap haha. Hopefully I'll be able to buy just an arrow cluster off of someone.
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Cheapest easiest Alps boards are Dell AT101 and Apple Extended Keyboard to harvest caps.
Apple caps are superb but many of the pieces don't fit and the font is stupid.
Early early Dell caps are PBT but those are rare.
Somebody is supposedly selling a doubleshot Dolch set in a couple of months and that would/will be awesome.
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Actually, the double-shot Dolch set is here! https://www.massdrop.com/buy/alps-keycaps
Good: double-shot legends, nice professional font (Helvetica), very cheap ($20 for Black, $23 for Olivette or Dolch, + shipping)
Bad: the caps look VERY thin, and legends are not transparent (no backlight), ABS (not PBT + POM) although that is the rule rather than the exception
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And yes, these are made by Tai Hao, which is the Chinese company making Alps clones I was referring to (although they are based in Taiwan which is a separate country depending on who you talk to - but let's not get into politics here)
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THanks for the reply! I'll make sure to buy that dolch alps set, although itll look a tad odd on my Omnikey 102 I think. Hey, one of those grey things that hold the stabilzer down on the space bar isn't there, should I just take one off of another stabilizer key or is there any where i can buy one? Thanks!!!
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Hey, one of those grey things that hold the stabilzer down on the space bar isn't there, should I just take one off of another stabilizer key or is there any where i can buy one?
I thought that those Dolch sets were not going into production yet. I never figured out Massdrop, but I don't want any more "memberships"
Look around carefully for that wire tab holder. It may be between the PCB and the plate or rattling around somewhere else. As I recall, the 2 on the spacebar are larger and longer than the others, but they may work in a pinch. If you are getting into Alps, it is probably worthwhile to get something like a junked Dell AT101 as a parts donor.
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Btw, as a reply to the original question; a good way to take large keys off is with a ring puller. Wire pullers are better for normal keys, but ring pullers can take off longer keys.
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Replacement Alps keycaps are a big problem... as far as I know the only companies making them are Matias and some obscure Chinese company that also makes Apls clones. Otherwise you have to salvage them off old keyboards. I haven't found any backlit Alps keycaps for sale yet.
Massdrop is doing a bunch of Tai Hao cap drops and MK.com should have some Tai Hao Alps in soon. Also there have been two Alps keycap GBs by SP through GH. This is in addition to the Matias caps. Definitely a good start for nice aftermarket Alps caps.
And why would you want backlit Alps caps? There's not many backlit Alps boards...maybe some of the Korean custom PCBs support it? I've seen boards with backlighting like Sifo's GON but it's not backlighting each keycap like a Ducky.
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i just removed a long, old ABS alps bar.
to make sure i didn't break the bar, or bend the stabilizer, i removed all the caps around it first and then just used both hands(my fingers) to clamp the bar in such a way that i had a lot of control.
for gripping it safely, i just searched for the stronger points in the bar by lightly squeezing it.
then it was just a matter of slowly lifting the bar up while wiggling and rocking a bit, barely took any force.
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i just removed a long, old ABS alps bar.
Those Leading Edge 2014 spacebars are what, 9-10 units long? Ha Ha, don't have to worry about re-using it somewhere else!
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this one's 9. not the longest, but long enough to call long :P
(it looks like the LE 2014 also uses a 9)
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Btw, as a reply to the original question; a good way to take large keys off is with a ring puller. Wire pullers are better for normal keys, but ring pullers can take off longer keys.
What is a ring puller? Like one of those 3D printed ones?
Replacement Alps keycaps are a big problem... as far as I know the only companies making them are Matias and some obscure Chinese company that also makes Apls clones. Otherwise you have to salvage them off old keyboards. I haven't found any backlit Alps keycaps for sale yet.
Massdrop is doing a bunch of Tai Hao cap drops and MK.com should have some Tai Hao Alps in soon. Also there have been two Alps keycap GBs by SP through GH. This is in addition to the Matias caps. Definitely a good start for nice aftermarket Alps caps.
And why would you want backlit Alps caps? There's not many backlit Alps boards...maybe some of the Korean custom PCBs support it? I've seen boards with backlighting like Sifo's GON but it's not backlighting each keycap like a Ducky.
Yep, I linked to the Tai Hao Alps caps on Massdrop above.
Re: backlight, I want to custom build my own alps backlit board.
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Btw, as a reply to the original question; a good way to take large keys off is with a ring puller. Wire pullers are better for normal keys, but ring pullers can take off longer keys.
What is a ring puller? Like one of those 3D printed ones?
It's one of these:
(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/417QtR898zL._SX425_.jpg)