Model M cleaning

[hactar]

Hi, I've got a Model M from 1987, and it's developed some "personality" in the form of frictiony keys.  The right shift key usually works fine, but occasionally has some resistance being pressed; if I try again, pressing straight down, it works.  I never use the keypad, but if the Enter accidentally gets pressed, it stays down and wreaks havoc on the keyboard's function.

So.  How should I approach this?  In the past I've taken off the keycaps, put them into a garment bag, and washed them on the top level of a dishwasher.  At the same time I removed the debris I could see on the PCB.

[jacethesaltsculptor]

Hi, I've got a Model M from 1987, and it's developed some "personality" in the form of frictiony keys.  The right shift key usually works fine, but occasionally has some resistance being pressed; if I try again, pressing straight down, it works.  I never use the keypad, but if the Enter accidentally gets pressed, it stays down and wreaks havoc on the keyboard's function.

So.  How should I approach this?  In the past I've taken off the keycaps, put them into a garment bag, and washed them on the top level of a dishwasher.  At the same time I removed the debris I could see on the PCB.

Sounds like deformation causing binding against the sides of the barrel on the lower part of the keycap, depending on the heat applied in the Dishwasher this can happen to certain plastics, the heat in the Dishwasher being at its worst in the top of the unit.

I prefer doing what Chyros one of our forum users here details in this video:

I take it a step further though and throw them all into a big ziploc bag, and shake them up a bit, keycaps, lower segments and all. This seems to get them surprisingly clean, and then I toothbrush anything more stubborn than that.

without having another good working one to look at it's hard to recommend a plan of attack. It may just be best to order replacements from Unicomp for those and see how that flies. Replacement keys run only a few bucks from them, though they have a 10$ Minimum order, and see how they function. It's also possible to order replacements off ebay as some sellers will sell individual keys from a Model M, though depending, they may not look the same.

[hactar]

Sounds like deformation causing binding against the sides of the barrel on the lower part of the keycap, depending on the heat applied in the Dishwasher this can happen to certain plastics, the heat in the Dishwasher being at its worst in the top of the unit.

Dagnabbit, and I put them on the top because I thought the bottom was too hot.

I prefer doing what Chyros one of our forum users here details in this video:

Thanks.  There's probably no way to resurrect the keys now, so I'll have to order replacements.

[jacethesaltsculptor]

Sorry to break the news to you.

Thankfully if you wanted to go whole hog, a full replacement set runs 25 bucks from Unicomp, they keep their prices very cheap for what they do.

You can do different colors and all kinds of customization if you prefer. (Email them if you want to customize, it's all surprisingly cheap, I paid an extra 20 bucks to get green APL sublegends on a set.)

here is the page you'll want to look at:
https://www.pckeyboard.com/page/category/Buttons

[hactar]

Sorry to break the news to you.

Eh, no matter, it's good to know the cause, and that there is a solution that isn't "replace the keyboard".

here is the page you'll want to look at:
https://www.pckeyboard.com/page/category/Buttons

Thanks.

[fohat.digs]

they keep their prices very cheap for what they do.

That is surprising to hear. I have not ordered caps from them in 3-5 years, but back then a plain set was $30 + shipping and everything non-standard was quite pricey and a la carte.