Crunchy capacitive buckling spring?

[AKIMbO]

I have a Model F AT where the spring for the "o" key feels crunchy.  I compared that spring to springs on my 2 other capacitive BS keyboards and it is in the same condition as the 2 others (i.e. does not appear to be rusted, corroded, etc.).  Is there someway to fix this crunchy feeling?  Will it just go away with time?  Is this common for BS kbs that have been sitting in storage for a long while? I'm a little perplexed.  Any help would be appreciated.

When I say "crunchy", I mean the key press is not smooth like the other keys on the keyboard.  There is a slight vibration, which is not normal when compared to the other keys, when I press down the "o" key.  It feels as if they spring has rusted, but a visual inspection revealed no rusting whatsoever. 

[fartq]

does the key ever get stuck in the down position? sometimes when the spring is bent or worn the symptom is a "sticky" feel to the key action

[AKIMbO]

does the key ever get stuck in the down position? sometimes when the spring is bent or worn the symptom is a "sticky" feel to the key action

Nope, it does not get stuck in the down position.  It has to be an issue with either the spring, the barrel, or keycap.  I've ruled out the keycap.  Maybe I need to stop being lazy and transplant a spring from my XT into this AT and see if that solves the problem.

[fohat.digs]

I suspect some sort of debris interfering with the action. My first guess would have been something like a dead insect in the spring or barrel compartment, but there could also be a crumb of something under the "foot" plate or whatever the spring base is called.

Those boards are beasts to dismantle, especially the big ones, but you could give it a thorough cleaning and check everything out so that you don't start losing more action.

If it is an F-122, cut off the sliding tabs and do a bolt mod. It only takes half a dozen bolts, and you can get them at a hardware store, unlike the 50 tiny special-order bolts you need for an M.

I did a wiki on that, but I have not checked to see whether it is still around on this side of the "event horizon".

edit: oops! I didn't see that you were talking about XTs and ATs.

How do we find wikis on site site, or are they gone?

[AKIMbO]

I got over my laziness and replaced the spring.  That solved the issue.  The spring felt a little chalky in its middle section so I replaced it with a spring from a lesser used key (the "5" on the tenkey).  Has anyone tried to refurbish springs?  Maybe dip them in a CLR solution?