Dell AT101W 's' key issues?

[gmorf33]

I got a cheap dell off ebay, and so far i love it, with one exception.  The 'S' key seems to be flaky with how it registers.  For example, occasionally it outputs 2 S's and even worse, sometimes it switches letters around, usually just with the 'T' key.  Like anything ending in 'st' usually switches around to 'ts'.  I have to type 's-t' really slow to get it to output correctly.  Is this a common issue with the dell's, or did i end up with a defective dell?  Or perhaps its just a matter of needing to clean the thing?

[theferenc]

I also got a cheap dell of ebay, and it was practically unusable it was so dirty -- the keys were gritty, some didn't register, you couldn't press off center without LOTS of effort. So I just took the entire thing apart (switches included) and cleaned it thoroughly.

After the cleaning and reassembly, the switches were smooth and registered perfectly.

Word of advice if you do decide to try and clean it: be VERY careful pulling the keycaps off. I snapped the stem of the A key off, and had to epoxy it directly to the slider to make it work again.

Oh, and if you do go the full disassembly route, there are a LOT of tiny little, VERY light pieces that like to stick together, so be careful with all of them. Also, apparently the sliders do have a proper orientation, so pay attention to how they are when you take it apart.

[wanabe]

I just took the entire thing apart (switches included) and cleaned it thoroughly.

After the cleaning and reassembly, the switches were smooth and registered perfectly.

how long did that take you?  Ive got an SGI AT101 with some annoying sticky keys that i wanted to refurbish or just trash

[theferenc]

Total time was about 2 hours, I think. Not including the soaking and drying time. Part of it was that it is bloody HARD to get all the keys off, and I did break one. Plus, the springs and the tactile leaf tend to stick together when wet, so you have to make sure to pull them apart.

You practically need a strong rare-earth magnet (I used a neodymium magnet) in order to reassemble the switches, or it's just an exercise in frustration getting the spring to seat properly. There's some info in the wiki about disassembling and reassembling alps switches. Definitely helped me.

List of tools that I used:
Key cap puller of some sort (a spoon handle works, but can be dangerous)
2 small jewelers screwdrivers (flat)
Small neodymium magnet

I soaked everything in denture cleaner for about an hour, rinsed them thoroughly, then soaked them again for about 30 minutes, and finally tossed them in a wire mesh strainer and ran them under water for about 5 minutes. This and drying time is not included in my 2 hours of labor.

And definitely test all of the switches before you put the caps back on, because they SUCK to pull off.

I might be wrong about this, but the space bar slider is different, and might have a different spring. I marked all of the large keys to make sure they went back to where they came from though.

Cleaning helps enormously though. Went from "ewwww...I can't use this ****" and unable to press all of the keys completely down to "this board is awesome!" and very smooth. Not topre smooth, but still smooth.

[wanabe]

theferenc - thanks for the info.  i did come across the wiki, but I'm not sure if i have the patience to go through the trouble.  mine works fine 95% of the time, but sometimes one key will be particularly stiff and my fingers hit the key, but it doesn't depress.

I find that i have to use a more deliberate typing style to ensure accuracy.

[theferenc]

You could just take that one key apart. It's likely that dirt got into the slide mechanism. A single key shouldn't take more than a few moments to disassemble, clean, and reassemble.

[gmorf33]

kickass.   i looked up the videos on how to disassemble/reassemble these things and just took the 's' key/switch apart, blew it out with compressed air, then put it back together and it seems to be working fine now O_O

I didn't have any fancy keypullers or rare-earth magnets, but a pair of precision screwdrivers and a clunky fridge magnet did the trick.  Hardest part was getting the switch back into its housing with the massive clunky fridge magnet.  It was so big it was tricky to hold it against the key to keep the spring in place and actually get the switch down far enough so the spring could get into place.

Now i'm going to try my backspace and '3' keys.  They are a little sticky, so hopefully the same treatment will do them some justice.

[keyboardlover]

Dude, you have way too much time on your hands

[gmorf33]

lol, nice.  That's pretty awesome.

i have some little earth magnets at work i can nab.  We have a bunch of tiny round ones from these washable mice we used to buy for our patient room computers.  They surround the scrollwheel mechanism, which i found to be strange (is that normal?), but since we stopped using them we got a ton of them sitting around.  I'll hold off on any more key cleaning until i can nab a few of those.