|Problem with my Model |M I|BM

[dandanflake]

As you can see in the title. There is my problem. It seems whenever |I hit the shift key there is a chance for that "|" character to appear. It started all of a sudden the other day while I was playing the SWGEmu. At first I thought it was just a game issue. I then started noticing it typing anywhere. I have not corrected it while typing this to show a more accurate effect. Idk what could be causing it. As you can see it does not always happen. Any help or incite would be very much appreciated. I've had this keyboard for months now with no issues until the other day 

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I edited this in because I can now simply hold down the shift button and this will appear.

[chyros]

Am I correct in assuming this is an ISO model? If so, there might be something wrong with the membrane.

[rm-rf]

a few years back i had something similar happen to one of my model M's, i decided to take it apart and clean it.
it can be a bit time consuming, tons of tiny moving parts.
took me a few times to get it back together correctly once it was all apart.
afterwards it was working great.

if it is the membrane (which i hope its not), you may be able to pick one up for fairly cheep.

[njbair]

You're basically going to have to screw mod this board. When you're done though, you'll be glad you did.

If the membrane is beyond repair, Unicomp sells membranes for about 10 bucks +shipping. While you're at it, pick up a new Unicomp latex blanket.

If this all sounds like too much you can pay someone like Phosphorglow to do it for you.

[Snowdog993]

As you can see in the title. There is my problem. It seems whenever |I hit the shift key there is a chance for that "|" character to appear. It started all of a sudden the other day while I was playing the SWGEmu. At first I thought it was just a game issue. I then started noticing it typing anywhere. I have not corrected it while typing this to show a more accurate effect. Idk what could be causing it. As you can see it does not always happen. Any help or incite would be very much appreciated. I've had this keyboard for months now with no issues until the other day 

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I edited this in because I can now simply hold down the shift button and this will appear.

Which shift key do you press when you get the | symbol?  Is it the left or right shift key? 

[dandanflake]

As you can see in the title. There is my problem. It seems whenever |I hit the shift key there is a chance for that "|" character to appear. It started all of a sudden the other day while I was playing the SWGEmu. At first I thought it was just a game issue. I then started noticing it typing anywhere. I have not corrected it while typing this to show a more accurate effect. Idk what could be causing it. As you can see it does not always happen. Any help or incite would be very much appreciated. I've had this keyboard for months now with no issues until the other day 

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I edited this in because I can now simply hold down the shift button and this will appear.

Which shift key do you press when you get the | symbol?  Is it the left or right shift key?

It is the left shift key.

[Snowdog993]

Okay Dan,
  Does it have the small left shift with the \ | key next to it like in the picture?

[dandanflake]

a few years back i had something similar happen to one of my model M's, i decided to take it apart and clean it.
it can be a bit time consuming, tons of tiny moving parts.
took me a few times to get it back together correctly once it was all apart.
afterwards it was working great.

if it is the membrane (which i hope its not), you may be able to pick one up for fairly cheep.

Is that difficult? It sucks this is happening because this is a beautiful board and was completely fine which I bought for only $10.00. I did clean it recently, but only the outside, I didn't open it up. It didn't start malfunctioning until a few days after I cleaned it (that I noticed anyway). Like I said I was playing the SWGEmu (Star Wars Galaxies Emulator) when I first noticed it and had thought it had to do with the game. I was typing a lot before it started so wouldn't think it had anything to do with my cleaning, but |I could be wrong.
|Oh |(there it is again. please note |I am typing all of my posts here without correcting the error to give a more accurate example of how this occurs.|) |When ||I cleaned it all |I did was take off all of the keys and key caps, soaked the key caps in warm water with a couple denture tabs. |I then used compressed air, a damp cloth, and damp q-tips to clean the board.

[dandanflake]

Okay Dan,
  Does it have the small left shift with the \ | key next to it like in the picture?

No it has a standard layout. the only key next to it is the "z" key with caps above and ctrl below.

[dandanflake]

Okay Dan,
  Does it have the small left shift with the \ | key next to it like in the picture?

I think I see where you're heading with this. I tested it out. Whenever I hit the far right of the "left shift" key I get that symbol. when I hit the far left I don't. So I must be hitting where that one key was originally meant to be and IMB must not have disabled it. As you can see I can do it on command. |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| SEE IT'S FINE NOW. Thank you all for your incite and help. A thank you to Snowdog especially. Now I just need to figure out how to stop myself from hitting it.

[Snowdog993]

Okay.  This sounds like a stabilizer/membrane issue.  Take off the left shift key by using a butter knife to remove the left Ctrl key and then remove the left shift key.  Got that?
Once both are removed, check the shift by putting another key (Example: F3) in the left spring side and checking if the shift works properly with just the one key.
If it does, half the battle is won.  I have the feeling the stabilizer is jammed hard in the right side socket.  You may need to remove that stabilizer and re-insert it.
Let me know what you discover please.

[dandanflake]

Okay.  This sounds like a stabilizer/membrane issue.  Take off the left shift key by using a butter knife to remove the left Ctrl key and then remove the left shift key.  Got that?
Once both are removed, check the shift by putting another key (Example: F3) in the left spring side and checking if the shift works properly with just the one key.
If it does, half the battle is won.  I have the feeling the stabilizer is jammed hard in the right side socket.  You may need to remove that stabilizer and re-insert it.
Let me know what you discover please.

When I put in the F3 akey the shift function works flawlessly. When I put the shift key back in and hit the right side of it it causes the error.

[njbair]

So the membrane is the same for both ISO and ANSI layouts? I guess that makes sense but wow I never thought about it.

[Snowdog993]

Okay what I need you to do is this: Use a fingernail file or other file you can find and whittle away about 1mm of the shaft that comes out of the right side of the shift key.  Remove any burrs.
That should solve the problem.

[Snowdog993]

So the membrane is the same for both ISO and ANSI layouts? I guess that makes sense but wow I never thought about it.

Yes.  Converting to ANSI from ISO, you have to move a couple springs and arrange the keys to their respective places.  Of course, you need the proper ANSI replacement keys.

[dandanflake]

Okay what I need you to do is this: Use a fingernail file or other file you can find and whittle away about 1mm of the shaft that comes out of the right side of the shift key.  Remove any burrs.
That should solve the problem.

Ok. It popped out easy enough and there was a small piece of something on the bottom that i couldn't quite get to but I managed in trying to get it to move it out of the way. It seems to have fixed the problem as I cannot reproduce it anymore. Thank you Snowdog. I appreciate your help I would have never thought about that. Thank you as well to everyone else who gave their help.

[Snowdog993]

I'm always glad to help.  Hopefully whatever it was is gone now.
Enjoy your keyboard!

[rowdy]

Very nice troubleshooting, Snowdog993.  And simple and clear instructions to resolve the problem

[njbair]

Maybe it was literally a bug.

[Snowdog993]

Very nice troubleshooting, Snowdog993.  And simple and clear instructions to resolve the problem

Thank you so much for the compliment Rowdy!