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Author Topic: Model M key busted?  (Read 4241 times)

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Offline steeef

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Model M key busted?
« on: Fri, 29 October 2010, 16:51:30 »
Just testing out my new Model M, and I noticed that the T key isn't working. The spring looks fine, but the base of the spring is moving around inside the well. My guess is that the contact broke off some how.

Is there an easy way to repair this? Should I just consider it spare parts? I'd open it up, but I need a deep socket driver first.
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Cherry MX Blue: Filco Majestouch Tenkeyless. Cherry MX Black: TG3 KBA-BLTD-5RBUVS (Police Cruiser keyboard). Cherry MX Clear: KBC Poker (modded with Ergo Clears) Cherry MX Brown: Goldtouch GTC-077 USB numpad. Buckling Spring: IBM Model M 1391401 (1989-01-03 and 1991-11-21).

Offline steeef

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Model M key busted?
« Reply #1 on: Fri, 29 October 2010, 18:20:16 »
The spring itself looks fine though. Trying to remove it anyway, but can't seem to get it to click.
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Cherry MX Blue: Filco Majestouch Tenkeyless. Cherry MX Black: TG3 KBA-BLTD-5RBUVS (Police Cruiser keyboard). Cherry MX Clear: KBC Poker (modded with Ergo Clears) Cherry MX Brown: Goldtouch GTC-077 USB numpad. Buckling Spring: IBM Model M 1391401 (1989-01-03 and 1991-11-21).

Offline steeef

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Model M key busted?
« Reply #2 on: Fri, 29 October 2010, 18:31:54 »
Ah hah! Thanks. Got the spring out. Definitely looks ok, but the hammer it attaches to is floating around at the bottom of the barrel. Broke off, maybe?
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Cherry MX Blue: Filco Majestouch Tenkeyless. Cherry MX Black: TG3 KBA-BLTD-5RBUVS (Police Cruiser keyboard). Cherry MX Clear: KBC Poker (modded with Ergo Clears) Cherry MX Brown: Goldtouch GTC-077 USB numpad. Buckling Spring: IBM Model M 1391401 (1989-01-03 and 1991-11-21).

Offline steeef

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Model M key busted?
« Reply #3 on: Fri, 29 October 2010, 18:52:24 »
No, it's definitely different than the other keys. The hammer itself is not centered in the middle of the barrel, and instead moves around all crazy-like. I can see from the guide that it's possible to remove the hammer, so hopefully that means it's not broken. Right now the T key doesn't register at all.

I did managed to reinstall the spring with a whittled chopstick (and tugged on it to make sure it was installed, and the key buckles like the others now). Thanks again.
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Cherry MX Blue: Filco Majestouch Tenkeyless. Cherry MX Black: TG3 KBA-BLTD-5RBUVS (Police Cruiser keyboard). Cherry MX Clear: KBC Poker (modded with Ergo Clears) Cherry MX Brown: Goldtouch GTC-077 USB numpad. Buckling Spring: IBM Model M 1391401 (1989-01-03 and 1991-11-21).

Offline steeef

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Model M key busted?
« Reply #4 on: Fri, 29 October 2010, 19:20:53 »
Pictures from this guide helped too. I think I'll open 'er up and see what's going on. Found a 7/32" driver, but it's not a deep socket model, so no worky. Guess I'll order one...

I really like the action on these keys, and it's not too loud. I'm fighting the urge to find a backup Model M on Ebay.
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Cherry MX Blue: Filco Majestouch Tenkeyless. Cherry MX Black: TG3 KBA-BLTD-5RBUVS (Police Cruiser keyboard). Cherry MX Clear: KBC Poker (modded with Ergo Clears) Cherry MX Brown: Goldtouch GTC-077 USB numpad. Buckling Spring: IBM Model M 1391401 (1989-01-03 and 1991-11-21).

Offline Rajagra

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Model M key busted?
« Reply #5 on: Sat, 30 October 2010, 15:10:45 »
Quote from: ripster;240304
Today I Learned how to kill someone with a Chopstick from 10 feet.


That's nothing!

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Offline steeef

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Model M key busted?
« Reply #6 on: Thu, 04 November 2010, 19:01:36 »
aww damn. Got the deep socket driver, opened it up, but there's no way to get to the key without popping off all the rivets. I guess it's worth a shot, since the keyboard is unusable at this point. Guess it'll be my bolt and usb mod guinea pig.
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Cherry MX Blue: Filco Majestouch Tenkeyless. Cherry MX Black: TG3 KBA-BLTD-5RBUVS (Police Cruiser keyboard). Cherry MX Clear: KBC Poker (modded with Ergo Clears) Cherry MX Brown: Goldtouch GTC-077 USB numpad. Buckling Spring: IBM Model M 1391401 (1989-01-03 and 1991-11-21).

Offline steeef

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Model M key busted?
« Reply #7 on: Thu, 04 November 2010, 20:03:59 »
I didn't take an exact count, but about 5 or 6 fell out when I opened it up.
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Cherry MX Blue: Filco Majestouch Tenkeyless. Cherry MX Black: TG3 KBA-BLTD-5RBUVS (Police Cruiser keyboard). Cherry MX Clear: KBC Poker (modded with Ergo Clears) Cherry MX Brown: Goldtouch GTC-077 USB numpad. Buckling Spring: IBM Model M 1391401 (1989-01-03 and 1991-11-21).

Offline steeef

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Model M key busted?
« Reply #8 on: Thu, 04 November 2010, 20:16:42 »
I left it at the office, so I'll have to wait till I get back to check. I didn't notice other keys malfunctioning though. I feel like if I can just get to the hammer I can figure out what's wrong.

On the plus side, I scratched the itch and got another 1391401 that's in better shape, just needs a little cleaning.
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Cherry MX Blue: Filco Majestouch Tenkeyless. Cherry MX Black: TG3 KBA-BLTD-5RBUVS (Police Cruiser keyboard). Cherry MX Clear: KBC Poker (modded with Ergo Clears) Cherry MX Brown: Goldtouch GTC-077 USB numpad. Buckling Spring: IBM Model M 1391401 (1989-01-03 and 1991-11-21).

Offline steeef

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Model M key busted?
« Reply #9 on: Sat, 06 November 2010, 17:34:50 »
Chiseled off all the rivets and opened 'er up. The hammer was broken in half. I couldn't find the right size nuts and bolts to follow the official bolt mod instructions, so I decided to try using #6 wood screws. Unfortunately, the pilot holes I had to drill were big enough that it was really easy to slip and screw up the crescents on the sides of the rivets, so I don't think it's worth trying to use that board anymore. At least I've got a bunch of spare parts if I want to try it on another keyboard.

The other keyboard's working fine, so I don't think I'll touch it.
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Cherry MX Blue: Filco Majestouch Tenkeyless. Cherry MX Black: TG3 KBA-BLTD-5RBUVS (Police Cruiser keyboard). Cherry MX Clear: KBC Poker (modded with Ergo Clears) Cherry MX Brown: Goldtouch GTC-077 USB numpad. Buckling Spring: IBM Model M 1391401 (1989-01-03 and 1991-11-21).

Offline steeef

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  • Posts: 156
Model M key busted?
« Reply #10 on: Sun, 07 November 2010, 01:18:31 »
Eh, I'll consider it practice. I was hoping to find hardware locally, which is why I ended up settling on wood screws. I'll know better next time.
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Cherry MX Blue: Filco Majestouch Tenkeyless. Cherry MX Black: TG3 KBA-BLTD-5RBUVS (Police Cruiser keyboard). Cherry MX Clear: KBC Poker (modded with Ergo Clears) Cherry MX Brown: Goldtouch GTC-077 USB numpad. Buckling Spring: IBM Model M 1391401 (1989-01-03 and 1991-11-21).

Offline khaytsus

  • Posts: 14
Model M key busted?
« Reply #11 on: Mon, 15 November 2010, 10:48:02 »
Baaaaah, my M15 is acting similarly on the left shift key.  It clicks, feels right, looks right..  but doesn't do Shift_L at all.  If I launch xev (X events viewer) and lightly pound on it a bit every so often a Shift_L will show up, and if I poke around with a screwdriver a little it'll show up sometimes..

I've tried some alchohol from above..  Tried a can of air.  Will this need taking apart to get in there and see what's really going on?  The guides, particularly having to replace all of the rivets.... yikes....

Not trying to thread-crap here, just sounds like a very similar problem.
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Offline steeef

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Model M key busted?
« Reply #12 on: Mon, 15 November 2010, 10:51:58 »
The quickest thing to do would be to remove the spring (a la chopsticks method) and reseat it.

From my experience, don't open everything up unless you're positive you can put it back together completely.
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Cherry MX Blue: Filco Majestouch Tenkeyless. Cherry MX Black: TG3 KBA-BLTD-5RBUVS (Police Cruiser keyboard). Cherry MX Clear: KBC Poker (modded with Ergo Clears) Cherry MX Brown: Goldtouch GTC-077 USB numpad. Buckling Spring: IBM Model M 1391401 (1989-01-03 and 1991-11-21).

Offline khaytsus

  • Posts: 14
Model M key busted?
« Reply #13 on: Mon, 15 November 2010, 13:20:47 »
Quote from: steeef;247016
The quickest thing to do would be to remove the spring (a la chopsticks method) and reseat it.

From my experience, don't open everything up unless you're positive you can put it back together completely.


Truuusssst me, I'd rather not open it up.  The spring looks okay though, I'm not sure how that'll help?  The key feels normal and the spring looks normal compared to the other keys nearby.
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Offline steeef

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Model M key busted?
« Reply #14 on: Mon, 15 November 2010, 13:22:35 »
Right, but it can't hurt to remove the spring and reseat it just in case. It might also let you see if there's something wrong with the hammer.
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Cherry MX Blue: Filco Majestouch Tenkeyless. Cherry MX Black: TG3 KBA-BLTD-5RBUVS (Police Cruiser keyboard). Cherry MX Clear: KBC Poker (modded with Ergo Clears) Cherry MX Brown: Goldtouch GTC-077 USB numpad. Buckling Spring: IBM Model M 1391401 (1989-01-03 and 1991-11-21).

Offline khaytsus

  • Posts: 14
Model M key busted?
« Reply #15 on: Mon, 15 November 2010, 19:47:46 »
Okay, so I'm not sure this will work long, but we'll see...

So earlier I found that the right hand part of the left shift key outputs a <, I've seen that on keyboards before but never understood it..  

I looked in xev, and it's different than the < key..  Hmmmmmmm...

So I look at the key again..  And start looking for pens.  I find a pen that has a spring that's snug inside the key itself, and clip and adjust it so it's sticking just outside of they key.

And then I remap this keycode 94 to Shift_L.  Bingo.  As you can see, I have a shift key back.  But again, dunno how long.  So I'll keep an eye out for what might be the real fix.  At least if it doesn't keep working it won't go anywhere or something like my original thought of putting something at the end of the key leg to extend it a little.

In case you're wondering, it's actually pretty much normal feeling, maybe a TINY bit more stiff.  The secondary spring really is only to depress the membrane on that side, the normal buckling spring is still working on the other side of the key.

If anyone is curious, I can take pictures.  I know it's sacrilege, but less invasive for now.
« Last Edit: Mon, 15 November 2010, 19:50:31 by khaytsus »
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