Super hot keyboard!!

[Folio]

Guys, my keyboard is like on fire.

Recently bought a new M4-1 from iMav on GH. It's amazing btw. But just now, when I picked it up to move it, I felt the bottom and one area on the right must be like 600 Kelvin.

Normal?

[Computer-Lab in Basement]

Don't think that's normal. I too own an M4-1, and I never encountered this...

For the sake of the keyboard (and to prevent a fire), I would disconnect it IMMEDIATELY!

[Folio]

What do? What could possibly be heating up that much? It's not like burning, just really hot. Like, close in temperature to the bottom of a laptop after half an hour of video gaming.

I unplugged it. It's currently running through a ziotek converter that I got from clickykeyboards.com for both its trackpoint mouse and the keyboard (both ps2).

I don't know how long it's been doing this cuz I just discovered it. damn...

[fohat.digs]

Cannot be anything good.

If there is a single bad part, it may be replaceable.

[Folio]

Cannot be anything good.

If there is a single bad part, it may be replaceable.

I'm not really a modder type user so I haven't opened it up. I haven't even tried popping a key off because I'm scared of breaking something. The guts from what I can see underneath the keys look much different than other boards I have so it makes me a bit cautious to just go popping off keys with a keycap puller.

[Folio]

The middle of the hot spot is like right next to the ps2 input for (I'm guessing) a separate mouse or a keypad.

[Computer-Lab in Basement]

What do? What could possibly be heating up that much? It's not like burning, just really hot. Like, close in temperature to the bottom of a laptop after half an hour of video gaming.

I unplugged it. It's currently running through a ziotek converter that I got from clickykeyboards.com for both its trackpoint mouse and the keyboard (both ps2).

I don't know how long it's been doing this cuz I just discovered it. damn...

Try using just the keyboard (unplug the trackpoint, use a different mouse) and see if the problem continues. If it's still heating up, repeat the process, except unplug the keyboard and plug in the mouse). Doing this will potentially isolate whether it's the trackpoint or the keyboard that's causing the issue.

The issue could also simply be caused by the adapter you're using. If you can plug the keyboard/trackpoint into a motherboard PS/2 port, give that a try as well.


EDIT:

The middle of the hot spot is like right next to the ps2 input for (I'm guessing) a separate mouse or a keypad.

That would be for the detachable keypad that was made for these boards. It sounds like there may be a short in the connections of that PS/2 port.

[Folio]

What do? What could possibly be heating up that much? It's not like burning, just really hot. Like, close in temperature to the bottom of a laptop after half an hour of video gaming.

I unplugged it. It's currently running through a ziotek converter that I got from clickykeyboards.com for both its trackpoint mouse and the keyboard (both ps2).

I don't know how long it's been doing this cuz I just discovered it. damn...

Try using just the keyboard (unplug the trackpoint, use a different mouse) and see if the problem continues. If it's still heating up, repeat the process, except unplug the keyboard and plug in the mouse). Doing this will potentially isolate whether it's the trackpoint or the keyboard that's causing the issue.

The issue could also simply be caused by the adapter you're using. If you can plug the keyboard/trackpoint into a motherboard PS/2 port, give that a try as well.


EDIT:

The middle of the hot spot is like right next to the ps2 input for (I'm guessing) a separate mouse or a keypad.

That would be for the detachable keypad that was made for these boards. It sounds like there may be a short in the connections of that PS/2 port.

I'm gonna try your suggestions anyways to rule them out. If there is a short however, how can that be fixed?

[Computer-Lab in Basement]

If there is a short however, how can that be fixed?

Disassemble the board and investigate.  If need be, I can work on making a guide on disassembling the M4-1 so you have something to go off of.

[Folio]

If there is a short however, how can that be fixed?

Disassemble the board and investigate.  If need be, I can work on making a guide on disassembling the M4-1 so you have something to go off of.

That'd be swell CLB. I'll let you know how the first stage of testing goes.

[Computer-Lab in Basement]

If there is a short however, how can that be fixed?

Disassemble the board and investigate.  If need be, I can work on making a guide on disassembling the M4-1 so you have something to go off of.

That'd be swell CLB. I'll let you know how the first stage of testing goes.

Very good! In the meantime, this is the closest thing I've found to a disassembly guide, hopefully it's somewhat helpful: http://imgur.com/a/jZ7dU

[ideus]

You can now cook your eggs on the back of your board while you were not typing. 

[Folio]

ideus, I can't now because it's not hot anymore 

So, after testing out the keyboard and trackpoint separately plugged in for copious amounts of time, it looks like neither are making the board heat up (I had to use the converter still because my laptop dock at work doesn't have ps2 ports).

Actually, the board is fully plugged in right now, both keyboard and trackpoint, with the converter and there is no heat. It's been plugged in for I'd say an hour now. Completely cold.

I have no idea why. I've also been using the trackpoint and typing on it more than usual just to make sure that usage was not the issue.

Maybe it has something to do with my laptop dock... It's a Lenovo dock that has a power source which I never disconnect and my keyboard is plugged into it. Do you think unnecessary power is being fed through my peripherals without my laptop being docked? If that's the case, then that means my keyboard has been hot every time I leave work every night for the past two months! I will test this theory out right now.

Also, a weird thing happened this morning. I docked my laptop and my mouse cursor was moving on its own and it was because of the M4-1. I unplugged it and replugged it and it was fine...

[Computer-Lab in Basement]

Maybe it has something to do with my laptop dock... It's a Lenovo dock that has a power source which I never disconnect and my keyboard is plugged into it. Do you think unnecessary power is being fed through my peripherals without my laptop being docked? If that's the case, then that means my keyboard has been hot every time I leave work every night for the past two months! I will test this theory out right now.

Also, a weird thing happened this morning. I docked my laptop and my mouse cursor was moving on its own and it was because of the M4-1. I unplugged it and replugged it and it was fine...

Yeah, the trackpoints sometime get stuck moving in one direction for a while. Sometimes they fix themselves, other times you need to unplug it. The same happens from time to time with pretty much any trackpoint...

As for your docking station theory, that could very well be the issue. I'm interested to hear how the rest of your experiments go and to find out what you discover.

[Folio]

Yeah, the trackpoints sometime get stuck moving in one direction for a while. Sometimes they fix themselves, other times you need to unplug it. The same happens from time to time with pretty much any trackpoint...

As for your docking station theory, that could very well be the issue. I'm interested to hear how the rest of your experiments go and to find out what you discover.

Ok so since I've posted last, I undocked my laptop and worked somewhere else for a while. Came back and the M4-1 is still cold. No heat whatsoever. Man.... I'm really wondering what happened. Also, just now noticed that the num lock and caps lock indicator LED's were flashing in unison. I unplugged and replugged. No more issues.

I'm typing with it now. It's the same as I remember it always was. Maybe I'm just getting some odd luck. I mean, it is an old board. But it's brand new in terms of use.

One more thing, the label says it's manufactured by Unicomp for IBM. I don't know if that makes a difference in quality because I know Lexmark used to make these too which (correct me if I'm wrong) I think have a better rep amongst GHer's.

[synerr]

It's possessed by the devil! Kill it with fire!!

[Computer-Lab in Basement]

One more thing, the label says it's manufactured by Unicomp for IBM. I don't know if that makes a difference in quality because I know Lexmark used to make these too which (correct me if I'm wrong) I think have a better rep amongst GHer's.

You're correct, the Lexmark ones tend to have a better build quality (at least, that's the general consensus).  Mine is a Lexmark, born on Jan 17, 1994 IIRC (I know it's EXTREMELY close to my birthdate) and I must say, for a compact, dome-like board, it does have very good build quality.

[Folio]

Hmm. Well, anyways, I think I'm good now. Just gonna go with the flow here. Btw, mine was born March 1998. Another thing, the imgur link you posted, CLB, showed grey rubber sleeves. I just popped a cap and mine are black. They still feel heavier than my 55g RF so I'm still assuming they're about 65g still. Interesting differences.

[Computer-Lab in Basement]

Hmm. Well, anyways, I think I'm good now. Just gonna go with the flow here. Btw, mine was born March 1998. Another thing, the imgur link you posted, CLB, showed grey rubber sleeves. I just popped a cap and mine are black. They still feel heavier than my 55g RF so I'm still assuming they're about 65g still. Interesting differences.

Interesting... never knew that Unicomp used a different color rubber for their sleeves. Good to know...

If you have a bunch of nickles lying around, you could RipOMeter a key and check the actuation point. Just for comparison, cuz I wonder if there's any difference between the grey and black sleeves other than the color.

[Folio]

Hmm. Well, anyways, I think I'm good now. Just gonna go with the flow here. Btw, mine was born March 1998. Another thing, the imgur link you posted, CLB, showed grey rubber sleeves. I just popped a cap and mine are black. They still feel heavier than my 55g RF so I'm still assuming they're about 65g still. Interesting differences.

Interesting... never knew that Unicomp used a different color rubber for their sleeves. Good to know...

If you have a bunch of nickles lying around, you could RipOMeter a key and check the actuation point. Just for comparison, cuz I wonder if there's any difference between the grey and black sleeves other than the color.

I'm pretty curious as well now. I will check on this in the near future. Just gotta find some nickels. Will update when discovered. But for now, just from feel and typing on it, it's almost too heavy and loud for a work environment when typing over 100 WPM. It gets tiring when I'm trying to be quiet with it 

[dorkvader]

I'm very curious about this!
Normally a KB like this would not be able to draw enough power to heat up that much.

[ideus]

I'm very curious about this!
Normally a KB like this would not be able to draw enough power to heat up that much.

The point is that even with low currents a high resistance may get very hot after the proper time.

[Folio]

New news to report!

Ok so I think I've isolated the problem, but I don't know why it's happening. When I docked my laptop this morning, I went ahead and started unloading nickels onto the J key to see if there was a difference in weight compared to the 65g reported on imgur from CLB's link. It seems like there is no difference between the black sleeves on my keyboard and the grey sleeves from the one in the link. Both are 65g actuation.

Anyways, after that, I went to check my email and saw that the mouse was moving on its own again. It just kept pushing in one direction. Unplugged my M4-1 and replugged it, then felt the bottom to check temperature, and guess what? It was hot.

My mouse was working normally again after replugging it, and it felt like the bottom was cooling down. Then, after packing up my nickels, I went back to work and found that the mouse was moving on its own AGAIN... This time, I let it do this for a while so I can see if the bottom really did heat up from the TrackPoint freaking out. It did feel like it was giving off heat, but it didn't get as hot as the 1st or 2nd time.

I just replugged it in after about 10 minutes because I have to get back to work. But it's fine now. No heat, no random mouse movements, and the key strokes and trackpoint are working. Don't know about this one guys.

[Computer-Lab in Basement]

New news to report!

Ok so I think I've isolated the problem, but I don't know why it's happening. When I docked my laptop this morning, I went ahead and started unloading nickels onto the J key to see if there was a difference in weight compared to the 65g reported on imgur from CLB's link. It seems like there is no difference between the black sleeves on my keyboard and the grey sleeves from the one in the link. Both are 65g actuation.

Anyways, after that, I went to check my email and saw that the mouse was moving on its own again. It just kept pushing in one direction. Unplugged my M4-1 and replugged it, then felt the bottom to check temperature, and guess what? It was hot.

My mouse was working normally again after replugging it, and it felt like the bottom was cooling down. Then, after packing up my nickels, I went back to work and found that the mouse was moving on its own AGAIN... This time, I let it do this for a while so I can see if the bottom really did heat up from the TrackPoint freaking out. It did feel like it was giving off heat, but it didn't get as hot as the 1st or 2nd time.

I just replugged it in after about 10 minutes because I have to get back to work. But it's fine now. No heat, no random mouse movements, and the key strokes and trackpoint are working. Don't know about this one guys.

Interesting... very interesting.

So it's not caused by the docking station, the PS/2 adapter, the keyboard unit, or a short, and it may or may not be the trackpoint unit.

"Once you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth."

It's Gremlins... with heat guns.

[Folio]

It's Gremlins... with heat guns.

Those damn Grems