Avert your eyes.

[maaaaatt]

So I ordered an apparently working AEII from ebay and it just arrived as you see in the attached picture. The keycaps were snapped right off in the same area so I'm guessing the keyboard suffered a severe blow of some kind.

Anyway, my first inclination is to go attacking the broken stems with tweezers, but I thought I should ask for some advice first, seeing as I have an irreparably broken Ducky Shine II that I also thought would be easy to fix. I dont want to breaking the keyswitches.

[intelli78]

Use a pair of screwdrivers to pop those switches apart: http://i.imgur.com/tCg9d.jpg

Disassemble, and then use one of the screwdrivers to push the broken plastic up and out, from the underside of the stems.

That's how I would do it. By taking the switches apart, you can avoid applying force to the spring or click leaf, and pushing the broken plastic up and out should be much easier than trying to extract it with tweezers.

Edit: of course, first you can try gently prying the pieces out with a small screwdriver or similar tool -- if they aren't wedged super tight, you may not even need to disassemble.

[dorkvader]

should be much easier than trying to extract it with tweezers.

yes, trying to extract it with tweezers is impossible: I know this from experience actually! I think disassembling the switches is your best option, and then replacing them completely if it doesn't work.

[maaaaatt]

Am I just asking for trouble if I try to glue the broken stems to the keycaps once I get them out?

[intelli78]

Am I just asking for trouble if I try to glue the broken stems to the keycaps once I get them out?

It may be possible to repair them if you do a very careful job with super glue. Worst case, the stems break off again. I don't know how successful it will be, but I don't think you're risking much. Just make sure the glue is completely dry before putting the caps back on.

[maaaaatt]

So I can't really push the keycap stem out of the bottom. Any other ideas?

[jacobolus]

You can totally push it out from the bottom. You just need a skinny piece of metal to do it.

I’ve also been able to pull them out the top with a hook-shaped metal dentist’s pick, by stabbing into the plastic enough and then yanking the little plastic piece out. Pushing them out from the bottom is definitely easier though.

Don’t bother trying to repair the keycaps. I’m sure if you ask around you can find someone willing to sell/give you some spare Apple keycaps.

Also, to disassemble Alps switches, I recommend using something thinner than the screwdrivers in that Ripster picture posted above. (For instance, smaller screwdrivers.)

[jameslr]

TIL there is actually a method of extracting broken cap stems on AEKII's or other ALPS switches. Apparently this is a common thing among the ALPS?

[IvanIvanovich]

Use a eyelet screw, in remove bottle cork method. Use one small enough that it will only thread into the broken piece, then hold the switch slider in place to avoid excessive strain on it as to avoid popping it.

[Gamingnow]

In addition to fixing it you should probably pursue the seller on ebay. Not right that he would ship you a broken product, and if the damage was done during shipping it looks as though he didnt pack it properly

[maaaaatt]

It cost me $20 but $15 to get it shipped to Australia from the US, so pursuing it would just be a pain. Plus it didn't cost that much

I got all but one of the broken stems out. I'll work on it tomorrow. I've also removed all the little rubber stoppers from the sliders, which makes I guess makes it a faux-white alps keyboard. Got rid of the mushy feel.