« previous next »
Pages:  [1]     Go Down

Author Topic: is there any hope for my M?  (Read 1819 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Offline borrito

  • Thread Starter
  • Posts: 2
  • Location: Berlin, Germany
is there any hope for my M?
« on: Mon, 14 March 2016, 06:21:47 »
Hi guys, after less than 5 years my Unicomp M seems to have had it. I'm situated in Germany so Unicomp's crazy 4x inflated shipping fee makes their repair a bad decision. Basically it would be cheaper to sell the board for parts and get a new one instead of shipping the old one once around the world. The german importer can't help me with repairs as well.

The symptoms of the illness are that exactly four keys have stopped working, just like that. It's the top row 7/8, and the cursor right/down keys. The board did not suffer spillage or fall damage, it just happened from one moment to the next.

I'm suspecting some kind of failure in the controller, but really can't tell. The question to you guys is if there's anything I can try myself to get it working again. I did already open it up and gave it a thorough cleaning to no effect.
Logged

Offline E TwentyNine

  • Posts: 884
    • Some of My Keyboards
Re: is there any hope for my M?
« Reply #1 on: Mon, 14 March 2016, 11:24:28 »
Those are the only keys that stopped?  That doesn't match any trace pattern I can see (unless they've radically changed the routes at some recent point).

Even so, first thing I'd do is open it up and reseat the membrane connectors to the controller.

Then I'd check for loss of rivets.
Logged
Daily driver: SSK or Tenkeyless IBM AT
1984 Model M Industrial Prototype ⌨ 1992 Black Oval Industrial SSK ⌨ 1982 5251 Beam Spring ⌨ 89 Key "SSK" ⌨ M13 triplets

Offline klennkellon

  • Posts: 1278
  • Location: Southern California
  • I like bottoming out
Re: is there any hope for my M?
« Reply #2 on: Mon, 14 March 2016, 14:30:06 »
Quote from: E TwentyNine on Mon, 14 March 2016, 11:24:28
Those are the only keys that stopped?  That doesn't match any trace pattern I can see (unless they've radically changed the routes at some recent point).

Even so, first thing I'd do is open it up and reseat the membrane connectors to the controller.

Then I'd check for loss of rivets.

Rivet loss on only a 5 year old Model M would really suck, unless Unicomps rivets are made out of balsa wood.
« Last Edit: Mon, 14 March 2016, 14:45:52 by klennkellon »
Logged

Offline kekman

  • Posts: 225
  • Location: Sydney, down under
  • quit life
Re: is there any hope for my M?
« Reply #3 on: Mon, 14 March 2016, 22:23:56 »
do you smoke, or is there any contaminants in the environment you live in? it can cause **** to die
Logged

Offline rowdy

  • HHKB Hapster
  • * Erudite Elder
  • Posts: 21175
  • Location: melbourne.vic.au
  • Missed another sale.
Re: is there any hope for my M?
« Reply #4 on: Tue, 15 March 2016, 01:21:54 »
I'd second opening it up and reseating any connectors you can find.

You'd be surprised what kinds of problems loose cables can cause.
Logged
"Because keyboards are accessories to PC makers, they focus on minimizing the manufacturing costs. But that’s incorrect. It’s in HHKB’s slogan, but when America’s cowboys were in the middle of a trip and their horse died, they would leave the horse there. But even if they were in the middle of a desert, they would take their saddle with them. The horse was a consumable good, but the saddle was an interface that their bodies had gotten used to. In the same vein, PCs are consumable goods, while keyboards are important interfaces." - Eiiti Wada

NEC APC-H4100E | Ducky DK9008 Shine MX blue LED red | Ducky DK9008 Shine MX blue LED green | Link 900243-08 | CM QFR MX black | KeyCool 87 white MX reds | HHKB 2 Pro | Model M 02-Mar-1993 | Model M 29-Nov-1995 | CM Trigger (broken) | CM QFS MX green | Ducky DK9087 Shine 3 TKL Yellow Edition MX black | Lexmark SSK 21-Apr-1994 | IBM SSK 13-Oct-1987 | CODE TKL MX clear | Model M 122 01-Jun-1988

Ị̸͚̯̲́ͤ̃͑̇̑ͯ̊̂͟ͅs̞͚̩͉̝̪̲͗͊ͪ̽̚̚ ̭̦͖͕̑́͌ͬͩ͟t̷̻͔̙̑͟h̹̠̼͋ͤ͋i̤̜̣̦̱̫͈͔̞ͭ͑ͥ̌̔s̬͔͎̍̈ͥͫ̐̾ͣ̔̇͘ͅ ̩̘̼͆̐̕e̞̰͓̲̺̎͐̏ͬ̓̅̾͠͝ͅv̶̰͕̱̞̥̍ͣ̄̕e͕͙͖̬̜͓͎̤̊ͭ͐͝ṇ̰͎̱̤̟̭ͫ͌̌͢͠ͅ ̳̥̦ͮ̐ͤ̎̊ͣ͡͡n̤̜̙̺̪̒͜e̶̻̦̿ͮ̂̀c̝̘̝͖̠̖͐ͨͪ̈̐͌ͩ̀e̷̥͇̋ͦs̢̡̤ͤͤͯ͜s͈̠̉̑͘a̱͕̗͖̳̥̺ͬͦͧ͆̌̑͡r̶̟̖̈͘ỷ̮̦̩͙͔ͫ̾ͬ̔ͬͮ̌?̵̘͇͔͙ͥͪ͞ͅ

Offline borrito

  • Thread Starter
  • Posts: 2
  • Location: Berlin, Germany
Re: is there any hope for my M?
« Reply #5 on: Tue, 15 March 2016, 16:08:33 »
Well I've tried reseating the controller, no change. The rivets are all in place. The only logical solution as there are two neighbouring pairs of keys not working, would be something with the membrane or the traces in those places. Or some esoteric defect in the controller. Right now I kind of hate this particular M and can't be bothered to do the whole bolt mod thing on it.

And I've got a Lioncast LK30 as replacement now. Thats a sturdy Das/Ducky-class keyboard with a few hardware macro keys on top from a new german manufacturer, very nice. Will see how long that one lasts...
Logged

Offline 3K

  • Posts: 279
  • Location: Germany
Re: is there any hope for my M?
« Reply #6 on: Tue, 15 March 2016, 16:40:25 »
Quote from: borrito on Tue, 15 March 2016, 16:08:33
Well I've tried reseating the controller, no change. The rivets are all in place. The only logical solution as there are two neighbouring pairs of keys not working, would be something with the membrane or the traces in those places. Or some esoteric defect in the controller. Right now I kind of hate this particular M and can't be bothered to do the whole bolt mod thing on it.

And I've got a Lioncast LK30 as replacement now. Thats a sturdy Das/Ducky-class keyboard with a few hardware macro keys on top from a new german manufacturer, very nice. Will see how long that one lasts...

As far as the parts are interchangeable, I could send you a spare IBM Model M controller + PCB sheet. You'd need a SDL cable though. (not sure what is used on Unicomps)
Maybe you can make something useful out of it.
Logged

                   Model M '88    | Model M SSK '87 | HHKB P2  | Zowie FK1

Offline klennkellon

  • Posts: 1278
  • Location: Southern California
  • I like bottoming out
Re: is there any hope for my M?
« Reply #7 on: Tue, 15 March 2016, 16:41:10 »
Quote from: borrito on Tue, 15 March 2016, 16:08:33
Well I've tried reseating the controller, no change. The rivets are all in place. The only logical solution as there are two neighbouring pairs of keys not working, would be something with the membrane or the traces in those places. Or some esoteric defect in the controller. Right now I kind of hate this particular M and can't be bothered to do the whole bolt mod thing on it.

And I've got a Lioncast LK30 as replacement now. Thats a sturdy Das/Ducky-class keyboard with a few hardware macro keys on top from a new german manufacturer, very nice. Will see how long that one lasts...

you could try disassembling the membranes and lightly wipe them down with isoprol alcohol
Logged

Offline E TwentyNine

  • Posts: 884
    • Some of My Keyboards
Re: is there any hope for my M?
« Reply #8 on: Fri, 18 March 2016, 11:40:47 »
Before you go pulling the membranes, you might want to reseat the keys in question.  Could be that simple.

If that doesn't work I'd take the keyboard and give it a few whacks.
Logged
Daily driver: SSK or Tenkeyless IBM AT
1984 Model M Industrial Prototype ⌨ 1992 Black Oval Industrial SSK ⌨ 1982 5251 Beam Spring ⌨ 89 Key "SSK" ⌨ M13 triplets
Pages:  [1]     Go Up
« previous next »