Author Topic: Score on ebay - Model M (not working)  (Read 1889 times)

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Offline mrhead

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Score on ebay - Model M (not working)
« on: Thu, 14 July 2016, 10:16:55 »
I took a chance on this auction - offered $15 and the seller agreed.  Package arrived yesterday - confirmed most keys weren't working.  Auction stated that it would 'power on' but does not work.

142272-0

As you can see from the auction images, it was pretty dirty but complete.  I found that while about 20% of the keys responded, there was definitely something wrong.  I took it apart, cleaned it up and reseated the connections.  Behold, everything works perfectly.  Turns out the mylar sheet had come out of the sockets (most likely due to the plastic heat welds (rivets) breaking apart).

Here it is all cleaned up and working - there is very little wear on the keys - definitely happy with my purchase!

142270-1
« Last Edit: Thu, 14 July 2016, 10:19:47 by mrhead »

Offline romevi

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Re: Score on ebay - Model M (not working)
« Reply #1 on: Thu, 14 July 2016, 10:18:18 »
I took a chance on this auction - offered $15 and the seller agreed.  Package arrived yesterday - confirmed most keys weren't working.  Auction stated that it would 'power on' but does not work.

(Attachment Link)

As you can see from the auction images, it was pretty dirty but complete.  I found that while about 20% of the keys responded, there was definitely something wrong.  I took it apart, cleaned it up and reseated the connections.  Behold, everything works perfectly.  Turns out the mylar sheet had come out of the sockets (most likely due to the plastic heat welds (rivets) breaking apart).

Here it is all cleaned up and working - there is very little wear on the keys - definitely happy with my purchase!

(Attachment Link)

Nice one!

Offline chyros

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Re: Score on ebay - Model M (not working)
« Reply #2 on: Thu, 14 July 2016, 10:31:48 »
Yeah, the membrane connector unseating is a common cause of problems for these boards. Glad you got it working in the end, another one saved :) .
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Offline fohat.digs

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Re: Score on ebay - Model M (not working)
« Reply #3 on: Thu, 14 July 2016, 10:39:28 »
Lucky you!

You got one of those long cords, too. What were they thinking?
"However, even though I was born in the Mesozoic, I do know what anyone who wants to reach out to young people should say: Billionaires took your money. They took your chance to buy a home. They took your chance at a good education. They stole your opportunities. Billionaires took the things you want in life. If you really want those things, you have to take them back.
That's the message. That's the whole message. Say that every day, not just to reach America's frustrated young white men, but people of every age, race, and gender.
Late-stage capitalism is a wealth-concentration engine, focused on vacuuming up every dollar and putting it in as few hands as possible. Republicans are helping that vacuum suck.
How does a tiny fraction of the population get away with this? They do it by dividing the other 99% of Americans against themselves."
- Marc Sumner 2025-05-30

Offline chyros

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Re: Score on ebay - Model M (not working)
« Reply #4 on: Thu, 14 July 2016, 11:01:28 »
Is it one of the 3 m ones? I have one like that, and the coils on that have stretched a fair bit as well - it's ENORMOUS now xD . Definitely keeping it around, you never know when you need to long-range your M 8) .
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Offline rowdy

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Re: Score on ebay - Model M (not working)
« Reply #5 on: Fri, 15 July 2016, 06:08:42 »
Nice acquisition - congratulations :)

With a little work most Model M seem to come back to life just fine, and probably last for another 20 years!
"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 mrhead

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Re: Score on ebay - Model M (not working)
« Reply #6 on: Fri, 15 July 2016, 09:54:31 »
Thanks everyone!  Yes, it's a rather long cord.  I admit I stretched it a bit (in the process of removing the filth/grime from the cord).  It's defintely a 3m cord.

My wife has gone from, "Why are you getting these keyboards with no number pad?" to "Why are you getting these old keyboards?".  I can't wait to show her the banana box (from another thread).

Offline rowdy

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Re: Score on ebay - Model M (not working)
« Reply #7 on: Sat, 16 July 2016, 05:53:11 »
Thanks everyone!  Yes, it's a rather long cord.  I admit I stretched it a bit (in the process of removing the filth/grime from the cord).  It's defintely a 3m cord.

My wife has gone from, "Why are you getting these keyboards with no number pad?" to "Why are you getting these old keyboards?".  I can't wait to show her the banana box (from another thread).

Next up is "Why are you getting these noisy keyboards".
"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 mrhead

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Re: Score on ebay - Model M (not working)
« Reply #8 on: Thu, 21 July 2016, 13:35:12 »
That was actually the initial question when I got my keyboard with blues.