Hello guys,
I've recently run into serious trouble with my Model M keyboard (German 122-key layout; built in January 2015 by Unicomp): Two keys on the numeric keypad (3 and 6) have to be pressed very hard for them to actuate a keystroke. Their tactile feedback is also quite unusual, as if their springs were not attached correctly. Additionally, the left Ctrl key got stuck quite often. So I brought the board to a computer store in the vicinity, where they could not reproduce the stuck Ctrl key (I found out that the key collided with the edge of the upper shell) and were unable to repair the other two keys. Yesterday I got the board back, but suddenly, several keys (3 & 4 on the alphabetic keypad, →, F9,…) stopped delivering any scancodes despite the fact that the guys in the store hadn't even touched them and they felt absolutely normal when typing them.
I opened the upper case shell, cleaned the space between the keys a bit, tried to re-align the screws of the faulty keys, and suddenly, everything worked fine…at least, until I reattached the upper shell: Once I secured it in place and fastened the screws, the keys stopped working again!
Unplugging and re-plugging the keyboard does not help. Neither does a reboot of the computer. I have to leave upper shell placed loosely. The numeric keys 3 and 6 are now broken, but at least the remainder of the keys now works fine.
Any hints on how I could get rid of this nasty fault? Is it normal that a 3-year-old Model M shows such symptoms? Will I have so send in the keyboard for repair in the U.S.? Thank you.