Re: [NTLK] Stiff keys on keyboard

Many thanks for all the suggestions, empathy and acknowledgment that not
all keyboards are all the same.

I ended up stripping down my keyboard and cleaning every single piece
and am glad to report a major improvement.
Unfortunately I've busted the return key, and have had to swap it with
the Option key for the time being.
This is my non-technical view of what I found out:

The keyboard is made up of the following 'layers' in order:

1) Upper green plastic keyboard casing
2) The keys (each has a cross-shaped spike that fits into the items 4)
3) Small rubber tubes that act as light springs underneath each key
4) A plastic plunger which receives the cross-shaped spike. This taps
the contact foils underneath when the key is depressed
5) A black plastic keyboard frame with holes for each key (The plungers,
item 4, fit into this from underneath)
6) A rubber mat
7) First contact foil attached to smaller ribbon cable
8) clear plastic sheet
9) second contact foil attached to larger ribbon cable
10) metal plate
11) logic board
12) Lower green plastic casing

Once everything was stripped down, I first thought the plungers were
part of the plastic keyboard frame.
They rattled around in there but didn't come out. So I started washing
this in the kitchen sink with an old toothbrush and some washing up liquid.
After a few seconds all the plungers fell out but luckily were all found.

To cut a very tedious story short, I'm sure my stiff keys were a result
of a build up of grime so that these plungers could not move freely in
their sockets..
Having washed them all and all the other parts the keyboard feels
totally different and much improved.

The way to do most of this is shown on Frank's site:

http://www.pda-soft.de/keyboard_disassemble.html

However in the description for this it does say there that there is no
way to replace a single key, but I now know this to be definitely
possible as long as you are patient and willing to take everything apart.

By the way if anyone has a redundant keyboard, I'd like to buy a Return key?

All the best

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