If I recall correctly and I'm not completely confusing two different keyboards, the SX-64 keyboard is a special beast that uses a very thin sheet of flexible plastic film with conductive traces on it. It is not complicated but it is very delicate. Usually the keyboard gets flaky when that sheet sort of marries itself to the board. Logically stuck keys can be repaired by disassembling the keyboard and peeling that layer up, wiping everything down, then laying it back down. The challenge is that the plastic film with the conductive traces is very easy to tear and as I said it tends to marry itself to the board. I have no idea how to repair a torn trace on that thing, so be extremely careful, maybe using a blunt nosed plastic scraper tool of some kind to help slowly work it up away from the board. I think there are some threads on the SX-64 keyboard on Lemon64 that might illuminate this. It's been years since I had to do it, so maybe someone has a solution for repairing that sheet if you tear it, or a trick for getting it separated at lower risk. On May 10, 2012, at 00:53 , William Levak wrote: > On Tue, 8 May 2012, didier@aida.org wrote: > >> - The keyboard is almost dead. >> >> >> >> I guess that the problem with the keyboard is dirt and oxide accumulated >> with the years. >> >> >> >> Last time I switched it on, only a few keys were not responding >> >> Now only a few are responding. >> >> >> >> Any advice on how to remove this dirt and oxide on the keyboard without >> breaking anything ? > > My preferred procedures for cleaning Commodore keyboards (in the order listed): > > 1) Clean the contacts with 91% isopropyl alcohol. (91% because the water evaporates with the alcohol.) > > 2) If that doesn't work, use a non-abrasive pencil eraser to clean the contacts. > > 3) If that still doesn't work, polish the contacts with 1500 grit sandpaper. This is obviously a last ditch attempt to revive the contacts. This works particularly well with contacts on game cartridges. You don't want to do this too often. > > 4) Redraw the circuit board traces with a silver conductive pen. This is expensive. I have only had to resort to this once. > > Also with Commodore keyboards, the hollow silicon rubber contact on the underside of the key shrinks with age. You can put a piece of soft eraser stick inside the rubber contact, so that more pressure is produced when the key is struck. > > > wlevak@sdf.lonestar.org > SDF Public Access UNIX System - http://sdf.lonestar.org > > Message was sent through the cbm-hackers mailing list Message was sent through the cbm-hackers mailing listReceived on 2012-05-10 13:00:38
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