Re: C65 keyboard repair

Don't know if it applies to your problem, but there are a number of articles/videos out there about repairing flexible pcb cables; e.g.:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w2pf8iUgqqQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TwvelNOHioY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n1Lve6lHeOw

m

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Michał Pleban" <lists@michau.name>
To: <cbm-hackers@musoftware.de>
Sent: Saturday, October 08, 2016 1:35 PM
Subject: C65 keyboard repair


> Hello!
> 
> The keyboard in my C65 stopped working - a few columns of keys do not
> work anymore. I tried looking at the cable and the connector to find a
> broken trace, but I don't see any obvious problems. I thought that the
> connector on the flat ribbon cable might get flaky, so I cut it to make
> new contacts. It helped a bit - most columns got back to work but the
> last one (which contains the rather important Return key) does not. I
> don't have more cable to cut so I would like to try other solutions.
> 
> Awhile back, there were C65 keyboards available on Ebay and I bought one
> of them, so I plugged it into my computer thinking it will solve my
> problem, but nope... it turns out that this keyboard has incompatible
> pinout! Fortunately the difference is only in the GND pin for the LEDs
> so I have all keys working now, but the LEDS don't work.
> 
> I thought to rework the keyboard to change the pinout, but it turns out
> that it's not made on a PCB like the C64 or 610/710 keyboards I worked
> with before. Instead, the whole keyboard is made as a big sheet of flat
> "cable" in plastic envelope, and looks like this:
> 
> http://i64.tinypic.com/k3njti.jpg
> 
> The black conducting contacts are not metallic, so they cannot be
> soldered. Everything else is covered by plastic.
> 
> Does anyone have any idea how a thing like this could be resoldered? My
> idea was to peel the plastic gently to reveal the metal trace below but
> I am not sure how easy it could be, and I have no idea if the metal
> below can be soldered. Also I would not like to try this on a C65
> keyboard and would love to have something similar to try before, but
> where can I find another keyboard like this?
> 
> Regards,
> Michau.
> 
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