[Duo2400] Re: duo 230 sticky keyboard

[Bill Planey]

Would coating any of these parts with graphite powder do anything
beneficial, or introduce a possibly troublesome substance into the workings?

Bill

On 4/18/03 1:50 PM, "Marc Sira" <toh at victoria.tc.ca> wrote:

>> has anyone one the list experienced sticky keys on a duo 230 keybd before?
> 
> Has anyone not? ;)
> 
>> furthermore, has anybody experienced a duo 230 keybd whose keys seem to
>> require too much pressure to depress?? could it be that my duo's keybd is
>> just getting old... in fact the only reason i don't use this machine more
>> often is that the keybd is painful to type on... any ideas on how to fix /
>> replace this nasty keybd?
> 
> The stickiness is generally resolved by cleaning out the junk between the
> keys and the rubber layer beneath. This involves popping all the keys off
> (pry from under the top edge) and removing the layers that make up the
> keyboard successively. To get at the bottom ones you'll probably want to
> remove the keyboard from the Duo and unplug the ribbon cables.
> 
> The lack of responsiveness is a bit more effort, but you can often achieve
> a tremendous improvement by disassembling the entire keyboard and thorougly
> scrubbing the crescent-shaped contact pads on both plastic membranes within
> using a white drafting eraser. This removes the oxidised layer that's getting
> in the way of a good connection. Make sure to clean all the eraser bits off
> afterward with a soft cloth, and be very careful not to fold, spindle or
> mutilate the membranes. You can also try gently cleaning the black donuts on
> the underside of the rubber part with Q-tips and pure isopropyl alcohol. Don't
> overdo those, though.
> 
> The whole procedure takes a couple of hours if you're industrious, and will
> probably last about six months before the keyboard becomes unbearable and you
> have to do it all over again. It is still a Duo keyboard after all. But it
> will work more or less like new for a time.