Re: IIe Platinum keyboard

["Michael J. Mahon" <mjmahon@aol.com>]

mojoehand wrote:
> I just traded for a IIe Platinum to add to my IIe and IIgs. Is there
> anything different about the Platinum keyboard in regards to the \
> (backslash) key? Every key works but the \ key.
>
> The obvious answer is that I have a bad key, but it's such a seldom
> used key that I would expect some other key to fail before this one. I
> have already cleaned the keyboard.

Assuming that there is no other defect, an Apple key is more likely
to go bad from years of disuse than from years of use.  ;-)

Before concluding that the switch is bad, try pressing it rapidly
and repeatedly for a couple hundred times.  If you notice that it
begins to work (perhaps intermittently), keep it up.  Often just
exercising a keyswitch will clean its contacts sufficiently to
restore normal operation.

If you are still having trouble, remove the keycap and squirt a
*very small* amount of electrical contact cleaner down along the
key shaft, then work it again rapidly for a couple of minutes.

If it still doesn't show signs of life, the keyswitch may actually
be defective, or there may be a crack in the keyboard printed circuit
board (the trace can be repaired by soldering a short length of wire
across the break).

-michael

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