Re: Keyboard repair

[spector@vax2.concordia.ca (Mitchell Spector)]

In article hbcsc003@huey.csun.edu (will irace) writes...
> 
>I've just picked up a //e enhanced, and it's great except for the fact
>that the "3" key is stone cold dead.  ("Aaigh! no PR#6!")  I've taken it
>apart only to find that the keyboard is apparently RIVETED together!  Is
>there no way for me to repair this?  How about some sort of workaround
>(i.e., figuring out which pins I should short together to get a "3" out)?

	I had a simular problem happen to me recently. Some months ago, my 
friend found an Apple //e in the trash and gave it to me the night of Oct.31st 
last year (hey, talk about your "enchanted" //e! ;-), but the keyboard was 
damaged and it was missing a screen. I soon discovered it would be much cheaper
to just buy another second-hand //e, than pay for a replacement keyboard and 
monitor. So, a few weeks ago that's just what I did! When I brought it home
it was fairly dirty, so I took it apart and cleaned everything including the
brand-new _working_ keyboard. Unfortunately, once I put everything back 
together, I found many of the keys were acting totally dead. Well, I was
on verge of giving up until I tried this....

	Remove the plastic-keycap on your "3" key. Do you see little plastic 
tabs on either side on the the keyswitch? Poke something in between these tabs 
(ie - toothpick, long metal-pin) and very gently pry them away from the 
keyswitch. If that doesn't work, push them in closer. Try depressing the 
keyswitch  (without keycap back on yet) until you get a response on screen 
from the "3" key again. You might have to play around until it's fully 
functioning again. In my case, I think there was a contact-pad or something 
simular that wasn't making a connection. While this solution may not sound so 
orthodox, it may just save you from having to do any messy soldering. 

>Will Irace
>wirace@csun.edu

Mitchell Spector
sb_spec@pavo.concordia.ca / spector@vax2.concordia.ca