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oldbull

Posted Thu Feb 14, 2019 11:17 pm

Some keys require an unnaturally hard press to register the keypress and display the appropriate letter in Notepad.

Would a new keyboard membrane fix that?
If not, what do I do?

Thank you.

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McTrinsic

Posted Fri Feb 15, 2019 1:14 pm

I ‘cleaned’ some keys of my A1000-keyboard with Isopropanol. Removed the cap and added two drops.

Don’t know if the keyboard of the a 500 is similar.

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rpiguy9907

Posted Fri Feb 15, 2019 7:20 pm

oldbull wrote:Some keys require an unnaturally hard press to register the keypress and display the appropriate letter in Notepad.

Would a new keyboard membrane fix that?
If not, what do I do?

Thank you.
Which version of the Amiga 500 keyboard do you have?

The most common one is the Mitsumi type, where you can easily pull of the keycaps (there is a spring on a plunger under the cap). The only things that would cause a sticky key are dirt, or a bent/misshaped plunger. The first is an easy fix, a bent or misshapen plunger requires a new plunger and taking the board apart.

The rarer, early Amiga 500s use Space Invaders Mechanical Switches (not kidding look them up). These are much harder to clean, the key caps are much harder to remove without damaging the switch, and the switch itself has a lot of parts. That being said, the answer here is probably also clean it and since it is a true mechanical switch you could also lube it.

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oldbull

Posted Fri Feb 15, 2019 7:27 pm

The keys are not sticky. The keys are not stiff. I just need to put force on them to complete the circuit so the letter will show onscreen.

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rpiguy9907

Posted Fri Feb 15, 2019 9:20 pm

oldbull wrote:The keys are not sticky. The keys are not stiff. I just need to put force on them to complete the circuit so the letter will show onscreen.
Then cleaning the contacts with alcohol should do the trick unless they are really worn down.

User avatar
Dynamic_Computing

Posted Fri Feb 15, 2019 11:52 pm

If the keys so not respond right after cleaning the contracts with IPA, you can refresh the carbon coated contacts with a graphite paint like I did with my SX-64 restoration video. It worked fantastic. Here is the link to what i used.
Keypad Fix, Clean and Restore...





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