23 Jun
1997
23 Jun
'97
7:34 p.m.
nOn Tue, 24 Jun 1997, J. Maynard Gelinas wrote:
My girlfriend is a professional sculptress, I
don't know why I
didn't ask her to begin with. She recommended plain amonia, which I was
sceptical of. I wanted to use Formula 405 basically because you had
recommended it. Well, the amonia worked great and the case looks nearly
brand new - it sure took several hours though. ;-) Never doubt a woman
competent with Dremel tools - for many reasons....
Yes, Windex works well too.
brushes. However, as nice as it looks, it seams as
though it's toast. A
few keys stick, several send multiple key bursts, and it doesn't seem as
though the keys are removeable - at least not like as I remember the old
TRS-80 Model 1 keyboard. You could remove the keys and actually clean the
contacts with alchohol. Is this possible, or am I just going to be able
to get dust bunnies between the keys?
Whatever you do, don't let any alcohol get down into the key mechanism.
This happened to me on my //e keyboard once. No matter what I did, I
couldn't dry it out! It was shorted. I finally had to solder it out.
Since I needed an 'A' key, came up with all sorts of tricks to overcome
the missing key. First I wrote a keyboard driver which would intercept
TAB and translate it into 'A'. That worked OK, but it just didn't feel
right, plus it only worked when I was in BASIAC. So I soldered two wires
into the contact holes and pressed them together whenever I needed 'A'. I
was too lazy to order a new A-key. After I got sick of that, I took one
of my joysticks that I had previously busted apart in some tantrum of
frustration and re-commissioned one of the buttons as an 'A' key. It was
stiff but it worked and I went with this solution for a couple months
until I finally got around to ordering a new key. When it came a few
weeks (and five bucks!) later, it was for the new Apple //gs keyboard!
IDIOTS! Now I had to wait all over again for the key. I sent the wrong
one back, and apparently it got lost in the mail. So now I was out five
bucks as well! I think I used the joystick button for another couple
months until I finally got around to ordering the correct key. So let
this be a lesson to you! Don't try cleaning any of the keys with
alcohol. Perhaps you can disassemble it and run it through the dishwasher?
Sam
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Computer Historian, Programmer, Musician, Philosopher, Athlete, Writer, Jackass