keyboard space bar sticking despite efforts to stop it

[James Reaper]

Not really a circuit board, but still an electronic item of trouble. My
wireless keyboard space bar seems to want to stick, not completely but
sometimes it just doesn't want to release. I have blown out the area
all around the space bar with compressed air followed by 91% iso
cleaning around it with cotton swabs, getting as deep as possible by
thinning the swabs. Still wants to stick. Any other suggestions
welcome. Thanks in advance.

 

On Saturday, 25 January 2020 17:22:08 UTC, James Reaper wrote:

Not really a circuit board, but still an electronic item of trouble. My
wireless keyboard space bar seems to want to stick, not completely but
sometimes it just doesn't want to release. I have blown out the area
all around the space bar with compressed air followed by 91% iso
cleaning around it with cotton swabs, getting as deep as possible by
thinning the swabs. Still wants to stick. Any other suggestions
welcome. Thanks in advance.

half a drop of mineral oil


NT

 

[Jeff Liebermann]

On Sat, 25 Jan 2020 12:22:04 -0500, James Reaper
<jreap6678@aoldot.net> wrote:

Not really a circuit board, but still an electronic item of trouble. My
wireless keyboard space bar seems to want to stick, not completely but
sometimes it just doesn't want to release. I have blown out the area
all around the space bar with compressed air followed by 91% iso
cleaning around it with cotton swabs, getting as deep as possible by
thinning the swabs. Still wants to stick. Any other suggestions
welcome. Thanks in advance.

Any hints as to the maker of the keyboard and model number? If
unavailable, a description of the type of keyboard, or a photo of
something similar as found on Google image search.

My random guess(tm) is that it's an older Dell keyboard, such as one
of these:
<https://www.google.com/search?q=dell+sk-8135+sk-8115+sk-8125&tbm=isch>
The SK-8135 happens to be my favorite keyboard. I'm therefore
familiar with its benefits and its bad habits. A sticky space bar is
one of them. The usual problem is one end of the stiff balance wire,
that goes the length of the space bar, which allows the use of a
single well for the key switch, has come loose at one end, causing the
space bar to slide un-evenly into the square well with the switch at
the bottom. This creates roughness and burrs around the square key
well. It's difficult to see the burrs, but you can feel them with a
finger or view them with a decent illuminated magnifier.

You'll need to remove the space bar in order to clean and deburr the
plastic well. Remove the two Alt keys on either side of the space
bar. Use the proper keycap removal tool, or you'll break something:
<https://www.google.com/search?q=keycap+removal+tool&tbm=isch>
Then, remove the space bar by pulling up evenly on both ends. Take a
photo of how the stiff wire thing is mounted or you may have problems
putting it back together.

My fix is to run a pocket knife over the mating surfaces and across
the edges of the plastic box to remove any gouges and burrs. It
doesn't take much of a burr to cause problems. Do NOT use a razor,
sharp knife, Xacto knife, or anything sharp enough to add additional
gouges in the plastic. Plastic razor scrapers also will work:
<https://www.acehardware.com/departments/paint-and-supplies/painting-tools-and-supplies/paint-scrapers/1380971>

Please do NOT lubricate the plastic square well area with anything.
All that does is attract dirt and dust, which will eventually turn to
tar. Alcohol cleaning (70% or 91%) is fine as it removes any gunk and
leaves no residue.

--
Jeff Liebermann jeffl@cruzio.com
150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558