Marra writes:

On 8 Jun, 22:14, Sam Goldwasser wrote:
Meat Plow writes:
On Fri, 08 Jun 2007 12:09:10 -0500, Reid Priedhorsky wrote:

Hi folks,

I have a keyboard which I love, and which is beginning to wear out. (It's
a DataDesk SmartBoard.) I am trying to get a hold of a replacement, but
the company has been apparently imploding for years -- none of the linked
distributors have it (except perhaps a company in Canada), the web
ordering system has been "under construction" since 2001 -- and now phone
calls are unanswered, with a message saying "... until May 1, we are
relocating...".

Anyway, I can't imagine going back to a different keyboard, so I wonder if
it would be possible to rebuild the one I've got. The symptoms are that
various keys are no longer reliable, giving zero or many logical
keypresses for one physical keypress. Different keys are differently
reliable. Some keys feel a little wonky too, esp. the spacebar.

I was thinking I might disassemble it, desolder all the keyswitches, and
replace them with new ones. Is this feasible? If so, is there a better
source for keyswitches other than another keyboard? Or is there a better
strategy?

I'm no electronics expert, but I've managed to successfully build a couple
of simple battery-powered switching power supplies, including soldering an
SOIC-package IC.

Please let me know what questions you have or what additional information
would be helpful.

(Alternately, a reliable source to buy one of these suckers would be very
helpful!)

Thanks in advance,

Reid

Typically the switches in a keyboard are a rubber dome (for lack of a
better word) on the bottom of the key with a conductive pad in the middle
and a contact area on a pc board for all the keys. Unless you have
something very unique there are no replaceable switches.

Rubber dome or other capacitive sensor on modern keyboards with no tactile
feel.

Actual mechanical switches on my favorite Northgate and clone KBs.

In the latter case, the individual switches can be unsoldered, popped out,
and replaced easily. In many cases, they can even be disassembled and
cleaned.

--- sam | Sci.Electronics.Repair FAQ:http://www.repairfaq.org/

You can buy a new keyboard for a few pounds !
Why are you messing around with this ancient one?

Perhaps if you ever had used a KB with good tactile feedback you would
not be so quick to throw it away.

I have a pile of modern KBs I'd happily give away.

--- sam | Sci.Electronics.Repair FAQ: http://www.repairfaq.org/
Repair | Main Table of Contents: http://www.repairfaq.org/REPAIR/
+Lasers | Sam's Laser FAQ: http://www.repairfaq.org/sam/lasersam.htm
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