Hey Birt! | Resistance is futile Rejuvenating vintage computer keyboard key contacts @HeyBirt | Uploaded August 2020 | Updated October 2024, 6 hours ago.
In this video we take a look at a method to rejuvenate the keyboard key contacts on vintage computer keyboards that don’t work anymore due to having too high of a resistance.
This quest started nearly two years ago with an Amiga 500 that had a few nonworking keys. I tried many things that did not work on the Amiga key stems but found some of them did work for other keypads, like remote controls.
Bringing the Amiga and C64 stems back to life eluded me as they do not lend themselves any sort of conductive coatings. Due to their shape they flex, and the coating falls off. This started me on a journey to try to find out what caused the contacts to go bad in the first place and then to try to find a way to rejuvenate them.
After months of research I found a simple and inexpensive way to rejuvenate these high resistance key stems using common household chemicals. As a bonus I try out a new adhesive to fix the cracked plastic part of the stem.
If anyone is interested in a key tester kit I can get a bunch of PCBs made up. Just let me know.
UPDATE: A limited number of Kits or PCBs now available:
soigeneris.com/mitsumi-key-tester-pcb-or-kit
Please consider clicking on the Subscribe button below and then click the bell icon. That way you will be notified when I post a new video. Thanks!
Help support Hey Birt!
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Hey Birt! On Social Media!
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Soigeneris: facebook.com/Soigeneris-295527583797729
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Links
Rubber keypad video: youtu.be/XInxW0YtghY
Chuck’s Pet keyboard video: youtube.com/watch?v=P4Lg91HksGo
Test fixture: github.com/Jeff-Birt/C64_C128_Amiga_Mitsumi_Key_Tester
Kit or PCB: soigeneris.com/mitsumi-key-tester-pcb-or-kit
Credits
Chiptune Thing No. 3 "Victory" by Steven O’Brien soundcloud.com/stevenobrien
Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported— CC BY 3.0
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/b...
Music provided by Music for Creators youtu.be/ujIMRIJ1JG8
In this video we take a look at a method to rejuvenate the keyboard key contacts on vintage computer keyboards that don’t work anymore due to having too high of a resistance.
This quest started nearly two years ago with an Amiga 500 that had a few nonworking keys. I tried many things that did not work on the Amiga key stems but found some of them did work for other keypads, like remote controls.
Bringing the Amiga and C64 stems back to life eluded me as they do not lend themselves any sort of conductive coatings. Due to their shape they flex, and the coating falls off. This started me on a journey to try to find out what caused the contacts to go bad in the first place and then to try to find a way to rejuvenate them.
After months of research I found a simple and inexpensive way to rejuvenate these high resistance key stems using common household chemicals. As a bonus I try out a new adhesive to fix the cracked plastic part of the stem.
If anyone is interested in a key tester kit I can get a bunch of PCBs made up. Just let me know.
UPDATE: A limited number of Kits or PCBs now available:
soigeneris.com/mitsumi-key-tester-pcb-or-kit
Please consider clicking on the Subscribe button below and then click the bell icon. That way you will be notified when I post a new video. Thanks!
Help support Hey Birt!
subscribestar.com/hey-birt
patreon.com/heybirt
Hey Birt! On Social Media!
Facebook:
Soigeneris: facebook.com/Soigeneris-295527583797729
Hey Birt!: facebook.com/HeyBirt
Twitter:
Hey Birt!: twitter.com/HeyBirt?lang=en
Links
Rubber keypad video: youtu.be/XInxW0YtghY
Chuck’s Pet keyboard video: youtube.com/watch?v=P4Lg91HksGo
Test fixture: github.com/Jeff-Birt/C64_C128_Amiga_Mitsumi_Key_Tester
Kit or PCB: soigeneris.com/mitsumi-key-tester-pcb-or-kit
Credits
Chiptune Thing No. 3 "Victory" by Steven O’Brien soundcloud.com/stevenobrien
Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported— CC BY 3.0
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/b...
Music provided by Music for Creators youtu.be/ujIMRIJ1JG8
