What kind of switches on this Apple Extended Keyboard?

[apastuszak]

Here is the eBay listing:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/334926278462

Pic of switches:

[Findecanor]

It looks like Alps SKCM "Salmon".

The stems of the Home and Page Up keycaps have broken off, and are stuck inside their switches' sliders. You see that sometimes with old keyboards with Alps switches, unfortunately.
I would try gently screwing a screw into the center of each one and pull them out. Unless someone has a better idea ...

[apastuszak]

I assumed the stems snapped off. But the switches looked very grey to me. Maybe it's just the lighting in the photo. I thought maybe this was some AEK variant not documented in the wiki. I guess I was wrong.

[sliceoflemon]

Those look like salmon alps switches to me too. I think the light has just washed the colour out a bit. I believe the serial number on that keyboard (789374) confirms it.

When looking to purchase my M0115 a few years ago, I dug through a lot of the forum posts here and noticed a sort of pattern that smaller serial numbers=orange alps switches, larger ones=salmon alps switches. However, I can't recall now what number range (it wasn't a single number of course) I came up with as the threshold for exactly where that change occurs. If it is any help, my M0115 (orange alps) has a serial of 461344.

I also later purchased an M0116 (salmon alps) which had a broken stem in exactly the same condition as this one. I got it out based on the instructions of someone on this forum in a post I now can't locate again. Basically, I did this :

• dismantled the switch and removed the slider with the broken bit in it

• bent a paper clip so it had a sort of tiny "v" shape at one end

• shoved the long straight end of the paper clip through the narrow slot in the broken stem in the slider

• yanked the straight end of the paper clip like mad until the broken bit flew out

It took a LOT of strength and a lot of trying but I was able to get the broken bit out and glue it back to the rest of the keycap. I don't believe this is the best possible way to do this but it did end up with the broken parts in tact.

The question of how to glue the broken parts back is another long debate covered by many posts in this forum but that is a story for another day.

If you do decide to purchase these 2 keyboards, try to ask the seller if he still had the two broken key caps and can throw them in. Otherwise, I believe the keycaps for an AEK (M0115) and AEK II (M3501) are identical and you may be able to find replacement keycaps on ebay as well.

I'm no expert, just another user here who has benefited from the knowledge collected here over the ages. Others here will surely know more than me.

[fohat]

the threshold for exactly where that change occurs. If it is any help, my M0115 (orange alps) has a serial of 461344.

Great work on the color refresh!

There have been discussions of serial numbers before, and it appears that different plants changed over from orange to salmon at different times. But, in general, there were about a million made and the first half were orange and the last half salmon.

[Touch_It]

cdd