deskthority

Anyone have any advice/experience in reattaching Alps key stems? Through a series of progressively dumber actions (having one of those days), I managed to detach the stem from my left alt keycap:
I figure superglue has no chance of holding up against an Alps switch, and wanted to ask before I just bought some generic epoxy.

keycap is of course double shot ABS as I imagine type of plastic makes a difference.

you could try to use acetone to join the stem back on but epoxy might join better

Super Glue works decently well with ABS and that's what I've used in mine. I'm not sure if it would work as well for you because there isn't a lot of surfaces in your part, but give it a try.

I used E6000 glue recently to attach a broken pbt Apple M0116 Command key to an abs stem from a Tai-hao cap. Can't guarantee it's going to last, though.

Here's a couple of threads with alternatives for both types of plastic.

https://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=57346.0

viewtopic.php?f=7&t=17135&start=

If you've got a spare soldering tip for melting plastic, (who doesn't?) I would melt that fucker right back on there.

For ABS, I'd try the thin type of "plastic cement for models", like Testors. It actually melts the plastic surfaces for a better bond. Typicxally Methyl-Ethyl-Ketone in the day, not sure what it's made of now, but whe I chopped up some old ABS caps to make stabilizer extension it worked well enough.