deskthority

I recently acquired the world's ugliest OmniKey 102. Of the many problems this keyboard has, it looks like that it got really dirty and yellowed at some point and someone sprayed clear paint or lacquer over it. It's not coming off. I've tried 99% IPA. I've tried Magic Erasers. I've tried Simple Green. I've tried these in combination after soaking the case in warm soapy water overnight. No help.

Is there something I can use to remove this paint/lacquer without melting the case? I also need to eventually retr0bright it.

Omnikey cases are ABS right? Looking at a compatibility chart I don't immediately see anything that will strip the paint without also melting the plastic (I'm not a chemist though). Easiest option would be just painting over it.

You could try mechanically removing it (sanding, etc) but you'd probably end up removing the case's texture along with it. I know some people have messed around with sandblasting parts. Blasting could remove the paint and give the plastic a nice texture but not many people have a setup handy.

Sometime in the not-too-distant past I had a water-based paint stripper. Perhaps that might work?

> Easiest option would be just painting over it.
I'd really rather not, if at all possible. I haven't had much good luck with painting, but I think there are at least a couple posts here or on Geekhack that painted specifically OmniKey cases.

> Not many people have a setup handy.
Or not yet

> Sometime in the not-too-distant past I had a water-based paint stripper. Perhaps that might work?
That might be a good idea. I've done a little Googling and I haven't found anyone using it on plastic ... yet.

I tried acetone. Didn't work.

Some of this gunk is on the keycaps. I've had the white ones sitting in retr0bright for four-ish days. Yeah, the keys are whiter, but the gunk is still there.

So, paint it is. I'm off to find a good primer on how to paint. Heh.

Back in the day we used brake fluid (DOT3) to strip paint from small auto parts. No idea if it will damage ABS plastic, but it's safe for the rubber and plastic parts in the brake system at least. Do a test on a scrap part first, of course. If it passes swab a bit onto the paint spots with a Q-tip or small brush, no need to soak, it doesn't take much or very long from what I remember. Hope that helps.

edit: clean up with plain water afterwards, easy as cake!

Lacquer will eat most plastics, so if it's lacquer it has probably already damaged the plastic underneath. Enamel generally doesn't damage plastics, so fingers crossed that it's enamel instead.