deskthority

Hi guys. I've got a Keyronic KB-5151A (according to the mainboard). It has Vintage MX blacks, and are dirty as hell. So dirty, it makes the switches bind a bit. Not mutch... But a little bit. Is it worth the effort of desoldering, cleaning, and selling, or does this thing wort anything at all to begin with...?
It's not an official, but a rebranded one. Varyter XT - it says.. I'm going to clean the keycap and the case.


EDIT: Or strip it down, and sell it's parts...

Desolder them, pop them open, put them in an ultrasound cleaner and rinse them well ... good as new!

I should finally do a video on how to vintage-black shit up.

~1kHUF (about 310HUF=1€)... probably worth it. How mutch does this keyboard probably worth?

Just talking about the switches, I used to sell vintage black keyboards for ~30€

so it's probably worthless... Interesting to see that an AT101W worth just as mutch.

Thanks!

That's just my prices ... You can surely ask for more after desoldering and cleaning the switches!

I mean if you want to make a business out of this, you can make some nice money hunting vintage black switches and doing a perfect clean & mod job on them.

Sure it's worth it for those old MX blacks. Is there a date on the PCB anywhere?

I'll have to see.

I have no clue honestly. I can't find any date codes on the board whatsoever. But if I had to guess '86-'88. It's XT only.
If I can sell the board for 60€, I'll be happy. Or if I can swap it for a g80-1k or a board with B3G-S or blue ovals (I doubt anyone would want to exchange theirs to this junk though)

Lynx_Carpathica wrote: I have no clue honestly. I can't find any date codes on the board whatsoever. But if I had to guess '86-'88. It's XT only.

I'd say those old MX blacks are worth keeping but you decide for yourself. Personally I don't need any more.

seebart wrote:

Lynx_Carpathica wrote: I have no clue honestly. I can't find any date codes on the board whatsoever. But if I had to guess '86-'88. It's XT only.

I'd say those old MX blacks are worth keeping but you decide for yourself. Personally I don't need any more.

But the keycaps will have to go. Do they worth anything, due to the wierd layout? And I don't have anything to put them into, and I'm planning on getting a G80-1k anyway, so the switches can go. Only my G80-1800, but that's not worthy enough.

Edit: Thanks for your help, guys! If the keyboard and the switches are clean, they will go to the Marketplace!

Lynx_Carpathica wrote: If I can sell the board for 60€, I'll be happy. Or if I can swap it for a g80-1k or a board with B3G-S or blue ovals (I doubt anyone would want to exchange theirs to this junk though)

I don't think you'll be able to find anyone for that trade but it's just too nice to throw away is what I'm saying.

I would take your keycaps, say 10 euros plus shipping - they seem to complement a lasered keyset I have. Without the spacebar

seebart wrote:

Lynx_Carpathica wrote: If I can sell the board for 60€, I'll be happy. Or if I can swap it for a g80-1k or a board with B3G-S or blue ovals (I doubt anyone would want to exchange theirs to this junk though)

I don't think you'll be able to find anyone for that trade but it's just too nice to throw away is what I'm saying.

I just don't want to see this board around here! It caused me so mutch pain and thinking what to do... they will have go go! First I will try to sell it in one piece. If it won't be bought, I'll strip it down.

Laser: PM!

Lynx_Carpathica wrote: ...It caused me so mutch pain and thinking what to do...

seebart wrote:

Lynx_Carpathica wrote: ...It caused me so mutch pain and thinking what to do...

I'm so hesitant to sell it, and I want to make a profit too (ironic, it cost me nothing, so even a penny is profit )
But it's a shame it looks like a junkyard, the switches are in terrible condition, and on the top of that, I'm not willing to get a soarer's converter. I had enough of disassemblyng cleaning and reassembling switches. I just want them to work without any thinkering. Modding my G80-1800 is not wort it. A cheap keyboard, nothing special. And theese are plate mount, and my 1800 is PCB, so I'd have to disassemble them too, and swap the sliders. No thanks. I'll have enough "fun" with my Alps boards when I'll get them.

To continue the discussion from PM, I think the keyboard profit is maximum in the following conditions:

- the keyboard is restored
- the keycaps stay on *this* keyboard, since it's very rare that somebody else would have a keyboard with the same layout

Now, if the keyboard looks nice and new, and the switches work flawlessly, and because the keycaps are doubleshots, the whole assembly starts to look appealing So, restoring work => profit

I'm going to restore them, no doubt, the dilemma is... Sell or stay...?

"Keyronic"?

Lynx_Carpathica wrote: I'm going to restore them, no doubt, the dilemma is... Sell or stay...?

That, you can decide afterwards. Who knows, maybe you fall in love with the keyboard

Daniel:typo.
Laser: I doubt it. Xt protocol. Can't use with anything.

See, it seems that you meant to say "Keytronic", but you also suggest that it's fake. It's the first I've heard of anyone pretending to be Key Tronic. Funny, because some people would be glad to have a fake when their Key Tronic keyboard turned out to have Cherry switches …

Re-reading the 1st post - I think "Varyter XT" is not a rebrand, but something meaning "of XT variety" is some language ...

Lynx_Carpathica wrote: Daniel:typo.
Laser: I doubt it. Xt protocol. Can't use with anything.

workshop-f7/xt-at-ps2-terminal-to-usb-c ... t2510.html

Read back a bit

How about just forgetting about this keyboard altogether Lynx_Carpathica? You say it cost you nothing and it seems to me you almost hate it now? Why all the fuss? I'll tell you fun little story: I own a box full of keyboards all of which are pratically useless that I all paid for over he years...but I don't spend one second thinking about any of those because I know it's pretty much a waste of time.

OMG you also have a box of shame?

Wodan wrote: OMG you also have a box of shame?

Sure, but I call it the "the box of waste" because the contents were a waste of time and money. Over the years I have actually thrown out a few things like a horrible filthy Dell AT not worth saving, other useless keyboards like this HP dome is still in that box of waste:

I made the descision: Restore, clean, and then sell it here, on Deskthority. I'm sure someone will get it. It also has cintage MX Blacks, making it to have the potential to be mutch...Mutch smoother than a new mx black. And the keys in the moddle (GHJK for example) are buttery smooth. And yes. there IS a difference between new and vintage MX Blacks.

A Soarer's converter loaded on Arduino Pro Micro would be a very very (very) cheap, functional solution.