Death of a key on my Ortek 142 Pro

[142Pro]

It is with a heavy heart that I join this forum and declare 'end of use' of my Ortek MCK-142 Pro after what must be 16+ years of torture. Goodbye dear comma key, your left strafe was second to none.

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A bit of yellowing, a banana'd spacebar and a couple of scratches on the A and S keys. It's had some torture has this, should I seek out a new key or just pop it on the bbq? God I miss those programmable keys.

And with that, hello everyone. My name is Paul and I'm an idiot.

[kbdfr]

nice first post:

My name is Paul and I'm an idiot.

Hello Paul,

and welcome on DT.

Why not consider replacing it with a functioning one?
Sometimes you can find them for a lot of money: http://www.ebay.com/itm/111575125929
or for much less: http://www.ebay.com/itm/231407307379

Want mine? You choose if you pay the higher or the lower of both prices (+ shipping, say where you are located and get a quote).
I hope you are the right kind of idiot

German layout (but of course you can swap caps)

[idollar]

It is with a heavy heart that I join this forum and declare 'end of use' of my Ortek MCK-142 Pro after what must be 16+ years of torture. Goodbye dear comma key, your left strafe was second to none.

...

And with that, hello everyone. My name is Paul ...

Hello Paul,

May I do some marketing ? Do you like IBMs model Ms ?

DSC_9543.jpg (389.93 KiB) Viewed 3961 times

We (some DT members) got some IBMs 122 M DE layout for some 20 euros. VERY DIRTY and non-USB compatible.
I have cleaned one and transformed it into USB with a Soarer's converter.

I am trying to sell it (I have another one) after the key-by-key cleaning process and full test at cost price + donation.

You can find more information here : http://deskthority.net/post208537.html#p208537

The cost of the process without my time is approx 60eur (30 keyboard (and transport) + 15 controller + 5 Cable + other cleaning stuff). Guk and I are preparing to offer it in ebay starting from costs to see how it goes.
If you like it and want to make an offer, any excess from these 60 euros will be divided by two. One half will go to DT as your donation, the other will go to my next DT project.

In any case, read the complete post. We have an option to get more of these, you may want to pay 20 euros and do the restoration yourself.

Cheers

EDIT: I only read the post above now. I would consider the option in the post above from kbdfr ... tempting. You will get the twin sister

[guk]

Is this only about a keycap or is anything else actually broken? What do I fail to see here?

[idollar]

I understood that it is something more serious ... which means more fun in the reparation process

[fohat]

Is this only about a keycap or is anything else actually broken? What do I fail to see here?

I was wondering the same thing. What is the actual problem that you experienced?

That looks like an Alps switch. 5 minutes with a soldering iron to pop in a new one.

[andrewjoy]

i may have a compatible cap for you if you want it , just pay postage

if its the switch then ask around for white alps

and if you find one tell me who has them as i need a new A key for my northgate

[142Pro]

I was hoping for tea & sympathy... instead I get a warm welcome and offers. Great, you lot sound like mech kb nutjobs. Nice nutjobs I mean.

kbdfr - wow, a clean one. I remember when mine was brand new, it still looks clean under the overlay.
idollar - very nice, and while I do like the look of that kb and the offer's very attractive, I'm not looking to buy one of those, thank you anyway.
guk - It's just a broken cap. Some of us (looking at me here) are less gifted in the repair dept. and my caps removal / cleanup went pretty well except they don't feel quite as nice as they did. I know the spacebar is now mis-shapen through use but however I've put it back I've done it wrong and it's not how it should be. Might even be upside down.
fohat - nothing broken, just not 'lovely' like it used to be.
andrewjoy - blimey, I didn't expect help with a repair let alone an offer for a key. Well yes, I'd be an idiot to turn that down! Whereabouts are you in the world? I'll PM you my address if you're willing to do this. Thank you.

You're all making me feel ashamed now, I was even toying with the idea of buying a gaming keyboard like the Ducky.

I take it that Cherry blues are about as close to these Alps switches as you can get?

[Muirium]

Andy's in England. You can click his username to see. Set your location in your profile so we can do likewise!

I'd go for Kbdfr's offer. These boards are more useful than 122 key Model Ms. (I'm an IBM aficionado, but even I don't like the battleship Model Ms. They have crap rollover that will hit you hard in games. I get cross with mine even editing text!) Besides, you've been using this model since last century, and it only makes sense to tool up! I like to have spare boards too. Great to see someone put in so many hours on a trusty mech.

Alps and MX aren't really all that much alike. Alps is generally nicer, but MX is better behaved! Alps caps can be a pain to pull off, as you've found. MX is easier, and there's a ton of options out there for replacements, which makes some of us into caps junkies!

Anyway, you can get closer. Matias makes Alps keyboards today. They even make the switches.

http://matias.ca/products/

[142Pro]

Well, because Andy's in the same place as me (profile updated) and I can get a replacement from him then that's what I'll do.

You're right, getting the keycaps off was a nightmare. I had no idea if I was going to break the thing. I only used a very very dilute solution with lukewarm water and washing up liquid but I appear to have caused this yellowing.

I can't remember when I got it (from new) but it pre-dates Windows-key keyboards...oh and the battery life is hilarious. I periodically looked at the batteries to make sure there was no leakage, I think the same set of batteries were in there for about 12 years.

Has anyone got a recommendation for a key-puller? When I cleaned it I used...oh you're going to love this... a pair of thin cable ties lifted with a bar between them. No, I didn't lever to one side, it was straight but my god they were ON!

[Muirium]

You want a nice wire keypuller. Accept no substitute:



Good news: you didn't cause that yellowing. You simply exposed it by cleaning the dirt out the way.

Bad news: ABS plastic (which your caps are, apparently) yellows over the years with exposure to light. It's possible to reverse this but a bit of a pain and an expense, and the yellow can strike back with a vengeance anyway.

There are plenty of classic Alps caps out there that you could use with your board. Some of them are made from PBT plastic (which doesn't yellow). But again with the expense and bother!

[142Pro]

Key puller ordered, contacted Andy. I'm going to put some effort in and mend it, you've all shamed me into this so if I end up with keys all over the kitchen table and divorced ...it's your collective fault.

Now if I can just work out why some of the keys don't feel the same... I'll cross that bridge when I come to it. Not looking forward to removing the spacebar again though!

[andrewjoy]

i found them !

i have 2 one with and without the serif on the comma.

only way to describe it is



does yours match the one on the left or the right

your spacebar also looks a bit messed up , do you need any parts of that as well ?

[jacobolus]

Best way to pull off Alps keycaps is with a pair of butter knives. Slide them under opposite sides of the keycap and pry upward.

Those keycaps are double-injection-molded (“double-shot”) ABS, and they were made by Tai Hao. There are lots of them floating around in the world, I’m sure someone can send you one for cheap.

I could send you a black on white Tai Hao Alps-mount comma cap for the price of shipping. But I’m in the USA, and will be out of the country for the next 2 weeks, so it might be a while.

[jacobolus]

Now if I can just work out why some of the keys don't feel the same... I'll cross that bridge when I come to it. Not looking forward to removing the spacebar again though!

Usually this is because the little metal leaf springs inside the switch have bent into slightly different shapes. You can adjust the feeling by opening up the keyswitch, pulling the leaf spring out, and gently flexing it one way or the other. It’s very difficult in my experience to get a consistent result across many switches bending the leaves by hand though.