I spilled some grape juice (about two table spoons worth or so) over my Model M about a week ago.
I immediately cleaned it up as best as I could, couldn’t take it apart right away because I didn’t have the correct tool. I didn’t think much of it, honestly, because of how hardy the keyboard had been up to that point, and plugged it back in. The keystrokes were all over the place and some didn’t register at all.
Anyway, today I took it apart, cleaned it more thoroughly after being away from home for a while and it seems to work fine now apart from the “7” key (non numlock) not registering at all and the space bar registering twice in one press occasionally.
I’m pretty sure there’s some residue on the membrane messing with the input. How can I clear that without having to break all the rivets and doing a bolt/screw mod afterwards?
Reseating the ribbon cables didn’t help.
Edit: It works perfectly now, I basically cleaned it as best as I could with 99% isopropyl and then left it to dry.
Allowing it to dry is the crucial part here. I’ve posted a picture of the now working keyboard on here if you’re interested.
It now works pretty good after drenching the whole membrane/key switch layer sandwich in 99% iso a couple of times. The 7 key now works flawlessly, the space bar still occasionally gives me double spaces with one press but I’d say not as frequent any more, I’ll see if it goes away entirely as it dries completely.
Ayyy, result! I appreciate you getting back to me. It’s not perfect, but it sounds like at least the keyboard’s close to normal now. Time to pick a new spot to put your drink as well.
Unfortunately it looks like I spoke too soon, I just tested it again and the inputs for the S and W keys are all over the place…
I really don’t know what’s going on, maybe I shouldn’t have used the full strength iso? Don’t really know what to do now.
The iso shouldn’t have caused any issue, I’ve used it before for the exact same thing. It’s hard to say what the issue is at this point. It sounds like a loose connection or something bridging 2 connections. Could’ve scrubbed too hard, or maybe something got bent during assembly or disassembly. Sorry, man…
Didn’t scrub at all, though, literally just poured it in and swept it around a bit by tilting the whole thing…
Thinking about it, the num 0 always was a bit flaky, so it’s entirely possible the previous owner also did some damage. Makes me a little less sad about killing a 30 year old keyboard…
It’s never a good feeling, my condolences. Are you gonna go for something newer or just get another oldie?
I’m not willing to give up yet but if all fails I’d love to get an earlier Model M with a detachable SDL cable but they’re super expensive over here.
I don’t know where you live but I’m always jealous when some americans say they found something at a thrift store or recycling center or yard sale. Those are very rare in my corner of europe.
I’ve heard of people pulling Model Ms out of the trash, even here in Germany…
There are a few thrift stores in my area but I’ve never seen anything interesting other than a few old radios.