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IBM model m spurious key presses

P

PgrAm

Experienced Member
Joined
Sep 28, 2011
Messages
276
Location
Toronto, Canada
I was cleaning my 1996 Model M the other day and after I put all the keys back in It started randomly acting as though the 'n' key is stuck down with no apparent pattern. The n key seems to work fine when I press it, at which point it stops acting as though its held down. Upon further inspection it looks like the hammer for the n key is slightly looser than the other keys. I've already tried cleaning out the key stem but it didn't seem to help. This is super frustrating as I absolutely love this keyboard and have been using it every day for many years.

Anyone know if there is anything I can do to remedy this without taking the back-plate off the keyboard and breaking all the plastic rivets?
 
There is a slight bend in the spring I can see near the base, I've been trying to straighten this out with some needle-nose pliers but I can't seem to fix the issue.
 
Yeah seems like an excellent price. Unfortunately I no longer think the spring is the issue, I was able to swap the spring with the one from my scroll lock key and the issue persisted. Is it possible that the issue is with the underlying membrane? maybe I got a drop of water in there while I was cleaning? Might grab a few of those spring mechs for spares anyways though. nnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn.
 
Yeah so I think I fixed the issue. I'm pretty sure I was right about the water. I left a warm lamp shining on the keyboard with the n key removed for about a half hour to evaporate any moisture. After that the issue hasn't reoccurred and its been about two hours so I hope I'm in the clear now, fingers crossed ;)
 
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