Back in space!

I can hardly stand when someone drills holes into an intact and nice looking case. It kind of spoils the ordinal look. There are mods that are definitely great and a good paint job is always welcome, but knobs and switches that are added to a console or computer make me feel like destroying art. In some ways it is okay, if you got a rotten c64 case lying around it is probably okay.

Having said this, it is clear that I really felt bad about the missing backspace keycap of the Apple M0110 that I got with the 1298K Mac from the states. Without taking a deeper look, before I bought it and thought I can just take the missing key from another keyboard form that aera. Wrong! The stems on the switches are different, the colour changed from the first apple beige to platinum and the shape of the key itself is a little different. Ebay was my friend and I got the missing key from a guy in the states who was selling single keycaps and switches. Probably the most expensive keycap that I bought, because of postage. 😉

After taking my good old Apple M0110 apart I was shocked. The metal shielding that covers the PCB is hold in place by the switches itself. It looked like it is necessary to unsolder all switches, in order to remove the defunct switch for the backspace key. A closer look revealed that the switches are hold in place by two clamps. Unsoldering it from below and using two flat screwdrivers I managed to get it out and the new one in.

I decided to clean everything, while already half way there. The PCB and the metal got a good undusting job with a brush, while keycaps and case went into a warm bath. Using “Sidol Kunststoff” made the the dirt come off and a little puzzle later everything was back in place, looking good. This Sidol cleaner is a fantastic stuff, although the smell implies that there are some unhealthy chemicals at work.

Some images of the whole procedure.