Frequently Asked Questions > Broken Model M2
Thanks for contacting us.
I have seen a bunch of Model M2 and have tried to work on them also. My understanding that the problem with the M2 is that one of the electronic components has a "wet" electrolytic cap that dries to a powder over time. Replacing the component seems to work. (I will tried to find the email that described this.. but I can't find it in my gmail archive)
In terms of opening it for repair, it is kind of like opening the back of a watch to replace battery. As long as you are careful and patient and be sure not to break any tabs.. you should be able to reattach everything.
March 24, 2009 |
Brandon Ermita
Brandon Ermita
Hey. My M2 stopped working one day out of the blue. When plugged in the Caps Lock and Scroll Lock lights come on and it acts dead. To me it reminds me of a microcontroller that is not doing a power-on reset properly. I have tried it on various systems to no avail. I opened it up and a visual inspection of the top of the PCB looks fine. Do you have suggestions/solutions/parts? Also, this keyboard is mechanically not well suited for disassembly. Those dozen clips all over the place is not nice to deal with. Do you have tips on getting this model apart without damaging the clips? I imagine a factory would have a pin-board of sorts on which to place keyboard that would release them all at the same time. Otherwise you have to do them one at a time while applying some small force to pull it apart, eh? Someone (me? the toss into the trash? it was 15 years ago when I rescued this from a dumpster, all parts were present, but it looked like it was bounced hard in there and some keys were off, etc., but all were found easily *phew*) broke 2 of the clips. In place of the missing clips the ingenious person (me? lol) put a tiny bolt/nut going through it, keeping things together. Not a bad solution, I guess. Do you have a better one?