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 []                                                                    [] 
 []                  HOW TO CLEAN THE IBM PC KEYBOARD                  [] 
 []                  By David R. Bivens, Richmond, Va.                 [] 
 []                                                                    [] 
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   In  the process of owning and operating an IBM PC,  you will,  no  doubt,  
find  a point in time that the keyboard causes strange and irritating things  
to  happen  to your fond finger strokes.   Nine times out of  ten,  this  is  
caused by DIRT!   
It is amazing how much trash can be found under the keytops of any keyboard 
that has been in use for more than a few weeks.   Human hands carry a  great  
deal  of  trash,  including dead skin cells.   In addition,  leaning over  a  
keyboard,  as computer people are prone to do, can cause much "head garbage"  
to fall into the mechanism.   If you smoke (as I do), you'll find it next to  
impossible to keep ashes in the ashtray. 
   The symptoms of a keyboard dirt problem are manifold, but the most common 
are:  mistyped characters, missing letters (Did I miss the key?), and having  
the wrong character appear at the most obnoxious times. 
   The fix to most of these problems is to clean the bugger out.  To do this 
you  must  remove  the keytops and blow out the  mechanism  with  air.   The  
purpose  of this message is to explain the operation of the PC keyboard  and  
to  outline the steps necessary to clean it.   I've included some  notes  on  
some possible pitfalls that a few folks have run into. 
   The PC keyboard is a capacitive device,  that is,  its internal circuitry  
detects  each  keystroke by a change in the capacitive potential of  a  wire  
matrix the keys are mounted on.   This matrix is contained in the form of  a  
circuit  board  that contains small "plates" that connect to a  device  that  
monitors  capacitive levels.   Above each of these plates is a "toggle" made  
of conductive plastic (like they ship IC's in).   The toggles are  connected  
to  a small spring that is held straight and slightly compressed in a  small  
cylinder.   The  thing  that  hold the spring compress is  a  small  plunger  
attached to the bottom of each key.  When the toggle moves in its holder, it  
changes  the capacitive potential of the wire matrix and causes the keyboard  
logic circuits to send a scan code to the 8088 bus. 
   When you press a key, the plunger moves down in the cylinder, compressing 
the spring.  This spring is already holding the toggle away from the matrix.  
As  the pressure increases,  the spring becomes "unstable" and bends rapidly  
to form a loose "U" shape.   This action is felt (and heard) as the  "break"  
of  the  key.   When the key breaks,  the direction of the pressure  on  the  
toggle  is  reversed,  causing  it to swing down about 1.5mm closer  to  the  
matrix.   This  is detected by the keyboard logic circuitry as a  change  in  
capacitive  potential and the appropriate scan code is sent to the 8088 bus,  
to be processed. 
   When  you  lift your finger from the key,  the spring pops  back  to  its  
straight position and lifts the toggle away from the matrix. 
   As  you can see,  there is alot of mechanical interaction going on inside  
of the lowly keyboard.   What amazes me is that the devices are as  reliable  
as they are! 
   To clean the keyboard, turn off the PC and place the keyboard in you lap. 
Remove  each  key  by  prying  it  STRAIGHT UP  with  a  penknife  of  small  
screwdriver  until  it pops off.   Check each key for any  gummy  or  sticky  
matter,  placing the dirty keys in a pile to be cleaned with soap and water.   
DO  NOT  REMOVE  THE  SPACE BAR!!!   If you do,  youll  find  it  is  almost  
impossible  to  replace  properly.   After removing the keys,  take  a  low- 
pressure air hose (or hair dryer) and blow a stream of air down into the key  
tubes. 
 
The  air  will  remove  quite a bit of loose dirt from  the  inside  of  the  
keyboard.  This dirt,  if left in place, will alter the capacitive potential  
of the matrix, thus "fooling" the keyboard circuitry into thinking a key has  
been pressed when it has not.   A WORD OF WARNING:  Do NOT-NOT-NOT blow into  
the key tubes with your mouth!!!  You will blow moisture into the mechanism,  
and possibly ruin the keyboard unit ($125.00 spare part).  Nine times out of  
ten,  all that is necessary to correct keyboard errors is to clean the keys,  
and the rest of this is not required. 
   If  you  did not heed my warning about the mouth air,  you will  have  to  
remove  the matrix board from the key tube holder and clean it.   THIS IS  A  
VERY DELICATE OPERATION!   DO NOT-NOT-NOT ATTEMPT IT UNLESS YOU NEED TO!  To  
remove  the key matrix,  turn the keyboard over and remove the two screws on  
the  bottom.  Remove the bottom panel from the keyboard and  disconnect  the  
Berg connector that holds the keyboard cable to the circuit board inside the  
unit.   Place  the keyboard in your lap and remove ALL the keys.   Carefully  
turn the unit upside-down,  taking care not to bend the springs.   With  the  
keyboard upside-down,  and the PC (printed circuit) board on the right side,  
you  will  see several metal "clips" holding the silver matrix board to  the  
black key tube holder.   One of these clips (probably on the lower left)  is  
bent  over  the silver matrix holder.  Bend this clip away from  the  silver  
metal.   Hold  the  two  parts together FIRMLY and slide the  silver  matrix  
holder to the right (on mine,  at least).   THIS TAKES ALOT OF PRESSURE!  BE  
SURE YOU DON'T ALLOW THE TWO PARTS TO SEPARATE SUDDENLY,  OR YOUR FLOOR WILL  
BE LITTERED WITH TOGGLES.   Carefully remove the matrix holder from the tube  
holder and place the tube holder in a safe place. Use a clean, slightly damp  
rag  to  clean the surface of the matrix board.   DO NOT ALLOW WATER TO  GET  
UNDER  THE BOARD!   Allow the unit to dry.   You may perform an  interesting  
test  by  reconnecting  the matrix board to the cable  and  powering-up  the  
computer.   You may then "type" on the matrix board by touching your fingers  
to the dark panels visible under the surface of the board.  Cute, huh? 
   You  will need to practice reassembling the space bar spring  before  you  
try  to put the unit back together.   To do this,  remove the spacebar tubes  
from the tube holder.  Remove the toggle and place it in a safe place.  Note  
the wire running the full length of the space bar tube assembly.   This wire  
is  the spring that keeps the spacebar from tilting to one side during  use.   
When the spacebar is inserted into the tube assembly this wire MUST fit into  
the  slots in the "legs" on each end of the spacebar.   Try it a  few  times  
before you plan to reassemble the keyboard. 
   To  reassemble  the keyboard,  replace the spacebar tube assembly in  the  
tube holder.  Install the toggle in its slot.  Insure all other toggles are  
correctly positioned.   Hold the tube holder upside down and GENTLY  replace  
the  matrix board in its place.   To complete reassembly,  you will need  to  
press  the matrix holder down onto the tube holder while sliding the  "ears"  
into their correct notches.  THIS TAKE A LARGE AMOUNT OF FORCE!  BE SURE THE  
UNIT  DOES  NOT JUMP OUT OF YOU HAND!!!   After replacing the matrix  board,  
bend  the holding "ear" into place to secure the mechanism.   Reinstall  the  
key unit into the keyboard case and reconnect the cable.  Replace the bottom  
cover.   You should now check the unit for proper operation.  This is tricky  
without keys, but it can be done. 
   To  test the unit,  place the rear edge (nearest the number keys) on  the  
table  with  the front edge (nearest the spacebar) in the  air.   This  will  
allow the springs to fall backwards and insure against false input  signals.   
You may have to shake the keyboard a bit to get the springs to fall. 
   Bring the system up and test each key by "tweeking" the spring with your 
finger.   (The  IBM diagnostics have a good test for this.)  If all is well,  
replace the keys, WHILE HOLDING THE KEYBOARD IN THIS POSITION!  If you don't 
hold  the keyboard up like this,  the springs will be "pre-bent"  and  won't  
function properly.   Replace the spacebar first,  as this is the one that is  
most likely to give you problems. 
   The  object of the spacebar replacement game is to get the wire into  the  
slot  on  the  bar legs.   This MUST be done one side  at  a  time,  without  
depressing the bar too much.   Pressing the bar down causes the wire springs  
to  retract  and makes their reinstallation impossible.   You can  tell  the  
spacebar  is installed correctly by the fact that the ends are difficult  to  
lift up and the bar moves vertically as a unit. 
   After replacing the spacebar,  replace all the other keys,  WHILE HOLDING  
THE KEYBOARD VERTICAL!   
   Run  the  diagnostics  of the keyboard to insure  everything  is  working  
properly.  If not, check that the small springs were in the correct (leaned- 
back)  position when the keys were installed.   If they were and  you  still  
have  problems,  then  you reassembled the matrix board and key tube  holder  
incorrectly and will have to take it apart and start all over again... 
   A  common  problem is getting the toggles jammed up when  installing  the  
matrix board.   
 
   Hope this was educational -- it sure was a pain to type!  GOOD LUCK! 
      
                                             David R. Bivens 
                                             Richmond, Va. 
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        
