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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.
   
                                  