Anyone here ever take their Pro Keyboards apart?

murbotmurbot
Posted:
in General Discussion edited January 2014
I'm half way through. The keyboard with this G4 I just bought was full of food and hair. I took some compressed air to it, but that only caused another 8 dozen hairs that were hiding somewhere to pop out and say "hi". Time for major repair.



So, after about half an hour of tinkering (slow, I'm watching hockey highlights ), I go from one of these:







to this pile of stuff:







Time for a bucket of soapy water for the keys, a trip to the kitchen sink for the plastic shells, and a night of drying out. I hope I remember how the **** this **** goes back together tomorrow.



Comments

  • Reply 1 of 20
    jginsbujginsbu Posts: 135member
    So, you read Men's Health, eh?



  • Reply 2 of 20
    dmband0026dmband0026 Posts: 2,345member
    Did you disassemble your cell phone too?

    Good luck getting that thing back together, you sir have more balls than I.
  • Reply 3 of 20
    jginsbujginsbu Posts: 135member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by DMBand0026



    Good luck getting that thing back together, you sir have more balls than I.



    Maybe you should read Men's Health!



  • Reply 4 of 20
    ghost_user_nameghost_user_name Posts: 22,667member
    Yup, I've done that several times. I give my keyboard a very thorough cleaning at least once or twice a year. Between those cleanings, I occasionally shake it out upside-down or use the brush attachment on the vacuum to get rid of the hair and dust and grime in it.
  • Reply 5 of 20
    ast3r3xast3r3x Posts: 5,012member
    I did it too...I don't like I had to stab through a sticker to get to a screw though \
  • Reply 6 of 20
    dmband0026dmband0026 Posts: 2,345member
    Anyone notice how murbot hasn't been around today? Maybe he never got the keyboard working again.
  • Reply 7 of 20
    murbotmurbot Posts: 5,262member
    <day.k.pw nro.pv I.y x.byv



    SE
  • Reply 8 of 20
    fellowshipfellowship Posts: 5,038member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by murbot

    <day.k.pw nro.pv I.y x.byv



    SE



  • Reply 9 of 20
    johnrpjohnrp Posts: 357member
    I spilt Hot Chocolate on mine the third day I had mine. so I had to take mine to bits, loads of little screws. It was quite simple and logical to put back together. However DON't forget to put the little LED (caps lock) back in the right way round otherwise you will be taking all those little screws out again.



    Anyway all is well again now... (my wife got me a kiddy mug with a lid on).





    j.
  • Reply 10 of 20
    murbotmurbot Posts: 5,262member
    There are only 59 screws.



  • Reply 11 of 20
    dmband0026dmband0026 Posts: 2,345member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by murbot

    <day.k.pw nro.pv I.y x.byv



    SE



    To reiterate what fellows just said:

    Quality post. This is now second on my list of all time favorite posts, right behind the one by pscates in this thread. Good stuff.
  • Reply 12 of 20
    mimacmimac Posts: 872member
    Murbot, you kill me man, you F*%k^n kill me!
  • Reply 13 of 20
    thuh freakthuh freak Posts: 2,664member
    those little nipple holder things are a bitch. i opened my keyboard like two years ago (like brad, i take mine apart about once a year; only i do it because i've spilt something on it and it stops working. then after ****ing with it for a few hours i say "i'll just buy a new one"). but anyway, 2 years ago i open mine up, and get to work. clean all the itty bits and such. but i lost one of those damn nipples. (and by "i", i mean my incompetant friend, who was on nipple-cleaning patrol.) so we search my dorm, the halls, and basically the whole floor. he says, "ok decide which key you don't want to use anymore." it was like choosing between my children. turns out the damned thing was under a seat's leg. i hate those things. hate.



    but truly, its not hard to take it apart or put it together really. the tough part (for me), is coming to terms with the fact that several gallons of soda, and a bit of vomit, can ruin the circuit board, and no amount of un-doing and re-aligning the keyboard will fix it. well, tightening the screws does seem to help a bit, but not always.
  • Reply 14 of 20
    murbotmurbot Posts: 5,262member
    Yeah, I got halfway through putting the 39 little screws that hold the metal plate back in, and noticed a freaking nipple out of the corner of my eye. No, my wife hadn't snuck out of bed for a little late night lovin', one of the damn key nipple thingamabobs had apparently fallen out unnoticed.



    *sigh*



    It was too late to start again, so it's sitting like that right now. I'll try again when I get home.



    It's not particularly difficult, it's just a pain in the ass.



  • Reply 15 of 20
    sledgehammersledgehammer Posts: 505member
    I really want to take mine apart, but I haven't been abe to find an allan wrench (or whatever I need) small enough to get those screws out of the back.
  • Reply 16 of 20
    murbotmurbot Posts: 5,262member
    It's 1/20", or 1.27 mm. I had to go and buy a new Allen key to get it open. Most sets don't have one that size... I couldn't find a set in the whole place with a smaller one, I think it's about the smallest you can get.



    The screws are also made out of silver plastic, I'm sure. About the cheapest goddamn screw you can get. (well, without taking a little drive down to this one place I know)



    Just don't lose anything while you're at it!



  • Reply 17 of 20
    alcimedesalcimedes Posts: 5,486member
    of course, most people don't disassemble their keyboards while drunk.



    *cough* *cough*
  • Reply 18 of 20
    crusadercrusader Posts: 1,129member
    I took apart the old keyboard that came with my iMac, no luck in fixing it. I think I am gonna run out and get a allen wrench so I can clean out my Pro Keyboard and see if I can get the space key working again.
  • Reply 19 of 20
    ast3r3xast3r3x Posts: 5,012member
    Whenever you take apart electronic things, you never need to put back ALL the screws. Just the important ones



    Talk about little some of those are super tiny!
  • Reply 20 of 20
    defiantdefiant Posts: 4,876member
    I disassembled mine once. Hmm. Now that I'm looking at it, I think I should do it again. So, if you don't see me around for some time you'll know why.
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