T42 keyboard repair

[helicopter]

Hi,

I have a question about a T42 (2378), 15".

A few keys aren't working well on the keyboard. Rather than replacing the whole keyboard, is there any fix? The culprits are the backspace (sometimes takes three strokes to get it to start working), the left arrow, and the right arrow. I'm going to try vacuuming and trying to get under the keys a little, but I don't know if that's really the problem.

If I do buy a new keyboard, my manual says I need P/N 93P4780 for US English. I've seen some keyboards on ebay with that number. I also see some others that claim they work on T42s but have different numbers- 39T0519, 13N9926 and 13N9957. (maybe they are just for 14.1" modes.)

Maybe someone has some insight into this. I may just go with a new keyboard (if I can find a NOS one).

Thanks.

[dr_st]

You can carefully remove the key caps to see if anything is stuck under them or inside the key mechanism which mechanically prevents them from functioning properly.

If it's an electrical problem due to accumulated dirt / grease, then a thorough cleaning with alcohol may fix the issue.

Other than, that if you end up having to get a new keyboard, these are the possible FRUs for the 15" US English keyboard (14.1" one are different):

93P4780 (NMB)
93P4840 (ALPS)
13N9893 (Chicony)

39T0643 (NMB)
39T0704 (ALPS)
39T0765 (Chicony)

The last 3 FRUs are for the T43. They must have issued a different FRU, but it's the same keyboard.

Generally, The NMB is considered the best for this generation of laptops.

[helicopter]

Thanks for that advice. I immediately cleaned a lot of the keys, but that didn't help. Then, for the third time in this laptop's life, the machine would not boot (just the Z light illuminates and the fan spins). I haven't investigated the RAM to see if that's the problem, or if the motherboard is kaput, but I think I'm going to retire this machine.