T60 with Chicony keyboard -- T and R keys very often don't work unless pressed extra hard

[Muse]

Do I need a replacement keyboard or might I fix this one? I pried off the cap on the T key and kind of cleaned it as far as I could tell but the problem persists. I did do this successfully with the spacebar a month ago, but it appears that individual keys aren't as easy a fix. Thanks for info, suggestions, links, suggested replacement option if that's the way to go...

[Cigarguy]

If cleaning doesn't do the trick then replacement seems to be the only option. I would try soaking it in water for a few days, give a good rinse, follow by a week of drying as a final cleaning attempt.

[Muse]

Yeah, saw some threads with similar ideas, but those concerned spilling stuff on the keyboard.

Well, after posting that I did the googling, then pried the caps off the T and R keys and had another go at cleaning them. This time I blasted with some compressed gas as well and pressed the key caps back on. So far, there's a tremendous improvement, in fact I am not sure the problem hasn't been solved.... see all the Ts and Rs in this post! Didn't look dirty at all a few minutes ago, but whatever I did seems to have fixed the problem.

Soaking and drying has a lot of downtime. This is my most used machine! It's seen a lot of use, bought over 10 years ago, the S, D, N and M keys have some of the letters worn off the caps. I still love this machine, have it in a dock and use a 23" monitor with it, even a 2nd monitor for dual monitor duty on occasion (just have to turn on the 2nd monitor for that). It stays in the dock.

[RealBlackStuff]

I recommend ordering individual replacement keys.
Check this out (make sure to scroll down...): http://www.ebay.com/itm/310279213176
Or hunt eBay for: lenovo t60 keyboard.
Ca. $15 will get you a refurbed one.

[Muse]

I recommend ordering individual replacement keys.
Check this out (make sure to scroll down...): http://www.ebay.com/itm/310279213176

Whatever I did seems to have fixed the problem. See my last post.

aaa bbb ccc ddd eee fff ggg hhh iii jjj kkk lll mmm nnn ooo ppp qqq rrr sss ttt uuu vvv www xxx yyy zzz

doin' all right

[Muse]

It's 95% better, not sure if OK. Will live with it some and see. I have another T60 that's relatively unused, it has it's own function making automatic MP3 recordings. So, mostly I don't use it on a day to day basis. If this one's KB remains a problem I think I'll swap the keyboards and go from there.

[Muse]

Heck, I decided to check out ebay and bought a $14.99 used KB that looks great. I decided to get it instead of get one from the many multiple keyboard sellers because I am confident that the photos of the item are of the actual item. The paint on the key caps on this one looks like new. The paint on the one I'm using now is pretty worn on a lot of keys.

[Muse]

Received the replacement keyboard today, installed it. It works perfectly. The seller didn't package it adequately, just put some bubble wrap around it and slipped that into one of those flimsy thin plastic ebay bags. The top left corner was bent, oh no! I took a pair of fine needle nosed pliers and tried as best I could to straighten it out. It got close. It wasn't real easy getting it to slide into position, had to force it. But I've found that kind of thing common in assembling my T60's. Anyway, it's working and this keyboard looks very little used indeed, as new, virtually. The old one, well, I could pry off key caps, clean, it would behave for a few days and then start acting horribly! Couldn't wait for this replacement to arrive.

Thank you, realblackstuff, for the tip!