Keyboard Mylar Repairs via Conductive Pens.

[+Larry]

I was going to ask this in the 65XE keyboard thread, but decided against. (BTW, the only success I've ever had with these is with Bob's 1200XL keyboard fix, BUT I haven't had too many keyboard issues.)

 

My experience is that these pens do not have a good shelf life. Once you have opened the pen and used it, it may not work well again after several months in storage. For this reason, I think I would be wary of buying this from "unknown stock" on eBay.

 

Anyone have any thoughts on storing these to get the max life out of them? Refrigerate (not freeze) the pen in a suitable container?

 

-Larry

[yorgle]

I think the problem with the pens is that after a few weeks, the conductive particles separate from the ink/glue/whatever and no amount of shaking will mix them back in. Last year I bought a tiny jar of conductive glue off ebay and it still works. The stuff does separate from sitting, but I just stir it up each time with a paperclip and use a fine paintbrush to apply it. The other advantage of the jar over the pens is that you can paint as wide or thin a line as you want.

[flashjazzcat]

Last year I bought a tiny jar of conductive glue off ebay and it still works.

 

Yep - I bought a little phial of conductive silver paint, applied with a brush in the same way. Recommended.

[atari8warez]

I would go with a jar as well

[+Roydea6]

'DITTO' for Jar.

[+orpheuswaking]

anyone got a link to what they use, lots of stuff on Ebay, curious as to what exactly everyone is using

[yorgle]

The stuff I have is called Wire Glue and is made by andersproducts.com. It's the only one I've used so I can't say if it's better or worse than others, but I can say it does work for fixing 1200xl keyboards.

[+orpheuswaking]

Cool, I see a number of those listed (wire glue).

[john-m]

I was told my another atari user to go to an auto parts store and get a rear window defroster repair kit.

It is supposed to work very well in repairing the mylar circuits on the keyboard membrane.

[+Guitarman]

Another advantage of the jar is you can use one of these paint mixers to stir it up good. These things work great!!