XL/XE Keyboard ribbon socket - replacement?

[Marsupilami]

I have the same problem, my ribbon is dead, so i think i will try this : (Amaz*n "Ganvol 40 pcs 20 cm mâle vers Femelle sans Soudure Flexible Breadboard Jumper Cable Wire pour Arduino, Raspberry Pi Modèle A/Modèle B 1 1 + 2 3/Ordinateur Module/Zero")

 

And this (Amazo*n :"Aussel 20 Pièces 2,54 mm Breakaway PCB Board 40pin mâle et femelle en-tête Connecteur pour blindage Arduino")

Maybe with a right angle boards that i have.

Edited October 14, 2019 by Marsupilami

[+KlasO]

1 minute ago, Marsupilami said:

I have the same problem, my ribbon is dead, so i think i will try this :

 

 

And this :

 

Maybe with a right angle boards that i have.

My plan as well. Not being that experienced with electronics, my plan is a pin header on the motherboard but I am not certain how to affix other end of the cable to the keyboard. The easiest solution would be if a pin header would fit there as well, but I haven’t measured this yet. 

 

Please let me know how your work progresses. 

[xrbrevin]

modern dupont pin headers have the correct pitch. i used one to repair one of my XLs a while back, here is a post on the forum with pics:

i used an IDE ribbon cable and soldered it to the keyboard. the other end terminates in 3x8-pin dupont connectors and it works nicely.

in hindsight, i wouldve sourced a 48-pin ribbon cable as a donor, only because the end product wouldve looked nicer ?

 

 

[Marsupilami]

1 minute ago, KlasO said:

My plan as well. Not being that experienced with electronics, my plan is a pin header on the motherboard but I am not certain how to affix other end of the cable to the keyboard. The easiest solution would be if a pin header would fit there as well, but I haven’t measured this yet. 

 

Please let me know how your work progresses. 

For the keyboard part, i think about cutting the pins and soldering them directly to the keyboard.

I'll let you know.

[xrbrevin]

hmm those breadboard wires could be grouped into 3x8 plugs, hack the other end and solder into the keyboard PBC

the labour-saving version ?

[Mr Robot]

 

 

[+Nezgar]

If BEST really does have the original component, maybe someone in the US would be willing to purchase a number of them, and mail them out piece meal to international parties with regular letter-post. This would alleviate the minimum-order policy, and international parcel shipping costs.

[Marsupilami]

2 hours ago, Nezgar said:

If BEST really does have the original component, maybe someone in the US would be willing to purchase a number of them, and mail them out piece meal to international parties with regular letter-post. This would alleviate the minimum-order policy, and international parcel shipping costs.

And very high customs fees...

[flashjazzcat]

This from three years ago:

So if Brad has any left, most likely there'll be a limited quantity per order. That's how it usually goes.

[BillC]

On 3/26/2016 at 3:20 PM, Panther said:

Grrrr...this would probably be ideal...

http://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/aries-electronics/24-009-172/24-009-172-ND/4164567

Non-stock, need to order 10! Okay, how many people out there can use a new 800XL keyboard cable?

Digikey also has similar by flex jumpers by TE Connectivity/AMP, only available up to 20 conductors but 2-12 conductor versions should provide the same connection as a single 24 conductor version. These are available with M/M, M/F, and F/F termination, and different lengths from 2" to 8".

https://www.digikey.com/products/en/cable-assemblies/flat-flex-cables-ffc-fpc/458?FV=1640001%2Cii12|2245%2Cffe001ca&quantity=0&ColumnSort=0&page=1&stock=1&pageSize=25

Edited October 15, 2019 by BillC

[wildstar87]

This looks pretty good too

 

https://www.amazon.com/XLX-30Pin-Rainbow-Ribbon-30Wire/dp/B076M1FGLZ/ref=asc_df_B076M1FGLZ/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=228763672776&hvpos=1o4&hvnetw=g&hvrand=267877108060070895&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9033277&hvtargid=pla-387053482768&psc=1

 

You can just zip 6 conductors off.  The price isn't bad. 16ft more than enough..

[dimfil]

Maybe a KEYCON by Junger can also help somehow...
Personally I found it useful solving keyboard problems in some cases. Excellent also for troubleshooting.

https://r.tapatalk.com/shareLink/topic?url=https://atariage.com/forums/topic/270312-new-tiny-project-keycon-keyboard-adapter-for-xlxe/&share_tid=270312&share_fid=4675&share_type=t&link_source=app

[+Nezgar]

On 10/16/2019 at 4:59 AM, dimfil said:

Maybe a KEYCON by Junger can also help somehow...

So this is interesting, Jürgen has the XL/XE connector installed on the example KEYCON PCB pictures in that thread. Maybe it was only scavenged it from an existing Atari motherboard. Especially since a motherboard with the keyboard connector replaced with a female precision header row is also shown. @tf_hh maybe you can comment?

[manterola]

26 minutes ago, Nezgar said:

So this is interesting, Jürgen has the XL/XE connector installed on the example KEYCON PCB pictures in that thread. Maybe it was only scavenged it from an existing Atari motherboard. Especially since a motherboard with the keyboard connector replaced with a female precision header row is also shown. @tf_hh maybe you can comment?

Probably, since that connector is not easy to source, and it is a common source of problems (now 20+ years after). I've had problems with the tension of the keyboard connector contacts. I was able to "fix" it by pushing those contacts a little bit again the mylar with a little screwdriver and applying contact cleaner but it is not really a good fix. 

I was able to find similar connectors with the correct pitch but not with the correct number of pins. 

At least with thekeyboard based on  pcb, not mylar, you can solder a series of ribbon cables between the keyboard itself and the motherboard, that is not possible with type 4 keyboards based on mylar contacts

[Simius]

Maybe the original connector is still available. You could try to place an order.

https://www.components-store.com/product/Affinity-Medical-Technologies-a-Molex-company/22-02-3243.html

[Sugarland]

4 hours ago, Simius said:

Maybe the original connector is still available. You could try to place an order. 

https://www.components-store.com/product/Affinity-Medical-Technologies-a-Molex-company/22-02-3243.html

Oh! Looks promising. However I'm more interested in a better ribbon and connector that will fit in the motherboard. Not looking for a 1:1 replacement.  Something like an IDE cable...

[BillC]

37 minutes ago, Sugarland said:

Oh! Looks promising. However I'm more interested in a better ribbon and connector that will fit in the motherboard. Not looking for a 1:1 replacement.  Something like an IDE cable...

The connector linked below looks like it would attach to the keyboard flex and allow replacing the original keyboard connector with a male header.

https://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/amphenol-icc-fci/65801-024LF/609-3511-ND/1528463

[+Nezgar]

10 hours ago, Simius said:

Maybe the original connector is still available. You could try to place an order.

https://www.components-store.com/product/Affinity-Medical-Technologies-a-Molex-company/22-02-3243.html

a 1:1 replacement is of interest to me, so...

Quote

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We'll see. Who knows, maybe molex Atari SIO connectors are still out there somewhere too. (other than BEST/B&C)

[xrbrevin]

perhaps they are so hard to find is because they are deemed unfit for purpose (caca) and have long since been superseded to a more reliable design?

one machine i had, some of the pins in the socked had actually snapped but remained in place. so visually the looked intact but when i desoldered them, they fell out of the plastic holder in 2 halves!

if working, i leave them alone, if broken, i would replace with a modern design

[manterola]

13 hours ago, Sugarland said:

Oh! Looks promising. However I'm more interested in a better ribbon and connector that will fit in the motherboard. Not looking for a 1:1 replacement.  Something like an IDE cable...

Me too. I don't like the way it is right now. However, in the case of type 4 xl keyboards and xe keyboards there no other option. Unless you can create some pcb with graphite contacts to connect to the mylar. 

 

[manterola]

7 hours ago, Nezgar said:

a 1:1 replacement is of interest to me, so...

 

We'll see. Who knows, maybe molex Atari SIO connectors are still out there somewhere too. (other than BEST/B&C)

Hey Nezgar, we (atariage members) might try to send a rfq with more units to attract the interest, so we can get a decent quote. 

BTW, how many did you ask for? 

[+Nezgar]

22 minutes ago, manterola said:

Hey Nezgar, we (atariage members) might try to send a rfq with more units to attract the interest, so we can get a decent quote. 

BTW, how many did you ask for? 

I was thinking exactly that - I asked about qty 10,25, or 50.

[BillC]

Digikey does still stock similar connectors, just not 24 pin versions. It would be a little bit or work but should be possible to cut the ends off 2 shorter connectors and glue them together, there shouldn't be much stress on the joint once soldered in place. The 12-pin versions are $2.05 ea, with the price dropping for higher quantity orders.

https://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/te-connectivity-amp-connectors/6-520315-2/A123179-ND/1137020

Edited October 18, 2019 by BillC

[Toby Rieper]

Exactly the same happened to me. I thought the keyboard was ok but there was an intermittent fault (the worst kinda faults) that stopped my keys ESC - 6 from working. Thanks to the guys on here I sorted it. I just cut the edge off the cable (1cm) sanded the top layer off and carefully used a scalpel to get the rest of the plastic. Not perfect by any means but a quick and dirty way to get it working.

[+tf_hh]

On 10/17/2019 at 7:26 PM, Nezgar said:

So this is interesting, Jürgen has the XL/XE connector installed on the example KEYCON PCB pictures in that thread. Maybe it was only scavenged it from an existing Atari motherboard. Especially since a motherboard with the keyboard connector replaced with a female precision header row is also shown. @tf_hh maybe you can comment?

 

This connector is take from another (dead, not worth to repair) XL mainboard. Unfortunately BEST Electronics has a strong limit of this item, and the price raises high the last years. I´m sure Brad has only a few one left. I never found any similar connector at Mouser, Digikey and so on, so "my way" is the replace the cable from the keyboard completely with standard ribbon cable (works only for the non-mylar ones) and KeyCon.