+slx Posted February 15, 2021 Share Posted February 15, 2021 1 hour ago, umpledord said: Little late but..... Just bought an 800 and it has a bad membrane. Will there be any more released on sell my retro? If not does anybody that bought extras want to part with one? As to my understanding, the membranes built so far were prototypes and the final version will need a little tweaking to work perfectly without modifications. @RWAP is the guy behind this and as far as I remember having a bigger batch in production will result in better prices, so let him know what you need. It shouldn't be too late. (See post above yours for production timing estimate.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adam1977 Posted February 22, 2021 Share Posted February 22, 2021 On 1/28/2021 at 7:27 PM, adam1977 said: I've got one of Rich's membranes in my 800, I tested it a couple of weeks ago, i've been snowed under with work since, but here's my finding's: The top row doesn't respond. The second row doesn't respond up until the 'U' key, the rest of the keys on that row are fine. The third row keys are fine to 'H', 'J' key onwards doesn't work and i'm not sure about CTRL. With the final row, only keys 'N' onwards work The space bar is fine. I think it's just down to contacts between the keyboard and mylar and over this weekend i'm going to try some foam, paper etc and see what works best Following on from my earlier post, i've added a piece of foam to the contacts and only the Break key works now ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sugarland Posted February 22, 2021 Share Posted February 22, 2021 On 2/15/2021 at 11:06 AM, umpledord said: Little late but..... Just bought an 800 and it has a bad membrane. Will there be any more released on sell my retro? If not does anybody that bought extras want to part with one? Gord. I got the original mylar working by very carefully and slowly removing it off the PCB and then just putting it back in place exactly where it was. Try that. Lost some of the white rubber layer but not much. The parts around the screw holes are the most difficult to remove and some of it will tear apart. Also in my case I removed the tape, cleaned the gold fingers (and the tape) with high grade IPA and a swab, then put it back in place exactly as it was. Hope that helps you. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sugarland Posted February 22, 2021 Share Posted February 22, 2021 1 hour ago, Sugarland said: I got the original mylar working by very carefully and slowly removing it off the PCB and then just putting it back in place exactly where it was. Try that. Lost some of the white rubber layer but not much. The parts around the screw holes are the most difficult to remove and some of it will tear apart. Also in my case I removed the tape, cleaned the gold fingers (and the tape) with high grade IPA and a swab, then put it back in place exactly as it was. Hope that helps you. Also to note, a hair drier works to warm the rubber so it separates from the PCB. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RWAP Posted February 23, 2021 Author Share Posted February 23, 2021 Following the various feedback, which has been helpful - the factory is going to produce a clear plastic overlay to go at the back of the membrane (a spacer) and an extra small piece of sticky backed plastic to go on the back of the contacts. This appears to be the ideal solution and is very similar to the Commodore SX-64 membrane issues which the spacer resolved. 1 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adam1977 Posted February 23, 2021 Share Posted February 23, 2021 That's great Rich, thanks for the update ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RWAP Posted February 25, 2021 Author Share Posted February 25, 2021 I now have some of the spacers - who wants to try one? PM me your name & address 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+slx Posted February 25, 2021 Share Posted February 25, 2021 4 hours ago, RWAP said: I now have some of the spacers - who wants to try one? PM me your name & address As I tested the "sellotape" fix, my membrane is quite sticky and unless there's no one else volunteering, I'd rather wait for the final product. If the spacer works in principle, IMHO it would be best to "glue"/fuse it to the membrane to ease installation and protect the conduits. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spookt Posted March 9, 2022 Share Posted March 9, 2022 BUMP I still have two of the replacement mylars and 800s waiting for them. Was the issue ever resolved satisfactorily? The keyboard on my daily 800 is starting to go bad so it would be nice to be able to use these mylars. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RWAP Posted March 9, 2022 Author Share Posted March 9, 2022 12 minutes ago, spookt said: BUMP I still have two of the replacement mylars and 800s waiting for them. Was the issue ever resolved satisfactorily? The keyboard on my daily 800 is starting to go bad so it would be nice to be able to use these mylars. Thanks for the reminder. Do you want to try the spacers? From memory, the factory wanted to try another 800 and see what the issue was with the replacement mylar as I don't think the spacer fixed it. We need someone to agree to send their 800 to the factory (in Ayrshire) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spookt Posted March 9, 2022 Share Posted March 9, 2022 20 minutes ago, RWAP said: Thanks for the reminder. Do you want to try the spacers? From memory, the factory wanted to try another 800 and see what the issue was with the replacement mylar as I don't think the spacer fixed it. We need someone to agree to send their 800 to the factory (in Ayrshire) Hmm - I must admit given the age, value and fragility of these things I don’t think I’d like to send my 800 to Ayrshire and back and I doubt anyone else would either. Is that seriously the only way a fix can be progressed? I’m happy to test bench any proposed solutions here however ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RWAP Posted March 9, 2022 Author Share Posted March 9, 2022 The problem is that without a machine, the factory can only guess the possible problem..... It could be the thickness of the mylar, the amount of ink used, the aging capacitors and resistors, the way the membrane contacts are done - who knows... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mimo Posted March 9, 2022 Share Posted March 9, 2022 Would the factory need the whole machine or just the keyboard? Not that I have one, just a broken hi-tec one Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+slx Posted March 9, 2022 Share Posted March 9, 2022 4 hours ago, RWAP said: The problem is that without a machine, the factory can only guess the possible problem..... It could be the thickness of the mylar, the amount of ink used, the aging capacitors and resistors, the way the membrane contacts are done - who knows... I would think that sending a keyboard should be sufficient. Looking at the mylar it is pretty obvious which key should short which two lines. I would be willing to send my keyboard (which worked after cleaning contacts and but given the fact that we live in two different customs areas it would probably make more sense for a UK based keyboard to take an Ayrshire vacation. I do wonder why the spacer does not work, though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RWAP Posted March 9, 2022 Author Share Posted March 9, 2022 4 minutes ago, slx said: I would think that sending a keyboard should be sufficient. Looking at the mylar it is pretty obvious which key should short which two lines. I would be willing to send my keyboard (which worked after cleaning contacts and but given the fact that we live in two different customs areas it would probably make more sense for a UK based keyboard to take an Ayrshire vacation. I do wonder why the spacer does not work, though. Yes a keyboard should suffice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stormbringer Posted March 11, 2022 Share Posted March 11, 2022 could just get rid of the mylar... just sayin! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+slx Posted July 19, 2023 Share Posted July 19, 2023 On 3/9/2022 at 5:50 PM, RWAP said: Yes a keyboard should suffice. Did you ever find a UK based “lender” for a Mitsumi keyboard to develop this further? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Like us on Facebook
Follow us on Twitter
AtariAge on Instagram
Watch us on YouTube
Chat on Discord
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.