Atari 800 keyboard mylar

[Moe]

Hello,

 

Does anyone know where to get a new mylar for a Atari 800 keyboard (not 800XL).

 

I'm trying to fix my existing mylar with silver conductive pen, but I'm not getting great results.  I have about half the keys working, but I can't get them all to work.

 

Thanks

Moe

[Sugarland]

Unfortunately they aren't made and aren't available either.  I had great results just separating the rubbery mylar from the PCB (except the gold finger connection point) and putting it all back together as advised here:

 

 

From what you are saying it sounds like you've already done that.. The issue you are having may have to do with the gold fingers area. Best Electronics sells 1200XL Mitsumi repair mylar kits with a tiny PCB that fixes this connection point.

[Sugarland]

Here is a preorder page for the 800 mylars.

[Moe]

3 minutes ago, Sugarland said:

Here is a preorder page for the 800 mylars.

Very cool, thanks.  I just pre-order two of them.

 

 

8 hours ago, Sugarland said:

Unfortunately they aren't made and aren't available either.  I had great results just separating the rubbery mylar from the PCB (except the gold finger connection point) and putting it all back together as advised here:

 

 

From what you are saying it sounds like you've already done that.. The issue you are having may have to do with the gold fingers area. Best Electronics sells 1200XL Mitsumi repair mylar kits with a tiny PCB that fixes this connection point.

Yeah, my issue is with the mylar at the gold fingers.  I'm trying to fix the issue with my silver pen.   

 

On my next Best Electronics order I might try one of the repair kits, if the pre-order that Sugerland found doesn't pan out.

 

 

Thank!

Moe

[Sugarland]

Great!! To be clear I'm not sure if that tiny PCB will fix the 800 gold fingers connection point. Mentioned it because it's a known weakness/fault of the design and surmised this was the cause of your woes. However it might fit and fix your issue. Last I checked, Best does not sell the tiny PCB by itself, only with the mylar. It's impractical to pay $40+shipping for only the pcb that could theoretically only cost pennies.

Edited July 14, 2020 by Sugarland

[Moe]

With a little trial and error and a liberal use of my silver conductive pen, I have been able to repair my keyboard.   I'm still hoping the pre-order for the 800's mylar will actually be produced.

 

Cheers,

Moe

 

 

[adam1977]

On 7/14/2020 at 5:44 AM, Moe said:

Hello,

 

Does anyone know where to get a new mylar for a Atari 800 keyboard (not 800XL).

 

I'm trying to fix my existing mylar with silver conductive pen, but I'm not getting great results.  I have about half the keys working, but I can't get them all to work.

 

Thanks

Moe

I used this conductive paint and applied it with a leg of a resistor, although i imagine you could use a cocktail stick or similar just as well.

[Moe]

13 minutes ago, adam1977 said:

I used this conductive paint and applied it with a leg of a resistor, although i imagine you could use a cocktail stick or similar just as well.

This is the silver conductive pen that I used:  https://www.amazon.co.uk/MG-Chemicals-842AR-P-Conductive-Silver/dp/B01LYXQE0M/ref=psdc_1938368031_t1_B01LZX06PL

 

It took a lot of "fix then test" cycles, but I was finally able to get the keyboard fully functional.

 

 

Cheers,

Moe

 

[jamm]

Here's what I found after a lot of research when I worked on my keyboard earlier this year:

 

http://www.chipquik.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=480001

 

[+slx]

Got a message today that production of the 800 Mitsumi replacement mylars is going ahead!

[Moe]

Same here.

[Stormbringer]

I just signed up for 4 of em... why not, right?

Anyone know how long this will take after the "go ahead" to get actually produced?

[Sugarland]

I got the replacement 800 Mitsumi keyboard mylars from sellmyretro and only the BREAK key is working with the replacement installed. All other keys (besides function keys) not responsive. I tried removing the tape from the gold fingers connection point and cleaning the fingers well. That made no difference.

 

 

Has anyone else installed the sellmyretro 800 mylars?

 

[+slx]

I tried and had no success either. Not sure if I tried Break, though. I thought about rigging up some breadboard assembly to test contacts. 

 

Further discussion about repair in the other 800 Mitsumi keyboard repair thread.

[Stormbringer]

I think its the pressure on those fingers... I've been experimenting with trying to flow some additional solder to get a tighter connection but its been intermittent.
The mylars do look damn spiffy, however.