Sticky keys

doncleth · February 2, 2005

Hi guys,

Having some problems with my Atari 800XL's function keys. When I press SELECT, the game starts so it seems the START key is also being pressed. I opened up the keys and unscrewed the back of the keybaord and did some cleaning/vacuuming but this didn't solve the problem.

Any ideas?

Thanks,

Don

Dr. Van Thorp · February 3, 2005

Might be that the little switch under the key has gone bad. What do the guts of the keyboard look like? Does it look like the individual key switches could be replaced?

doncleth · February 3, 2005

The function keys are grouped together if that's what you were asking. When I unscrewed the back of the keyboard, the function keys were separated from the "real" keyboard.

I was thinking maybe it's something to do with the mylar that's sandwiched in the keyboard. I mean it only takes a spring to push the contacts in the mylar right? So when I push the SELECT, it could be inadvertently pushing the contacts for START. That's my assumption anyway so I could be wrong.

Or maybe I just need a new set of keyboards. In addition to this problem, I've lost the spring on the HELP key (not that I use it) and the function keys lost the skin/protector so it has all the scratches in it.

If anyone has any spare keyboard that they're willing to donate ;-) I'll happily pay for shipping.