Repairing ALPS keycaps with broken stems
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Fod
- Location: US-MD
- Main keyboard: Zenith Z150
Hi, accidentally broke the stem off the left shift key on my Zenith Z150. I tried repairing it with both super glue and a plastic glue, neither of which seemed to last very long or work very well. I was wondering if anyone had any advice on what glue/epoxy to use, or if it might be worth it to just find a replacement cap (even if it's just an old shift key from something like an AT101). I managed to get the stem out of the switch, so that should be good to go. If anyone also has anymore source recommendations of ALPS profile keycaps that would be good to know!
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Findecanor
- Location: Stockholm, Sweden
- DT Pro Member: 0011
If you have used superglue, and it breaks... then you can't glue it back together again. You'd have to remove all glue residue.. which is practically impossible unless you scrape it off under a microscope.
"Plastic glue" is based on solvents. These solvents work on ABS but not on PBT.
When you press something back with solvent, you push it in further. What you'd want to do to instead is to dissolve some additional plastic and smear that "ABS-goo" in the seam. Even if you're using original material, the result will still not be as hard as originally because of tiny bubbles of solvent left inside he plastic.
"Plastic glue" is based on solvents. These solvents work on ABS but not on PBT.
When you press something back with solvent, you push it in further. What you'd want to do to instead is to dissolve some additional plastic and smear that "ABS-goo" in the seam. Even if you're using original material, the result will still not be as hard as originally because of tiny bubbles of solvent left inside he plastic.