Olivetti KBD 2812 HBI enhacements

Abelardo

17 Dec 2023, 17:05

I found an old Olivetti KBD 2812 HBI (Cherry G81-3011) in very good conditions, keycaps are simply amazing!
Unfortunately I discover by myself how bad MY switches are! So I could keep only keycaps (putting them on g80-3000 I own) but... I felt in love with KBD 2812 case so I want to keep it!
Sa far as I know the G81-3000 pcb series couldn't be converted to allow MX switches, so what can I do?
I discover that g80-3000 pcb doesn't fit on KBD 2812 (at least not without some mods that are no reversible)
Any Ideas?

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TNT

17 Dec 2023, 18:28

The only difference is the blue locklight-label, right? You could carefully remove that and transfer it onto a g80-3000's case then!

Vla

17 Dec 2023, 20:03

You can also buy a aftermarket PCB like the GH80-3000

Abelardo

18 Dec 2023, 00:27

Vla wrote:
17 Dec 2023, 20:03
You can also buy a aftermarket PCB like the GH80-3000
Haven't found any affordable, any links please?

Abelardo

18 Dec 2023, 11:20

TNT wrote:
17 Dec 2023, 18:28
The only difference is the blue locklight-label, right? You could carefully remove that and transfer it onto a g80-3000's case then!
unfortunately my g80-3000 case is model built after 2000 so it has no label , just 3 holes for the leds. I guess I must found old g80-3000 case to follow yout advice...

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Muirium
µ

18 Dec 2023, 11:29

I've a G80-3000 lying spare NIB, if it helps…

Image

I don't know Cherry well enough to know if that cut-out is exactly what you're looking for.

Vla

18 Dec 2023, 13:51

Abelardo wrote:
18 Dec 2023, 00:27
Vla wrote:
17 Dec 2023, 20:03
You can also buy a aftermarket PCB like the GH80-3000
Haven't found any affordable, any links please?
Dont know if they are anywhere in stock but you could get them made. https://github.com/evyd13/gh80-series?search=1 Here is a link to the files

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TNT

18 Dec 2023, 22:40

Abelardo wrote:
18 Dec 2023, 11:20
TNT wrote:
17 Dec 2023, 18:28
The only difference is the blue locklight-label, right? You could carefully remove that and transfer it onto a g80-3000's case then!
unfortunately my g80-3000 case is model built after 2000 so it has no label , just 3 holes for the leds. I guess I must found old g80-3000 case to follow yout advice...
What if you just take your top shell then and switch out the bottom one?

Abelardo

19 Dec 2023, 16:30

TNT wrote:
18 Dec 2023, 22:40
Abelardo wrote:
18 Dec 2023, 11:20
TNT wrote:
17 Dec 2023, 18:28
The only difference is the blue locklight-label, right? You could carefully remove that and transfer it onto a g80-3000's case then!
unfortunately my g80-3000 case is model built after 2000 so it has no label , just 3 holes for the leds. I guess I must found old g80-3000 case to follow yout advice...
What if you just take your top shell then and switch out the bottom one?
I don't think the 2812 top shell will fit on g80-3000 bottom shell, however 2812 is WKL and g80 Wk :(

User avatar
photekq
Cherry Picker

21 Dec 2023, 16:18

Abelardo wrote:
17 Dec 2023, 17:05
I found an old Olivetti KBD 2812 HBI (Cherry G81-3011) in very good conditions, keycaps are simply amazing!
Unfortunately I discover by myself how bad MY switches are! So I could keep only keycaps (putting them on g80-3000 I own) but... I felt in love with KBD 2812 case so I want to keep it!
Sa far as I know the G81-3000 pcb series couldn't be converted to allow MX switches, so what can I do?
I discover that g80-3000 pcb doesn't fit on KBD 2812 (at least not without some mods that are no reversible)
Any Ideas?
If you have a WKL G80-3000 series PCB, you can put it in the Olivetti casing with no modifications whatsoever. WKL G81 and G80 casings are always identical. The same goes for the aftermarket PCBs mentioned.

The only thing that may complicate the process are your keycaps - if they're Cherry doubleshots, you'll have no problems. But as it's an Olivetti, "HBI" doesn't guarantee this - the keycaps could also be dyesubs not manufactured by Cherry themselves, which aren't compatible with MX without modification due to the method of stabilization.

Abelardo

26 Dec 2023, 09:48

photekq wrote:
21 Dec 2023, 16:18
Abelardo wrote:
17 Dec 2023, 17:05
I found an old Olivetti KBD 2812 HBI (Cherry G81-3011) in very good conditions, keycaps are simply amazing!
Unfortunately I discover by myself how bad MY switches are! So I could keep only keycaps (putting them on g80-3000 I own) but... I felt in love with KBD 2812 case so I want to keep it!
Sa far as I know the G81-3000 pcb series couldn't be converted to allow MX switches, so what can I do?
I discover that g80-3000 pcb doesn't fit on KBD 2812 (at least not without some mods that are no reversible)
Any Ideas?
If you have a WKL G80-3000 series PCB, you can put it in the Olivetti casing with no modifications whatsoever. WKL G81 and G80 casings are always identical. The same goes for the aftermarket PCBs mentioned.

The only thing that may complicate the process are your keycaps - if they're Cherry doubleshots, you'll have no problems. But as it's an Olivetti, "HBI" doesn't guarantee this - the keycaps could also be dyesubs not manufactured by Cherry themselves, which aren't compatible with MX without modification due to the method of stabilization.
Thanks for the advice! Keycaps are double shot so no needs for any mods. My only problem is that my g80 is WK :(
I must find a g80 WKL!

User avatar
photekq
Cherry Picker

26 Dec 2023, 16:27

Abelardo wrote:
26 Dec 2023, 09:48
Thanks for the advice! Keycaps are double shot so no needs for any mods. My only problem is that my g80 is WK :(
I must find a g80 WKL!
This shouldn't be too hard, since you're looking for ISO. A German one will be easiest and cheapest to find, e.g G80-3000HAD. And if you have to buy a whole board, you can resell the German keycaps + casing + cable to get some money back.

User avatar
kbdfr
The Tiproman

27 Dec 2023, 17:33

I happen to have a G80-3000 HAD without keycaps:
.
G80-3000_O.jpg
G80-3000_O.jpg (2.96 MiB) Viewed 6675 times
.
Please PM me if you are interested.

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