Keyboard membrane repair...

[tmcw]

Has anyone here had any success repairing damaged traces on a keyboard membrane...?

I got this nice narrow (no number pad) keyboard with an integrated trackpad and PS/2 ports which would serve a purpose for me very well, but a handful of the keys wouldn't work, and opening up the case, I found one trace on one half, and 4 on the other half of the membrane associated with the non-working keys were blackened (near the edge, so possibly the result of a spill). No continuity through those blackened portions, each portion maybe about 1-2 cm long.

I did get some "wire glue" from eBay (some "Anders" product) after seeing it recommended elsewhere, and tried it, but it didn't work for me, but maybe it just works for good metal surfaces in very close proximity. The line of wire glue looked open to a meter over the 1cm, but reducing the distance, I could begin to see some resistance, so maybe it's not good for such large (relative) distances.

Should I have better results with a more expensive conductive pen I've seen as well, or any other solutions that might work?

[gilly1984]

Re: Keyboard membrane repair...

You would only get continuity when pressing a button related to that track.

You are best off just gettin another keyboard.

[turbozutek]

Re: Keyboard membrane repair...

I repaired some tracks in the membrane of an operator's console once by stapling through it with regular run of the mill office staples.

I'm pretty sure that wouldn't work on the parts that flex but for the straight runs (my problem was age/heat cracking) it held up for over a year, when we bought a new phone system!

Chris...

[larrymoencurly]

Re: Keyboard membrane repair...

I had no luck soldering, but I used a regular 15W iron, not a temperature-regulated one and managed to melt through the plastic film without bonding anything to the conductive traces. Also those traces can be really fragile and even rub off completely.

Those conductive pens with silver-filled ink work well, and the dried ink even seems to withstand some flexing. I've heard that some people have better luck with other conductive inks by embedding a bare copper wire into them, like a single strand.