Like turntables in the mid to late 00s, if you’ve spent any time around programers, gamers or technology enthusiasts one retro technology you’ve probably notices making a comeback is mechanical keyboards. Unlike the silicone membrane keyboards that have became standard in the mid 90’s mechanical switches are popular because of the tactile feedback and key travel they provide and are considered by many to be the Cadillac of text input devices. While today it’s pretty easy to walk into any best buy and pick up a new mechanical board from manufacturers like razor there are two that are considered the keyboards all others are compared against. These are the IBM Model M and the Apple extended 2. While these are considered tanks and generally indestructible, at over 30 years old they can still use some TLC from time to time. Thus here is my shot adventure in returning an AEK2 to it’s former glory.
The very first step in getting this thing cleaned out is removing the screw that holds it together. You read that right. The entire case is held together with 1 screw. After that it’s just some light prying to separate the top and bottom. My only real word of advice is to go slow and be gentle. These old plastics tend to get brittle with age.
With that done you know have a topless AEK2. Be prepared to be grossed out by the decades of junk you find underneath 🤢
Next you’ll want to remove the keys. This is pretty simple. They pop right out but it’s probably best to invest in a key puller to make sure you apply equal force on all sides and don’t break anything. You can grab one from amazon for about $5 to $6 here.
The result is this. Your naked Extended 2. (Ewww)
Your keyboard may or may not be this filthy. What I attempted to do with this cleaning is to remove the board from the case and basically soak it with 91% rubbing alcohol and take a wire brush to it. DO NOT under any circumstances use water. Rubbing alcohol is safe for electronic components because it does not corrode and evaporates extremely quickly. I would also go dental with the brush to not damage the switches or other components. This did a relatively good job but still more could have been removed. I’ll update this if I can find a better method for removing the gunk.
These keyboards can generally be identified by the color of their switches. I’m not going to go too far into details between the Alps cream, Alps brown and Mitsumi white switches save to save that the Metsumi has no rubber o-rings thus giving it a more tactical feed back. If you’re not sure if you have white or cream colored switches the back of the board should clear everything up.
Now that everything has been degunked the main point of disassembly is to deyellow the old plastic.Most old plastics contain a fire retardant that causes them to yellow over time. The Super Nintendo and platinum colored Apple product are notoriously for turning extremely yellow. Luckily in the last few years strides have been made in ways to reverse this process. There is a wiki to make a product called Retr0brite that is essentially a gel made from hydrogen peroxide and Oxi cleaner that you can read on here.
Alternatively industrial haircare products for dying hair have roughly the same high Oxi and H2O2 as redrobright and can be bought at salon supply stores or online for about $15.
Take note Hydrogen Peroxide can be harmful to your skin and casue chemical burns. Be sure to wear gloves if trying to apply it directly.
At this point all you will want to do is apply the gel to all the visable surfaces of the plastic and then wrap it in saran wrap.
Last but not least the easy part. Once everything is prepped the retr0brite is activated by UV light. There are 2 ways to go about doing this.
- Leave the parts out door on a bright day to bake in the sun.
- Leave the parts in a a confined area with a black light all night to soak up some artificial rays.
The perks of the sun is it’s free, but the black light can be recreated anytime regardless of weather. If you’re looking for a cheap black light I use this one.
When all is said and done the next day you can rinse off the remaining gel and reassemble your fancy new 1989 Apple keyboard.
