Zenith Z-150 Restoration

[guidemetothelight]

Hey Guys,

after searching countless time on ebay, i finally managed to get my hands on my dream board.
Well almost, i was searching for a ZKB-2 , but iam content with a Z-150.

assembled

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Its a german board , so there are a few ( a little annoying) differences.
The branding sticker on top says eazy pc , but luckily , it still has the very stylish Zenith "Z" .

logo

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The keycaps are a weird mix between abs double shot (yellowed) and pbt dye sub (not yellowed)
the dye sub caps are the ones that are special for the german iso layout.

disassembled

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Iam planning on retr0brighting the keycaps , but since the dyesub caps are pbt, i dont need to worry about removing the legends on them, since they dont need to be retr0brighted.

There is a small crack in the upper housing, any tips on how to fix that so you cant really see it ?

crack

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I would appreciate your guys input on what to look out for when restoring this keyboard.
My ultimate goal would be to completely disassemble it, ultrasonic clean the switches and lube them. What is the best way to "lube" Alps Green ?

Also, I would like the keyboard to be usb c , iam hoping to fit an internal protocol converter somewhere in the case and order a fitting coiled and braided cable for it.
Also, would it be considered heresy to paint the keyboard in the same industrial grey as the ibm keyboards were, so the crack cant be seen anymore after fixing it ?

Also, there is a slight bit of rust on the plate, so how to treat that problem the best way ?

switches

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Thanks for reading this and for your input, you great keyboard wizards,

Much love and appreciation ,

Nick

[TNT]

Those housings are notorious for getting brittle with time :/

I've had good results with the baking soda - superglue trick (not on this housing tho). It might be quite hard to make it not noticable

[guidemetothelight]

It might be quite hard to make it not noticable

I will paint the whole chassis. Just cant decide yet if i wanna go for textured black or textured grey like the industrial IBM Keyboards

[inozenz]

It might be quite hard to make it not noticable

I will paint the whole chassis. Just cant decide yet if i wanna go for textured black or textured grey like the industrial IBM Keyboards

plz trust me when i tell you grey case is always better looking then black case if you have classic keycaps, because black case only works with dark grey or black keycaps.

[TNT]

https://kbd.news/Zenith-z150-transformation-429.html

[hellothere]

https://kbd.news/Zenith-z150-transformation-429.html

https://imgur.com/gallery/zB2vSjx. You eventually get re-routed there, anyway .

I've filled large cracks with JB Weld and judicious use of clamps. I've used superglue on small cracks, smoothing them out with sanding. In your case, I wouldn't do any sanding, except on the inside of the case. Sanding will remove that texture, so be careful.

I agree with not straight black. I've used Behr hammered black and that looks fantastic. So does Rust-Oleum granite grey. Also get some matte clear-coat.

Almost all of the keyboards I get have rusted switch mounting plates, so I just expect to de-solder all the switches, sand down the mounting plate, re-paint, and add the switches back. You don't really *need* to do that. I just don't call it "restored" unless I do. Remember not to do so many coats that you can't get the switches back in!

On all the green and yellow Alps keyboards I've had I used this. I don't also see any problem with doing the infamous wax-boil method. No click leaf to worry about. I've tried it on orange, blue, and white Alps without any problem.

You can also boil the top housing, bottom housing, and slider after ultrasonic-ing.

You can look at my TMK build notes for my Z-150 "beige label" here.. Hasu helped an awful lot. You might be able to just wire up a Soarer's and everything will work perfectly, right out of the box.

On a lot of my recent builds, I've made external adapters. That left side cable is kinda unique for Zeniths. I'm not sure if I'd remove it. However, if you can get it all bluetooth-ed up, that'd be a good place for the pairing button.

[guidemetothelight]

plz trust me when i tell you grey case is always better looking then black case if you have classic keycaps, because black case only works with dark grey or black keycaps.

I believe you ! I was favouring grey anyway, but after the images i saw of that beautiful Z-150 Restauration, i was convinced

[guidemetothelight]

https://kbd.news/Zenith-z150-transformation-429.html

wow, i hope mine will look like that ! I just need to find a Zenith Badge, they look so much better then the german branded eazy pc does

[guidemetothelight]

I've filled large cracks with JB Weld and judicious use of clamps. I've used superglue on small cracks, smoothing them out with sanding. In your case, I wouldn't do any sanding, except on the inside of the case. Sanding will remove that texture, so be careful.

Got it , no sanding I think i will use super glue and then just clean the shells , and spraypaint them.

So does Rust-Oleum granite grey. Also get some matte clear-coat.

After seeing that gorgeous resto, i wanna go with grey paint 100%. Just gotta find the right one, as i live in germany and most of the stuff you guys have is not aviable here

Almost all of the keyboards I get have rusted switch mounting plates, so I just expect to de-solder all the switches, sand down the mounting plate, re-paint, and add the switches back. You don't really *need* to do that. I just don't call it "restored" unless I do. Remember not to do so many coats that you can't get the switches back in!

My OCD also prevents me of not desoldering the switches and repainting the plate.

On all the green and yellow Alps keyboards I've had I used this. I don't also see any problem with doing the infamous wax-boil method. No click leaf to worry about. I've tried it on orange, blue, and white Alps without any problem.

I heard of that stuff on here before ! maybe even from you. Would you advise to do both the wax boil and the finish line stuff , or only one of those ?

[hellothere]

I'd say that you should do one or the other. I've had thoughts of doing both the wax boil on the sliders and Finish Line on the top housing "slider channels," but that's sounded like too much work to me. Especially for a keyboard I was going to resell, anyway. Might be kinda interesting on an Alps linear switch, though.

Even though I'm not terribly fond of linear switches, I have to admit that green Alps are pretty good.

[The Laptop Lagger]

I'm in love with this board! It looks stunning.

[TNT]

https://kbd.news/Zenith-z150-transformation-429.html

wow, i hope mine will look like that ! I just need to find a Zenith Badge, they look so much better then the german branded eazy pc does

You'd need some kick ass cyrillic sublegends to complete the look

[guidemetothelight]

You'd need some kick ass cyrillic sublegends to complete the look

That would look sick , are there german Z-150´s with cyrillic sublegends ?

[TNT]

I highly doubt it. Sounds like a very "custom" need, no need for Zenith to cater to that. We're lucky they even offered a QWERTZ version

The ones in the Industrial Grey Zenith build are third-party (thin ABS DS Tai Haos and by themselves very rare). I'm not too much in the loop for caps, but I reckon the options for German Alps keycaps with a Cyrillic sub print are very much limited...

Regarding the Zenith Badge: As far as I know, Chyros wanted to start a repro run some time ago, but it wasn't feasible due to financial reasons. Maybe if we can get enough people together we could actually consider going through with this. Maybe ask Chyros about it, like who did he contact, what was the pricing and the general thought-process and so on.

[browncow]

Easiest way to sand down the switchplate for re-painting is using a vibration sander. It's hard to damage anything and you will do it 10 times quicker than manually. Make sure to sand down all the rust and if it's too severe then use some sort of chemical rust converter before painting it. Use primer and some decent paint and you will have durable results for the case, i would try either superglue (but the one that comes in gel form would be easier for such a big crack, clamp it good, you can try filling in the crack later with "finishing" type bodywork bondo, and very gently sanding but just the texture-less part. The textured part you would have to leave as is and you could use some primer on the case before painting, hopefully it will fill the crack to make it less noticeable, good luck!

[guidemetothelight]

We're lucky they even offered a QWERTZ version

right , thats why iam gonna usa the og caps for it... i have purchased a sous-vide machine to retr0bright it in a controlled setting

Regarding the Zenith Badge: As far as I know, Chyros wanted to start a repro run some time ago, but it wasn't feasible due to financial reasons. Maybe if we can get enough people together we could actually consider going through with this. Maybe ask Chyros about it, like who did he contact, what was the pricing and the general thought-process and so on.

That would be amazing , those old boards deserve all the love they can get

[guidemetothelight]

Easiest way to sand down the switchplate for re-painting is using a vibration sander. It's hard to damage anything and you will do it 10 times quicker than manually. Make sure to sand down all the rust and if it's too severe then use some sort of chemical rust converter before painting it. Use primer and some decent paint and you will have durable results for the case, i would try either superglue (but the one that comes in gel form would be easier for such a big crack, clamp it good, you can try filling in the crack later with "finishing" type bodywork bondo, and very gently sanding but just the texture-less part. The textured part you would have to leave as is and you could use some primer on the case before painting, hopefully it will fill the crack to make it less noticeable, good luck!

Thanks for all the tips / tricks. i will borrow the vibration sander that my dad owns and will post the results here ofc

[TNT]

right , thats why iam gonna usa the og caps for it... i have purchased a sous-vide machine to retr0bright it in a controlled setting

Oh wow, that's a very high tech option I never considered. My ultrasonic has the option to heat up the bath, that was always sufficient for me

[browncow]

Easiest way to sand down the switchplate for re-painting is using a vibration sander. It's hard to damage anything and you will do it 10 times quicker than manually. Make sure to sand down all the rust and if it's too severe then use some sort of chemical rust converter before painting it. Use primer and some decent paint and you will have durable results for the case, i would try either superglue (but the one that comes in gel form would be easier for such a big crack, clamp it good, you can try filling in the crack later with "finishing" type bodywork bondo, and very gently sanding but just the texture-less part. The textured part you would have to leave as is and you could use some primer on the case before painting, hopefully it will fill the crack to make it less noticeable, good luck!

Thanks for all the tips / tricks. i will borrow the vibration sander that my dad owns and will post the results here ofc

No problem! make sure to clamp the plate to some table, so it doesnt go everywhere when you sand it. 80 grit paper is good for a start, you could try using 120 later to smooth it out a bit. Make sure to use a primer that is going to work with your paint.

[derzemel]

Also, I would like the keyboard to be usb c , iam hoping to fit an internal protocol converter somewhere in the case and order a fitting coiled and braided cable for it.

I have an Eazy PC Zenith Z-150 too and I have not gotten around to convert it. Could you share any instructions on how to do it if you have found any?

[jsheradin]

I have an Eazy PC Zenith Z-150 too and I have not gotten around to convert it. Could you share any instructions on how to do it if you have found any?

Not exactly a step-by-step instruction but you can get a basic idea here. A female 2.54mm pin header fits the original cable plug just fine. You can buzz out the cable with a multimeter to figure out what's Vcc, Gnd, Data, Clock, and Reset. This board needs all five connections to work unlike a real XT. Soarer's firmware does not work on this board (info here). Hasu's TMK IBMPC converter fortunately works fine.