deskthority

Hey guys, I recently purchased my first Wyse keyboard, a PCE (#840358-01) from '94. Overall I really like it, but the space bar seems a little loose & rattly to me. Here's a very quick sound test:
Just wondering whether that space bar sound is normal for this type of board, or whether there's something I could do to the stabilisers to tighten it up a bit?

As far as I remember, my PCE INT’L had a rather noisy spacebar as well

Does the spacebar feel wobbly? If so, it may be the stabilizer mounts are cracked. If not, the stabilizer may just need a bit of lubricant.

IIRC the stabilizer mounts for the space bar are clip in PCB mount while the rest are plate mount. This might be contributing if the stabs have come unclipped or something.

Hi,

I have 2 Wyse PCE and one Bull Questar that is just a Wyse keyboard rebranding.

Your spacebar is too noisy but it is quite normal in untouched Wyses.

The spacebar stabs are pcb mounted , I did Superlube them as I lubed the stabs at the spacebar joints.

My spacebars have the same noise of the rest of the keys.

Check it out at the end of my video here:
You might try to add an o-ring to the spacebar switch eventually.

Luca

abrahamstechnology wrote: Does the spacebar feel wobbly? If so, it may be the stabilizer mounts are cracked. If not, the stabilizer may just need a bit of lubricant.

It does feel a little bit wobbly. I didn't notice any obvious cracks, but they do seem to roll quite a bit to the left. This is my first board with these PCB mount stabilisers, so wasn't sure if that was normal. Here are a couple of shots of the stabilisers.

lucar wrote: The spacebar stabs are pcb mounted , I did Superlube them as I lubed the stabs at the spacebar joints.

Great video Luca! Really interesting to see your restoration process. Hopefully my Wyse won't need quite as much work Thanks for the tip about Superlube, sounds like I should try that first.

njm wrote:

abrahamstechnology wrote: Does the spacebar feel wobbly? If so, it may be the stabilizer mounts are cracked. If not, the stabilizer may just need a bit of lubricant.

It does feel a little bit wobbly. I didn't notice any obvious cracks, but they do seem to roll quite a bit to the left. This is my first board with these PCB mount stabilisers, so wasn't sure if that was normal. Here are a couple of shots of the stabilisers.

IMG_4205.jpeg

IMG_4206.jpeg

lucar wrote: The spacebar stabs are pcb mounted , I did Superlube them as I lubed the stabs at the spacebar joints.

Great video Luca! Really interesting to see your restoration process. Hopefully my Wyse won't need quite as much work Thanks for the tip about Superlube, sounds like I should try that first.

Check the keycap itself.

abrahamstechnology wrote: Check the keycap itself.

Ah, right. The keycap looks fine, no cracks there.

njm wrote:

abrahamstechnology wrote: Check the keycap itself.

Ah, right. The keycap looks fine, no cracks there.

Good, a bit of lubricant on the spacebar stabilizer mechanism and you'll be good to go.

I'll give it a go. Thanks for your help!