deskthority

I have recently acquired a restored 5251 Beamspring keyboard. It works well except for the O key which often does not activate. The symptom is that when I press the O key I don't hear a click and no character appears. This behavior is intermittent: after 2-3 presses each press yields a click and the O character appears. Then, after I stop typing for a minute or so it takes another few presses to get the O key working again.

Being the O key, this has a substantial effect on the keyboard's usability.

Can anyone provide any advice on how to fix this? It occurred to me that I could swap the O key switch over with a key that I use rarely or not at all (such as one of the ten keys in the left-hand block). Is there a simpler intervention I could try first? If switch-swapping is the way to go, can someone point me at a tutorial on how to go about doing so? I'm very inexperienced with keyboard DIY and I don't want to break my new beauty.

Assuming that I am by no means a beam spring key expert, the issue you described reminded me a similar problem I experienced on a key module present on my 3278. It seems related to a misalignment of the module key metal slats, as well described by Ellipse in this video clip, which with the service spirit of a user belonging to this community, I report.
Cheers

Thank you! That makes sense and is very helpful. Would I need to just remove the keycap of the O key when I remove the switch to adjust the spring, or will I need to remove all of them?

nihilist00 wrote: 25 Feb 2024, 22:19 Thank you! That makes sense and is very helpful. Would I need to just remove the keycap of the O key when I remove the switch to adjust the spring, or will I need to remove all of them?

You'd need to slide off the whole 'module' key from behind, opening up the keyboard back plate, taking the 'module box' , or whatever it is, a part and start fiddling with metal slats. At the beginning it could seem hard to set it back, but after a little time it will look like very easy to fix things back. Don't be fearful and remember to press 'the beam' all the way with strength, preferably using pliers.....

Thank you for more helpful advice. I'll have a go at this in the next few days and report back.

My O key is now working. I simply had to form the flyplate spring ends to make them slightly closer together. Re-attaching the flyplate was the fun part. I found technique shown in this short video helpful; it involves using a hex key in a vice.

https://youtu.be/vc6LwIjzduI?si=1FEbdMoZhJB7pjw1

Thanks again for the guidance.