I’ve recently got hold of a 1986 Apple M0110A Keyboard, and I’ve been wanting one of these for quite some time now, so to finally get one has really made my day! Introduced with the Macintosh Plus in 1986, these were manufactured until 1990 when the Mac Plus was then discontinued. There are a few different manufacturers of these so the switches also change depending on who made it. This one was made in Japan by Mitsumi (they also manufactured the M0110A in Malaysia too), and as such has Mitsumi Mechanical Type 1, or KAM Switches. There are two other known manufacturers, again depending where it was made. In the US, these were manufactured by Alps Electric Co, and have their SKCC Series of switches, and those made in Taiwan were manufactured by SMK, and have their Tall Stem upright switches. As with all these regardless of manufacturer, the switches are all Linear, with exception of the Caps Lock switch, which is a Latching variant of those switches.
But regardless of who made it, obviously there will be some audible differences between manufacturers, but this still doesn’t detract from the fact this keyboard is regarded as one of the original ‘thocky’ boards. I mean, don’t get me wrong, there are a hell of a lot of nice sounding linear boards of this time (I’ve got quite a few Cherry MX Black ones from the mid-late 80’s), and they sound lovely too, but there really is something about the sound of this which is just… addictive!
Overall, the condition to look at seems pretty good for its age.
As for other specifics, the key caps are PBT with exception of the Space Bar, which is made from ABS. Other differences however between manufacturers is that Alps made boards appear to be dye-sublimated legends, and SMK ones are double-shot moulds. As for Mitsumi, there doesn’t appear to be any real consensus, however to me these do look more like dye-sublimated legends than pad printed.
You can see the difference in colour with the Space Bar compared to the other keys, due to the plastic yellowing over the years.
However… This specific example, other than being filthy, has its issues…
I noticed that when typing on this, the left side of the keyboard not only felt off, but the sound just seemed extremely muted and dull. So popping off a few keys, I was greeted by what looks like oily stems, and this is never a good sign.
Honestly, this stuff looks, feels (and smells like) WD-40! So at this point, it felt the best option was to just go for a full strip down and ascertain exactly how bad things really are.
This board is in a hell of a mess to be honest, stripping it down has revealed so much more hiding within. Looking more closely at the one of the affected switches really didn’t fill me with much confidence either, what kind of hack job repair was this!
There is signs of some serious oxidation within the switch, both the brown grubbiness around the spring guide in the middle, but also the green discolouration from the switch leaf too which I’m hoping isn’t a sign of some irreparable damage.
I did do some research around this, and came across this document over at vintageapple.org.
Macintosh Repair & Upgrade Secrets (1990)
If you scroll through to page 223 (209 of the printed book), it goes on to mention about using WD-40 to resolve any intermittent keys following liquid ingress. I guess this makes sense from the point of view that WD-40 is a penetrating fluid designed to drive out moisture and water, but it will wreak havoc on the actual switch internals over time, and not only completely destroy the feel of the keys, but quite possible cause further damage in the long run!
Even the PCB itself isn’t in the best condition. After removing the switch plate you can clearly visible signs of whatever liquid was spilt on the keyboard, and again the WD-40 has just caused a world of mess on it by acting as a magnet to dirt and grime over the years. Even some of the jumpers have signs of oxidation. I reckon it should clean up OK, and one saving grace is that the traces on the PCB itself all seem absolutely fine with no pads corroded or separating from the board itself.
This is now where I’m up to. I’ve not even tested the switches, but given the state they’re in they’re all going to need a full rebuild.
So, as a list of things to do next, we have:
- Strip, Clean and Rebuild all switches
- Thoroughly clean PCB
- Clean, and possibly repaint the switch plate (there is some signs of bubbling under the paint)
- Clean & de-yellow the entire case, and also the space bar
It’s going to take a while, but keep checking back as I’ll post updates as/when more work is done!
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