Thing I learned today about keyboard switches (M0110A)

[dv-]

So, I have one of these with the Mitsumi switches, and it had ten dead keys. I was able to do the “take it apart and bend the spring back” on seven of the ten, but the other three continued to have intermittent or nonexistent contact.

Unfortunately it was an Apple-specific part. Salvaged and NOS switches are hard to find. Some dude on eBay wants $15 apiece for them.

Turns out that contemporary mitsumi switches (model KCT-2) use the same contact spring mechanism, they’re much cheaper, and the piece is interchangeable.


(Screw you, weird little part.)

Source: https://www.ebay.com/itm/325236069397

Swapped that little contact mechanism and the old Apple switches are good as new!

The other kinda neat thing I noticed is that some outer dimensions on these switches are identical (they even snap into the Apple metal frame) which means you could probably hack together a “parts donor” Mitsumi-built M0110 with a switch and keycap set pulled from one of their old (and relatively cheap) PC mechanical keyboards.

Unfortunately the stems are completely different but maybe somebody smarter than me could make a 3D printable hybrid one that would let you use the Apple key caps.

 

[nathall]

I don’t know if they’re anything like the Alps switches used in the early Mac keyboards, but I grabbed a bunch of them in bulk to repair some of my old keyboards with dead switches. To my dismay, I ordered ones with stems that were half height. To my delight, I realized I could transplant the stems from the dead switches into the new ones and they work perfectly.