So the problem was: two neighbour keys, the 'e' and the 'r', were dead (no response when hit). Progressively they have ceased to function, but funnily, in a synchrone way: when one key wasn't working, the other one as well. Same when one was working again, the other one was alive too. Ah-ha! Since I didn't want to throw away my nice Netbook, nor giving it to repair (probably, same cost as a new machine, and long waiting time), I have removed most keys, including the mobile frame that keep the keys well aligned, lifted the frame with the silicon pieces that make "plop" when you press the keys, and had a look at the contact foil. What make things difficult is that it is a triple foil, with flat wires on the top and the bottom foil; the middle foil is to isolate. Looking at the wires, a little bit of deductive logic made me conclude that the bad contact had to at one precise place. No way to measure it actually without destroying the foils. So I've separated the 2nd and the 3rd foils with a knife, and put a little piece of aluminium inbetween, and put a bit of glue to avoid having bad surprises later, when writing to this blog for instance. And ? Bingo, it works!
Here are pictures of this keyboard surgery:
The 'e' and 'r' keys were dead, so the broken contact had to be where my finger is pointing. |
(On the way) back to life! |
The Netbook is an Acer Aspire One.