| Posted By
Charlemagne
on 2022-08-23
17:24:56
|  I got a "new" old Commodore Plus/4 from a rooftop...
Hello Commodore Plus/4 Fans,
One of my friend and I were talking about world, people, etc... and once he randomly mentioned that he had got a Commodore Plus/4 computer. Naturally, I was very curious to know where was it right that time.
It turned out the computer had been stored on a rooftop of a house, but since then the rooftop was also changed... 
A long story in short... well the computer was covered by dust and more dust, stuck keys. The friend stated the machine had been working when he put it on the rooftop a long time ago.
"Did you pack it in a nylon at last?" - I asked.
"Of course" - He answered.
In the end he brought me a very dirty Commodore Plus/4 computer (with a cassette, a video cable and a power supply). Maybe there was no pigeon's shit on it...
Only a key (the left side Control) was missing. (broken)
So, I took a toothbrush and a sponge-cloth to start cleaning all over. After I pulled a kg mud from it, I began to take it apart. I managed to take 42 pieces of keys out perfectly, but after 40 years there were some keys broken in.
(Broken in = the little plastic plug under the key broke in the toe which reach to the keyboard panel and come back by a spring)
I attempt to stick it back by (quick-)glue, in turn the glue stuck the spring and my finger, and everithing excepting the toe...
My question is... How you to solve this problem???
By the way, the bottom part of the computer is working perfectly. I have found a top part (keyboard) in my storage. The video cable is also broken, but I exchange it for a right one and the computer shows a nice screen.
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Posted By
MIK
on 2022-08-24
04:17:12
 | Re: I got a "new" old Commodore Plus/4 from a rooftop...
Try YouTube for computer cleaning video's.
Other than that, if it is the rubber/silicone contact pads and they have lost connectivity... You can buy new pads on eBay. It will require you to cut the old contact off, about the same amount as the new pad and use super glue to stick the new one on.
There are also video's out there where people change the contacts for TV remotes if you need to see how it's done, but only look at changing the pads if all cleaning methods have failed.
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Posted By
MIK
on 2022-08-25
06:25:15
| Re: I got a "new" old Commodore Plus/4 from a rooftop...
Nasty. Not something I've had to look into before. As you may know, plastic becomes brittle over time and maybe the extreme temperature changes in the loft space have made things worse for these keys. 
If gluing is no good I would look for a replacement keyboard. A replacement key would also work but it might not match the colour shade of your working keys. And sadly second hand supplies are getting low or stupidly over expensive. Your best bet would be European eBay stores such as UK and Germany .de
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Posted By
Charlemagne
on 2022-08-26
05:36:27
| Re: I got a "new" old Commodore Plus/4 from a rooftop...
Well, as I understand well... Nobody has any idea or experience about it... Everybody buys "new" things to replace the old and time-worn things, because there is no time to fix it. It's very interesting.
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