Little Cousin Broke my Keyboard...

[santucci218]

small family party at my house, i had my laptop off and closed and my 9 year old cousin opened it and it looks as if she smashed the 'g' key. it is off my laptop now and sitting beside me. There are 3 parts. the actual key, and 2 plastic parts. sadly, after about an hour i cant get the darn thing back on...somebody help me if you can, im so mad i may have to hunt her.

[Yvon]

Originally Posted by santucci218

small family party at my house, i had my laptop off and closed and my 9 year old cousin opened it and it looks as if she smashed the 'g' key. it is off my laptop now and sitting beside me. There are 3 parts. the actual key, and 2 plastic parts. sadly, after about an hour i cant get the darn thing back on...somebody help me if you can, im so mad i may have to hunt her.

it's not easy to put it back. My wife can do it, I can't.

If you need another keyboard, look on Ebay. I bought one for 18$.

[msquared]

Originally Posted by santucci218

im so mad i may have to hunt her.

You think you're mad? I sent her $20 with a promise for another $20 once she finished the job. I can't believe she only got the "g" key. Maybe I need to be paying more....

[santucci218]

ha..

anyways man, i cant just get a new keyboard, its my brand new 1500 dollar laptop.

[Jared Lash]

That sucks. But for some reason I read the thread title and thought you were talking about a musical keyboard. It reminded me of my college roommate's expensive keyboard that his cat peed on. It worked fine except for the D above the middle C. Every time he hit that note it would just keep ringing out until he shut the thing off.

It was a real pain during jam sessions. "Sorry guys, cat pee" . . . click.

[santucci218]

that hardly helped my situation at all, lol.


anybody know how to fix these darn things? i wonder if i took it to best buy or something.

[Sonic_Death]

I know how to fix it, but I am not about to go explaining it it is not an easy process

You will have no clue what I am talking about, but even if one of the two dealies fell off, you can still get it as long as at least one is still there.

It works on kind of a latching system, and it all pushes onto each other and locks in.

[HollowBassman]

Originally Posted by santucci218

that hardly helped my situation at all, lol.


anybody know how to fix these darn things? i wonder if i took it to best buy or something.

Yes, to replace the "G" key, you must first: pry off both the "W" and "P" keys; next take a glass of water and pour about a teaspoon of it into the hole where the "W" key was; then you just shake and let dry(if necessary, place in an oven set at 325 degrees, for no more than 10min.).

[Sonic_Death]

Originally Posted by HollowBassman

Yes, to replace the "G" key, you must first: pry off both the "W" and "P" keys; next take a glass of water and pour about a teaspoon of it into the hole where the "W" key was; then you just shake and let dry(if necessary, place in an oven set at 325 degrees, for no more than 10min.).

Honestly, that is somewhat right.

How I figured out how to get it back on was by gently prying off one of the keys next to it. If you do it properly, only the faceplate of the key comes off, and the actual mechanism itself doesn't come off. The faceplate is easy to just snap on and off.

If you can manage to get only the faceplate of another key off, you can see how the lever mechanism works, and then try to replicate it in the broken key.

For me to actually explain it without being there is nearly impossible though, heh... maybe there are guides online with pictures, and if not, just try to do what I said and give it a shot.

[bluestarbass]

I dont understand why you cant get a new keyboard. When I used to repair laptops replacing the keyboard is the easiest fix. You should at least look into it. IF you really can but one on ebay for $20 thatd be worth it. Its just 2 latches or screws you undo, replace a ribbon cable and thats it. I have no idea how to replace just 1 key, wed also just do the whole keyboard.

[buzzbass]

Originally Posted by santucci218

ha..

anyways man, i cant just get a new keyboard, its my brand new 1500 dollar laptop.

I think the kid's parents need to step up and foot the repair bill. I would not let them back into my house until they did.

[louieeadg]

First, I would break my little cousin, humans are a dime a dozen. Looking for a new keyboard is the logical next-step. Only problem I've come across during such situations of distress is that having a real new laptop makes finding one on ebay a little difficult...if that doesn't work, I would start using another letter instead of "G" when writing. Poetic license man...

[FL Knifemaker]

Google is your friend.........but then you can't google with a missing G


Replacing Laptop Keys (and keyboards)
Another one from the Google powered blog entry department:

How to replace keys on laptop keyboards

Compaq's a re generally easier. I have experience with the E500 series Armada. To replace the keys, you'll want to make sure that the little white “jack” (the thing that makes the key pop back up when pressed) is already situated in the keyboard tray. If not, putting the key on will be next to impossible. Once the jack is on there (it only fits one way), just set the key down where it belongs, oriented properly of course, and push. When it's properly attached, it will usually make a few clicking noises.

Space Bars, Shift keys, enter keys, and other keys are a little more difficult. Rather than a couple of those little jacks, there's a metal bar that covers the length of the key. The key (no pun intended) to getting a key with the metal bar down is to get the two hooks on the ends of the bar in the slots on the keyboard try. Once they're in place, ust push down on the key until it clicks into place. If the little piece of plastic on the keyboard tray which the metal bar snaps into is broken, the whole keyboard will have to be replaced

Replacing Compaq Keyboards

Replacing the keyboard on a Compaq laptop is remarkably simple. Step one is to get a screw driver and take the screw out of the bottom of the case. It's lcoated smack in the centre, and it has a picture of a keyboard next to it. Once this is done, flip the laptop over, and using either a flat bladed screwdriver or a fingernail, slide the locking clips between the function keys back. Once they're all snapped back, the keyboard will flip up. Under it is a ribbon cable. Just yank this out of the slot.

Putting the keyboard back on is just as simple as taking it off. There is one extra step to putting the ribbon cable back in. Once the flat cord is slid back into the slot on the motherbaord, there will be two tiny tabs on either end of the port it goes into. Just push these in until they lock down. They will prevent the ribbon cable from coming out. Note, these clips must be released in order to remove the ribbon cable from the old keyboard.

Replacing Acer Keyboards

My experience with Acers is limited to the Travelmate 529 and 220 series. I think all the Acer laptops are more or less the same. This process will actually void the warranty, most likely. Nonetheless, here it goes: Use a flat bladed screw driver, and use it to slide the LCD hinge covers off. Some force may be required to force them off. Once they're removed, the keyboard should popup, and the same procedure regarding the ribbon cable on a Compaq unit should be followed.

I even found a video!!


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7uiBjva4Ibc

[Baryonyx]

Damn kids!

[Geoff St. Germaine]

They're a PITA to replace, but it is easily doable and there is absolutely no reason to replace the keyboard. The explanation FL Knifemaker posted should help you out. I've had to do it about 4 times. Sometimes you get it all set in a couple of minutes and sometimes it takes 20 minutes of messing around before you get all of the parts seated properly. If you look at the attachment to the keyboard and the backside of the key you should be able to figure out how the two hinge pieces go together and that's half of it right there.

[santucci218]

do you take the 2 plastic parts and put them on the keyboard, than push down the key? or do you set the plastic parts on the key, than push them onto the board?

[MJ5150]

Just pop the face of another key off as was mentioned. Observe how it is connected, and reassemble your "G" key going off the one you popped off.

I've had this problem before as well, and this worked the best for me.

-Mike

[MJ5150]

Originally Posted by santucci218

do you take the 2 plastic parts and put them on the keyboard, than push down the key? or do you set the plastic parts on the key, than push them onto the board?

For me, I pop the key on after assembling the plastic pieces on the keyboard.

-Mike

[*smb]

If you can't get the key back on, the manufacturer should be happy to send you a replacement laptop keyboard. They are very easy to fit and your laptop should still be under warranty - it won't cost you anything.

[santucci218]

i got the plastic parts on right...i think..

when i took off the f key to look at the parts, i realized that the f key was set up reverse of what the g key was!

anyways, i think i have the plastic parts on right...but still nothing.