Thought I would post some progress pictures and what I used to clean.
First I pulled all the keys with a
key puller, I would argue to use this, not your fingers as the stems on these are probably weak at this point and will crack.
I then did the usual key and case bath with
dish detergent scrubed it clean. I removed all the loose hair, dust and dirt with
compressed air. I then used an old
tooth brush to clean all around the keyswitches.
After the keys and case were all dry, I used
paper towels and
99% alcohol to remove the pen markings that someone wrote over about 20 of the keys. I was careful to not rub the lettering from the factory, however it seems pretty rugged.
Next I hooked the keyboard to the Amiga 1000 launched notepad and tested all the key switches. The ones that did not respond I sprayed the magic juice,
Deoxit and worked the key stems vigorously. Every key came back. A few that were gummy, I did the same as the Deoxit I used works as a lubricant too.
The few keys that would not clean up all the marker well I would use a
Magic Eraser. This cleaned up about 99.99% of the marks now and I find acceptable. Keep in mind the Magic Eraser is a mild abrasive, so it will remove material, but I didn't notice on the keys and again I made sure to avoid the factory lettering.
After placing all the keys in a few still stuck down, and I determined this to be the key stems cracked, and pressing agains the black stem mount/holder. I used a
jewelers flat head screw driver to break away a little bit of the corner that holds the stem in. The three others should hold the stem in fine, but this was careful slow work and did a little at a time, test, repeat and now I have zero sticking keys!
My theory is the broken stem wall pushes out in the corner when the key cap is in and rubs against the black lip of the plastic and that in turn holds the key down when pressed.
I have started to use the magic eraser on the case, as I think someone mistakenly thought the keyboard had nicotine stains and tried to clean it with a harsh chemical that was damaging the plastic. I can clearly see liquid damage on the plastic and you can see it on the photo around the number pad keys. Since the case is smooth, the magic eraser has blended away the chalking stain that has occurred. The last week I have been sun bleaching the case and the space bar.
Not fully together and still a nice bit of yellow that will never go 100% away without retro-brighting. Once the sun is out more here and the weather is warmer I can sun bleach it some more.
Shows you what is possible when trying to save this old stuff!