Keyboard Replacement

jjohnson1984

A friend has a laptop in which the keyboard has broken thanks to stuff being droped in there, everything else is working fine so we just need a new keyboard.

I have detached the old keyboard with the service manual instructions by removing the ribbon with the blue ending which was loose from the socket under the keyboard it goes into and have a new keyboard, but I cannot seem to get the ribbon to fit into the socket the old one came out of no matter how much I push it in. I do not want to break the ribbon Any advice?

majiktripp

Check on the socket on the motherboard that the ribbon cable connects into, is there two clips either side of it that need to be pulled out (or up as the case maybe) to allow you to fit the ribbon cable into the slot. Once the cables in you then push back in (or down) these retaining clips that stop the ribbon cable comming loose or falling out. Just one thing for you to check.

jjohnson1984

There are two white contraptions either side of the socket the cable connects into. At the moment they seem to have two positions. One which is nearer the socket where the ribbon goes in and another which is further down. By default they seem to be pushed down towards the bottom of the connector but they do push up towards where the ribbon goes in.

I've tried to put the ribbon in when the clips are pushed up and they clips push themselves down but still can't get the ribbon to go in fully and hold. it's very tight as the ribbon on both the old and new cables is not very long and there is metal casing just above the slot which is annoying. The end of the cable is not that straight on the new keyboard so I'm going to try and straighten that out or should I try and bend it a little as well so I can thread it in better?

majiktripp

When those white clips are "up" they are open and supposed to allow the cable to slot in, so after you straighten the ribbon out (carefully!) try fitting it again and once it looks to be in place lock down the two connectors either end and it should firmly hold the cable in place.Good luck with it!

karl200607

Hi.

I have a similar problem with my dell inspirion 1300 i was trying to open it and then the keyboard stopped working.

Would anybody have any idea what happened, it would also be very helpful if somebody could point me to a disasembly layout before i leave it in to a repair shop.

Thankyou.

majiktripp

karl200607 wrote: »

Hi.

I have a similar problem with my dell inspirion 1300 i was trying to open it and then the keyboard stopped working.

Would anybody have any idea what happened, it would also be very helpful if somebody could point me to a disasembly layout before i leave it in to a repair shop.

Thankyou.

Here ya go
http://support.euro.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/ins1300/en/sm/keyboard.htm#wp1084976
1300's are pretty easy to take apart.

karl200607

Cheers majik very helpful indeed.

Ive managed to get the keyboard working again it was the ribbon cable that was loose.

I would also like to replace the dc power jack as it is too faulty the pin itself not the solder job and was wondering if i got a 2.5mm jack from maplin would that be sufficient.

Thanks again.

majiktripp

Replacing the DC jack is a lot more tricky than the keyboard. Involves removing the motherboard entirely, desoldering old jack and resoldering new one (good soldering skills and a steady hand are vital), finally to sturdy up the jack you could encase it with some hot glue from a glue gun as its not conductive and makes the jack more secure.