What did you do NOT to your Sprinter today?

[Green Maned Lion]

Ever end up doing something and realise you should have done it a long ass time ago, because you were trying to come up with another solution to the problem? Yeah. My wife's been having a bitchy hard time with tree pollen this year; like can't sleep in the bedroom, can't walk around outside certain days without a surgical mask on, missed work a few days because of this, and so on. Inside the house wasn't that big a problem generally... except the bedroom.

Few days ago, she was too distressed by the condition to even clean the bedroom, so I cleaned it. I was stunned, because it was covered in dust and whatnot enough that I could see it without glasses and she had thoroughly done the room 3 days before. Dusting rooms so that people can't see any dirt is what she does for a living, and she charges high rates and gets them. And keep in mind, a month or so ago, we bought a well recommended air filter for $300, and taped a 20x20 Merv13 HVAC filter to the box fan that runs in the room.

What's different about the bedroom? 1) we have a pair fans that run in it all night long, and 2) The A/C unit is set to 60° and runs all night long at high fan all year. A/Cs are not supposed to exchange air with the outside, but manifestly a ridiculous amount of pollen from outside was getting in somewhere. And incidentally, the windows in the bedroom were replaces in 2008; the only new windows in the house. Its the only room that's not breezy from a drafty perspective.

We agreed that this cleaning was a Sisyphean task. We decided a U-Bend unit would be the most likely to not have air exchange, we concluded that the overbuilt walls and window sills meant that an under-mount U-bend would not fit, and that the only over-mount U-Bend available for acquisition that day was a Midea, and that the 10k we had was a bit overspecced. So we went to PC Richard's in Manalapan and picked up a:

Midea 8,000 BTU 115V U-Shaped Smart Energy Star Window Air Conditioner with Inverter, 3 Fan Speeds, Sleep Mode & Remote Control - White | P.C. Richard & Son

Buy the Midea MAW08W1QWT-T Window Air Conditioners at P.C. Richard & Son. Shop now for the guaranteed lowest prices on Window Air Conditioners from Midea.

www.pcrichard.com

And we installed it. That was the hardest to install window shaker to date; it required an external frame, and cutting some thick foam. The remote control sucks. I'm not downloading the %$%$#$@ phone app. But she slept like a baby the past three nights; I could even revert to using my wool blanket. We're discussing turning down the air filter and have stopped running the box-fan-filter-bodge during the day, too.

20+ hours of dusting and vacuuming and dozens of sheet/blanket/comforter laundry loads trying to get rid of the pollen. One $350 A/C unit, problem solved.

I wish Baab was around and I asked him about this a month ago.

 

[Green Maned Lion]

A few weeks ago, I was checking the Mernom site (authorised Vostok watch dealer in Chistopol) and found that for the first time since the mess in Ukraine started, they'd ship to the US. They make good watches, but since the war the prices have nearly tripled, and in any case I must own a dozen. But they make the best value leather and metal watch straps on the market. In particular, their stainless mesh bracelets are a world better than what you can buy for under a few hundred bucks elsewhere, and the current purchase price is $13. I ordered two of those in 22mm, a regular 22mm steel bracelet, and a silicone bracelet, neither confident it would reach me, nor sure what the tariffs would be.

Tariffs were not assessed on the package. Thus it obviously arrived, and I had my Apple UW2 in mind for it. I think it looks awesome, even though it is branded with the Vostok logo (or rather Восток):



Today, I went to Roots Country Market in Mannheim, PA, mostly looking for meet and pickled garlic. I saw a really neat Hess Truck from 1980, and it seemed like it had opening front doors, so I pulled the handle to try and open it and the handle snapped off (old plastic I guess; the doors do open, I figured out when I got home). The vendor didn't notice my doing this, but I bought it anyway. $15. I don't regret this, its a really cool model; the gas filling hose actually pulls out and retracts. And, as you can see from this picture, with the installation of a D-cell, the lights still work!

 

[Green Maned Lion]

I mentioned a bit back in here that I intended to try and market natively Mac compatible Model M keyboards that consisted of as many original IBM parts as possible. To that end, I bought a lot of 5 Model Ms on eBay recently (listing Image):

If you know anything about Model Ms, my total cost of $532 shipped for them was not bad. A good condition, working, tested board is worth much more than $100 a piece, however different years and models are worth more than others. The silver metal badged one is a first generation, 1986 board and is worth considerably more than the other pearl (beige) boards here. One of the grey oval badges is an '87, and is worth a bit more than average, too. The blue badged one is a Lexmark built model, and is worth a bit less.

The wild card in this listing is the black one, which is a so-called M13. It was not made by IBM... or Lexmark. It was made by a company called Maxiswitch in Mexico. They are typically worth a lot more than a standard model. What sets it apart functionally from a typical M is that it has a the clitoris- er, I mean Track Point pointing device found on ThinkPads. That's not really why its valuable, though, because the early TrackPoint on a modern high-resolution monitor is nearly useless. It's valuable because it is the only IBM branded buckling spring keyboard that came in black. If it was in perfect condition (which I knew it wasn't) it would be worth as much as the entire lot cost me...

I received the lot a few days ago, and set about giving them each an inspection/initial cleaning. This means taking it apart, and getting rid of bulk dirt and grime, and checking the condition of what's in there. I started with the metal badged model... partly because that was the one I wanted for my own collection; I don't have a metal badge first generation 101-key. Egad. I have never seen a keyboard so disgusting on the inside. Not just dirt and hair; that's normal. Gunk, dirt, god knows what, and dozens of beetle carapaces. It was jammed full of it, and I realised then I was in for it. It had enough missing rivets that I would say it needed a screw mod, although all the keys clicked.

I had moved to the bathroom and was doing this in the tub, because of the grime, so I set the metal badge aside after reassembling it, and started on the next one, the blue badge... which was absolutely spotless, and was only had 5 broken tendons. Manifestly, these boards ended up in the same lot, but were not stored in the same places! The two grey oval badged keyboards were also fairly clean, would benefit from screw modding. I also noticed at this point that the M13 was not just missing its eraser nub, but the entire trackpoint assembly. I then tested each of the boards for function, and every key registered on all of them, and the mouse buttons on the M13 also worked. I had not, however, taken the board apart.

Today, I decided to take this board apart, clean it, and see what needed to be done to get it ready for selling (I was assuming it would need a screw mod before I sold it.). I also knew from the auction pictures that some of the letters were worn off. Model Ms use very durable PBT keycaps, and on every other model M, the keys are printed using dye sublimation, which is very durable. At the time, though, it was not possible to use dye sublimation to put a white legend on a black key (it is now possible to do it with 'reverse dye sublimation' where you essentially print black all over a white key except for the legend), so they were pad printed. They wear off with use. This had some worn legends.

This picture was taken before I cleaned it:



The key point is that G, H, and B (which are unique to the M13 because of the trackpoint) are in good shape... so one can purchase a set of black keys from Model F labs for a fair price ($79). I'm not going to do it, though. I'll let whomever buys it decide whether they think that's worth the trouble (a set with M13 G H and B keys sells for $299, and only 15 will be made, although I think somebody needs more help than I do if they are willing to pay $300 for such a set...). Anyway, when I took apart the keyboard and lifted the frame out of the case... neatly tucked away was the TrackPoint module.


Besides some dust and hair, it was spotless inside, and there are only 2 popped tendons; I checked the others and they seemed pretty solid. I think it would be pointless to screw mod this one at all.

As such, I tried a new method of cleaning the barrel plate. Normally, I do that as part of the screw mod, and essentially just soap and suds it, rinse it off, and let it drey... but that, of course, assumes that I have detached the barrel plate from the rest of the assembly, which one can't do if one is not going to cut the remaining tendons. I used a toothbrush and a stiff paint brush; I think the result is pretty good. In this picture you can see the black ribbon cable that leads to the now installed TrackPoint assembly.

I cleaned off the keys using a toothbrush for the sides, and the paintbrush for the face (because I don't want to remove more of the legends), and reassembled it, and replaced all the keys. I perhaps prematurely ordered a replacement rubber nub (clit) for the trackpoint assembly from ebay. I have never used one of these before, and I will say that the TrackPoint absolutely gets in the way of typing, but if the buyer wants to remove it, it really just pulls right out and they can put it right back where I found it.

I then took it back upstairs and performed another function test. The Trackpoint also 'works'. It doesn't really work in a useful manner, because it sort of wanders along the screen like Slowpoke Rodriguez (Speedy Gonzalez's slow cousin, for the Looney Tunes averse) that probably made sense in a world where 640x480 was normal and 800x600 was impressive, but doesn't work so good on my computers 3440x1440, let alone somebody with a real high-resolution display.

Still, it is cosmetically pristine except for the letters, everything works, and its in good, original condition. If I figure that a metal badge M would have cost me $234 (realistic) and I sell this thing for $300 (I can probably actually get more) then the other other 3 keyboards are effectively free. Given the $140ish cost of the Mac conversion, I suspect if I sell those for $250 each I will have successfully not lost money assuaging my boredom and reducing internet trolling occupying the same purpose.

And, of course, that is before I sell the SDL cables and control cards that will be redundant with the Mac conversion... (I got two SDLs with this and I already had all I need, so I can just sell those separately...)

 

[RVBarry]

although all the keys clicked

The V key on my Unicomp has stopped clicking, and requires a deep press to activate it... Is this typically just the spring, or some plastic bits?

I came across my second box of Lexmarks at my parents' house. Iirc, most have electronic issues, but I should retest them all...

 

[Green Maned Lion]

The V key on my Unicomp has stopped clicking, and requires a deep press to activate it... Is this typically just the spring, or some plastic bits?

I came across my second box of Lexmarks at my parents' house. Iirc, most have electronic issues, but I should retest them all...

There are a few reasons they can stop clicking, the most common being, of course, that the spring falls off the pre-angling pin in the keystem. That's easy to fix; just pull the keystem off, lay the keyboard perpendicular to your desk, with the spacebar side facing up, and replace the key. If it doesn't work, take the key off again and look at the spring; it may have also detached from the flipper (in which case you would be able to just lift it right out of the case); you can try reattaching it to the flipper using tweezers or chopsticks; its delicate and a faff, but it can be done. If it has not detached from the flipper, I'd try reinstalling the keystem again.

The other one would be broken tendons; are other keys around it getting spongey? Whatever plastic Unicomp is using for their barrel plates, or the temperature they melt the tedons, or whatever it is, they don't last as long as earlier IBM/Lexmark tendons.

A third possiblility, which I only saw this morning from Clickykeyboards on FB, was on a fairly recent Unicomp (it was a New Model M from 2020), which had this fascinating issue I've never seen before:



It had baffled me, because the pictures of it before the repair showed a board with no broken tendons at all. The plastic Unicomp is using on their flippers is definitely more brittle than the stuff IBM used, or even Unicomp was using 13 years ago. But I have to admit that failure mode did not occur to me. And that one looks like it has a manufacturing defect on top of that.

 

[RVBarry]

The other one would be broken tendons; are other keys around it getting spongey? Whatever plastic Unicomp is using for their barrel plates, or the temperature they melt the tedons, or whatever it is, they don't last as long as earlier IBM/Lexmark tendons.

So far, only the V has issues.
Mine's about 20 years old.
Thanks

 

[vreihen]

Someone was crazy enough to hand me the keys to a brand new 2026 Freightliner a few days ago. I don't know Whiskey Tango Foxtrot the Freightliner truck ergonomics engineers were thinking, but it's 2026 and they didn't even think to include a place to set a smart phone down or provide a USB charging port! Also manual crank windows, and manual locks. Let me tell you, seeing this abomination made me realize that Mercedes absolutely nailed the cab layout for long road trips on the Sprinter.

Long story short, my beloved MacBook somehow wound up stuffed behind the air-ride driver's seat. One bump later, and the screen was shattered as the seat bounced. To make matters worse, my Apple Care coverage expired a little over a month ago...just beyond the renewal window. The icing on the cake is that my Time Machine backups are 800 miles away on the NAS at what's left of Chez Vreihen. FML!!!

I'm typing this post using a $39 SPAmazon USB travel monitor, being held over the cracked screen by two oversized paper clamps. Not exactly Liquid Retina video, but enough to back it up and migrate to a new MacBook once I decide which one I want and order it.....

 

[Green Maned Lion]

Someone was crazy enough to hand me the keys to a brand new 2026 Freightliner a few days ago. I don't know Whiskey Tango Foxtrot the Freightliner truck ergonomics engineers were thinking, but it's 2026 and they didn't even think to include a place to set a smart phone down or provide a USB charging port! Also manual crank windows, and manual locks. Let me tell you, seeing this abomination made me realize that Mercedes absolutely nailed the cab layout for long road trips on the Sprinter.

Long story short, my beloved MacBook somehow wound up stuffed behind the air-ride driver's seat. One bump later, and the screen was shattered as the seat bounced. To make matters worse, my Apple Care coverage expired a little over a month ago...just beyond the renewal window. The icing on the cake is that my Time Machine backups are 800 miles away on the NAS at what's left of Chez Vreihen. FML!!!

I'm typing this post using a $39 SPAmazon USB travel monitor, being held over the cracked screen by two oversized paper clamps. Not exactly Liquid Retina video, but enough to back it up and migrate to a new MacBook once I decide which one I want and order it.....

Why not just get a thunderbolt dock and a Model M?

Seriously, that sucks. I thought they were supposed to be rugged.

 

[vreihen]

Why not just get a thunderbolt dock and a Model M?

If I wasn't living in a cardboard box under a bridge with no desk or table to sit at, I would have my 27" iMac and DAS Keyboard set up and not be working portably on a notebook computer.

Speaking of Model M's, I just found a 1988 model M "F2" with essentially zero miles on it last Friday. It sat under a dust cover on top of a PS/2 Model 80 in a server room, and was only plugged in so that the headless server didn't throw an ironic boot error about not detecting a keyboard and asking the user to press F1 to continue.....

 

[Green Maned Lion]

If I wasn't living in a cardboard box under a bridge with no desk or table to sit at, I would have my 27" iMac and DAS Keyboard set up and not be working portably on a notebook computer.

Speaking of Model M's, I just found a 1988 model M "F2" with essentially zero miles on it last Friday. It sat under a dust cover on top of a PS/2 Model 80 in a server room, and was only plugged in so that the headless server didn't throw an ironic boot error about not detecting a keyboard and asking the user to press F1 to continue.....

I wonder if it’s tendons are all good.

 

[vreihen]

I wonder if it’s tendons are all good.

Do they go bad from sitting essentially unused since new?????

 

[Green Maned Lion]

Do they go bad from sitting essentially unused since new?????

Yes. The main cause of tendon failure is plastic oxidation. I mean, if It never gets typed on they might be fine, but once you use it for a week or so they’ll start popping. If you have a 5.5mm or 7/32 nut driver or long thin socket, you can look for yourself. A lot need to pop before the problem becomes obvious.

The repair is not complicated, but…