Dell sk-8125 keyboar service

Yes, me.

Same here. I'm addicted to mechanical keyboards and have difficulty dealing with low profile and ultra-thin keyboards. What's happening is you have debris between the black plastic square "post" under the keycap, and the black plastic frame. I have various tools and tricks that will allow me to remove dust balls and such from under the keycaps, without removing the keycaps. Compressed air works for stuff under the keycaps, but doesn't anything for the added friction that accompanies some sticky crud on the square "post", which requires a total teardown.

Before proceeding, take a digital photo of the keyboard layout so you can put the keys back in their proper locations.

You might need to buy or build a keycap removal tool:

There are videos on YouTube on Dell keyboard cleaning. Unfortunately, I couldn't find one specific to the SK-8125. Incidentally, my favorite keyboard is the Dell SK-8135. I have about 10 of these. I kill approximately one keyboard every year.

I selected some instructions and videos for cleaning Dell keyboards that are similar to your SK-8125.

- Don't scrub the keycaps with a stiff brush, which tends to scrape off the white silk-screened letters from the keycaps.

- Use mild dish soap (Dawn Ultra blue) for grease removal.

- Do not reassemble the keyboard until everything is dry.

- Do not dry the keyboard parts with a hot air gun or oven.

- Do something to prevent dropping and losing screws.

I've found that much of the dust in my keyboard comes from the ceiling when the keyboard is NOT in use. I ran an experiment for about 20 days. When not in use, I only covered HALF the my keyboard. Near the end of the test, the covered half was fairly clean, while the un-covered half showed considerable dust under a magnifying glass.

If all else fails, buy a used SK-8135 on eBay:

Good luck.

I forgot to mention that the SK-8135 keyboard has a problem. The volume control knob is not very well secured on its shaft and will tend to fall off. Finding an exact replacement knob is difficult. Finding a know that fits is easy enough, but the one's I could find are aesthetically disgusting.

I recently advised a customer to print a 3D copy. Of course, he printed exactly one, leaving me without a knob.

That was truly informative. If the sk-8125 has captive keys as shown in the video the job doesn't look too bad. I take it the contacts are some kind of conductive pads in the dimple mat?

As a matter curiosity, have you ever run across a keyboard with a left-handed pointing device built in? Being unable to do otherwise, I like to use a pointing device with my left hand so the right is free to take notes or something. I found a combo keyboard/trackpad sold by CanaKit on Amazon which is decent, but has the trackpad on the right. It's a nice keyboard, but the trackpad is in the wrong place. Also, the gestures (tap, drag and so on) can become confusing. A ball might be better.

Many thanks for writing!

bob prohaska

(chomp)

Thanks. I got carried away a little. I'll try not to do it again.

I'm not sure I understand what you mean by "captive keys". This partly shows how it fits together:

Yes. That's how it works. I would disassemble one of my keyboards and take photos, but I'm kinda busy today.

Why would I want to "run across a keyboard"? Running across a keyboard would likely destroy it.

I can't conjure a reason to have the trackball attached to the keyboard. Just buy an separate trackball:

I've used a trackball in the past. I didn't like the typical small diameter trackball. I tried one that used a billiard 57mm (2.25") diameter billiard ball. I wanted something I could rest my hand on top. So, I destroyed the base, replaced the ball with a 4 in (102mm) lawn bowling ball, and replaced the base with a base made from scrap lumber. It worked, but wasn't quite large enough. I searched for a

Then, I discovered computer games, where the trackball didn't work because I could not respond fast enough. Fighting inertia (from the weight of the ball) was very tiring. So, I bought a flight joystick and a game pad.

I've given up writing. Nobody can read my handwriting. Instead, I prefer to type.

Just that the keyboard upper and lower halves can be separated with the keys seemingly "captive" in the upper half. The last keyboard opened by me simply dumped the keys out loose.

Thank you, I understand well enough now!

Portability, mostly. In the manner of a laptop, but not using a laptop computer.

Same here!

bob prohaska

The links to videos I provided did not show how to disassemble an SK-8125. What I listed were links to keyboards that I thought might be sufficiently similar to an SK-8125. The only exploded view I found was the JPG below:

Good. I'm currently rather busy or lazy, depending on your point of view.

How about both two trackballs?

Would a removable touchpad on the left work for you? An easier way would be a leg strap mounted smart phone used as a touchpad.

Either would "work" in the sense of being usable, but still cluttered. I'm trying to minimize object count. In that sense the CanaKit keyboard/ trackpad combo is probably the best I can do off-the-shelf.

Thanks for writing!

bob prohaska