How to fix broken keys/inside my Treo

ka1 · 01/27/2006, 12:22 PM

Hi,
Hopefully this may help someone.

I thought my Treo was hosed, as it would not let me unlock it when I turned it on. Eventually, by repeatedly rebooting and trying various things, I found out the problem was my "p" key was stuck. It was sending a long stream of p's whenever I tried to do anything (or nothing).

Sure enough, when I tried pressing the P key, it would not make a "click" like the other keys did.

So, with little to lose (sound issues, old Treo, less than a year on my contract, previously voided warrenty), my attempt to fix it, which sorta worked, included:

1. take out all loose parts (battery cover, SD card, battery, stylus)
2. remove the 6 screws with a #5? torx wrench (careful-this will void your warrentee).
3. opening the case. The front and back are connected by a thin tape-like connector.
4. Removing the front completely by opening the clasp that holds the tape-like strand of wires in its socket. This looked alot like my old Handspring Visor. You can just life up on the clasp (the "mouth" is facing outward, along the long side).
5. The keypad is this white tablet, held in place by tiny screws (philips head). I removed both, and was able to take out the tablet. The keys themselves stayed attached to the front. The back of each key just had a plastic pin, and the keys were all loosely connected, with each set of 4 pivoting against each other.
6. The key tablet was mostly a peice of white plastic on the bottom, a few milimeters thick. The top was covered in some sort of foil. You could see little small circles drawn on the foil top, where each key-pin hits. There were rectangular holes in the foil, roughly every-other key. Around the little drawn circles you could see a raised "hump". You can click on each circle and feel it invert, then pop back out. Feeling really lucky, I peeled back the edge of the foil where the P circle was located. I saw silvery, saucer-like connectors, one for each key. The outer edges seemed to line up with the edge of a target-like design on the other side, so that when you press in on the saucer, the outer makes contact with the ring around the bulls-eye, and the center then touches the center circle of the bulls-eye. I gently tried to push the center of the P saucer so that it was back to the proper inverted shape.
7. I then pushed the foil back down, covering the switches, and put it all back together.
8. I turned on my Treo, and it now seems to work. Not perfectly (the P is now TOO hard to press, but it does click, and no more random streams of P).

Hope this helps someone.

nwillis2k1 · 01/30/2006, 07:02 PM

well, if you are going to go that far to fix a sticky or broken key, you might as well replace the whole keypad. it only costs $20. The keypad (just underneath the actual keys) just pulls out and you can insert a new one just by sliding the connector in.

I ordered a new keypad from
http://performancepda.zoovy.com/c=pY...REO650KEYBOARD
and it came in three days.

I only know this because I dropped my treo650 in the toilet, dried it out, realized that a key jammed (probably from the porcelin), replaced it, and now my treo's back to it's good ol' resetting self.

nw

minhaferzz · 02/02/2006, 11:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ka1

Hi,
Hopefully this may help someone.

I thought my Treo was hosed, as it would not let me unlock it when I turned it on. Eventually, by repeatedly rebooting and trying various things, I found out the problem was my "p" key was stuck. It was sending a long stream of p's whenever I tried to do anything (or nothing).

Sure enough, when I tried pressing the P key, it would not make a "click" like the other keys did.

So, with little to lose (sound issues, old Treo, less than a year on my contract, previously voided warrenty), my attempt to fix it, which sorta worked, included:

1. take out all loose parts (battery cover, SD card, battery, stylus)
2. remove the 6 screws with a #5? torx wrench (careful-this will void your warrentee).
3. opening the case. The front and back are connected by a thin tape-like connector.
4. Removing the front completely by opening the clasp that holds the tape-like strand of wires in its socket. This looked alot like my old Handspring Visor. You can just life up on the clasp (the "mouth" is facing outward, along the long side).
5. The keypad is this white tablet, held in place by tiny screws (philips head). I removed both, and was able to take out the tablet. The keys themselves stayed attached to the front. The back of each key just had a plastic pin, and the keys were all loosely connected, with each set of 4 pivoting against each other.
6. The key tablet was mostly a peice of white plastic on the bottom, a few milimeters thick. The top was covered in some sort of foil. You could see little small circles drawn on the foil top, where each key-pin hits. There were rectangular holes in the foil, roughly every-other key. Around the little drawn circles you could see a raised "hump". You can click on each circle and feel it invert, then pop back out. Feeling really lucky, I peeled back the edge of the foil where the P circle was located. I saw silvery, saucer-like connectors, one for each key. The outer edges seemed to line up with the edge of a target-like design on the other side, so that when you press in on the saucer, the outer makes contact with the ring around the bulls-eye, and the center then touches the center circle of the bulls-eye. I gently tried to push the center of the P saucer so that it was back to the proper inverted shape.
7. I then pushed the foil back down, covering the switches, and put it all back together.
8. I turned on my Treo, and it now seems to work. Not perfectly (the P is now TOO hard to press, but it does click, and no more random streams of P).

Hope this helps someone.

How is the "P" key working now? I have a intactile "P" key as well and took it apart the other day. I didn't peel back the foil and just assumed it wasn't fixable. Has anyone else tried this and work?

ka1 · 02/02/2006, 05:39 PM

The "P" key seems to work now, though it is stiff (maybe I bent it too far?). I just used the tip of the stylus to press the dish-shaped platter back into the proper inverted shape (it stayed stuck to the foil the whole time, so the only thing that ever separated was the foil from the white base). To get the "P" switch, I had to expose the two ones adjacent to it. The P platter creased a bit, but no real issue there.

I would play with peeling back the foil, especially since it worked for me, and the P key is on the edge. It is strange that others have also had the same key fail...

But as the previous poster pointed out, you can buy a new keypad for $20. I will give that a shot if this happens again.

HandyDJs.com · 02/02/2006, 06:19 PM

That is very interesting, indeed. I have the same problem, but not only with the P key, but also the right shift key. Had my original treo 650 replaced over the summer for this one. The original one had a P key that was the opposite problem- had to press it several times to get it to work sometimes. This one all the sudden wouldn't let me unlock! Well, this ugly problem reared its head as I..

HandyDJs.com · 02/02/2006, 06:23 PM

was in line to board a cruise where I'd be gone for 5 days! Can you imagine 5 days without use of your Treo? Anyway, I nearly panicked and just about decided not to go on the cruise...until I realized the p key had lost its click....and the right shift key. So I figured I'd beat on my Treo to see if I could loosen the keys. Dropping it flat on its back onto a hard surface seemed to get it to

HandyDJs.com · 02/02/2006, 06:26 PM

get it to work enough to unlock...The problems were tougher at first but I realized that I ought to DISABLE the keylock completely. Which I did. Now the only problem I am having is that the p key doesn't click and has become hypersensitive. Especially since I've got a krussel case with the full plastic front covering the keyboard and screen. I have had no luck getting the sprint stores to

HandyDJs.com · 02/02/2006, 06:30 PM

fix or replace my 650....I will try replacing the keyboard myself with a new one....THANKS FOR THE ADVICE!

Oh, and sorry for the multiple posts here, but I am using the Opera Mini browser right now and it will only allow so many characters per message (apparently)...I feel so spoiled having a smartphone with a real keyboard!! I think it was designed for calculator keypads

minhaferzz · 02/03/2006, 12:27 AM

I just fixed my P key by peeling back the foil as suggested. It's working great now! I'm extremely pleased with the result and feels like all the other keys. You literally have to bend it back since mine was completely flat but it turned out great!

darklord · 02/03/2006, 03:23 AM

See also topic: Spare parts for broken Treo 650

emocean · 03/10/2006, 12:07 AM

Thanks, this worked for me too, my treo has been down 2 weeks, and I've ordered a new keyboard... but it still hasn't arrived (almost 2 weeks)

yay! Very happy!!!!

::

Smash27 · 03/10/2006, 12:22 PM

Unfortunately, being frustrated with the key being in its constantly pressed position causing the phone to be practically useless, I impatiently pried out the key and then glued it back in after poking around on the button. Surprisingly, this actually worked, although there is no longer a click when you press the key. However, I have my doubts as to how long this will last, not to mention a feeling that the key will fall out and become lost, so I was wondering if the keyboard mentioned comes with the button plate, or just the white portion containing the magnets (or whatever they are).

Smash27 · 03/10/2006, 12:24 PM

Nevermind, found it on performancepda...sorry for the useless post.

anthonymoody · 03/13/2006, 05:49 PM

Man. Thank GOD for this forum. Not long after doing the 1.20 update i started having all sorts of problems with my 650. I'd used it just long enough after the update that I was almost sure it had nothing to do with what I was experiencing. Through trial and error I finally figured out my P key was permanently pressed.

Anyway, I ordered a torx 5 and new keyboard (just to be safe) - thanks guys!
TM

anthonymoody · 03/14/2006, 11:27 AM

You know the more I think about it the more annoying it is. While the anecdotal evidence here is way too scant to talk about an inherent problem with the design, the fact that several people have developed stuck keys, and for several of them it's the "p" key seems to be too much a coincidence. I doubt this would rise to the level where Palm would issue some type of redesign (as they did to the SIM tray) but they should IMO.

Hopefully the 700p will be better in this regard...

TM

MAMAHNITA · 03/18/2006, 11:00 PM

Sounds like you have something loose in your treo.

Tonylmiller · 03/19/2006, 05:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by anthonymoody

You know the more I think about it the more annoying it is. While the anecdotal evidence here is way too scant to talk about an inherent problem with the design, the fact that several people have developed stuck keys, and for several of them it's the "p" key seems to be too much a coincidence. I doubt this would rise to the level where Palm would issue some type of redesign (as they did to the SIM tray) but they should IMO.

Hopefully the 700p will be better in this regard...

TM

My backspace key only works half the time. I ordered a replacement, but the keyboard light doesn't work. Sending it back for a replacement.

anthonymoody · 03/21/2006, 01:11 PM

Check out my new thread about performancepda.com for my experience dealing with them...

TM

fortezza · 06/15/2006, 10:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ka1

Hi,
3. opening the case. The front and back are connected by a thin tape-like connector.
4. Removing the front completely by opening the clasp that holds the tape-like strand of wires in its socket. This looked alot like my old Handspring Visor. You can just life up on the clasp (the "mouth" is facing outward, along the long side).

I am stuck on #4, the tape-like ( ribbon cable ) cable does not have any clasp that can be lifted. It goes into a brown plastic connector. I cannot get the ribbon cable to budge out of the brown plastic connector, and the connector itself is in a socket, but it will not budge from there, so I am stuck. are there any instructions with pictures that I could use to finish disassembling the Treo? My alt key is sticking, and I can wiggle it to unstick it for a bit, but then it gets stuck down again, locking up my keyboard.

Thanks.

Joad · 06/16/2006, 12:52 AM

Just FYI- Palm considers *ANY* problems with the keyboard "user caused," regardless if they are even fresh out of the box. They can't (or won't) accept that occasionally their products don't work properly even if you *don't* drop them.

You would think having a usable keyboard is sorta critical now that they've almost eliminated the ability to use Graffiti, but Palm uses their faulty keypads to justify a $179.00 repair bill, refusing to cover it under warranty. That's $29.00 MORE than they'll give you for your old 650 - and THEY want it to be in working condition!