Philips NMS 8220 cursor keys are sticky

Rookie (20)

30-12-2016, 12:14

The cursor keys on the NMS 8220 are not really working well.They seem to stick and don't easily go down. Only if you exactly press in the 'center' of the keys they seem to work.

Is this a common issue? Anything I can do? Maybe lubricate it or do some small modification?

I like the keyboard to play games like Nemesis as you often need to select powerups which doesn't really work with joysticks.

By hamlet

Scribe (4106)

30-12-2016, 12:51

I´m also prefering the keyboard for playing games.
Open the keyboard and cleaning the contacts should solve the problem of sticky keys.

By Jipe

Paragon (1614)

30-12-2016, 14:10

in past i try remove the dust but the keys are tired and no working a long time

By ramonsmits

Rookie (20)

30-12-2016, 14:16

Just finished cleaning it. I had cleaned the computer itself a while ago but didn't disassemble the keyboard. It had collected a lot of dust!

Rinsed the keys with soapy water and gently cleaned the keyboard film. Assembling required putting all springs back in which required a bit of patience

It definitely is responding better but the cursor keys still don't really go back easily.

With sticky I don't mean sticky due to spilling soda, coffee or something else. Besides the spring there are a few plastic hooks and those don't really work nice with pressure is not applied exactly in the center.

By hamlet

Scribe (4106)

30-12-2016, 17:34

Cleaning a keyboard is quite a lot of work.
If your old membranes are stucked, exchange your keyboard with a 8020 one. Fortunately both keyboards are identical. I tested it this afternoon and both machine do what they should.
8020 are easy to find and cheap to get, even in mind state.

By Hrothgar

Champion (479)

30-12-2016, 17:57

I have the same issue, had it already since I had the machine for a year or something.

I blame you, Konami Hyper Olympics!

By l_oliveira

Hero (534)

01-01-2017, 20:17

I have two VG8020s and while they're MSX1 computers, they use the exact same keyboard. They do the exact same thing.

By Vampier

Prophet (2413)

30-09-2017, 22:14

yep same here... I think it's partially because of springs and partially of that extra small leg that has some wear and tear from usage over the years. I managed to get them working reasonably well after applying a tiny bit of sewing machine oil. It still sticks about 10% of the time which makes using the keys to player nemesis impossible.

By sd_snatcher

Prophet (3659)

01-10-2017, 15:08

After the cleanup, stretching the springs to make them stronger won't help?

By hamlet

Scribe (4106)

01-10-2017, 15:28

As the springs are all the same on the whole keyboard, I would exchange the coursor keys with less important ones.
Or swap the whole keyboard with a 8020 one, as mentioned above.