Denial

I bought another vic that needed fixing. It needed a new vic chip and a bit of a clean but it was also missing the 9 key.
Lucky for me I thought a guy was selling keys for keyboards on ebay.au
Unfortunately the plunger he supplied was incorrect and he claimed in all his time playing with commodores he hadn't seen
this type.
To save me some surgery I was hoping maybe somebody had a spare plunger like this.
The one I have is white and the one he sent which was poorly packed and got broken is grey.

The light colored plunger appears to be from a PET style keyboard while the darker one is from a C64 style keyboard.

Yes, thanks, mine does have the square O key and the replacement key I got from the guy was from a pet style keyboard which makes me wonder why he could not send the correct plunger.
Is it possible some pet style keyboards used c64 style plungers?

I made a quick image with all the key types from different VIC 20 keyboards (the PET one is actually from a PET, but it's identical on the VIC):
What you got as a spare is an Eurostile stem. For a short period Commodore had Eurostile mechanics with the 64 font on the top - and some 64s have this kind of keyboard too. You usually recognize them because the hole for the shift lock key is round, not square. Theese keyboards don't use any spring.

What you have is similar to the 64 (CR) keyboard in shape, but it seems different.

Please post a picture of the back of the keyboard (without the pcb), and a picture of all the key parts (stem, spring, keycap) - so we can get a better idea of what we're loking at :-)

I think the white one comes from a bit more uncommon C64 Keyboard, which looks almost idenatical to the usual C64/later VIC20 ones, but sounds a little bit different whenn keys are pressed.
Also, the keys look identical, but are not 100%. The small cross-shaped hole on the underside, where the plunger's cross fits, is a tiny bit wider on those.
So, you will not be able to fit a key from a standard C64 keyboard on this white Plunger.

Hi Overdoc,

Thanks for your reply. I have attached pics for reference. I included a pic of the pcb as well because I am wondering if I had a euro style key and stem and spring would it work with this keyboard?

merser wrote:I am wondering if I had a euro style key and stem and spring would it work with this keyboard?

The default Eurostile stem is completely different -- see my earlier post. Eurostile keyboards don't have springs.
Another strange thing about your keyboard is that it "almost" has a numeric keypad.

I found an article on an Australian website https://forums.overclockers.com.au/thre ... n.1220403/ from earlier this year. The guy had the same keyboard and same problem with broken key stem. I might try his repair. I was hoping someone might say I have a spare I can help you with but I think the chances are very low.
I wonder if this type of keyboard was only put out in the Australian market