Follow along as I revisit and repair the keyboard on my Commodore PET 2001-N computer after earlier repair work from 2020 began showing signs of failure. Several keys on the original CBM keyboard had once again become intermittent or completely unresponsive, requiring another teardown, inspection, troubleshooting session, and restoration attempt on this classic Commodore PET system.
In this video, I carefully disassemble the Commodore PET keyboard assembly, remove the PCB, inspect the conductive carbon pads, and repair worn keyboard components using CaiKot 44 conductive silver paint. The repair process includes desoldering the caps lock wires, removing the keyboard circuit board, applying conductive coating to the PET keyboard plungers, reinstalling the PCB, resoldering connections, and fully reassembling the keyboard into the Commodore PET computer case.
The video includes close-up views of the Commodore PET 2001 keyboard internals, troubleshooting techniques, conductive carbon pad wear, keyboard restoration methods, and testing procedures used to verify the repair. Advice and inspiration from fellow retro computing enthusiasts including Adrian's Digital Basement and Mr. Lurch are also discussed during the repair process.
To fully stress-test the repaired keyboard, I type in and run a 530-line Commodore BASIC program on the PET 2001 system to confirm proper operation across all keys after restoration work is completed.
Repairing an original Commodore PET keyboard remains one of the more rewarding challenges in vintage computer restoration, especially when preserving classic 1970s and 1980s computer hardware for continued use.