HP 67 keyboard problem

[Jan]

Hi

I just got a HP-67 from my dad who used it throughout his career at university. The calculator is in working condition except that some keys lost their pleasant, typical "HP-touch" whereas the "A" and the "E" keys do not work at all. Does anybody of you know how to repair this or what the main cause of these problems could be (I can imagine, since the old "classic" has been used quite frequently (also by myself back in the old days when I was still in highschool) that some wear of the contact strips under the keys may be the cause or that the protective plastic sheet between the keys and these strips may have suffered throughout the years. If anyone of you has an idea, please let me know.
Furthermore, the card reader is not working properly. The motor is still OK, when a card is inserted the motor starts running but somehow the card is not pulled through, the motor then stops and an error message appears in the display. I think it could be the rubber wheel that normally rolls the card forward. These parts seem to be sensitive to degrading over the years, making it slippy or even brittle. Does anybody of you know about this?

Thanks in advance for your comments and reactions

[Tony Duell]

The normal cause of this is that the metal contact strips under the keys crack at one side of the bump. These strips were originally spot-welded to the PCB, and even if you can get spares (e.g. from another old machine), it's difficult to solder them in place and maintain the 'feel'

You can try soldering over the crack. This will make it feel a little better, but it certainly won't be 'right'