Giving a Zenith 163-73 a Second Chance

[Mattr567]

I got a Zenith 163-73 today and I put a ton of hours into it, cleaning and swapping. Came out really well. Just needs retrobright and it's done. Used a baking powder + vinegar solution on the case to clean since it's textured and normal methods aren't very effective at removing grime from the crevices. You can see in the before/after pics how well the baking soda did. After cleaning I then swapped in SKCL Striped Amber's from a Tandem 6526 and some SKCL Green's. Types beautifully now. The one snag I ran into is with the led's. Turns out in the Z-150 they have them oriented in the opposite direction compared to the ZKB-2/163-73 so at first none of the led's worked since they were backwards
Pics

[Hypersphere]

Nice rejuvenation job. I like this keyboard. The layout lends itself to remapping HHKB-style with the split right shift and oversized right bracket that can serve as a backspace key.

Because I prefer clicky switches over linears, I replaced the top housings with those from white (pine) Alps and added white Alps click leaves. The resulting sound and feel are excellent -- very much like blue Alps.

I am in the process of installing a Soarer's converter and panel-mount micro-USB connector, in like manner to what I have done previously with Northgate Omnikey 101 boards. There is not nearly as much room inside the Zenith case as there is in the Northgate, so I am still working on various approaches to the problem.

The Zenith cases seem particularly prone to yellowing -- mine is almost orange. Looks like you got decent results with your baking powder and vinegar mix, but I am a bit puzzled by this. Did you use baking powder or baking soda? Baking powder already contains an acid-base mixture in solid form that is activated by moisture resulting in an acid-base neutralization with the release of carbon dioxide gas. Likewise, baking soda is sodium bicarbonate, which is neutralized by vinegar to form sodium acetate and carbon dioxide gas. I would suggest using these sequentially instead of together, although the effervescence of carbon dioxide might help liberate dirt that has been trapped in the textured surface of the keyboard case. You could also try scrubbing with a paste of sodium bicarbonate and hydrogen peroxide -- I might try this on my Zenith case. If the results are good, I will follow up with another post.

[seebart]

Very nice job Mattr567! I would always keep it stock but then again I wouldn't even have any spare Alps switches to replace the originals with, let alone the rare ones you have. I have yet to try SKCL yellows, from what I've read their simply a bit heavier than greens.

[Mattr567]

Nice rejuvenation job. I like this keyboard. The layout lends itself to remapping HHKB-style with the split right shift and oversized right bracket that can serve as a backspace key.

Because I prefer clicky switches over linears, I replaced the top housings with those from white (pine) Alps and added white Alps click leaves. The resulting sound and feel are excellent -- very much like blue Alps.

I am in the process of installing a Soarer's converter and panel-mount micro-USB connector, in like manner to what I have done previously with Northgate Omnikey 101 boards. There is not nearly as much room inside the Zenith case as there is in the Northgate, so I am still working on various approaches to the problem.

The Zenith cases seem particularly prone to yellowing -- mine is almost orange. Looks like you got decent results with your baking powder and vinegar mix, but I am a bit puzzled by this. Did you use baking powder or baking soda? Baking powder already contains an acid-base mixture in solid form that is activated by moisture resulting in an acid-base neutralization with the release of carbon dioxide gas. Likewise, baking soda is sodium bicarbonate, which is neutralized by vinegar to form sodium acetate and carbon dioxide gas. I would suggest using these sequentially instead of together, although the effervescence of carbon dioxide might help liberate dirt that has been trapped in the textured surface of the keyboard case. You could also try scrubbing with a paste of sodium bicarbonate and hydrogen peroxide -- I might try this on my Zenith case. If the results are good, I will follow up with another post.

Yea Zenith's are quite prone to yellowing.

I used a baking soda and water mix, creating a paste. Then after applying it to the plastic and letting it sit for a second, I soaked something in vinegar (cotton ball or something) and scrubbed. Had great results. My case currently has no trapped dirt.

Yea there is very little room in the case. Even the cable barely squeezes it way through.

Very nice job Mattr567! I would always keep it stock but then again I wouldn't even have any spare Alps switches to replace the originals with, let alone the rare ones you have. I have yet to try SKCL yellows, from what I've read their simply a bit heavier than greens.

Thanks. They are heavier but have a bit of a different feel. The ones that were originally in this board were meh, most were good but some were really scratchy. Ultrasonic fixed that though. Ended up selling them with the SKCL Grey going to the switch tester.

If i didn't have the SKCL Striped Ambers I would have swapped SKCL Green. Luckily I do, they are fantastic

[Mattr567]

Also retrobrighted it a while ago, looks amazing! These Zenith's really deserve it.





Also did something special


One of my all time favorite boards, along with the Packard Bell

[Chyros]

The metal Zenith badge is so much cooler than the crappy tree logo one, it's a massive improvement .

[Hypersphere]

The metal Zenith badge is so much cooler than the crappy tree logo one, it's a massive improvement .

Yes, it's amazing what a difference the badge makes to the overall appearance of the keyboard.

[Mattr567]

The metal Zenith badge is so much cooler than the crappy tree logo one, it's a massive improvement .

More badge pics (best seen open in full screen)

[Hypersphere]

You're really rubbing it in for us "have nots" looking for extra Zenith black label badges! ;(

However, I expect to have a ZFA-138-42 arriving fairly soon . . . .

[Tuntematon]

You're really rubbing it in for us "have nots" looking for extra Zenith black label badges! ;(

However, I expect to have a ZFA-138-42 arriving fairly soon . . . .

That's an interesting one. It was a long-time resident of my eBay watch list, recently moved out

Do you know anything about the keyboard connector/protocol? Looks like PS/2 at a glance but it's too early for that.

[Hypersphere]

The ZFA-138-42 has a 180-degree DIN5 connector. I suspect that the protocol is the same as the Z-150 series, so I plan to use an internal Orihalcon-Soarer converter and install a panel mount micro-USB connector in the case. The switches are SKCL green Alps, and the keycaps are dye-sub PBT.