Two keys on an Alienware laptop felt unusual, now and then stuck.
After prying off the caps for inspection, found the nipples of the rubber domes had broken/ hanging off. Keyboard also had millions of short and curlies (hair from the head not the other place). The black coating had beome a gunge.
The an idea occurred
, having an old used IBM Classic KBD hidden in some obscure cupboard, I may replace the broken rubber domes. Would be more simpler to replace the whole Alienware KBD but those Dell rubber domes will break after a year or two of use so the IBM rubber domes were cannablised for replacement. Not just any old IBM rubber domes but the Blue ones made by NMB as these were arguably considered superior to Chicony or ALPS. Upon inspection, the NMB domes were slightly taller and more robust/stronger than the Dell offerings.
Removed all the brackets prior to cleaning up the black coating with nail varnish acetone, avoid the nail varnish remover with moisturiser as the KBD doesn't need any nourishing. Best to scrape off the excess rubber on the plastic plating, I used a Chinese chisel-like engraving/carving tool.
After cleaning the short & curlies and black gunge, proceeded to glue the NMB Blue rubber domes with Loctite Ultra Gel Superglue (5 domes before next squeeze) or Aradite Standard Epoxy (hours of work-time). Advisable to dip the domes on flattened glue, applying glue to domes will take forever with aggravating mess. Or use any glue that tickles your fancy provided it adheres as rubber is difficult to glue onto plastic.
Replace all the brackets then install all the keycaps and voilà, arguable better than new as you'll now have more tactile feel to typing.
NB: Do NOT (although I did) meddle with the small format Top Row contrary to standard KBD modding rule....you'll be sorry as the blue domes lack horizontal expansion so it feels mushy. Also the Top Row is hardly ever used, they are fine and will be fine.
