Franklin Ace 2200 -- Missing keys

[cbmeeks]

I'm working on restoring a Franklin Ace 2200 which has an external keyboard.

 

Two of the keys are missing.  The F11 and F12 function keys.

 

Anyone have those two keys and could part with them?

 

Thanks!

[barrym95838]

It irks me that those keys were lost sometime in the last 24 years, but you are the third owner and your home is the ninth residence for that poor old Franklin, and it suffered some inadvertent rough handling and sub-standard storage conditions during its existence.  I last powered it up around 1995.  I wish you the best of luck, my friend!

[cbmeeks]

Thank you!

 

In fact, I've been meaning to send you some pictures of the restoration.  I haven't been as motivated this month as I normally would.  I lost my mother over the Thanksgiving weekend and it really took a lot out of me.

 

I started the restoration just before the Thanksgiving break and got as far as I realistically could.  It *almost* looks like a new machine.  ?

I had an idea on replacing the F11/F12 keys.  I found a plain USB keyboard at the thrift store for $0.99 that has all of the function keys.  The shape matches perfectly.

 

However, there are two issues with it.  One, the stems do not match.  So I'm not sure how to handle that.  Second, the color is black whereas the Franklin keys are a darker gray.  If I can figure out the stem issue, I might replace all of them with the black keys and just hang onto the originals in case I ever find replacements.  This would look a little off but I think it would be OK.

 

Removing that sticker proved to be a challenge. 

 

Oh, another issue I found.  The power supply does not work.  It just produces a high-pitched whine so I didn't leave it on long enough to test the voltages (I also removed it from the motherboard before powering it on).

I think this will be an easy fix.  I recently bought a new PSU for my Apple IIe.  I may buy another one for this Franklin.

 

I hope to do an official "before/after" web page when I get some time.

 

Thanks again!

 

 

[Aunty Entity]

Nice looking work, will the keys from something like an AT keyboard fit there? They have much the same appearance.