Vaio FE-31M faulty key, what to do?

[teknodrom]

Hello everyone!

Just recently my "W"-key has begun to die, initially I needed to press really hard to get it to work, and after a while I had to remove the key and press firmly onto the little rubber blob itself in order to get it to work.

I have tried cleaning underneath the keys, but things just seem to get worse. I am wondering if there is anything clogged inside this little rubber cone, if I can remove it, and if so how? Have anyone else encountered this problem?

Unfortunately my notebook is out of warranty, and contacting Swedish support only let me know that it would cost 200+ euro to send it away.

I'm getting kind of desperate about this, and being somewhat skilled in building computers I wonder if I can solve this by myself, or if I have to replace the entire keyboard. I would be very happy if you can give me some advice/help!

regards,

//teknodrom

[Blencogo]

Hi teknodrom and welcome to Club Vaio.

It sounds like a keyboard hardware issue as it only affects one key.

I do not think there are any serviceable parts within the keyboard and you will probably have to get oa replacement shipped from the USA. Depending on what language you use the cost can vary from $63 to $125.

http://www.nexttronics.com/reference/sony/fe7/int-FE51B-H.htm

[teknodrom]

Hello again, and thanks for your reply! Seems like an UK keyboard from "that auction site" is the vvay to go, since the layout isnt that different from the Svvedish one and I can change keys from my old one. I'll probably try out taking the keyboard out and cleaning it first though. I'm not sure vvhat is failing, it's not the latch mechanism, so it has to be something underneath, possibly a failure in the tiny conducting surfaces or something..(hard to explain, my english skills are limited)

Such a shame that Sony can't just send a nevv one so I can replace it myself.. 😞

[gray52]

just had a similar problem on my ar21s and sony replaced the keyboard and both harddrives, + the bluray would not burn to -R discs and they replaced that as well.