We talk about regular maintenance for your metal fabrication machines a lot. But it’s not always the moving parts and major functions that need care. Maintaining your smaller, but critical, machine functions like your MDI keypads can have a significant impact on the life of your machines, and fabrication business, for minimal investment.

In the late 80's CNC control manufacturers introduced new MDI (Manual Data Input) keypads with more tactile buttons overlaid with a thin vinyl membrane. These new keypads were less prone to contamination because the surface was sealed, unlike the previous conventional keyboards. While this concept works well for several years, eventually the membrane will began to crack. Exposure to oils and input methods using tools such as pencils, leads to the detrition of the membrane, leaving the underlying keys uncovered. Without the protection of the vinyl membrane, the keys are open to the elements and easily contaminated, causing them to quickly fail. With no way to input data or instructions, your controls could effectively be down – causing you to loose productivity and spend on costly repairs.

How to avoid keypad failure

As with most breakdown situations, failing keypads can be avoided with a simple maintenance process. A low-cost option is to purchase and install a replacement membrane. These are generic and work for most machine controls. The whole installation process usually takes about an hour, making it a quick and easy way to ensure your keypads are protected in the long-run.

Here’s how it’s installed:

1. The first step is removing the remains of the old membrane. A technician will remove it with lacquer thinner or gasket remover.
2. Step two is adhering the new membrane in place. Once the metal base is clean, the replacement membrane, often backed with a self-adhesive strip, is glued to a thin, metal frame that straddles the keypad underneath. The frame is then screwed back on to the control face.

That’s it! After a short amount of time and minimal cost, you will have a new layer of protection for the keypad. The added bonus? More legible alpha-numeric characters. Often the characters on tattered membranes can be so faded they become functionally useless unless the operator knows the key locations by heart.

This inexpensive fix will not only protect the much more expensive keyboard underneath, it will also significantly brighten the look of the control face, decreasing the chance of a data input error. For about the time you spend on a lunch break, this simple maintenance piece seriously benefits your machine, productivity and bottom line.

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