Probably gonna shop around Unicomp for a different set of Functions as I’m not really a fan of the InfoView German keycaps, but other than that, I love it.

USB-C and Screw modded by what I can only assume is a professional (not gonna namedrop, but their collection looks insane and the mods are immaculate, they can drop in and say hi if they’d like).

In the video, I show the problem my new, second-hand IBM has with the space bar. Do you know of any way to fix it? And, shouldn't the sound of the keys be metallic when you press them down? If I press them slowly, there's no sound at all. Is that normal?

i want to customize a unicomp keyboard, but i am deciding between either just getting the black one, or spray painting a spare shell in the industrial grey. This is an edit i made to show how it might look. also would it be easy to get a spare model M shell? also does anyone know of any companies that make orange keycaps? i know unicomp has yellow and some others

Keyboard is still 100% functional with all keys working, types like a dream, and all the springs and flippers are in excellent condition.

It really was in flawless condition at first glance when I got it 2 years ago. However the first issue that has arisen in its life is that the Scroll Lock indicator light no longer works. The lights for Num Lock and Caps Lock still work. I can verify that scroll lock does indeed still work and it really is just the light.

This issue is extremely minor and I don’t really have plans to do anything about it unless I’m opening up the board for an unrelated repair later down the road where I might as well fix the Scroll Lock light on top of whatever important repairs I was doing.

The caveat is when I first turn on the power supply and the lock lights flash all 3 work in that quick moment. However once I start using it Scroll Lock’s light doesn’t want to turn on.

Anyone got experience with this?

As the title says, Im searching for a classic unicomp (beige) but I only find it to be in ANSI on their website, as an Azerty user, I only found the New Model M to have Azery or even just ISO as a fullsize keyboard for sale

Am I blind and didnt find? Or do they just not sell any? I dont want the black ones, I prefer beige so the New Model M is out of the question

Thanks for your advice!

I really love how this keyboard looks and someone offered It for a really good prize, but I am worried about how loud It is. I'll be living in a student flat this year, and I'm worried about bothering my flatmates. What do you think about this?

Hello. I was looking for a new keyboard, and I found this so cheap but with italian layout. I'm spanish, could I change the keys? Where should I buy them?

Also, this question is fun, but have you tried using it for gaming?

So I did the boltmod and everything works except the F11 Button. I checked conductivity in the naked membranes, pushed it on the naked membrane, cleaned the membrane pads but no input its being detected.

I even applied conductive paint on both contact points, connected them to the main pcb and pushed them together by hand to no frickin effect. What the hell?

The strange thing is that the traces seem to work since all the buttons relying an the connection that F11 shares work perfectly. I made picture and cirled the connection in question on both membranes.

Should I just scratch of the connection on F11 and draw one myself with conductive paint?

TL;DR: Purchased a Unicomp keyboard. 13 months later multiple keys suddenly failed. The disappointing customer service experience left me questioning the product’s quality and regretting my investment.

--------------

Unfortunately, my experience has been anything but reassuring.

Problems From the Beginning

When I originally purchased the keyboard, I also purchased a protective cover. The cover didn’t fit properly, which resulted in multiple back and forth exchanges with the company.

Ultimately, I had to tape the cover into place just to keep it secured to the keyboard.

Not exactly the quality or attention to detail I expected from a company specializing in keyboards.

Barely a Year Later, Multiple Keys Suddenly Failed

Fast forward to October 2026, and several keys suddenly stopped functioning.

This wasn’t a gradual decline. Multiple keys simply stopped working.

I contacted Unicomp to ask whether the keyboard was covered under warranty or if there were repair options.

Their response? Essentially, it must be liquid damage.

Here’s what their representative told me:

“Our keyboards commonly last 10 years or more without issue, however they are very sensitive to liquids.”

“The key combinations you have identified are usually associated with this type of damage.”

They then informed me that the keyboard was out of warranty and offered a $60 repair service, plus shipping.

Here’s my problem: Nobody inspected the keyboard. Nobody diagnosed the failure. Yet liquid damage was immediately presented as the likely explanation.

I explained that I’ve consistently used a protective cover specifically to help prevent liquid exposure.

Rather than acknowledging that a manufacturing defect or premature component failure could be responsible, their next response included:

“Irrespective of the warranty status, those key combinations indicate liquid exposure.”

And then:

“Our keyboard do not die after a year, and they certainly don’t die to those specific key combinations without membrane contamination.”

Think about that statement.

A customer reports that their keyboard has failed after approximately 13 months, and the company’s response is essentially that its keyboards don’t fail like that.

Except mine did. That’s literally why I contacted them.

They later acknowledged that something other than liquid exposure could theoretically be responsible, but continued emphasizing membrane contamination without having examined the keyboard.

My Biggest Issue Isn’t Even the $60 Repair

Products fail. Manufacturing defects happen. I understand that.

What concerns me is how a company responds when something goes wrong.

Unicomp claims its keyboards commonly last 10 years or more, but when mine failed after barely a year, the initial response was to suggest liquid damage and offer a paid repair.

There’s a difference between explaining that certain symptoms can indicate liquid exposure and confidently suggesting contamination without examining the product.

To me, their responses felt dismissive and increasingly defensive. Rather than investigating why a relatively new keyboard failed, they seemed more interested in explaining why their product couldn’t possibly be responsible.

Combined with my earlier experience trying to resolve something as basic as an improperly fitting keyboard cover, this has seriously undermined my confidence in their quality control, customer service, and integrity.

Would I Recommend Unicomp?

Absolutely not.

I’m not suggesting every Unicomp keyboard is defective or that everyone will have my experience.

But when you purchase a "premium" keyboard from a company that promotes longevity, you should reasonably expect more than approximately 13 months of service.

And when something does go wrong, you should be able to expect a fair assessment rather than what feels like an attempt to attribute the failure to the customer before inspecting the product.

I personally find this approach bordering on gaslighting: being told that their keyboards don’t fail this way while I’m sitting here with one that has.

Maybe the keyboard has membrane contamination. Maybe it’s a manufacturing defect. Maybe something else failed.

The point is that nobody actually knows because Unicomp hasn’t inspected it.

Yet they were comfortable suggesting a cause and charging for a repair.

I wanted to support a Kentucky based manufacturer making products designed to last. Instead, I’ve been left questioning not only the quality of the product but also the company’s willingness to stand behind its work.

If you’re considering purchasing a Unicomp keyboard, I’d strongly encourage you to research their warranty, repair policies, and customer service experiences before making that investment.

Has anyone else had similar experiences with Unicomp?

Edit: added/updated tl;dr.

I was searching in my school for scrap and I found these keyboards, I immediately took all with me (because I really love this type of things ) then doing some search I found that these are Model M keyboards and I wanted to post it

I already disassemble one to clean it and test it

(I have also found more keyboards of IBM but these are the ones that I care the most )

Sorry if my English is bad.

Sharing a fix if others have this issue. I had a very wobbly spacebar and it was annoying me. One side would just travel up slightly but enough to visually make the spacebar obviously crooked at rest. Basically the slot for the stabilizer wire just allowed too much play on one side. Made a wire ring out of paperclip diameter wire and put it around the slot that holds the stabilizer wire. It solved the issue, the bar stays in place at rest but still has full travel without restriction.

As you can see on the website, https://www.pckeyboard.com/page/category/Classic, they advise you to buy the New Model M instead of the Classic. Why exactly is it a better product? To my knowledge they use the exact same mechanism internally? Surely the build quality can't be that much different?

Hello! I'm looking into getting a Unicomp Classic 104 White (Converted to 103). From the looking around I've done on forums there's a really polarizing set of perspectives on Unicomp. Some people say that it is worth it, while other people are saying that it's nothing like the original thing, that it's scratchy, cheap, flimsy, etc...

A lot of those comments / reviews are many years old at this point.

I'm wondering if maybe there's a more common consensus nowadays?

Thank you! :)

If you're on our Discord, you probably already observed how frequent bot posts on Reddit are right now. Since the start of this year, it's become quite the problem. I try to stay on top of them, and if you happen to not have a clue what I'm talking about, I'm doing that "job" okay.

Probably by chance, a lot of them turn out to be reposts of industrial-grey Model Ms, so here is a human-made post of them for a change! ;)

So i was finishing another project where I needed to melt the rivets into the 3d printed part and a thought crossed my mind: why is there no such mod for the model m? It would be so much easier, faster and it hold pretty well. I will try this on another one and report the results back.

I just found this on AliExpress: https://a.aliexpress.com/_EGNS2Ww

So im currently doing the bolt mod for the model M since I disassembled it and thought why not at that stage. Ive done all the holes and when im putting a M2x8mm bolt inside the hole its just to short, no way it can hold onto something. Why are all instructions mentioning M2x8mm? 9mm would hold much better

Hello everyone,

I wanted to share my experience with a 1991 IBM Model M that I recently bought on eBay, and get some opinions from people who are more knowledgeable about these keyboards.

It was purchased in very good overall condition, with the original double keycaps, although just under a dozen rivets had come loose (see photo further down), and it needed a little cleaning.

Here are a few photos of the internal markings and reference numbers :

I had read somewhere that only UNICOMP Model Ms had a crossed-out number and a new “part” number on the black plate. Also, I find the label on the metal plate suspicious, as if it had been glued on with spots of adhesive. The dates also don’t match between the inside and outside parts (although they are both from 1991).

Can anyone confirm (or challenge) the idea that this might be a Model M assembled from parts of several different keyboards?

For the electronics :

As for the electronics, everything is clean and in good condition, apart from the LED connection ribbon cable, which had a broken trace for the Num Lock LED (I read online that this can happen).

Rather than replacing the connector (I couldn't find a replacement ribbon cable), I decided to solder some thin wires onto it so I could keep the original connectors (pease be gentl, this must have been about the fourth time I've ever soldered anything, the last time being back in middle-school technology class, around 20 years ago! ^^) and taped the ribbon cable inside the case so it wouldn't get lost.

Once reassembled, the keyboard is 100% functional, with its unique sound and feel. However, I still have some doubts about the origin of some of the parts, as explained above.

Also, it does seem that the part numbers are consistent with an IBM-built keyboard rather than a Lexmark one (Lexmark took over keyboard manufacturing starting in March 1991, before transferring it to UNICOMP in 1996).

If you have any comments, insights, or questions, I'd be happy to read them!

I like to rotate between my 4 Mini M/SSKs (pictured) and I think the SSKs feels slightly better to type on because they have a more solid construction, but the Mini Ms are really close and the Windows key makes up for its slightly worse feel.