Need to reinstall space bar - A1708

[jaehaerys48]

Recently I spilled some milk on the keyboard of my 2017 MacBook Pro (dumb, I know). I‘ve already checked the internals for any sign of damage and luckily it seems the liquid didn’t make it past the keys. Several keys were very gross and jammed so I removed them all and cleaned them. Unfortunately the space bar did not come out easily, and when I did get it out it came with the butterfly mechanism attached. I’m having difficulty reinstalling it since the butterfly hinge has to fit underneath the clear plastic bits that are still attached to the computer. I was just wondering if anyone had any advice or experience with this. I don’t want to pry off the clear bits since I’m worried I won’t be able to out then back on properly.

 

[mwillo6]

I have been dealing with this recently and this video is helpful for replacing the actual key cap (although I left a comment with some warnings, it didn't go so well for me, I think it requires a lighter touch, so take caution). But in terms of getting the butterfly in... I took mine out by accident too, and saw that those clear plastic pieces in the keyboard base have holes that overlay/interlock with the butterfly's pegs. It seems like at least in the case of the middle plastic piece with spring dome, it's supposed to fit OVERTOP of the butterfly, so unfortunately the only way I got my key back to semi-functionality was to remove the middle plastic piece with the dome. I didn't remove those two lateral clear pieces of plastic as I was able to fit the outer butterfly pegs into their holes with some patience. After I had the butterfly in place that way, I lay the middle plastic piece back on top, and re-adhered it with a very small amount of superglue (more info on glues and how it all goes back together here). You might be able to finagle the middle butterfly pegs into the spring dome piece's holes too without removing it, I'm not sure; that would be nice to avoid the glue problem.

Now all of this should be taken with a lot of grains of salt, because my key is still kind of F-ed up. You have to press near the middle (doesn't transfer sensitivity through whole length of keycap) and probably relatedly, the cap doesn't have that springy quality, so I probably did something wrong with fitting the butterfly clip in too tightly or something.

 

[mwillo6]

I have been dealing with this recently and this video is helpful for replacing the actual key cap (although I left a comment with some warnings, it didn't go so well for me, I think it requires a lighter touch, so take caution). But in terms of getting the butterfly in... I took mine out by accident too, and saw that those clear plastic pieces in the keyboard base have holes that overlay/interlock with the butterfly's pegs. It seems like at least in the case of the middle plastic piece with spring dome, it's supposed to fit OVERTOP of the butterfly, so unfortunately the only way I got my key back to semi-functionality was to remove the middle plastic piece with the dome. I didn't remove those two lateral clear pieces of plastic as I was able to fit the outer butterfly pegs into their holes with some patience. After I had the butterfly in place that way, I lay the middle plastic piece back on top, and re-adhered it with a very small amount of superglue (more info on glues and how it all goes back together here). You might be able to finagle the middle butterfly pegs into the spring dome piece's holes too without removing it, I'm not sure; that would be nice to avoid the glue problem.

Now all of this should be taken with a lot of grains of salt, because my key is still kind of F-ed up. You have to press near the middle (doesn't transfer sensitivity through whole length of keycap) and probably relatedly, the cap doesn't have that springy quality, so I probably did something wrong with fitting the butterfly clip in too tightly or something.

Ok so maybe taking out the clear plastic mounts is just a bad idea... at the end of this video, the guy gently removes the butterfly clip; I think you could reverse that process to get it back in maybe. All that nonsense with gluing things back in is just me being silly.

 

[Fishrrman]

Do you have a brick n mortar Apple Store anywhere near?
You could take it to them, and see if they can get the space bar back on.

But... I'm guessing they won't.
They're gonna tell you that you need to replace the keyboard.
But it's MORE THAN just "the keyboard".
The ENTIRE TOP CASE of the computer must be replaced.
$800 repair, or more.

You shouldn't have pulled that off... (sigh)

 

[mwillo6]

There IS some sort of warranty where they'll repair the butterfly clip keyboards for free if you're still covered...

 

[Fishrrman]

Re reply 5 above:

The "extended warranty" was 4 years from date of purchase.
The OP's 2017 MBP is 'way beyond that now.

If he's gonna get it repaired... HE pays.

 

[real_mon2]

Hi. See attached. One of the pins on the butterfly mechanism is broken. It may not be a show stopper but is a FYI. While these parts for such repairs are crazy high locally - they are not from the many of the stores on Aliexpress. You can purchase a complete set of replacement keycaps + butterfly mechanisms + plastic clear bottomside housing for ~$20-$30 USD + shipping. Some charge more for just the keycaps on Ebay. The repair is not difficult but will require some patience. There are some great videos on YT on this topic. Be sure to review them to get an understanding on how to insert both pieces back onto the keyboard itself. As a suggestion, order a few sets of these parts from Aliexpress so that you have spares if any of the pins / hooks gets damaged during the attempts. There was a reason for the recall of these keyboards. We have seen many such units come in for repairs in our shop.

 

[real_mon2]

Sharing more details from one of the suppliers we have used with success on Aliexpress.

Page Not Found - Aliexpress.com

Skype ：Niki-Efixtree
Wechat：weiboniki2013
Email：partssupply@qq.com
Phone ：0086 134 8012 9509

Before you purchase:

1) Chat with the vendor using their portal chat system and request that you are after:

a) full keycaps for YOUR EXACT keyboard layout - very important as Shenzhen suppliers offer many many variations of the keyboard parts.

b) you DO want the butterfly mechanism which is below the keycap - share your pics to be 100% sure

c) you DO want the clear plastic piece that is at the bottom of the butterfly mechanism

d) as an option (we suggest yes to this) - also purchase the actual dome button mechanism that is below the clear plastic piece. You will likely use a UV glue (available from Amazon but perhaps they can ship it from their store as well). The UV glue cures with a great bonding strength. Be sure to protect your eyes (look away) when using the UV light.

Review the videos on YT on the full process. As noted, patience is required but not impossible to fix. It took us hours to figure it out the first time but the first vendor did not relay the fact that we could purchase the many layers of this keyboard. We danced with only the broken keycaps.

* we were inspired by this great video to take on the repair