[dictoresno]

After seeing the tons of threads regarding how to solve the keypad stutter on 9780's and worn down 9700's, I decided to do this write up. Ive done it about 4 times on my 9700, each time getting better at it. Done properly, it will COMPLETELY stop all keypad stuttering or at least improve it to barely any at all. The stuttering issue is either caused by misaligned membranes (manufacturing errors), normal wear (the "domes" begin to flatten over time) or just plain bad or dirty metal contacts.

Keep in mind, the following will void your warranty. For people who cannot get a replacement device or are out of warranty, this is for you. Do not attempt unless you are confident in repairing the phone or are familiar with this.

For this, you will need....

1.) Torx T5 screwdriver
2.) A plastic separating tool
3.) Razor Blade
4.) New PCB Keypad membranes - Blackberry Bold 9700 Keyboard Membrane 2 pcs

The needed tools can also be purchased on the above website as well (i prefer dealsishop as they are US based).

A video of the disassembly can be seen here -

Once you get the carrier logo piece, outer bezel and keyboard removed, just remove the two more screws circled in red in the below pic. Now you are ready for the membrane replacement.

1.) Find a corner of the membrane you can begin peeling away at. Use a razor blade to carefully separate the membrane from the other white membrane thats stuck to the circuit board.

2.) Carefully start peeling back evenly from one corner. If you start to pull up some of the other membrane, STOP and use the razor to unstick it, and replace it back onto the circuit board.

3.) Continue peeling evenly until the whole membrane is removed. You will now see the exposed circuit board side of the membrane metal tabs. If they are dirty, maybe clean them with alcohol and a cotton swab or pencil eraser if needed. I chose not to.

4.) Peel a new membrane off the sheet of new ones. Carefully hold it with both hands. I find that by holding it in the lower corners (where the "alt" and "enter" keys are, is easiest.

5.) Start by lining up the membrane where it goes around the trackpad near the LCD. Its VERY important that the membrane is properly aligned. You can see circled in blue in the pic, where i didnt line it up well. This caused more stuttering problems. Try not to have any of it be off from where the membrane on the phone is. Carefully apply the rest of it to the phone (its kind of like lining up and putting on a ZAGG Shield or other similar screen protector).

6.) Once the membrane is applied and you verify its alignment, use a pencil eraser to press it firmly into place and get all creases out. At this point, you can test its functionality if you want to boot the phone up and place the keypad over it.

7.) Now that things are working normal again, drive those two small screws back in from earlier. Make sure you dont make them too tight, they will spin, crease or tear the membrane once they are driven far down. Use the plastic separator tool to ensure the membrane is flush up under the LCD. There are two little tabs on the LCD it may get hung up on.

8.) Put the keypad back on and then reassemble the phone.

9.) Fully test functionality.

At this point, as long as everything was aligned properly, your phone shouldnt "stutter" anymore or at least less. But as I stated, it all depends on how well you aligned everything. Its a 15 minute fix, and membranes are $5.99 a pair. I always keep a couple in case my 9700 or 9780 begin to show signs of wear.

[kingofthievesNL]

Great post! I'm doing this once per month because it keeps coming back, I just use alcohol to clean the membrane and the gold contacts on the board and then reassamble. Such a pain to do it everytime though.

[ethelpost]

Wow, great post! Really wished I read it before ripping the other membrane off, which I realize just now I see your picture of it.. So all this time I never had a clue I already messed up the other membrane.

Do u know if I need to buy myself a new blackberry or if there is still a chance to fix mine?

Thanks.

[soren203]

Excellent post will sure help many people and stop some of the key stutter threads

[dictoresno]

Wow, great post! Really wished I read it before ripping the other membrane off, which I realize just now I see your picture of it.. So all this time I never had a clue I already messed up the other membrane.

Do u know if I need to buy myself a new blackberry or if there is still a chance to fix mine?

Thanks.

which membrane did you rip? the once attached to the PCB?

[dereko2]

My problem has been solved here in Philippines. We have a mall here called "Greenhills". The most famous "cell phone buy and sell" mall. I just told the repairman that my keyboard is stuttering. He gave me a price of 6USD = 280PHP. He did it in front of me. As far as I remember. He lifted the keytune(white sticker) and wiped the "brown thing" under the keytune with "LACQUER FLO"(small amount). He did it with cotton buds. I don't know if this solution will last for long but my keyboard ain't stuttering since a while ago. My opinion and theory is the "Lacquer Flo" wiped the sticky residue which is the cause of "stuttering". I tested typing a paragraph in memo pad = 0 stutter. Sorry for imperfect english. Just tryin to give you ideas as well as solution. My advice is don't take the risk of doing it by yourself. Go to someone with experience of repairing.

[ethelpost]

which membrane did you rip? the once attached to the PCB?

Yes, the one I was NOT suppose to rip.... the 2 membranes looked like only 1 to me...



P.S. sorry for my late reply! Silly me was waiting for some kind of email notification or something.

[ethelpost]

My problem has been solved here in Philippines. We have a mall here called "Greenhills". The most famous "cell phone buy and sell" mall. I just told the repairman that my keyboard is stuttering. He gave me a price of 6USD = 280PHP. He did it in front of me. As far as I remember. He lifted the keytune(white sticker) and wiped the "brown thing" under the keytune with "LACQUER FLO"(small amount). He did it with cotton buds. I don't know if this solution will last for long but my keyboard ain't stuttering since a while ago. My opinion and theory is the "Lacquer Flo" wiped the sticky residue which is the cause of "stuttering". I tested typing a paragraph in memo pad = 0 stutter. Sorry for imperfect english. Just tryin to give you ideas as well as solution. My advice is don't take the risk of doing it by yourself. Go to someone with experience of repairing.

Unfortunately it'll be a while before I see Greenhills again Here in the Netherlands just looking at the blackberry (by the repairman) will cost me around 100 euros (+/- 6000PHP)....

[dereko2]

Unfortunately it'll be a while before I see Greenhills again Here in the Netherlands just looking at the blackberry (by the repairman) will cost me around 100 euros (+/- 6000PHP)....

So you're a pinoy?
Woah. It's so expensive 100 euros. I guess in that situation, I'm gonna do it myself. Kidding ^^. Goodluck

[ethelpost]

So you're a pinoy?
Woah. It's so expensive 100 euros. I guess in that situation, I'm gonna do it myself. Kidding ^^. Goodluck

Well actually i'm half Pinay
Half Dutch and we live here and visit the Philippines every 2 year.

The 100 euros is just for looking at the phone.. more will be charged for fixing it.

That's why I had to do it myself...

thanks!

[gtessier]

For this, you will need....

1.) Torx T5 screwdriver
2.) A plastic separating tool
3.) Razor Blade
4.) New PCB Keypad membranes - Blackberry Bold 9700 Keyboard Membrane 2 pcs

The needed tools can also be purchased on the above website as well (i prefer dealsishop as they are US based).

I have done a few of these repairs in my shop. I'd like to add some suggestions to the post...

On the parts/materials list, I would add a can of compressed air and a can of contact cleaner. I like to fully disassemble the device and blow the other crud out from in between the middle housing and mainboard while I have the phone apart. Its only two more T5 screws to remove. While that's apart, I would also suggest popping off the trackpad (connector is under the mainboard). Doing gets the trackpad out of the way while lining up the membrane.

Take some pf the contact l\cleaner on a small piece of cloth and wipe down the circuit board and contacts after removing the old membrane. Blow it dry with the canned air.

The best way to line up the membrane while aligning the membrane to the board is to get some large paper clips and then bend them so that they poke upward through the board. I bend them in a way that they are flat on a table and poking upward with the mainboard laying on top of them. I use 4 clips and tape them to the table, making a temporary improvised "fixture" to line the membrane up. After the clips are all poking upward, lower the membrane onto the clips and them downward onto the board. They line up perfectly every time.

[dereko2]

Well actually i'm half Pinay
Half Dutch and we live here and visit the Philippines every 2 year.

The 100 euros is just for looking at the phone.. more will be charged for fixing it.

That's why I had to do it myself...

thanks!

100 euros for just checking up your phone. That's too much. ^^.

Mabuhay!

[shupor]

great post. will give it a shot once my warranty expires

[adam917]

Would someone who normally replaces BlackBerry housings & keyboards usually would be able to do this as well? If not, I'll show the person I'm looking to get a 9780 housing replaced anyway this thread & see if he can do this job as well.

[dictoresno]

Would someone who normally replaces BlackBerry housings & keyboards usually would be able to do this as well? If not, I'll show the person I'm looking to get a 9780 housing replaced anyway this thread & see if he can do this job as well.

anyone should be able to do it. its not hard.

[steve2734]

I just completed this fix after a couple of months of frustration.

The keyboard has a different feel (smoother, less "click" noise) and no stutter.

I used this membrane BLACKBERRY PEARL 9700 KEYPAD KEY PCB MEMBRANE-STICKE

I used this contact cleaner/de-oxidizer DeoxIT D100L AND DeoxIT GOLD G100L 4Sevens.Com

Got these links from another thread.

Thanks for the help and the posts!

Steve

[Zansus]

Whew so after a few hours being careful i finally applied this fix...just want to say a big thanks to the you guys for this fix gonna watch it and see if it starts to stutter anytime soon......i used 4 tooth picks to line it up perfectly......

[sean222]

Alright, fed up with the keypad stuttering now. Glad I found this thread, thanks.

One question...is it critical to order a new membrane??? What kind of results would I get if I just 'cleaned up' the existing one?

[Kontakt7]

Software version .650 fixed my stutter problem. No need to dismantle anything.

[sean222]

Software version .650 fixed my stutter problem. No need to dismantle anything.

Bull****. When I get home I'll try .650, if it fixes it I'll come back and press the 'thanks' button beside your name, lol. Pretty sure this is a hardware prob though. I'll see tonight.

[sean222]

Success. Thanks OP. First time I ever disassembled my phone, boy was it scary taking the bezel off. I didn't have that plastic tool, but a plastic guitar pick saved me, lol.

I didn't even buy the new membrane. I just peeled off the existing one, cleaned the contacts with an erase, compressed air, rubbing alcohol, compressed air and then I reapplied the mangled membrane (made a mess of it taking it off)

To my surprise, it worked. I don't think I even needed to clean the contacts, I think the double key issue is due to misalignment. Just peeling it off and putting it back is a good idea.

Hopefully this fix is permanent.

[PagerRocka]

My 9700 was really bad, some keys double clicked, some tripled and others didn't work at all. I've replaced the membrane twice and it fixed the problem temporarly. Well last night my phone fell out of my pocket onto the driveway and was lying out in the rain for a couple minuutes and as you can see from this post, somehow thhe water must hae fixed the problem.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[Phill_UK]

somehow thhe water must hae fixed the problem.

Nope... not fixed yet

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[PagerRocka]

Nope... not fixed yet

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

Haha, compared to when I first got it, it was SO bad I can't even explain it, so even with the occasional stutter and huge gouge out of the bezel, to me it's perfect

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[juliankueh]

So those of you who dismantled your 9780 and realigned or replaced the membrane, is this a permanent fix? How did an upgrade to OS .650 go? Did it make any difference?

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com