How to repair Membrane switch panel? 2021 Best Guide

What is Membrane switch panel?

The simplest Membrane switch panel has one programmable layer. With the key, you can activate the cashier’s workplace and nothing more. More advanced models have multiple layers. The same key of the keypad with further turns of the key will be responsible for different commands.

This is convenient not only for managing access rights to cash transactions, but also for expanding the repertoire of actions. The most frequent and secure commands you program on the first layer. This does not require a key, and less frequent or more critical, to which you want to restrict access, on the subsequent layers. You can switch between layout layers while working.

Membrane switch panel by construction type:

Push-button (mechanical). These Membrane switch panel are the most durable, if they do not get wet.

This is the only drawback of push-button keypads: if you spill a cup of tea on them, you can say goodbye to the device.

Such keypads do not fail when dust and moisture get inside

Membrane (membrane) keypads: The buttons do not come into direct contact with the matrix. This means that such keypads do not fail when dust and moisture get inside. You can spill tea at least every day.

At the same time, membrane keypads are not the most ergonomic: you have to squeeze the key to the end. For the same reason, they are inferior to mechanical ones in terms of service life.

Rubber silicone Membrane switch panel

A kind of membrane Membrane switch panel. Structurally, the keys in them are a single whole with the same rubber panel and body. They are the best protected against moisture and dust, and unlike simple membrane keypads, their keys give a clear tactile sensation. Well suited for chain supermarkets and warehouse complexes.

They have the same disadvantages as conventional membrane ones: shorter service life compared to mechanical keypads and the need to squeeze the button all the way.

Connecting and configuring POS Membrane switch panel

The computer recognizes these standard keys as soon as you connect a POS Membrane switch panel to it. To program the rest of the keys, you will need a special utility from the manufacturer.

First, come up with a layout or download one of the ready-made templates on the manufacturer’s website.

Membrane switch panel Key layout

Print a file with a template or your own layout scheme, cut out the inserts with the name of each button and attach them to the keypad in the same sequence.

• We will describe the further process using the example of the ATOL KB-60 POS keypad
• Connect the keypad to the system unit via USB.
• Download the device drivers and utility from the manufacturer’s website. Run the utility.
• The utility will display the key programming interface.
• Key programming interface
• Select the layout level.
• Layout levels

Membrane switch panel Key programming interface

Click on the key on the screen that you want to program, and in the menu that opens with the numeric qwerty keypad, assign it the desired command

Assign a command name to the key

The created layout is easy to save as a file and common when configuring other POS keypads. You do not need to go through a full programming cycle when setting up each POS keypad – you just need to “fill” the finished firmware into a new Membrane switch panel.

choose superglue from those that are sold in your region

Cigarette foil is better because it has a paper cover on one side and it sticks better. In addition, you cannot even glue paper with any glue to silicone rubber, so you will have to experimentally choose superglue from those that are sold in your region.

Well, for the best result, it is better to sand the surface to glue and degrease it with acetone. The method with foil allows you to extend the life of the keypad with an average intensity of its use, however, it requires glue, cigarettes and preferably acetone on hand.

Who does not know – on sale there is a special repair kit for Membrane switch panel consisting of patches of this very rubber that conducts current and a tube of glue.

Repair of the Membrane switch panel

 For the gluing to occur reliably enough, it is again necessary to clean the glued surfaces well with fine sandpaper. I don’t know, maybe my crazy hands are weak, maybe the glue is not the same there, but for some reason these repair patches don’t sit in their places for a long time.

And constantly strive to escape, especially if the buttons are common intensively.

Selects a faulty penny plus a small piece of the button

A kind of repair kit is a method using a “donor”… For this, in addition to the donor, a die cut (a tube with sharply sharpened edges) with a diameter of approximately the same as a conductive patch is important. This cut selects a faulty penny plus a small piece of the button “body” under it.

There is not a through hole in the Membrane switch panel on the inside. A part of a button (“body” with a heel) from a working donor is inserted into this hole.

The method gives a good result when repairing specific buttons.

There are also different compositions that can be common to cover the work surface, but I have not tried such methods.

4. Now let’s move on to even more barbaric methods of “repairing rubber bands”:

When there is nothing at all at hand except a working tool and you need to restore the keypad urgently, you can implant a conductive “implant” into the button. Almost any small metal object (a core from a wire, a clip from a binder, a small screw or nail) can serve as an “implant”. The rubber from which the Membrane switch panel comes usually very soft and it will not be difficult to mount such a small metal object into it.

Conclusion

 Such a rubber-metal button works well and for a long time. But when it stops working again, it can be much more difficult to restore the remote control. The fact is that a metal implant, when pressed repeatedly, rubs the thin tracks of the printed circuit board, which it should close. It is also possible to build up these tracks, but somewhat more time consuming.