After more than 30 years of life, some of our precious machines may be a little worn and battle scarred at this stage.
Fortunately, there are people and companies who have invested time and effort into manufacturing replacement parts and even replacement cases!
Here we provide an overview of what’s available, and where to go to obtain these bits.
Cases, Keymats and Keyboard Membranes
As far as new rubber key cases and keymats go, Djordje Mitic (Retro Radionics) and Peter Smith (ZXRenew) have you covered.
RetroRadionics Cases
RetroRadionics Keymats
RetroRadionics Faceplates
ZXRenew Cases
ZXRenew Keymats
ZXRenew Faceplates
Keyboard Membranes
Most unrefurbished machines will have keyboards that no longer work – this is due to the original keyboard membranes being made of plastic which becomes quite brittle over time. This seems to only affect Sinclair built machines – Amstrad +2 and +3 machines have membranes that hardly ever cause problems.
RWAP Rubber Key Membrane
RWAP 48K Plus/128K Membrane
ZXRenew 48K Rubber Key Membrane
ZXRenew 48K Plus/128K Membrane
RetroRadionics 48K Rubber Key Membrane
RetroRadionics 48K Plus/128K Membrane
Rubber Feet
Another item that goes missing a lot, so these are all you need to rebalance your Spectrum.
ZX81/Rubber Key Spectrum Feet (these can also be used to replace the feet on Plus/128K extendable legs)
Screws
Rusty or missing screws can be replaced with the following parts.
48K Rubber Key screws (choose M3 x 10mm from the options) – M3 x 10mm, countersunk head, self tapping
+2 (Grey) Case Screws (choose M3 x 12mm from the options) – M3 x 12mm, pan head, flat tail Phillips self tapping
+3 Case Screws (choose M3 x 18mm from the options) – M3 x 18mm, pan head, flat tail Phillips self tapping
+3 Disc Drive Case Screws (choose M3 x 10mm from the options) – M3 x 10mm flanged Philips button head machine screws
Keyboard Sockets
Known as Molex FFC/FPC connectors, these connect the keyboard membrane to the PCB.
The part numbers from Molex are 22-02-3053 (5-way) and 22-02-3083 (8-way), although these are NLA and are hard to fine.
Alternatives are available from Farnell as:
TE Connectivity TRIO-MATE 5-520315-8 (8-way)
TE Connectivity TRIO-MATE 5-520315-5 (5-way)
Use part numbers ‘5-520315-8’ (8 way) and ‘5-520314-5′ (5-way) on other sites such as Mouser, Digikey etc.
For the +2A and +3, a 13-way connector seems to be no longer available, However, the following 14-way connector may be used by removing one pin:
TE Connectivity TRIO-MATE 6-520315-4 (14 way connector).
Tape/Disk Drive Belts
Replacing belts can cure loading issues, or in the case of the +3, fix a broken drive.
Grey +2 Cassette Drive Small Belt and Large Belt (square belt 35.0 x 1.2, square belt 70.0 x 1.2)
Black +2 Cassette Drive Belt (square belt 70.0 x 1.2)
Plus +3 Disk Drive Belt (flat belt 71.0 x 2.8 x 0.6)
Third Party Cassette Deck Belts
Although not Sinclair related, these cassette decks were most popularly used with the Spectrum.
WH Smith CPD8300 (square belt 77 x 1.2)
Boots CR375 (flat belt 88.0 x 4.0)
Dixons SR7 (flat belt 88.0 x 4.0)
Ingersoll XK635 (flat belt 88.0 x 4.0)
Sanyo DR101 (square belt 73.6 x 1.3)
Ferguson 3T27 (square belt 70.0 x 1.2)