Help with KBT Race 75%

[bexleycorona]

Hey guys, hoping I can get some help with an issue on my keyboard. I purchased a used KBT Race 75% "Milk". Overall I love the keyboard but there is a small issue. The K key only works sometimes and mostly when I press on it right from the top.

I recently took it apart and cleaned out the keycaps. I also changed the spring and the top portion of the switch. It seemed to work well for a week but reverted back to it's old finicky ways.

Galley of keyboard:
http://imgur.com/a/slj8A

[CPTBadAss]

Did you check to see if the solder joint on the switch is ok?

[bexleycorona]

Did you check to see if the solder joint on the switch is ok?

I noticed the switch moves back and forth more than the other ones but only slightly.

What do you mean by solder joint? Is there a picture I can take to help diagnose this problem more efficiently?

[CPTBadAss]

I noticed the switch moves back and forth more than the other ones but only slightly.

What do you mean by solder joint? Is there a picture I can take to help diagnose this problem more efficiently?

Sounds like your switch's solder joints are bad. The backside of the PCB will look something like this:


picture borrowed from WhiteFireDragon

Your switches are soldered onto the printed circuit board. Take your PCB out of your case, take a picture of the switch that is loose, and post it here. I bet it's dull, not shiny, meaning the solder joint is cold or improperly soldered. You'll need to resolder the joint in order to fix it if this is the case.

[bexleycorona]

Sounds like a plan.

I'll take the keyboard apart this weekend and see what's going on with the internals.

[bexleycorona]

So I finally got a chance to take apart the keyboard.








So what now?

I know the key started working well when I took apart the switch and cleaned it out. It worked great for 2-3 days but then went back to being buggy.

[Defect]

The leaf in the housing could be damaged.  Try adjusting it (without breaking the switch!) and see if that makes it more reliable.

Have you tried replacing the stem?


Edit: When you say the switch moves back and forth, do you mean the whole housing unit or just the upper half?

[bexleycorona]

The leaf in the housing could be damaged.  Try adjusting it (without breaking the switch!) and see if that makes it more reliable.

Have you tried replacing the stem?


Edit: When you say the switch moves back and forth, do you mean the whole housing unit or just the upper half?

Just the upper half but I realized all of them actually do that.

I don't understand any of the other stuff in your post. Is there an illustration I can reference for those terms?

Sorry for my ignorance.

[Defect]

Stealing this image:

More

So sometimes the metal leaf gets misaligned.  You could try adjusting it.  Does the switch still click?  If it clicks then the leaf is probably aligned correctly BUT there may be some disconnect elsewhere.

[bexleycorona]

So let me get this straight. It's not the round thing in the middle that causes typing to occur. It's the butterfly thing?

It looks bent to me.

[Defect]

Dude that leaf looks jacked uuuuuuuup.  Yes, the keys register when the leaf is disrupted by the stem.  So if it's jacked up and the stem can't disrupt it then you will not have a registered key.  My guess is that with the leaf that messed up you don't hear a click either.

You will have to find a way to carefully bend it back in place (my hands cannot do that ) or you will have to desolder and replace the switch housing.

[bexleycorona]

Dude that leaf looks jacked uuuuuuuup.  Yes, the keys register when the leaf is disrupted by the stem.  So if it's jacked up and the stem can't disrupt it then you will not have a registered key.  My guess is that with the leaf that messed up you don't hear a click either.

You will have to find a way to carefully bend it back in place (my hands cannot do that ) or you will have to desolder and replace the switch housing.

Wow, learn something new every day.

It does click but very faintly. I bought this keyboard used and I'm the second owner. I can't imagine how it would get like that with the top part on...

I tried to bend it but it's not wanting to go back. I don't want to apply too much force. What if I took a rubber band or yarn and put it between the leaf? It would still be squishy but be pushed up far enough.

If I end up not doing that what is the approx worth on the keyboard?

[Defect]

Dude that leaf looks jacked uuuuuuuup.  Yes, the keys register when the leaf is disrupted by the stem.  So if it's jacked up and the stem can't disrupt it then you will not have a registered key.  My guess is that with the leaf that messed up you don't hear a click either.

You will have to find a way to carefully bend it back in place (my hands cannot do that ) or you will have to desolder and replace the switch housing.

Wow, learn something new every day.

It does click but very faintly. I bought this keyboard used and I'm the second owner. I can't imagine how it would get like that with the top part on...

I tried to bend it but it's not wanting to go back. I don't want to apply too much force. What if I took a rubber band or yarn and put it between the leaf? It would still be squishy but be pushed up far enough.

If I end up not doing that what is the approx worth on the keyboard?

Keyboard loses no value from that switch being broken.  The solder hasn't been touched and its really just a bad lower housing for 1 switch.  If you had it here it would literally take me 5 minutes tops to replace (iron has to heat up, yo).

Anyone with a decent soldering iron can fix that super easy.  Maybe you'd have to re-imburse then the cost of a white switch?  Less than a dollar + shipping?

[bexleycorona]

Dude that leaf looks jacked uuuuuuuup.  Yes, the keys register when the leaf is disrupted by the stem.  So if it's jacked up and the stem can't disrupt it then you will not have a registered key.  My guess is that with the leaf that messed up you don't hear a click either.

You will have to find a way to carefully bend it back in place (my hands cannot do that ) or you will have to desolder and replace the switch housing.

Wow, learn something new every day.

It does click but very faintly. I bought this keyboard used and I'm the second owner. I can't imagine how it would get like that with the top part on...

I tried to bend it but it's not wanting to go back. I don't want to apply too much force. What if I took a rubber band or yarn and put it between the leaf? It would still be squishy but be pushed up far enough.

If I end up not doing that what is the approx worth on the keyboard?

Keyboard loses no value from that switch being broken.  The solder hasn't been touched and its really just a bad lower housing for 1 switch.  If you had it here it would literally take me 5 minutes tops to replace (iron has to heat up, yo).

Anyone with a decent soldering iron can fix that super easy.  Maybe you'd have to re-imburse then the cost of a white switch?  Less than a dollar + shipping?

Unfortunately I don't have the soldering skills to work with this.

I did manage to nudge it a bit further and now it works much better. I think that was just the problem. The leaf thing is so bent it just wasn't connecting.

I might get a small o-ring and put it behind the leaf or just put this up for sale.

I really liked this keyboard 

Thank you SO MUCH for your advice!

[Defect]

Grab a q-tip and nudge it carefully.  Well, I'm scared to advise this in case you hulk hand it like I often do and break it lol.