[HELP] Replacement for Logitech G710+ Broken Key cap!

[Tito]

Hey guys,

I have been using Logitech G710+ for about 4 months now. This is my 2nd mechanical keyboard after CM Storm Trigger died on me after 10 months of use (was always on-lit, Storm key worked as Windows key, media keys didn't work. It had a defective board and I luckily got a full refund from Amazon).

I had no issues with my G710+ until few weeks ago I noticed that the WASD keys pop while I game, I thought I might have sticky fingers or something ! (although no other keys would pop), and it kept happening till I found that the bottom of my A key cap is broken and the other WSD keys are easier to remove from the Cherry MX switches compared to other key caps.




I don't abuse my keyboard at all, nor I bash the key caps while I write/game. After googling around of a bit, I found that this is a common problem with G710+ key caps (other than the lemon patch of faulty lighting) and a lot of people were complaining in the Logitech forums, I was planning to contact Logitech's customer support to get replacement for my WASD key caps (I was willing to pay for them) till other people with my issue wrote that Logitech require you to send the whole keyboard to get a replacement, and sometimes they don't even reply to your emails.

So, I ditched the idea of contacting Logitech and did some research for key caps, I found your forums, but I was overwhelmed by the amount of vendors you suggest (in the Key caps forum sticky post).

I contacted MaxKeyboard.com and they told me they sell the black key caps with laser engraved letters for $3/each (the one for Nighthawk models). It's a bit steep price from what I expected, I didn't ask them for the price of the whole key caps set though.

I would really appreciate it if someone could help me find black key caps with laser engraved letters that would fit in my Logitech G710+, either WASD & Arrows or the whole set.

P.S. I live in Egypt, so please suggest places where they either ship internationally or to the US.

Thanks a lot .

[IvanIvanovich]

I have never used this site so I do not vouch for them in any way... but they have a very cheap price on full set of backlight type keycap.

[Tito]

Thanks IvanIvanovich for your suggestion, they indeed got a very low price. Will buy from them if no one else suggested other vendors (preferably, some key caps which will live long )

[Oobly]

The G710+ has a non-standard bottom row, so you won't easily find a set of caps where you can replace them all.

The Mionix Zibal keycaps will work fine if you just want to replace the alpha keys (lettered keys), but they may not last much longer than the original Logitech keycaps.

If you want keycaps that will last a long time, then you're better off looking for something better than thin Laser etched ABS caps, but the non-standard bottom row of the G710+ becomes a problem then and most of the better quality caps (better feeling for typing and long lasting) don't support backlighting. I believe Déck make some doubleshot PBT backlit compatible caps, but the font they use is... an acquired taste?

[Tito]

Thank you very much Oobly for the info, I wouldn't have figured this out by myself at all.

I looked at Déck website and saw the caps font, it's way past ugly, it's borderline eye-bleeding ugly . Luckily, I don't look at the keyboard while I type, so, if I settled for the Déck set, it won't hurt much, at least they won't break after only 3 months of normal usage .

Isn't there any long lasting, back lit compatible with decent font key caps that would fit my G710+?

[user 18]

The G710+ has a non-standard bottom row, so you won't easily find a set of caps where you can replace them all.

The Mionix Zibal keycaps will work fine if you just want to replace the alpha keys (lettered keys), but they may not last much longer than the original Logitech keycaps.

If you want keycaps that will last a long time, then you're better off looking for something better than thin Laser etched ABS caps, but the non-standard bottom row of the G710+ becomes a problem then and most of the better quality caps (better feeling for typing and long lasting) don't support backlighting. I believe Déck make some doubleshot PBT backlit compatible caps, but the font they use is... an acquired taste?

MaxKeyboards also sells some front print/blank sets that are considered 'universal' -- they fit many boards including nonstandard bottom row spacing. I have a front print set that has lasted 6 months on my board with no severe wear. $40 for a full set, plus shipping, IIRC.

[Tito]

MaxKeyboards were my first choice (user 18), I just posted here to know if there is better option for key caps, as I have absolutely no knowledge whatsoever about them.

[Kayla]

Because of the nonstandard bottom row youre going to have to either get a standard set then find your own modifier keys or get the max universal set. .-. Could also go in on a group buy and get tsangan. Your quickest solution would be the universal set.

[Tito]

Please excuse my ignorance Kyle, would you please answer my questions?

Is there's any other universal set other than MaxKeyboard's?
If I went to buy a standard set, I'll have to buy modifiers like Tsangan kit, only them would fit me? And what about the aesthetics of my keyboard?
Also, is getting into a group buy mean I have to find 24 people for example so we buy 25 piece set? Or there's vendors who I could buy an individual set from?

Sorry for bothering you with my questions, would be great if anyone answered and taught me 101 about keyboards.

[Polymer]

Just give them a call..forget about what people have said on the forums...

Explain to them your situation, that one keycap has broken and you can send them pictures and just see if they can send you a replacement keycap.  If they tell you to ship it and it has to go international, just explain to them that shipping it would be cost prohibitive just to replace ONE keycap. 

Hopefully you get someone that can think and will figure out how to send you one keycap rather than both you and Logitech spend 200 dollars shipping a keyboard back and forth. 

[Kayla]

Just give them a call..forget about what people have said on the forums...

Explain to them your situation, that one keycap has broken and you can send them pictures and just see if they can send you a replacement keycap.  If they tell you to ship it and it has to go international, just explain to them that shipping it would be cost prohibitive just to replace ONE keycap. 

Hopefully you get someone that can think and will figure out how to send you one keycap rather than both you and Logitech spend 200 dollars shipping a keyboard back and forth.

^ This

Max keyboards it the only place to order retail universal keyboard sets. For a group buy you would either need to set up one yourself and get people to participate or wait for one to be run in the group buy subforum and make sure the space bar size for your G710+ is covered aswell as the other non-standard keys.

In any case; http://www.logitech.com/en-us/contact you can contact logitech here.

Fyi; Logitech G710+ has a 6.5 unit space bar which pretty are hard to find (the max set comes with one)

[intelli78]

You could also try to find a WASD cluster in OEM profile, assuming that's what the Logitech has, which should be less than $10.

[Oobly]

Just give them a call..forget about what people have said on the forums...

Explain to them your situation, that one keycap has broken and you can send them pictures and just see if they can send you a replacement keycap.  If they tell you to ship it and it has to go international, just explain to them that shipping it would be cost prohibitive just to replace ONE keycap. 

Hopefully you get someone that can think and will figure out how to send you one keycap rather than both you and Logitech spend 200 dollars shipping a keyboard back and forth. 

^^This is a good option. You just get the keycap you need and Logitech should get you sorted out. On the other hand, you're then left with the same standard, low quality caps.

You could also try to find a WASD cluster in OEM profile, assuming that's what the Logitech has, which should be less than $10.

Genius! Don't know why I didn't think of this. The WASD cluster are already a different color to the main alpha key section and they have a separate backlighting brightness, so you can go with different keycaps for those and it should still look and feel decent (as long as they are OEM profile like the originals).

Actually I have some red backlight compatible WASD caps I don't use (from a Ducky G2Pro) and can send your way. PM me with your address and I can pop them in the post for you, if you don't mind that they're red and have a slightly different font than the rest of the alphas. They are like this:

[Tito]

@Polymer
I'll give them a call to see what will they say, can't blame a man for trying though...

@Kayla
Thanks for your help Kayla. I'll now seriously consider buying from MaxKeyboard, but are they thin ABS caps like the G710+? or they are of better quality (will probably last longer)?

@intelli78
Sorry inelli, I didn't fully understand you. Did you mean I should buy WASD keycaps? But what is OEM profile?

The first idea I had after I discovered my broken A keycap, and Logitech's support being a dead end is to buy a replacement, since WASD & Arrow keys are grey in the G710+ with other keys in black, I thought about buying the new ones in black (as I didn't like having WASD&Arrow in grey in the first place) but after I asked MaxKeyboard for the price, they told me it's $3 each, paying $28 for just 8 keycaps is kinda expensive for me, so, I began considering a whole set (which would be cheaper compared to buying the 8 keys individually and also in case other G710+ keycaps broke again).

@Oobly
I really appreciate your generosity and your kind gesture Oobly. But having red WASD in different font, grey arrows and the rest of caps in black doesn't look very appealing, I'll call Logitech just for the sake of trying, and will probably go for buying a whole set of keycaps, since I found out the G710's are of low quality, I don't want to get a replacement then other key breaks and I have to do this key-shopping from scratch.

[Oobly]

Well, you can find WASD sets from a few different online stores, some include arrow cluster keys like this one: http://www.maxkeyboard.com/black-translucent-cherry-mx-blank-keycap-set-for-esc-w-a-s-d-or-e-s-d-f-and-arrow-keys.html

Profile means the height, angle and surface curve of the keycaps. Many boards come with the tallish OEM profile caps. Aftermarket keycap makers offer a number of different profiles (Cherry, DCS, DSA, SA, etc.), but very few make OEM.

The spacebar really makes the keycaps almost irreplacable as a set unless you get a black set with OEM profile to match it, and even then you need to also add a Tsangan kit to fill out the bottom row. Most kits that have Tsangan sets are NOT in OEM profile (SP DCS is most common, which is lower than OEM). On top of that there are the macro keys on the side. AFAIK, there is no set that will include those, so you'll have to make them up with blanks or use the originals.

Don't forget to swap the orings over from the old caps, too.

[Tito]

Thanks Oobly for explaining what a Profile mean.

I've seen this set before, but translucent caps aren't my cup of tea, they are too distracting IMHO.

In case I didn't get any help from Logitech's side, what do you recommend? Buying WASD&Arrows caps and crossing my fingers no other cap would break? Or shall I go for the universal MaxKeyboard's set?

What about wayne's set here? http://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=59609.0 - I am absolutely loving it, especially the font, would I be able to get it laser engraved (light pass through keycap) version of it that would fit my G710+?

I really appreciate your patience in answering my awful lot of questions in this thread. Thanks a lot 

[Oobly]

AFAIK, the Max universal set is also translucent.

A custom set from WASD (like Wayne's set) is possible to do, but I'm not sure they have the option for anything other than standard bottom row, especially 6.5x spacebar and it is quite expensive.

Your options for a full set for a G710+ are VERY limited, mainly due to the spacebar being non-standard size. I don't know of any OEM profile keycap sets that have Tsangan bottom row kit as an option.... In other words, I can't think of any set you could buy to replace all the caps that would feel good (same height of keys on bottom row as spacebar), even without replacing the spacebar. If you're okay with the spacebar being higher than the rest of the bottom row caps, then you have some options (replacing everything except the spacebar with different profile keycaps). Any set with Tsangan option will fit then.

I forgot to ask, but since your location says "Egypt" do you have a tall Enter key on your board? If so, it is ISO layout and the options get smaller again. If it is wide and flat, it's probably ANSI. Most aftermarket keycap sets are made for ANSI, but some have an ISO option.

ISO layout (German version):


Standard ANSI layout:


ANSI layout with Tsangan bottom row:


So, I recommend finding a set of WASD and arrows that you like in OEM profile (or a cheap full set of OEM caps) and swapping those keys only.

[Tito]

Hey guys,

Sorry for not being active on this thread for a while now, I've been busy with college and exams.

I contacted Logitech support via email, and they told me they don't sell/replace keycaps, the only option they have for my issue is replacing the whole keyboard!

They offered me a local UPS pickup from my home address in Egypt to their facility in Switzerland and then sending me a new keyboard via UPS also, they will pay for all the shipping back and forth, and I'll pay the customs/taxes here in Egypt when I receive the new keyboard.

So what do you think guys? Should I go through with this? By this I get a new keyboard, and hopefully no keycaps would be broken with it, and even if something did break, then I would be relieved that I already went through their support route and the only option I've left is a 3rd party keycaps set.

I will post my email transcript here if anyone is interested in reading it!

Any help would be greatly appreciated. I am waiting for all your responses folks.

Thanks.

[Oobly]

Hi again

If the taxes aren't too much then go for it. You get a new board and hopefully have no further issues. It could just be that the batch of plastic used with that particular set of keys was dodgy or that that key had been damaged somehow at the factory.

Another option for replacing the arrows and WASD are these:

http://www.banggood.com/MKC-Mental-Silver-Zinc-Alloy-Direction-Keycaps-For-Cherry-MX-p-86962.html
http://www.banggood.com/MKC-Mental-Zinc-Alloy-WASD-Direction-Keycaps-For-Cherry-MX-p-86956.html

Or a cheap set of these OEM caps in grey or black and just use the arrows and WASD:

http://www.banggood.com/Keycool-Top-Print-White-Gray-Black-37-KeyCaps-For-OEM-Keyboard-p-925661.html

Neither of them allow the backlighting to shine through them, but the backlighting will give a background glow around them.

Good luck with your decision.

[Tito]

Hey Oobly,

Thanks for your reply mate. Since you are the only who cared enough to post a reply, I'll follow your advice for replacing my keyboard. I contacted Logitech Support again to make sure whether the replacement keyboard will be completely new or not, I am waiting for their reply and I will post the update here. If it's not new keyboard I'll go for a 3rd party keycaps. Thanks again Oobly for being so helpful and especially for helping a new member who's no asset whatsoever here in the forums.

Have a nice day 

[terrpn]

good reason to have to buy a new board sounds like to me

guys...........don't they kind of look like BWU caps-- not a 100%, but the profiles, etc. look about the same?

even the font looks close?

[Thinkbank]

BTW, Logitech says they have 50 million cycle life http://gaming.logitech.com/en-us/product/g710plus-mechanical-gaming-keyboard , does that math seem even possible? Assuming super fast key stroke, it would take some ungodly number of years to test the 50 million cycles (sorry didnt do the math, but found the claim on their site mathematically curious)...

[user 18]

BTW, Logitech says they have 50 million cycle life http://gaming.logitech.com/en-us/product/g710plus-mechanical-gaming-keyboard , does that math seem even possible? Assuming super fast key stroke, it would take some ungodly number of years to test the 50 million cycles (sorry didnt do the math, but found the claim on their site mathematically curious)...

That's based on Cherry's spec for MX switches, nothing Logitech did. It's probably a MTBF number, like the way hard drives are tested, although I'm not sure.

At one press per second, it's about 1.6 years to reach 50 million presses. Given that the best typists type in excess of 200wpm, that corresponds to about 17 keypresses per second (200 wpm = 1000 characters/min) -- If they could keep that up indefinitely, that's 50 million keypresses in just over a month. It's entirely possible that a machine can actuate switches faster than a human possibly could, cutting down the time even more. Possible and feasible, but still not the most efficient way of arriving at such a number. We also don't know how many significant digits the number 50 million has. Written the way it is, we can assume two, but it could easily be just one, and the rating arrived at before failure was only 46,000,000 or 45,500,000 key presses.

[Tito]

UPDATE:
Logitech previous offer was me to send them my keyboard from Egypt to their facility in Switzerland, and then they send me a replacement keyboard (which doesn't have to be brand new), the shipping back and forth is paid by them, and I only pay for customs/taxes here in Egypt, they also agreed to adjust the keyboard's invoice to a lower price so I don't pay much taxes here.

Now, they sent me an email with a new offer, as an exception for my case, I won't have to send my fully-functioning, only-1-broken-cap-keyboard to them, and they will send me a brand new G710+ as a replacement!, all the shipping is paid by them, and I only pay for the customs/taxes, they will most probably adjust the invoice's price!

I am now waiting for the new replacement keyboard shipping in the next few days, I'll post the updates here folks. Thanks a lot for your assistance good people.

[Polymer]

Haha..sounds good..

They probably realized shipping your keyboard back to them would cost them more than what it is worth getting it back...

What is really sad is, if they just sent you a keycap, they could solve this problem w/ 5 dollars instead of 150...(just guessing on the cost of keyboard + shipping). 

Great for you though...

[Tito]

@Polymer
Shipping cost is probably the reason!

When I first contacted them I wanted a keycaps replacement, but the CSA said they neither sell keycaps nor offer them as a replacement, which is not a clever policy IMHO.

Other reason for replacing the whole keyboard might be like Oobly said, a faulty patch of plastic used for making the keycaps, and they have fixed the issue by now (at least I hope so).

I wanna give a special thanks for you Polymer, you are the one who convinced me I should contact Logitech's CS after I was put off from doing that by the huge amount of people complaining about their CS. Thanks mate .

[Polymer]

Glad it worked out for you.

My personal experience with Logitech CS is they're pretty good and I'm glad this ended well for you.

Now you can still look for a replacement keycap and have two keyboards ..

[Tito]

Hey guys,

I received my brand-new G710+ on Thursday, July the 17th after only 2 days of shipping from the Netherlands to me in Egypt!

The huge surprise is not only Logitech sent a new €107 keyboard with me keeping my original keyboard and them paying for the super fast shipping from NL->EG but they also paid for the customs/taxes!

When the shipment was en route, I called UPS to know the invoice's listed price, to find out it's €107 (not a lower price like Logitech said before), so I was willing to pay about €10.7 to €21.4 in customs/taxes, then I found out from the delivery guy once he came home that UPS paid for it on behalf of the sender!

I've been using my keyboard for about 9 days now with no issues whatsoever (hopefully nothing will break in the future).

My only tiny note about my new keyboard is it have a different layout,
I got this

instead of my previous layout
(pictures not mine).

I still don't know what I'll do about my original keyboard, I'll probably replace the broken keycaps in the future then give it my little sister or something.

Many many thanks for everyone in the forums who helped me with my problem, and a very special thanks to Oobly & Polymer for their huge support.

Goodbye 

[Oobly]

An absolute pleasure! Great to see it worked out well! The new board is ISO layout, the old is ANSI. Well, technically they're not exactly those due to the odd bottom row, but the layout of the other rows matches exactly. ISO is primarily used in Europe and ANSI in USA. ISO has one more key than ANSI. Most aftermarket sets of keycaps are ANSI.

[Tito]

@Oobly
Thanks for the info mate. Since my new keyboard keycaps are of a rarer species, those keycaps MUST NOT BREAK, or I am screwed!

[TheMark]

I have a G710+ with a missing "6" key on the top row.

I was considering buying a $20 key set... But instead I bought a new $150 keyboard.

[Tito]

@TheMark
The missing "6" wasn't a manufacturing error? You just lost your key?

I think you should have bit the bullet and kept the G710+ or maybe bought the $20 set. What did you get as a replacement BTW?

[TheMark]

@TheMark
The missing "6" wasn't a manufacturing error? You just lost your key?

I think you should have bit the bullet and kept the G710+ or maybe bought the $20 set. What did you get as a replacement BTW?

I bought a KUL ES-87 (brown)

http://elitekeyboards.com/products.php?sub=keyed_up_labs,tenkeyless&pid=es87u_cg_bbb_al

I had the exact same problem as in your first post.

[Tito]

Congrats on your new keyboard TheMark.

I really do hope that the G710's had a faulty batch/es of keycaps plastic, and they fixed the issue on later releases, like they did with the batch/es that had faulty lighting, otherwise I am in trouble again.

[TheMark]

Congrats on your new keyboard TheMark.

I really do hope that the G710's had a faulty batch/es of keycaps plastic, and they fixed the issue on later releases, like they did with the batch/es that had faulty lighting, otherwise I am in trouble again.

Thanks.

It has a 3yr warranty, so I'll send it in once the KUL arrives. Then probably sell it to fund something else. I only found this site a few days ago... I'm already hooked.

[Tito]

@TheMark
Good luck with that mate. I stumbled upon geekhack when I was googling around for a solution for the broken keycaps, pretty awesome forum with incredibly helpful folks. Never thought there was a whole universe of keyboards out there! 

[TheMark]

Update: logitech is shipping me a new 710+. Can't complain about that!

[Tito]

WOW! That's awesome news TheMark! Logitech does really support their products 

[HC1Gunner]

Does anyone know if this key set will work on the G710?

http://www.corsair.com/en-us/fps-backlit-key-caps-keycap-puller-and-palm-rest

[Oobly]

Does anyone know if this key set will work on the G710?

http://www.corsair.com/en-us/fps-backlit-key-caps-keycap-puller-and-palm-rest

Yup, those 10 keycaps (WASD and 1-6) will work. They're standard Cherry MX mount, so they'll work on any MX board, but the wrist rest won't mount to the G710+

[HC1Gunner]

Thank You Oobly,
I knew the wrist pad was worthless, but I rather like the red keys. I find the offset in color from the G710's black to gray/silver not enough to distinguish. And I want a replacement cap that will allow the keys back lighting to come through just the letter on top.

[Oobly]

It's a pleasure.

Note that they're also contoured from left to right, so it may feel a bit odd for typing, but should be nice for gaming 

[VIPERITE]

I have the exact same problem and registered just to reply here, I have just contacted Logitech Support in the hope of them replacing my lctrl and lwindows keys, damn the lights are blinding.

[Tito]

@VIPERITE
I don't think Logitech does key replacement, they go for whole keyboard replacement, at least that what happened to me and a bunch of folks having similar problem online. Hope it turns out well for you anyway. I replaced my WASD keys with G1-G4 keys so I can game and not loose my sight from the glaring LEDs, but since you got limited temporary replacement options for left CTRL & Windows keys, I suggest you cover it with a tiny piece of duct tape or something. Good luck .

[VIPERITE]

@VIPERITE
I don't think Logitech does key replacement, they go for whole keyboard replacement, at least that what happened to me and a bunch of folks having similar problem online. Hope it turns out well for you anyway. I replaced my WASD keys with G1-G4 keys so I can game and not loose my sight from the glaring LEDs, but since you got limited temporary replacement options for left CTRL & Windows keys, I suggest you cover it with a tiny piece of duct tape or something. Good luck .

No luck so far, Logitech haven't replied in six days since I opened the case with their support function. 

[Tito]

@VIPERITE
No worries. You will get there. Just don't lose hope, if they didn't reply in a few days, post another comment. Or maybe you can call them and tell the Customer Support Agent on the phone your case number, maybe he/she will do something.

[Showhand]

Hi all.
I have been considering this keycap mod pack, mentioned above:
http://www.maxkeyboard.com/black-translucent-cherry-mx-blank-keycap-set-for-esc-w-a-s-d-or-e-s-d-f-and-arrow-keys.html

I want to substitute arrow and wasd clusters because I do not like the color. Anyway, I am not sure that i like the translucent configuration - I would prefer some black, top printed, more close to other board caps. It seems that Signature Plastics ones (http://www.keycapsdirect.com/processes.php) may be fine, but while they are listed in their capabilities, it seems impossible to find them in the store...
I am considering also the substitution of the entire set (the factory one feels really bad) but, still, I do not like the translucent ones and did not find a compatible space bar.
I appreciate any suggestion!

[VIPERITE]

So it took the best part of two months, but I finally got my replacement keyboard today! 

[Tito]

Congrats VIPERITE! Totally worth your while mate

[Cypis]

Tito, I know it's been  while but I'm really interested in this one - how did you resolved your situation, I one may ask?