Keyboard Repair

[wonders]

Hi, I've recently bouht a filco keyboard with brown cherry switches, and bein my first mechanical keyboard I absolutely loved it. However just yesterday I spilt some water over the keyboard, and now one of the keys doesn't work very reliably. Sometimes it works fine, but this usually lasts only for 10 keypresses or so and then it dies aain. Is there an easy way to fix this? Any help would of course be reatly appreciated.

[itlnstln]

This one's tough.  It sounds like there might be some water in the switch, but since the Filco has plate-mounted switches, they are not easy to take apart. What you might want to try is taking off a cap and taping down the stem about halfway to allow the switch to dry out (if there is water in it).  Otherwise, you will have to desolder the switch and take it apart to get better access to it.  Filcos are tough to open up, as well, but there is a guide somewhere here; maybe someone could chime in on where it is.

[itlnstln]

Keep in mind, too, that if you open up your Filco, you void the warranty. You could always contact elitekeyboards and see if Brian (majestouch on GH) can fix it for you.

[wonders]

Thanks for the quick reply. I didn't buy it from elite keyboards so I don't think Brian would be willin to fix it, in fact I'm all the way in Australia. I'll contact the seller to see whether the warranty covers it and open it later. Also, what do you mean by "taping down the stem about halfway"? Thanks again for the help and please forgive my ignorance.

[itlnstln]

Check the pics here on how the Cherry MX switch works.  When the switch is all the way up, it's sealed, thus if there is any water in the switch, it can't evaporate out.  If you press the switch down, it should allow a little air to get in and dry out any water in the switch.  Something else to look for is water on the PCB, but since it's only one switch, I doubt that would be a problem.  If anything, you can buy replacement switches from various online stores, and you could just replace the faulty switch if you can't get it to work again.

[itlnstln]

So much for gold plating, huh?

[kishy]

McDonald's in the states sells Cheetos?

Wow, they really do give you guys the short end of the stick...lower grade meat than here, smaller servings than here, and Cheetos?

[itlnstln]

I don't know, man.  The recession had a delayed effect here in TX.  I need all the cash I can get.

[kriminal]

This one's tough.  It sounds like there might be some water in the switch, but since the Filco has plate-mounted switches, they are not easy to take apart. What you might want to try is taking off a cap and taping down the stem about halfway to allow the switch to dry out (if there is water in it).  Otherwise, you will have to desolder the switch and take it apart to get better access to it.  Filcos are tough to open up, as well, but there is a guide somewhere here; maybe someone could chime in on where it is.

yeah managed to open my filco..


there is one screw on the back {under the white sticker}, once unscrewed you can then attempt to pull of the cover which was quiet frustrating at first because i went at it the wrong way.
however all you need a something pretty thin and sturdy to slide into the underside of the cover, {in this case i used a knife} with the knife in slide it along until it stops or jams on something and then "pry" the knife outwards,
this will basically unhook the little "snap in" grooves that hold the cover and the backplate together. it will creak alot when doing this but dont worry the casing is quite tough
its pretty much childs play after that.

[wonders]

I've taped it down  as suggested. The thing is that I don't even know whether it's the water, since that was yesterday and the key only became defective today. I did a bit of typing yesterday after I spilt the water and would've noticed if it wasn't working.

[quadibloc]

McDonald's in the states sells Cheetos?

No; I think it was just that this was a piece of real food of a suitable size to put in the scene for a Lego model, because the item of food it was intended to represent would not have been to scale.

Oh, I see. This is perhaps a joke relating to "no outside food".

[Nonmouse]

You could flush the water out of the switch with some isopropyl alcohol- squirting it in with a syringe with the switch partially depressed would probably be easiest.  Shake as much out as you can, then leave the switch partially depressed for a few hours (probably overkill, IPA dries very fast.)

[Nonmouse]

Give it up, rippy- you aren't winning the poll.

[kriminal]

rippy has 13097 posts if that aint troll i dont know what troll is...
i think im going to vote for him. troll bastard...

[kriminal]

Pity vote.

sshhhhh

[itlnstln]

With Legos nonetheless.

[Rajagra]

Oh, right. Ripster is such a hero. He once single-handedly saved the porn industry.

I see what you did there.

[itlnstln]

I need two hands.  A third would be pretty useful, too.

[ricercar]

I need two hands.  A third would be pretty useful, too.

but whatever do you do with that extra arm?

[itlnstln]

Who said it would be my hand?

[lucas]

This isn't the best reproduction--I used a Nikon D90 and Youtube. But it's still noticable, albeit pretty quiet. (I included a WhiBal card in honor of Ripster.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N54eusgrtoM