Blue Alps Switches actuate before click

[nkapur]

I am having strange problem with my oemax mck-101 keyboard. It has blue alps switches, the switches are nice and crisp and the board is in very good condition looks like didn't get much use.

The only issue with this board that is driving me nuts are the SKCM Blue Alps switches are very sensitive and actuate even before the click happens. Just a light touch actuates them and typing is very difficult and a lot of unwanted key presses happen. If it would have been just few switches I could understand but this is happening to almost all of them and some are more sensitive than others.

https://streamable.com/ccrt5w

Here is a link of me showing the sensitivity of the spacebar simple touch is actuating the switch. I have tried opening and adjusting the switch leaf but that doesn't solves the issue. It has a 5 PIN DIN, so I have 5 pin din to ps2 and from ps2 to usb converter going, I even tried a pro micro but got same results.

[jacobolus]

Hm, this is strange. This happens with orange Omrons, space invader switches, and some other kinds, but I never experienced this with SKCM ("complicated Alps") switches.

If you take a switch apart you might be able to figure out what is happening. Maybe the leaf springs on the switchplates are bent out of their original shape? Or the switches are mis-assembled?

https://deskthority.net/wiki/Alps_SKCL/SKCM_series#Switchplate

[directheatedtriode]

Hm, this is strange. This happens with orange Omrons, space invader switches, and some other kinds, but I never experienced this with SKCM ("complicated Alps") switches.

If you take a switch apart you might be able to figure out what is happening. Maybe the click leaves are bent out of their original shape, or something?

Agreed, I've never seen this before on an SKCM/SKCL switch either.

Ok, so you have tried reseating things, this is really strange to me since it seems like it is more of a mechanical issue than electrical?

Can you maybe photograph the leafs on a switch that is super sensitive and one that isn't as sensitive? Is there a chance the previous owner opening them up and was bending around the leafs?

[GlennL42]

I have similar issue with some of my SKCM switch as well recently, some of them won't actuate at all regardless of how deep I pushed it, which I thought was due to busted switchplate but it turned out to be just the contact leaf becoming deformed overtime and preventing itself from pushing the switchplate properly. I have to bend them outward to make them actuate, while this fixed the non-actuating switch, most of them now actuate before the tactile event. Wasn't until recently I managed to find some spare contact leaf that I can properly replace them with.

Do try to diagnose this a bit to see which switch is working properly and which is not, maybe try swapping the 'good' contact leaf with the ones with 'bad' contact leaf to see if that fixed the bad switch, if that's the case then the problem is with the contact leaf and you'll need to bend them inward to fix the switch by making them actuate later, but you may risk making their actuation point inconsistent though so ideally you should try to get some replacement contact leaf...

[directheatedtriode]

I have similar issue with some of my SKCM switch as well recently, some of them won't actuate at all regardless of how deep I pushed it, which I thought was due to busted switchplate but it turned out to be just the contact leaf becoming deformed overtime and preventing itself from pushing the switchplate properly. I have to bend them outward to make them actuate, while this fixed the non-actuating switch, most of them now actuate before the tactile event. Wasn't until recently I managed to find some spare contact leaf that I can properly replace them with.

Attempting to bend Alps contact leafs is usually a bad time, you'll never get them precisely like how they were from the factory.

I've experimented on rough feeling SKCM blue with using toothpicks as spacers and compared them against stock and even then they don't feel the same.

[Maledicted]

I have similar issue with some of my SKCM switch as well recently, some of them won't actuate at all regardless of how deep I pushed it, which I thought was due to busted switchplate but it turned out to be just the contact leaf becoming deformed overtime and preventing itself from pushing the switchplate properly. I have to bend them outward to make them actuate, while this fixed the non-actuating switch, most of them now actuate before the tactile event. Wasn't until recently I managed to find some spare contact leaf that I can properly replace them with.

Do try to diagnose this a bit to see which switch is working properly and which is not, maybe try swapping the 'good' contact leaf with the ones with 'bad' contact leaf to see if that fixed the bad switch, if that's the case then the problem is with the contact leaf and you'll need to bend them inward to fix the switch by making them actuate later, but you may risk making their actuation point inconsistent though so ideally you should try to get some replacement contact leaf...

That seems like the best explanation to me. I was scratching my head reading the original post myself and decided not to answer because I couldn't fathom how this could happen. I have piles of unrestored Alps boards now and I have never noticed this.

Attempting to bend Alps contact leafs is usually a bad time, you'll never get them precisely like how they were from the factory.

I've experimented on rough feeling SKCM blue with using toothpicks as spacers and compared them against stock and even then they don't feel the same.

Maybe some kind of jig could be made to bend every single one at exactly the same place to exactly the same angle. I can't imagine that could be easy without some kind of fabrication background.

[jacobolus]

Is there a chance the previous owner opening them up and was bending around the leafs?

My guess is that the keyboard was stored for 10 years with the switches all depressed, or similar.

It's not too uncommon for old keyboards to end up bare on a shelf with something piled on top.

Though this doesn't quite accord with "switches are nice and crisp".

[nkapur]

Yes, so I think it has to do with the switch leaf for sure. I played around with one switch leaf on the num pad and to a minor degree was able to fix the issue. It still actuates before the click but still better than before, it was much more sensitive to the touch before.

I didn't wanted to bend the switch plate leaf too  drastically. Now, the issue is that how will I get all the 101 switches on the keyboard fixed and consistent. Even with one switch I had to do this multiple time to get to a point where the behavior improved.

I have another leading edge dc 2014 keeb, I am having sort of a similar issue on the spacebar key on that one as well, the spacebar actuates on very light presses. Could that be due to the weight of the spacebar? In many keyboards they use a different switch for the spacebar which uses much more force to actuate. Has anyone experienced the same on their alps keyboards? or is it just the leading edge space bar is a lot heavier.

[directheatedtriode]

I've owned four SKCM blue boards, all of them have a standard SKCM blue switch for the spacebar.

Your 2014 might feel stiffer because it has such a massive spacebar. There is only so much stabilizers can do in trying to spread out the force needed to depress it. All my boards are fairly "normal" layouts close to either ANSI or ISO and don't have huge spacebars.