Ducky Shine 3 TKL no longer working

[duck]

Hello!

I have had my Ducky Shine 3 since 2014, but sadly a few weeks ago it stopped working. When I say stop working, I mean that when I plug it in to a USB slot on my pc/laptop, it doesn't turn on straight away, but after a few seconds it eventually turns on, and stays on and works for about 10 seconds, then the white LEDS start to flash and the brightness of the lights go down and eventually turns of and then keyboard becomes unresponsive. I'm wondering If I could just replace the USB B breakout board, if that's what it's called?

I have tried the following:

- Opening up the keyboard to see if there is any dirt or dust
- Tried a different cable
- Tried keyboard on a different computer and laptop


I’m by no means an expert at keyboards and just like the feel of typing, but I would love to get this keyboard back up and running as I’m currently using a rubber dome instead at the moment, which isn’t great!

I’d really appreciate any help that I could get and hopefully it’s salvageable

Here's a video of exactly what happens -

Here are some picture, but please let me know if I should post more!

[Riverman]

Does it ever come back to life if you wiggle the cord near the connection?  If not, I'd suspect the controller board more than the breakout board.  Mini USB connectors are fairly tough, or at least more durable than micro USB.

[duck]

Does it ever come back to life if you wiggle the cord near the connection?  If not, I'd suspect the controller board more than the breakout board.  Mini USB connectors are fairly tough, or at least more durable than micro USB.

I'm afraid it doesn't come back to life after wiggling the cable... Sorry I'm not good at keyboard parts, what is the controller board? Is it easy to replace?

Also I've uploaded a video so you can see exactly what happens upon plug in:

[Leslieann]

Looks to me like insufficient amperage.
First thing i noted was it took a long time to light up, then not all keys lit up, then it flickered.

Are you using that same hub when you connected to other computers?
Try turning off backlighting and see if that helps.

[duck]

Looks to me like insufficient amperage.
First thing i noted was it took a long time to light up, then not all keys lit up, then it flickered.

Are you using that same hub when you connected to other computers?
Try turning off backlighting and see if that helps.

No, I am not using that hub for other computers since it is for a mac only! I've turned the back lights off and it still turns off/becomes unresponsive after a good few minutes sadly... Is there anything I can replace to fix it?

[Leslieann]

Bummer, that would be an easy fix, okay, time to open it up then.

I would start looking for fluid damage/corrosion, though I wonder if it's more likely a resistor (or cap) that's failing when it heats up. That could be a pain to find however it's probably not working proper even before it cuts out. A voltmeter may should work to identify it but but there's a good chance you could miss it. Finding it by touch when first plugged in will work, just touch them and replace the one that burns you (yes, it will be hot as heck), it may show signs of desoldering itself, may want to look first (LOL). I would start from the USB and go through each towards the processor since it seems to be effecting everything.

Someone better at electronics probably has some other ideas, an scope could probably find it but odds are you don't have one.

[duck]

Bummer, that would be an easy fix, okay, time to open it up then.

I would start looking for fluid damage/corrosion, though I wonder if it's more likely a resistor (or cap) that's failing when it heats up. That could be a pain to find however it's probably not working proper even before it cuts out. A voltmeter may should work to identify it but but there's a good chance you could miss it. Finding it by touch when first plugged in will work, just touch them and replace the one that burns you (yes, it will be hot as heck), it may show signs of desoldering itself, may want to look first (LOL). I would start from the USB and go through each towards the processor since it seems to be effecting everything.

Someone better at electronics probably has some other ideas, an scope could probably find it but odds are you don't have one.

Thanks a lot for your replies, I'll have to open it and investigate to see what's causing the power issues. If I ever fix it I'll be sure to update this thread

[Drakenocas]

I had a keychron k4 just die out right after I bought it.  I reinstalled the updated firmware and it it came back to life, and it had not problems for the rest of the time that I was using it. It's worth a try if you haven't done so already.