Topre dome issues?

[ndumdr]

Hey guys, I have a problem with my domeswapped RF 87U. So at first my left windows and alt key felt a little mushy so I thought the domes were misaligned to the PCB, so I opened the RF and saw nothing suspicious, put everything back together, and the keys were still mushy, and now, worse, my spacebar stopped registering inputs (and felt mushy as well-- it was not mushy prior to opening it). It's actually my first time trying to open up a keyboard, and I followed Deskthority's YouTube guide to disassemble and reassemble a RF board, but somehow I must've done something wrong...
Edit: I screwed the PCB to the board kind of tight, are you supposed to screw it tightly or just lightly?

[nmur]

ensuring the domes and their springs are all seated correctly is a huge pain, and can require you to disassemble and reassemble it many times until each dome is seated perfectly. so it might just take a couple of goes.

[Elrick]

ensuring the domes and their springs are all seated correctly is a huge pain, and can require you to disassemble and reassemble it many times until each dome is seated perfectly. so it might just take a couple of goes.

That is why ALL of my Thorpies are left UNMOLESTED due to the issues that occur, once they are ravaged and destroyed with idiot modifications which are totally uncalled for  .

In the end you reap what you sow (especially in the dome world).......

[tp4tissue]

ensuring the domes and their springs are all seated correctly is a huge pain, and can require you to disassemble and reassemble it many times until each dome is seated perfectly. so it might just take a couple of goes.

That is why ALL of my Thorpies are left UNMOLESTED due to the issues that occur, once they are ravaged and destroyed with idiot modifications which are totally uncalled for  .

In the end you reap what you sow (especially in the dome world).......

Well... the fault of idiot designers..

open mx boards, anytime..  nothing you can break, even if you do break it,  $3 replacement parts.. All better.. !!

[digi]

ensuring the domes and their springs are all seated correctly is a huge pain, and can require you to disassemble and reassemble it many times until each dome is seated perfectly. so it might just take a couple of goes.

That is why ALL of my Thorpies are left UNMOLESTED due to the issues that occur, once they are ravaged and destroyed with idiot modifications which are totally uncalled for  .

In the end you reap what you sow (especially in the dome world).......

Elrick is spot on like usual. It's like a factory original IBM 3278, you don't touch it, leave it alone Craig.

[ndumdr]

ensuring the domes and their springs are all seated correctly is a huge pain, and can require you to disassemble and reassemble it many times until each dome is seated perfectly. so it might just take a couple of goes.

That is why ALL of my Thorpies are left UNMOLESTED due to the issues that occur, once they are ravaged and destroyed with idiot modifications which are totally uncalled for  .

In the end you reap what you sow (especially in the dome world).......

I actually bought this from someone for quite a good deal and the domes were swapped prior to me receiving it. I should've known!!!! At least now I know I like Topre...
I think I'm done salvaging it, though... Only the keys that I don't frequently use are in tragic state. At least it isn't the spacebar anymore. All good.   

[SpAmRaY]

I'd say you just have your domes off they are supposed to be oriented a certain direction lining up with notches etc.

It can sometimes be difficult to get it all aligned.

EDIT: Just clarifying this board does have actual topre domes right? Not some plum variant?

[drewafx]

.

[ndumdr]

I'd say you just have your domes off they are supposed to be oriented a certain direction lining up with notches etc.

It can sometimes be difficult to get it all aligned.

EDIT: Just clarifying this board does have actual topre domes right? Not some plum variant?

Yep, Topre domes.

Are the rubber domes (not working) distorted?
If the prior owner put chemically reactive lubrication it may leak to rubber dome and distort its shape...
Other than that, the only problem I can think of is domes not being flat when you screw the plate back...
Was the plate suspended up in the air so rubber domes don't get pressed in when you put the board on top?
When you screw it in, start from the center and make a "star" shape as you go,
stopping when you feel resistance. After every screws are in place, do the same star shape and lock it in (not to the point where you can see it bending from side)
Kinda like replacing car tire...but this is trickier cause the circuit board itself can bend quite a bit

The rubber domes are working, which I was wondering why it didn't work in the first place. I cut the faulty ones individually since I noticed when I place them on top of the board, they kind of don't fit into the slider. I was really happy when it worked lol, but then my ";" key didn't work, and then I had to unscrew and rescrew it back... And the other keys stopped working! And it repeats itself. It was a mess. After my third time repeating the procedure, thankfully the keys that I rarely use (print screen, scroll lock...) are the ones that are mushy. So I'm calling it a day for now.
I couldn't find a way to suspend it, honestly, so that might be the case. But I rescrewed everything from left to right, so that may be a problem. Thanks for the advice 

[nmur]

But I rescrewed everything from left to right, so that may be a problem.

generally when you're screwing something like this together, you'll want to keep the force between the plate and pcb as distributed as possible. if you screw from left to right, the left side would be really tight, but the right side is loose, which can make the plate/pcb join uneven

if you screw the top left screw, then bottom right screw, it holds the plate more evenly against the pcb. you would then screw in the top right, then bottom left, then center, etc etc

[ndumdr]

I tried rescrewing the PCB to the board with a balanced distribution of force, and I have to say that saved my life. lol
Now it's just that the print scrn key doesn't work, and the F9-F12 keys are disgustingly scratchy, and I barely use those keys anyways plus I can remap my print scrn to some other key so I am calling it a day for now. Lesson learnt, though... I suppose I will now only buy a never-disassembled Topre keyboard 

[SpAmRaY]

Lesson learnt, though... I suppose I will now only buy a never-disassembled Topre keyboard 

That isn't really the issue, don't let the trolls fool you.

As you have seen knowing what you are doing in reassembly is key.

Also you said something about domes being cut? I'm betting they were not cut quite right and there is a small piece that is overhanging where it should not be and/or a slight skew where the cut pieces don't align to each other to stay squared up.

But glad you got it working better at least.

[OfTheWild]

I've considered trying to figure out a way to maybe glue the domes in place so they don't move around from their little tabs when you're laying the PCB on top of the switches/domes.

[Joey Quinn]

How are you reassembling it? If everything is aligned in the top housing section it should still be aligned when you put the PCB on top and screw it together.

[clickityClackity]

In my experience the squishy feeling on an HHKB comes from the PCB being screwed on too tight. When I do it the screws press against the PCB enough to hold it in place. If your holding the board upside between your knees you can also test the keys and tighten accordingly. Haven't done this with a larger board but I imagine it would be a pain in the ass.

Sent from my Lenovo PB2-670N using Tapatalk

[OfTheWild]

^ yeah i always do a screw in each corner and flip it over to make sure everything is registering correctly before screwing in all the rest.

[phinix]

^ yeah i always do a screw in each corner and flip it over to make sure everything is registering correctly before screwing in all the rest.

This actually never worked for me.
With just 4 or maybe 6 screws (corners and few in the middle) some of the keys didn't work. I had to screw it all down to properly check it.
It was a PAIN as one of the boards I did modding on, I had to screw and unscrew 4 times! It took hours to do the mod, but it was worth it.
Just my 2p;)

[clickityClackity]

Do I'm  doing a swap for one keyboard and potentially putting my other one back together. Should be this weekend. Any interest in a YouTube video?

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G935A using Tapatalk

[iLLucionist]

It looks so easy to domeswap on youtube... I want to do hypersphere mod but now I'm scared.

[ndumdr]

^ yeah i always do a screw in each corner and flip it over to make sure everything is registering correctly before screwing in all the rest.

This actually never worked for me.
With just 4 or maybe 6 screws (corners and few in the middle) some of the keys didn't work. I had to screw it all down to properly check it.
It was a PAIN as one of the boards I did modding on, I had to screw and unscrew 4 times! It took hours to do the mod, but it was worth it.
Just my 2p;)

I spent around 3 hours the first time I opened up an RF keyboard and I was still familiarizing with the Topre mechanics. And after that I learnt my lesson and I think I unscrewed and rescrewed everything for 4 times, some keys are still mushy and I don't have anymore energy left to fix them back in place, unfortunate

It looks so easy to domeswap on youtube... I want to do hypersphere mod but now I'm scared.

Based on what I've seen on YouTube, it seems quite easy to mod it. I have no idea what the previous owners did for the domes to be in such tragic state though. I wouldn't've opened the keyboard if nothing were wrong with it in the first place. I'd say this whole Topre dome issue thing is just luck not being on my side. If I had a brand new RF, I'd probably still do the hypersphere mod. Don't let my ****ty and unlucky experience make you lose the opportunity to experience the feeling of silenced Topre!

[ndumdr]

delete this pls. lol accidentally quoted myself.