CM Novatouch ESC Key broken

[Mitchis]

Hi,
I am new here so sorry if I missed some protocolar politeness.
Does anyone knows anything about how to troubleshoot a Topre board or switch.
My ESC key just randomly stopped working, I wasn't even using it that much or hitting it harder than the others, and it just stopped registering the key, I mean it still goes down smoothly but it doesn't react...
I tried disassembling the whole thing everything was clean, the spring was still good, I tried to switch with another spring but it didn't help.
I think it's the whole key that is dead but there is absolutely no mechanic part that may break and I don't know how to investigate this issue any further or test what could be wrong, I didn't come across any burned part on the board so I guess I can't just resolder a condensator.
All the posts I see on Google about dead Topre switch are like "Do they exist?" "Has anyone seen a dead Topre switch?" "How do you break a Topre switch?", which doesn't really help...
I would love your experience and help.
Have a nice day.

[Sup]

Hello and Welcome to Geekhack, I see you already did the troubleshooting. From what i have experienced there is not much you can do then getting a replacement PCB. You can try on Reddit /MechMarket to find one, Since people buy nova touches only to harvest the sliders. Someone probably has one just laying around there room.

[natAT]

Most people here are both smarter and more knowledgeable than I am (prioritize their wisdom, not mine).

But just my 2 cents based on what you've described. Given no physical incident prompted this failure, it does seem like a PCB component has given up.

It's possible the fact that only one single switch has failed might be diagnostic as to what the problem is, based on the way a capacitive sensing keyboard matrix works (Topre obviously being capacitive). But I don't feel confident to rule further on it. Maybe someone can ?

Great video on how capacitive sensing works in a keyboard context, here:

(start at 6:10)

Honestly, it may be more cost/time effective to outright replace the PCB than attempt repair (if one can be found cheaply as per Sup's recommendation above).

[tp4tissue]

I keep telling people.. CHERRY FTW..  Topre = NO PARTS

All electronics will break at some point, Topre irreparably

Whereas, You can save most Cherry style boards.

[rxc92]

I keep telling people.. CHERRY FTW..  Topre = NO PARTS

All electronics will break at some point, Topre irreparably

Whereas, You can save most Cherry style boards.

 
 
You know, I've never actually heard of a Topre board having defects or even breaking. Is their QC very good or is it their design being more reliable? I did a quick search and found this deskthority thread (https://deskthority.net/viewtopic.php?t=13634) that seems to share the sentiment. 
If MX board makers had as high standards as Topre in making PCB's, plates, and soldering work, I'm sure that the failure rate would be lower. However, because MX boards exist in a market of nearly perfect competition, and most people immediately stop thinking about reliability when a cheaper option with the same switches show up, there's no widespread market for very well-built but simple boards; even customs are usually built by the buyer, which is a huge point of failure compared to having dedicated workshops. I guess Filco and Leopold somewhat fulfill that niche, which is why their reputations are great.

Topre really is blessed to have a monopoly and high enough standards that nobody else can compete with them; even PFU are close partners, and Leopold eventually went off to use shoddy clones.

[shadowku]

You know, I've never actually heard of a Topre board having defects or even breaking. Is their QC very good or is it their design being more reliable? I did a quick search and found this deskthority thread (https://deskthority.net/viewtopic.php?t=13634) that seems to share the sentiment. 
If MX board makers had as high standards as Topre in making PCB's, plates, and soldering work, I'm sure that the failure rate would be lower. However, because MX boards exist in a market of nearly perfect competition, and most people immediately stop thinking about reliability when a cheaper option with the same switches show up, there's no widespread market for very well-built but simple boards; even customs are usually built by the buyer, which is a huge point of failure compared to having dedicated workshops. I guess Filco and Leopold somewhat fulfill that niche, which is why their reputations are great.

Topre really is blessed to have a monopoly and high enough standards that nobody else can compete with them; even PFU are close partners, and Leopold eventually went off to use shoddy clones.

I think MX style is inherently more vulnerable to breaking because the switches are separate and have to be soldered on individually. On Topre, everything is contained in the PCB itself and the spring isn't attached. However, with MX, the switches can be swapped out if broken so it sorta goes both ways.

I've never heard of a Topre PCB breaking, but finding replacements also isn't hard because of the amount of harvested keyboards that have left PCBs unused. It's no different than breaking any OEM keyboard as I'm sure Razer or Logitech won't sell just the PCB for a keyboard.

[Sup]

You know, I've never actually heard of a Topre board having defects or even breaking. Is their QC very good or is it their design being more reliable? I did a quick search and found this deskthority thread (https://deskthority.net/viewtopic.php?t=13634) that seems to share the sentiment. 
If MX board makers had as high standards as Topre in making PCB's, plates, and soldering work, I'm sure that the failure rate would be lower. However, because MX boards exist in a market of nearly perfect competition, and most people immediately stop thinking about reliability when a cheaper option with the same switches show up, there's no widespread market for very well-built but simple boards; even customs are usually built by the buyer, which is a huge point of failure compared to having dedicated workshops. I guess Filco and Leopold somewhat fulfill that niche, which is why their reputations are great.

Topre really is blessed to have a monopoly and high enough standards that nobody else can compete with them; even PFU are close partners, and Leopold eventually went off to use shoddy clones.

I think MX style is inherently more vulnerable to breaking because the switches are separate and have to be soldered on individually. On Topre, everything is contained in the PCB itself and the spring isn't attached. However, with MX, the switches can be swapped out if broken so it sorta goes both ways.

I've never heard of a Topre PCB breaking, but finding replacements also isn't hard because of the amount of harvested keyboards that have left PCBs unused. It's no different than breaking any OEM keyboard as I'm sure Razer or Logitech won't sell just the PCB for a keyboard.

I don't know. Topre has great reliability but like you say everything is contained on the PCB. So if say a key breaks there is no way to repair it. but with MX if a switch that doesn't work and is easy to repair. But at the same time most consumers don't have experience with soldering and repairing keyboards. So i think Topre wins with reliability for consumer standards since it should survive longer then a MX switch. But i don't know i have seen old vintage MX keyboard just work. People still are hunting 1989 vintage Black MX switches that work great like the day it was made.

Man man there is no better. MX and Topre are as reliable i am fighting my self here  .

[shadowku]

I don't know. Topre has great reliability but like you say everything is contained on the PCB. So if say a key breaks there is no way to repair it. but with MX if a switch that doesn't work and is easy to repair. But at the same time most consumers don't have experience with soldering and repairing keyboards. So i think Topre wins with reliability for consumer standards since it should survive longer then a MX switch. But i don't know i have seen old vintage MX keyboard just work. People still are hunting 1989 vintage Black MX switches that work great like the day it was made.

I really don't think it will be worth the effort if it's possible to fix. Maybe unless a replacement PCB is too hard to find if it's been discontinued for a while.

Another thing I really like about Topre is that mods can be easy if all you're doing is lubing or swapping domes. It becomes scarily more work to remove sliders to either swap them out or to silence them but at worse, there's no soldering.
Swapping out controllers for Leopold/HHKB is pretty simple too.

[Sup]

I don't know. Topre has great reliability but like you say everything is contained on the PCB. So if say a key breaks there is no way to repair it. but with MX if a switch that doesn't work and is easy to repair. But at the same time most consumers don't have experience with soldering and repairing keyboards. So i think Topre wins with reliability for consumer standards since it should survive longer then a MX switch. But i don't know i have seen old vintage MX keyboard just work. People still are hunting 1989 vintage Black MX switches that work great like the day it was made.

I really don't think it will be worth the effort if it's possible to fix. Maybe unless a replacement PCB is too hard to find if it's been discontinued for a while.

Another thing I really like about Topre is that mods can be easy if all you're doing is lubing or swapping domes. It becomes scarily more work to remove sliders to either swap them out or to silence them but at worse, there's no soldering.
Swapping out controllers for Leopold/HHKB is pretty simple too.

True. But the only thing that i hate about Topre modding is the 5000 screws that you need to remove  .

[phinix]

spare pcb: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Novatouch-keyboard-PCB/183858889839?hash=item2aced8046f:g:fYIAAOSwcuZdD-PQ

[Mitchis]

Thanks everybody for your feedbacks, I broke quite a few MX switches during my MK journey, but that's because there are some mechanical pieces that damage over time, but are more easily replacable and I have replaced quite a few myself. I didn't really want to try and replace the PCB, it's time consuming, I may receive a defective piece, and goddam 60€ + shipping Money is not my problem here, but i'd better throw a couple hundred more and get myself a brand new FC660C instead, right ? Don't want to fall in the whole capacitive vs mech debate but it was a pretty good board, and no matter what the price is, we should all type on what we like.
Thank you for your help.