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What's wrong with my keyboard?

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throughthefireandtheflame:
Hi everyone!

I have Ducky YOTG that's served me well over the years, but last year it started acting up as can be seen below (all I did was press the ALT key a single time):


I initially tried finding someone to look into it for me, but the truth is no IT guy around my place will venture beyond swapping RAM modules… so I started doing research online and picked up some basics before diving into the board myself.

First, I found some sticky spots around the ALT area that resembled dried soda, so I started by scrubbing everything thoroughly with isopropyl alcohol.
With a multimeter, I then ran some continuity tests and checked all resistors near the affected area, but nothing really stood out to me.
Since I couldn't think of something else, I went ahead and replaced the MX itself because it looked bad, but that didn't do the trick either.
At this point, I feel like I did what I could do confidently, I just don't have the knowledge to pinpoint the issue any further. :'(

Here's the board:


Here's how the ALT area looked before doing any maintenance:


And how it looks now after replacing two keys:


If anyone could give me directions on what to check or where to look for possible faults next, that'd be greatly appreciated!

Rhienfo:
Maybe replace the diode? that's the only thing that I can think of that might have been an issue. I'm not very knowledgeable about pcbs so maybe there is something else I don't know about that could be the issue. But just throwing the idea out, just in case it works/leading you to fixing it.

throughthefireandtheflame:
Thanks for the suggestion! All the diodes I tested with a multimeter didn't display any odd behavior so I didn't think much of it, but one of them may be damaged in a way that I couldn't catch. At this point, I might as well try to find replacement diodes and see if that can help with this issue. I'm just hoping the issue isn't somewhere further down the traces that can't be easily pinpointed. :( Might take a while to get parts, but I'll keep updating here in the event that I make any kind of progress.

Rhienfo:

--- Quote from: throughthefireandtheflame on Tue, 10 October 2023, 20:21:07 ---Thanks for the suggestion! All the diodes I tested with a multimeter didn't display any odd behavior so I didn't think much of it, but one of them may be damaged in a way that I couldn't catch. At this point, I might as well try to find replacement diodes and see if that can help with this issue. I'm just hoping the issue isn't somewhere further down the traces that can't be easily pinpointed. :( Might take a while to get parts, but I'll keep updating here in the event that I make any kind of progress.

--- End quote ---

All good, good luck with fixing it. Hope it goes all well.

throughthefireandtheflame:
Took a few weeks, but all parts have finally arrived!

I didn't feel like it initially, but I ended up desoldering every single switch to remove the PCB from its frame.
Desoldering ended up being a good idea because I found more soda residues that were not visible before, plus it just gave me the opportunity to thoroughly clean everything else. ;D

Here's the side of the board I couldn't see:

Here's the backside of the board, now desoldered.

Here's the frame (which I'm considering stripping to repaint it if the board works):

Here's a close-up of the cleaned ALT area:


I decided to test every single trace and diode—much more in-depth than what I initially tested—, but didn't find any issue either.
I'm starting to think my issue didn't require new parts… but those were cheap and can always come in handy!

Now, this might be a bit of a tricky question to answer, but how many (and which) switches would I need to solder back to the board to test the ALT key again? I know it works a bit like a grid, so just soldering the ALT key alone isn't enough, but I'd rather not spend time soldering more than necessary if the board is actually toast. :confused:

Again, any help would be appreciated!

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