geekhack Community > Keyboards

How actually durable switches are?

<< < (2/3) > >>

tp4tissue:
You'll be using Neuralink before the switches wear out.   Don't worry about it.

ItIsWritten:

--- Quote from: tp4tissue on Mon, 10 May 2021, 20:06:02 ---You'll be using Neuralink before the switches wear out.   Don't worry about it.

Show Image

--- End quote ---
But do you think Neuralink will be clicky? As I really do like clicky...

Verstuurd vanaf mijn SM-G950F met Tapatalk

Findecanor:
I think Cherry MX Clear and Brown can become more linear with use but I dunno how much that is the bump wearing down and how much it is the leaf-spring getting softer.

Plastic deteriorates with time, and can break. This happened to a vintage Cherry MX Blue:

The keyboard had been pretty much unused for 15 years or so before I got it, and then I used it for a year before one switch broke. (Please excuse the dust, and the white-balance making them look green)

TK0:

--- Quote from: Leopard223 on Sun, 09 May 2021, 20:20:02 ---I'm wondering if those tests also include switch feel, 50m is well above and beyond, but I wonder if the switches will feel the same after couple of years, assuming my boards will survive that long.
I was thinking more about the stems wearing out, the BOX stem notch and the tactile MX bump, thinking about getting backup packs.

--- End quote ---

For linears, there are people who prefer heavily used switches, i. e., all the fuzz around vintage MX Blacks and "well broken in" ​NovelKeys Creams. Apparently, they become smoother, which makes sense, in theory, as the constant use would wear out the friction points. Personally, I'd rather lube them (reducing the friction), than use scratchy switches for months/years until they are smooth.


--- Quote from: Findecanor on Tue, 11 May 2021, 19:13:09 ---I think Cherry MX Clear and Brown can become more linear with use but I dunno how much that is the bump wearing down and how much it is the leaf-spring getting softer.

Plastic deteriorates with time, and can break. This happened to a vintage Cherry MX Blue:
(Attachment Link)
The keyboard had been pretty much unused for 15 years or so before I got it, and then I used it for a year before one switch broke. (Please excuse the dust, and the white-balance making them look green)

--- End quote ---

For tactiles, I imagine there must be A LOT of usage to completely wear out the bump/leaf. Even for low tactility switches (like MX Browns and Clears), I think it wouldn't be possible to turn them into linears with "normal" use. Before going deep in this rabbit hole, I've used a kb with MX Browns for 6 years at home, and another with MX Clears for 4 years at work (yes, I was a noob and hadn't seen the world yet). They are definitely smoother than stock, but there is still a tactile bump.

[insert a joke here about MX Browns being scratchy linears]

Maledicted:

--- Quote from: Leopard223 on Sat, 08 May 2021, 20:04:02 ---
People get a backup board, but do they get backup switch packs?

--- End quote ---

I do neither, unless I like a board so much that I want one everywhere I may be using a keyboard. ;D I keep bags of box jades and navies around just because they're box jades and navies and I often swap them into random boards on a whim.

I think that 50 million rating is usually a minimum these days. Cherry chose it so it became the standard threshold. People test to 50 million (and maybe just copy Cherry's rating without testing for MX clones) and stop testing because it takes forever to even reach that number to begin with, much less reach one that's a big enough difference to convince people to purchase their product instead of others.

I have bought so many random old battered boards from the bottom of gaylords at recycling facilities or the most abused auctions on Ebay and they have all worked with only a few notable exceptions. I have had some minor problems like broken solder joints, but otherwise even boards that look like they spent time at the bottom of the Atlantic just work if there's not something like diodes with legs that have become nothing but rust. I imagine if any switch in a whole board fails, it will be that one switch and the rest will be fine for years after that. There's always the possibility of people killing their own boards by spilling beverages on them, but I don't understand how that ever even happens. Even then, if you disconnect it right away and know how to clean it, there should be 0 permanent damage.

If you're actually worried about switches wearing out some day, in the distant future, you probably want something like capacitive, optical or hall effect sensing where there are no contacts rubbing against each other.


--- Quote from: Leslieann on Sun, 09 May 2021, 20:24:25 ---Spares for Models Fs make sense, there is nothing really to replace it, same for an older ALPS board, but MX is constantly changing, usually for the better. Even if I can't get my favorite switch in 10 years chances are I'll be able to get something equally as good or better, or we won't even be using keyboards, either way it's not an issue. Chances are you will get bored of this keyboard long before then anyhow.

--- End quote ---

I don't know that anything can completely wear out on a Model F. The foam deteriorates ... and that's about it. I still say I'll be using most of the boards I like now for the rest of my life ... and even MX red if I never feel like updating my original K70 to something better.


--- Quote from: tp4tissue on Mon, 10 May 2021, 20:06:02 ---You'll be using Neuralink before the switches wear out.   Don't worry about it.

Show Image

--- End quote ---

Never. Keyboards forever.

Navigation

[0] Message Index

[#] Next page

[*] Previous page

Go to full version