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geekhack Community => Keyboards => Topic started by: typo on Wed, 01 September 2010, 06:33:00

Title: mx blue acting like brown
Post by: typo on Wed, 01 September 2010, 06:33:00
i am sure this has been mentioned before but i can't find it.

one key on my das s pro only clicks if i hit the very bottom left edge of it. if i press it in the center like i usually would it does not click. is there any way i can fix this?

thanks
Title: mx blue acting like brown
Post by: itlnstln on Wed, 01 September 2010, 07:23:11
Try pulling the cap, pushing the stem down a little, and spraying an air duster down into it.  The clicking mechanism in blues can be susceptible to dust.
Title: mx blue acting like brown
Post by: ch_123 on Wed, 01 September 2010, 07:23:30
I had an issue like this. It turned out that a little hair had got lodged into the switch through a gap on the bottom. Look around the switch for any hairs, remove them with a tweezers if you see any. If not, try blasting the switch with an air duster through the gaps around the bottom.
Title: mx blue acting like brown
Post by: typo on Wed, 01 September 2010, 07:38:08
thanks guys. i'll try this.
Title: mx blue acting like brown
Post by: itlnstln on Wed, 01 September 2010, 07:38:25
Just in case you hadn't seen this... here's what you're working with (from Qwerter's Clinic):

(http://park16.wakwak.com/~ex4/kb/tech/cherry_mx_click_1.gif)
Title: mx blue acting like brown
Post by: ch_123 on Wed, 01 September 2010, 07:40:06
I'm confused by the Blue Cherry... Is the click made by that white slider giving way?
Title: mx blue acting like brown
Post by: erricrice on Wed, 01 September 2010, 07:44:29
Quote from: ch_123;218782
I'm confused by the Blue Cherry... Is the click made by that white slider giving way?

EDIT(fixed): The click is NOT the little metal leaf(red part in the diagram) slapping back against the plastic once it gets over the bump.
Title: mx blue acting like brown
Post by: itlnstln on Wed, 01 September 2010, 07:51:24
Quote from: ch_123;218782
I'm confused by the Blue Cherry... Is the click made by that white slider giving way?

Yes.

Quote from: erricrice;218784
The click is the little metal leaf(red part in the diagram) slapping back against the plastic once it gets over the bump.

No. Browns and clears would click, too, if that were the case.
Title: mx blue acting like brown
Post by: typo on Wed, 01 September 2010, 08:08:31
fixed. compressed air. thanks guys!
Title: mx blue acting like brown
Post by: noctua on Wed, 01 September 2010, 08:48:54
Quote from: itlnstln;218785
No. Browns and clears would click, too, if that were the case.


The click sound occures ONLY then the two metal platelet comes "quickly" together.
And this "quickly" is defined by the form of the plastic stamper, more exactly by
the steepness of its angle! In other words the two contact platelet on the brown mx
switches comes more "routed" together, in contrast to the blue mx switches
there the two contact platelet comes "snap" wise together..

MX Switch Details (http://park16.wakwak.com/~ex4/kb/tech_cherry_mx.htm)
Title: mx blue acting like brown
Post by: Soarer on Wed, 01 September 2010, 09:00:11
Quote from: ripster;218790
if someone can read Japanese I bet the Japanese script says the Japanese version of "Click".


ka chi small-tsu... meaning catch? Or maybe just onomatopoeic somehow?
Title: mx blue acting like brown
Post by: noctua on Wed, 01 September 2010, 09:13:16
Quote from: ripster;218798
Translation from that link.
Show Image
(http://park16.wakwak.com/~ex4/kb/tech/cherry_mx_click_4.gif)



The metal parts don't make the sound.  That's why the Cherry blues sounds like you're shaking a bag of legos.


No no no, take an blue mx switch and open it, then perform an keystroke and
you can "see" and "hear" from what i talk.. the click sound comes then the
two metal contacts come together..
Title: mx blue acting like brown
Post by: noctua on Wed, 01 September 2010, 09:20:56
Quote from: ripster;218798
Translation from that link.
Show Image
(http://park16.wakwak.com/~ex4/kb/tech/cherry_mx_click_4.gif)



The metal parts don't make the sound.  That's why the Cherry blues sounds like you're shaking a bag of legos.


You were right! I have opened on blue mx switch and have performed some
keystrokes, the white plastic snap to the bottom..

I have deleted my previous wrong post, sorry -- mea culpa..
Title: mx blue acting like brown
Post by: noctua on Wed, 01 September 2010, 10:12:57
Quote from: ripster;218798
Translation from that link.
Show Image
(http://park16.wakwak.com/~ex4/kb/tech/cherry_mx_click_4.gif)



The metal parts don't make the sound.  That's why the Cherry blues sounds like you're shaking a bag of legos.

And you were right, ripster. I have opened one blue mx switch and have blocked
the white plastic "sled", and it was silence during keystrokes (without bump)..

I have removed my previous post..
Title: mx blue acting like brown
Post by: erricrice on Wed, 01 September 2010, 11:47:06
Quote from: ripster;218798
Translation from that link.
Show Image
(http://park16.wakwak.com/~ex4/kb/tech/cherry_mx_click_4.gif)



The metal parts don't make the sound.  That's why the Cherry blues sounds like you're shaking a bag of legos.


Ahh, I see.  Sorry for the bad info, I just assumed they worked the same way that ALPS do for the click.

Once again, ALPS confuses people, and it even had nothing to do with alps this time!!!
Title: mx blue acting like brown
Post by: TheSoundofTyping on Wed, 01 September 2010, 12:04:22
This probably reflects badly on my previous forum experiences (which would be inaccurate), but I love how this forum just 'works' so well. In this thread, we see the problem solved, other people learning things, related topics spawned, and friendly banter along the way- everything a good thread needs, and nothing more.  And I see that in so many threads here. This forum is like some iconic 1950s life that hasn't yet been ruined by capitalism.
Title: mx blue acting like brown
Post by: Soarer on Wed, 01 September 2010, 12:36:32
Quote from: ripster;218853
I know know the Kanji for Small.  Big and Small Flush are on every flush toilet in Japan.  It's the other stuff that gets confusing.


Loan words written in Katakana are pretty easy usually. The 'small-tsu' character (sokuon (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sokuon)) is basically a slight pause, but in this case: "The sokuon is also used at the end of a sentence, to indicate a glottal stop (a sharp or cut-off articulation), which may indicate angry or surprised speech."
Title: mx blue acting like brown
Post by: PAINKILLER on Wed, 01 September 2010, 15:01:02
Looks like a smiley symbol to me. Can you show me how does the japanese symbol for "facepalm" look like (just curious)?
Title: mx blue acting like brown
Post by: Soarer on Wed, 01 September 2010, 16:55:44
Why? You wanna go troll some Japanese forums?!!
Google says 顔ヤシ, but it's never right with Japanese lol. I reckon ファスパルム (pronounced how you'd imagine a Japanese person to say 'facepalm', literally fasuparumu), to indicate that it's a foreign expression.
Title: mx blue acting like brown
Post by: microsoft windows on Wed, 01 September 2010, 17:34:57
I never bothered installing the Japanese language packs for IE4.
Title: mx blue acting like brown
Post by: PAINKILLER on Wed, 01 September 2010, 17:58:01
I don't have japanese support either. I was just wondering if they indeed use separate symbols for some smileys - that would be funny to see.
Title: mx blue acting like brown
Post by: Soarer on Wed, 01 September 2010, 19:29:02
Education is... ample :-D

(/)_(\) Scared
(/)_-) Facepalm
(.)(.) (O_O)
Title: mx blue acting like brown
Post by: PAINKILLER on Wed, 01 September 2010, 20:10:14
|(|)|(|_|)|(|)|
Title: mx blue acting like brown
Post by: typo on Wed, 01 September 2010, 22:35:22
i think the people on this forum are great. try being a newb at a nra forum or something lol. they will treat you as bad as they can. i think that is because what is discussed on this forum is enjoyed by a different demographic.

that being said, i still have a small issue. the switch now clicks but not nearly as loud as any other on this board. more compressed air,take it apart? it is not a big deal i rarely use that key. i'd rather not risk breaking it altogether if that is possible. it clicks properly if i just push the bottom right corner of the keycap. not if i hit it in the center.

expert surgeons! i ask of you, what may be the cause and it's remedy?
thank you!
Title: mx blue acting like brown
Post by: ricercar on Thu, 02 September 2010, 01:53:37
I have a vintage AT/XT switchable "HeadStart" keyboard of Cherry blues, of which perhaps half the switches sound like Cherry browns. While holding down the sliders, I've sprayed the interior of each and every switch with compressed air. This changed the situation from 2/3 sounding like browns to 1/2 sounding like browns.

Advice?
Title: mx blue acting like brown
Post by: typo on Thu, 02 September 2010, 04:02:16
i came to the conclusion on my own that i better quit while i am ahead. i don't use that key often. it clicks still. it just does not have the loud "ping" it is supposed to. no big deal. i am not going to press my luck. i already put a teeny tiny scratch on the case slipping with the key puller. that should be a sign that if i keep pressing the issue i am going to end up sorry. i am guessing it is not something stuck though, i think the little metal thing is loose that makes the click. i can wiggle the stem way more than it should. so it must be a bum switch. still, i don't see any reason to rma it. i almost did rma it for a different issue but that fixed itself. i guess i can keep pressing that key and see if it starts working better. i have 50 million tries :)
Title: mx blue acting like brown
Post by: Brodie337 on Thu, 02 September 2010, 04:12:26
Metadot, from what I've heard, should take the keyboard back. I don't think you should have to put up with little things like that in a keyboard that is that expensive...
Title: mx blue acting like brown
Post by: typo on Thu, 02 September 2010, 22:39:40
it is such a little thing. if they send me another there is likely to be some other quirk. it has been established that the costar boards are seldom perfect. plus i will be without it waiting for one with some other issue possibly.
Title: mx blue acting like brown
Post by: typo on Fri, 03 September 2010, 02:57:49
after pressing it rapidly many times, it is fixed. different keys make slightly different click sounds. i have read here that is completely normal.

thank you guys for the compressed air suggestion.

i would not rma one of these cherry boards unless a key completely failed to register or something like that. with my luck they would send me something worse. anyhow all is well now.
Title: mx blue acting like brown
Post by: typo on Mon, 06 September 2010, 01:58:51
the switch is not clicking again. i am guessing it is not something stuck in it but with cats all over here it is very possible. i am guessing i can take apart the switch,clean it and bend the "pin". can i take apart the switch without opening the board or desoldering? if so, could someone please point me to a diagram or instructions? i really don't want to send this back so the next one can have some other problem. these boards are just finicky. so if i can't service it i'll deal with it. i hardly use that key anyhow.

thanks.
Title: mx blue acting like brown
Post by: typo on Mon, 06 September 2010, 06:43:35
i think that particular key simply makes less sound due to it's location. i did manage to get it apart and found no problems.  bending the pin made little difference. we all know that the click is amplified by the keycaps and other factors. i don't think this is an rma issue.
at least the controler started working again but i think that was the ps/2 port anyways.
Title: mx blue acting like brown
Post by: bionicroach on Sat, 13 November 2010, 14:10:29
I had this issue with a few keys on my Das S.  The fix that worked for me was:



I suspect this worked for me because the non-clicky switches were maybe a little bit over-lubricated, or had some kind of dust or debris sticking to the grease inside that was not dislodging with compressed air alone.  Obviously, you don't want to overdo it with any sort of liquid, and the alcohol is probably not great for the plastic, so definitely go easy and avoid spilling a bunch of it on any part of the keyboard.