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geekhack Community => Keyboards => Topic started by: bardomudo on Sat, 15 December 2012, 11:23:32
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One on my Cherry MX Blue switches suddenly stopped clicking properly. It will click the first time I press it, but it will give a very mushy feel/click, and if I keep pressing it quickly, the clicking will completely stop and start feeling like a Brown switch, completely with no click.
I didn't spill water nor any other liquid on it. This is a quite new keyboard, I've only had it for less than 2 weeks.
Does anyone know what could've caused this? I probably has just started now since I didn't notice it before, even though it's one a key I don't press that often (the ; : key).
Is there ANYTHING I can try that's not replacing the switch? It's on my KBT Oni, which is plate mounted and I have zero soldering skills.
Thanks.
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Oops - plate mount. Well, you would need to take apart the switch to see what's up.
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Oops - plate mount. Well, you would need to take apart the switch to see what's up.
Is that easy? I saw a video on youtube from litster doing it, but it wasn't exactly completely educational. Is there any detailed guide on how to do this? Should I bother?
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I don't think the KBT Oni has a Phantom style plate, so you'd need to desolder the switch and remove it from the board and then disassemble it.
Or you could just try a can of compressed air, take the key cap off, depress the switch, stick the nozzle in that space and blow.
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I don't think the KBT Oni has a Phantom style plate, so you'd need to desolder the switch and remove it from the board and then disassemble it.
Or you could just try a can of compressed air, take the key cap off, depress the switch, stick the nozzle in that space and blow.
Yeah, no luck with the compressed air. I think something is wrong with the switch itself. To be honest, I do have some experience with soldering, I'm just not every good at it. Anyway, I think I'll just buy a solder sucker and change positions with another unused switch, like the Scroll Lock one.
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Does anyone know where I can buy switches for cheaper than what WASD charges?
$1.75 is quite expensive for a single switch, and I'd like to get a few spare ones for my other boards as well.
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Does anyone know where I can buy switches for cheaper than what WASD charges?
$1.75 is quite expensive for a single switch, and I'd like to get a few spare ones for my other boards as well.
Put something up in the classifieds and see if someone is willing to help you out.
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Does anyone know where I can buy switches for cheaper than what WASD charges?
$1.75 is quite expensive for a single switch, and I'd like to get a few spare ones for my other boards as well.
Put something up in the classifieds and see if someone is willing to help you out.
Not enough posts to post there :(
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Put a drop of mineral spirit in it. It fixed mine.
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Put a drop of mineral spirit in it. It fixed mine.
Hey, thanks a lot for the suggestion. I guess it can't get worse, so I'll definitely try this. The other choice is to completely replace the switch, so it even doesn't matter if I screw it further.
I just gotta figure out now how this is called/sold as in my country :D
EDIT: Found it. It just goes by the translated name of turpentine, and it also seems to be very similar to common paint thinner.
I can just drop inside the pressed down switch, right? How long do I have to wait after doing it to turn on the keyboard? I'm afraid if the liquid touches the PCB it could cause a short circuit or other sort of damage.
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Does the switch click at all? What if you try pressing it from different angles? Or press each corner of the switch, not just pressing straight down on the middle of the switch?
I have an MX blue switch that only clicks if I press the top right corner - anything else and the key registers, it just doesn't click.
As long as the key actually registers there is no need to panic. Just take your time solving it - you don't want to make things worse.
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Does the switch click at all? What if you try pressing it from different angles? Or press each corner of the switch, not just pressing straight down on the middle of the switch?
I have an MX blue switch that only clicks if I press the top right corner - anything else and the key registers, it just doesn't click.
As long as the key actually registers there is no need to panic. Just take your time solving it - you don't want to make things worse.
It sorta clicks. If I press it just once and very quickly, it will click almost as it's supposed to (it will be slightly mushy compared to the others). But if I press it a second time, something like less than 10 seconds after pressing it the first time, the clicking will be gone and it will feel like a brown switch. It's almost as if pressing it once will deactivate the clickyness for a minute or so.
The key registers just fine, though. It's weird.
It's kinda disappointing to see this kind of problem, even though it's small. I sorta expected mechanical keyboards to last a very long time, but somehow Cherry MX switches seem so fragile, specially more complicated ones like Blues and Whites.
Do you think using the mineral spirit represents some risk?
EDIT: words.
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Possibly. Not everyone recommends pouring (or even dribbling) chemicals into a keyboard.
The blue switch clicks by way of a small white plastic thingy that, as the key reaches the activation point, is suddenly forced downwards, and as it strikes the base of the switch housing causes the click. Possibly yours is getting stuck in the down position. Although I would not have expected that anything large enough to affect the travel of the interior switch components would have been able to get into a sealed switch.
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Put a drop of mineral spirit in it. It fixed mine.
Hey, thanks a lot for the suggestion. I guess it can't get worse, so I'll definitely try this. The other choice is to completely replace the switch, so it even doesn't matter if I screw it further.
I just gotta figure out now how this is called/sold as in my country :D
EDIT: Found it. It just goes by the translated name of turpentine, and it also seems to be very similar to common paint thinner.
I can just drop inside the pressed down switch, right? How long do I have to wait after doing it to turn on the keyboard? I'm afraid if the liquid touches the PCB it could cause a short circuit or other sort of damage.
I actually used Zippo myself, but you can use any volatile kerosene derivatives. Just don't use acetone (paint thinner) or WD40.