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geekhack Community => Keyboards => Topic started by: Boozebeard on Sat, 15 June 2013, 08:36:18
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Hey, I have a filco keyboard with cherry brown switches that I've been using for a couple of years now and recently I've found that a couple of keys have started becoming unreliable in the sense that they do not register some key strokes. Is this common, is there a way to fix it?
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Everything wears out eventually. You can desolder and replace the worn out keyswitches.
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Everything wears out eventually. You can desolder and replace the worn out keyswitches.
What ivan said is your best bet to fix the switch. Your other option is to get some electrical contact cleaner and flood the switch with it.....this would work only if something, be it dirt or debris, is preventing the 2 contacts within the switch from touching.
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Deoxit Rules - As Akimbo said... Does not fix what is broken but might restore a bad contact due to dirt-debris-oxidation
What ivan said is your best bet to fix the switch. Your other option is to get some electrical contact cleaner and flood the switch with it.....this would work only if something, be it dirt or debris, is preventing the 2 contacts within the switch from touching.
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Only 2 years of use? Seems like something's wrong then, either dirt or poor contacts (switch itself or PCB soldering). Just a guess, since I can't imagine a switch wearing out in just 2 years, unless you type a LOT.
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If you're sure you didn't drop the board, and no one sat on it... then the pcb should be fine, and all you need to do is desolder and replace with new switches..
Do not bother with "fixing" the older switches, it's not worth the hassle.. You might as well get new switches.
The rationale for this is, IF you can't fix the switches, and end up buying new switches anyway you would've been soldering to the board 4 times.. boards do not like to be soldered to over and over again.
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How many switches really make it to 50,000,000...
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How many switches really make it to 50,000,000...
Are you this guy?
(http://i.imgur.com/IPjA2Yr.jpg)
If so, none. If you're a normal person, I'd imagine most of them would as long as you can actually hold onto one keyboard for that many actuations.
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It should not break within two years under normal circumstances. One thing that kind of bums me out is how the warranty is only a lousy one year.
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Yeah, I wasn't expecting them to start going this early. The thing is it's 2 keys and they've both started doing it at pretty much exactly the same time which seems odd. Also it's the Z and J keys, not exactly the most heavily used...
Oh and they are at their worse when I haven't used them for a while. This is the first thing I've typed today and hitting Z took about 5 attempts but now it's working ok. It's like I have to warm it up? Does that give any indication to what's wrong with it? I guess I'll try cleaning them first.
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Yeah, I wasn't expecting them to start going this early. The thing is it's 2 keys and they've both started doing it at pretty much exactly the same time which seems odd. Also it's the Z and J keys, not exactly the most heavily used...
Oh and they are at their worse when I haven't used them for a while. This is the first thing I've typed today and hitting Z took about 5 attempts but now it's working ok. It's like I have to warm it up? Does that give any indication to what's wrong with it? I guess I'll try cleaning them first.
on the bright side,, you can.... fix it, on a rubber dome, you're pretty ****ed.. on a topre,, you're ****ed for the next 6 weeks before they send you another one.
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Everything wears out eventually. You can desolder and replace the worn out keyswitches.
What ivan said is your best bet to fix the switch. Your other option is to get some electrical contact cleaner and flood the switch with it.....this would work only if something, be it dirt or debris, is preventing the 2 contacts within the switch from touching.
Also if you flood it with anything, it appears safe to just blow some compressed air in it. I do it rutinely and the switches are fine.
It might just be something that would be fixed with just blowing once.
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It might just be something that would be fixed with just blowing once.
Sounds like a famous quote from Bill Clinton :-)
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Bit of a necro but thought I should let anyone who has a similar problems know that giving it a bit of a soaking in contact cleaner seems to have fixed it!
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Contact lens cleaner?
(I don't have a mechanical keyboard just yet, but I want to know for future reference)
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no no, electrical contact cleaner. haha. The thought someone might confuse it for that actually crossed my mind when I was typing it, should have clarified.
Edit: And by soaking I just mean I gave it a good spray, didn't actually get a tub of the stuff and submerge the the whole keyboard in it.
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LOL ok, that makes sense now. I was a bit like, "huh?" :))
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Hey, I have a filco keyboard with cherry brown switches that I've been using for a couple of years now and recently I've found that a couple of keys have started becoming unreliable in the sense that they do not register some key strokes. Is this common, is there a way to fix it?
You can de-solder the Cherry MX switches, open them, clean the dust, clean the copper contact with vinegar, then clean it a gain with white alcohol 90. You can use a soft tooth brush to clean them smoothly.