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geekhack Community => Keyboards => Topic started by: oxysoft on Sat, 08 March 2014, 22:12:50
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Hey there. I'm not a huge keyboard enthusiast, I just like to type on something that feels and respond great so I have never repaired or modified any keyboard. My current keyboard right now is a razer blackwidow and I do extensive typing on it (programming mainly) and recently, I was typing on my brother's blackwidow and I found that his keys have a much greater feel and response when hit, whereas mines feel more blend, almost loose so to speak.
Some of the keys that I use more rarely like the numpad on the right hand side still seem to have that great response from my brother's keyboard. My worst key switch seems to be Ctrl, which makes sense because I use it very extensively, so I have came to the conclusion that my switches must be wearing out. Is it possible to restore them without having to change them completely?
Thanks
(Also I am new to this forum, if this isn't the right board for this kind of topic/question, please move accordingly)
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Nope. Sounds like you need some buckling spring, tactile Alps, or MX Greens in your life though. It could be that your switches have smoothed out or your springs have been broken in and are a little softer, but there's no real way to resolve that without desoldering everything.
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Welcome to Geekhack1
Cherry MX switches are rated to 50 million key strokes each. Do you reckon you have pressed Ctrl 50 million times?
Switches can wear in a bit, but across the board it's not generally that noticeable. Certainly not that you'd notice that much of a difference between one side to the other side of the keyboard.
If the switches really are wearing out, the only real solution is to replace the switch. You can replace the switch internals, but the BW is plate-mounted AFAIK and you'd have to desolder the switch anyway, so you might as well replace old for new in the process.
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the ctrl key is used VERY often in programming and i personally smash the hell out of it when i use it. i definitely notice that it wears out REALLY quickly.
also, f gets worn down like crazy as well.
lots of text-find.
personally i just don't give a **** because it's not worth replacing it every 3 weeks.
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Cherry MX switches are rated to 50 million key strokes each. Do you reckon you have pressed Ctrl 50 million times?
50M actuations. It doesn't tell anything about the feel.
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Considering the MX Blue tactile click feedback is plastic-on-plastic, yes it will wear out over time. 50 M keyswitch activations only refers to the gold leaf toggle mechanism.
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Cherry MX switches are rated to 50 million key strokes each. Do you reckon you have pressed Ctrl 50 million times?
50M actuations. It doesn't tell anything about the feel.
You'd think, though, that the MX blue switches would retain their click for a reasonable percentage of those actuations.
Not fall apart after the first few thousand.
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I've had problems with this on most of my boards. I believe the reason is that I am right handed and the muscles in that hand are much strong than on the left; while appearing no different (my right hand doesn't look like it belongs to the hulk on the outside). The fingers of my right hand are strong, so the keys feel lighter.
I also notice that when typing on my model M the longer I type the most I begin to notice the differences in force that each key has. Cherry greens have a bit of this and I image they are like blues (which I haven't yet tried).
Good luck with your problem :D
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Cherry MX switches are rated to 50 million key strokes each. Do you reckon you have pressed Ctrl 50 million times?
50M actuations. It doesn't tell anything about the feel.
You'd think, though, that the MX blue switches would retain their click for a reasonable percentage of those actuations.
Not fall apart after the first few thousand. :mad:
I don't think he's saying the bump or click are gone. Just that the bump is minorly smaller than when it was new. Just like any other switch degrades.