geekhack
geekhack Community => Keyboards => Topic started by: Phaedrus2129 on Sun, 21 March 2010, 02:10:48
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So I got my Cherry G84-4100 and right away I noticed the sticking issue many other people have noticed: if you don't hit a key dead center, and especially if you hit it on a corner, it will "stick" for a moment before going down. This is claimed to happen with all Cherry ML switches.
Messing around I found that this sticking actually doesn't go away until you shift the force of your finger. So right away I knew it wasn't a friction thing.
Removing a keycap and messing around... and noticed that the switch wasn't sticking! Even if I pushed a stem on its far corner, it still wouldn't stick. Then I compared to the other keys; they still stuck.
I looked at the bottom of a keycap and it struck me. It's a keycap design problem! The keys have too much vertical give; ie, if you hit a key at its top or bottom it will tilt. The sticking doesn't occur if you hit a key on its left or right side (or at least not nearly as much), only if you hit it on the top or bottom.
The keycap tilting stops it from actually depressing the stem, and thus prevents the key from actuating. Hence sticking.
The reason it tilts, I believe, is because the two plastic tabs that hold the keycap in place to the switch are not snug. Thus there's too much wiggle room, and the key can tilt. Presumably the caps are made this way for manufacturing reasons or something, or maybe they were just overlooked. I don't know. But maybe... Could it be possible to modify the keycaps so that they aren't free to tilt?
Regardless, I think the problem isn't with the ML switch itself, which appears to be sound, but with the design of keycaps used with this switch.
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Try using some ol' duck tape and tape those suckers down better!
Did you get this keyboard new?
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Do you have any other Cherry-compatible keyboards to swap the key caps?
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Try super-gluing one I guess?
Just make sure you don't use so much glue that it trickles down into the switch.
Do you have any other Cherry-compatible keyboards to swap the key caps?
You do realize that he's talking about ML switches, right?
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I got this keyboard "refurbished" from an eBay seller.
I'm thinking of how to do this so I won't ruin the keyboard and will still be able to remove the keycaps if needed... :thinking:
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I got this keyboard "refurbished" from an eBay seller.
I'm thinking of how to do this so I won't ruin the keyboard and will still be able to remove the keycaps if needed... :thinking:
Put super glue on the two tabs and let it dry before putting it on the switch?
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Removing a keycap and messing around... and noticed that the switch wasn't sticking!
Leverage?
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Unless your keycaps are incredibly loose, I don't think they are the problem. Even if they wobble there is nothing for them to rub against to cause the friction.
I think the opposite is true. The caps are tight enough that when you hit them off-centre, it successfully transmits torque to the switch slider, making it push against the side of the 'tunnel' and suffer from friction.
If you look at the excellent pictures posted by this guy (http://geekhack.org/showpost.php?p=166071&postcount=58) :smile: you'll notice the sliders are wide rectangles. They are more stable in the left-right direction than the front-back one, explaining why they bind more easily when you hit the top/bottom of the key.
I tried a dab of white lithium grease on one of these switches. It didn't help much. I didn't want to put on too much and risk killing the switch. Maybe one of the dry aerosol lubes would be better?
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Hey, I got one of those G84-4400 in black. Yeah, it kind of sucks. But I use mine as a beater keyboard when I need one in a pinch.
Right now it is hooked up to the PS3...
Definitely not a daily driver though.