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geekhack Community => Off Topic => Topic started by: Carcharocles on Mon, 22 January 2018, 23:21:17

Title: Welp
Post by: Carcharocles on Mon, 22 January 2018, 23:21:17

Just performed emergency Band-Aid surgery on my RK9000BR. My mom fell in love with it while my computer was down, but sadly, when I got my computer up and running again that infamously cruddy USB port finally started causing problems. In order to assure she gets a working keyboard and that I have something to last me until my birthday present comes in, I knew I was going to have to open up the thing and get to work.

So I took her apart, fitted the gap between the connector and the PCB with a bit of anti-static plastic, super-glued the port down and made extra-sure it was a piece of Band-Aid (making this literal Band-Aid surgery). Result wasn't pretty or ideal, but hey, it worked.

Unfortunately I messed up the Scroll Lock LED in the process (bent it to one side by accident), but eh, Caps Lock and Num Lock LED's are still in their right places, so she'll be happy. She fell in love with the 6-Key Rollover and Cherry MX Brown switches anyway, not the chassis or LED's, and she doesn't want anything new due to her tendency to abuse her boards.

Title: Re: Welp
Post by: futurecrime on Tue, 23 January 2018, 07:02:11

Yer mum sounds pretty cool.

Title: Re: Welp
Post by: SBJ on Tue, 23 January 2018, 08:35:52

Quote from: futurecrime on Tue, 23 January 2018, 07:02:11

Yer mum sounds pretty cool.

Right? :D

Title: Re: Welp
Post by: Kavik on Tue, 23 January 2018, 23:05:49

RK9000BR? I'd never heard of it, but it looks like a 60% aluminum chassis from my google searches. Does it have indicator lights?

I thought about getting my mom a smaller form factor mech, but I know it would just end up destroyed. Too much clutter and food around the computer.

Title: Re: Welp
Post by: jdcarpe on Tue, 23 January 2018, 23:09:35

Rosewill Mechanical Keyboard RK-9000BR with Cherry MX Brown Switch

(https://images10.newegg.com/NeweggImage/ProductImage/23-201-042-08.jpg)


These were very popular ~5 years ago, due to the fact that they would go on sale at Newegg for $50 (and once for $25!).

Title: Re: Welp
Post by: Kavik on Tue, 23 January 2018, 23:59:36

Quote from: jdcarpe on Tue, 23 January 2018, 23:09:35

Rosewill Mechanical Keyboard RK-9000BR with Cherry MX Brown Switch

Show Image

(https://images10.newegg.com/NeweggImage/ProductImage/23-201-042-08.jpg)

These were very popular ~5 years ago, due to the fact that they would go on sale at Newegg for $50 (and once for $25!).

That's really weird. When I googled that on my laptop, I was just getting pics of an aluminum 60%, even though I initially thought you were talking about a fullsize. When I google it on my desktop, I only see the fullsize you show.

Anywho, I have the white version of that board with MX Blues (which I coincidentally bought 4.5 years ago), the RK9000I. The only issue I ever had with it (besides the stock caps' getting an irreversibly sticky shine) was chatter on the spacebar. Swapped the switch from Scroll Lock and all was good.

Title: Re: Welp
Post by: Carcharocles on Wed, 24 January 2018, 00:28:36

There's an old post on this forum about the USB connector having a tendency to break. I kinda-sorta remembered the fix and then jury rigged my own from materials on hand--basically, I used non-conductive parts to make it stick. I was going to resolder it, but the soldering iron we have has been missing a tip for years and the old squeeze-powered desoldering tool I used to use as a makeshift "replacement" is currently MIA.

It worked wonderfully after a bit of trial and error. Not bad for my first keyboard repair.

And yeah, the original RK9000 had a fixed cord and only came in MX Blues. You could switch between USB (default) and PS/2, but only with an included dongle (that was my first mechanical, and I gave it to a friend who promptly ruined it). At one point they took that off the market and replaced it with several new variants with detachable cords--one PS/2 and one USB--respectively dubbed the RK9000 (blues), RK9000BR (browns), RK9000B (blacks) and RK9000R (reds). These immediately started showing issues with the micro-USB connector breaking off due to bad design. I was just lucky to have mine for about 5 years before the problem reared its head.

The RK9000I was my mom's first mechanical keyboard, and it came out a few months after the initial refresh. My mom loved the thing, but ended up switching to a Unicomp Ultra Classic Large Print. She ended up replacing that with the much sturdier 1984 Model M I found in the trash in 2016 (which worked perfectly except for the left shift key, which tends to chatter. It just needed a LOT of cleaning.) She now wants this board.

I swear, the woman would fit into this forum better than I ever would. Too bad she tends to smoke around her keyboards and has dropped cigs on them due to her neuropathy and shaky hands.