Is it normal that not all Cherry MX Blue switches are clicky?

[ctm]

I just got a CM Storm Quickfire Rapid from Amazon. I really like how MX Blue switches feel, but there is one thing that really bugs me: there are a few keys that are not so clicky as others. When pressed, they provide a weak and soft click which is barely audible, unlike most others keys on the keyboard, which give a clear and precise click. I can barely feel the click. They kind of feel like brown switches, but I have pulled up the key caps and checked that they were indeed blue. At first I thought this counts as defective so I asked for a replacement from Amazon, but now I have got three replacements and they all have this problem. The only difference is the problem exists on different keys. Is this a normal thing for MX blue switches? Or I got three defective ones in a row?

[1391406]

I had a similar experience with a Razor Black Widow I bought from Frys a couple of years ago. When I returned it, I ended up going to the keyboard aisle and pulling about 7 or 8 off the shelf and tested each one until I found a board that was consistently clicky across all keys. Yes, I consider weak or non-clicky MX Blue switches to be defective. One of my family members uses the Black Widow to this day, and it's just as clicky and tactile as the day I bought it. I'm not sure if it's a quality control issue or damaged during shipping, but personally, I wouldn't be satisfied with any weak or non-clicky MX Blue switches.

[Folio]

I had a similar experience with a Razor Black Widow I bought from Frys a couple of years ago. When I returned it, I ended up going to the keyboard aisle and pulling about 7 or 8 off the shelf and tested each one until I found a board that was consistently clicky across all keys. Yes, I consider weak or non-clicky MX Blue switches to be defective. One of my family members uses the Black Widow to this day, and it's just as clicky and tactile as the day I bought it. I'm not sure if it's a quality control issue or damaged during shipping, but personally, I wouldn't be satisfied with any weak or non-clicky MX Blue switches.

Yea I don't know how to picture that distinction between if it's Cherry's fault or the keyboard manufacturer's fault. Some brands have perfect switches across the entire board while others don't. I'm leaning more towards brand quality. They should be testing out every single switch before they package it. Cherry probably does that too, but they ship out tons of switches so there could be that one dead switch every so often. IMO, it's the kb company's responsibility to check for consistency at that point.

My suggestion is to just get a more reputable kb.

[ctm]

I had a similar experience with a Razor Black Widow I bought from Frys a couple of years ago. When I returned it, I ended up going to the keyboard aisle and pulling about 7 or 8 off the shelf and tested each one until I found a board that was consistently clicky across all keys. Yes, I consider weak or non-clicky MX Blue switches to be defective. One of my family members uses the Black Widow to this day, and it's just as clicky and tactile as the day I bought it. I'm not sure if it's a quality control issue or damaged during shipping, but personally, I wouldn't be satisfied with any weak or non-clicky MX Blue switches.

Yea I don't know how to picture that distinction between if it's Cherry's fault or the keyboard manufacturer's fault. Some brands have perfect switches across the entire board while others don't. I'm leaning more towards brand quality. They should be testing out every single switch before they package it. Cherry probably does that too, but they ship out tons of switches so there could be that one dead switch every so often. IMO, it's the kb company's responsibility to check for consistency at that point.

My suggestion is to just get a more reputable kb.

Any recommendation for brands that are known for good quality control?

[Grendel]

I would just use it and see if they improve over time. In case it really bugs you, replace the offending switches. Pretty easy for someone w/ at least some soldering experience. While you are at  it get a Frosty Flake as well

[CPTBadAss]

The problem is there is no perfect quality control with the amount of keyboards these companies are making. My Filco came with some weird Blue switches that weren't clicky and worked themselves out over time. If you use your board for a week and it's still got those bad switches, and you're still in the return window, return it and get a new one. If you can't return it, you can replace it yourself or get someone to replace it; like Grendel suggested.

Edit: Even with my issues, I still recommend Filcos. They're my favorite stock keyboards. And I've been impressed by Ducky's build quality recently.

[1391406]

I had a similar experience with a Razor Black Widow I bought from Frys a couple of years ago. When I returned it, I ended up going to the keyboard aisle and pulling about 7 or 8 off the shelf and tested each one until I found a board that was consistently clicky across all keys. Yes, I consider weak or non-clicky MX Blue switches to be defective. One of my family members uses the Black Widow to this day, and it's just as clicky and tactile as the day I bought it. I'm not sure if it's a quality control issue or damaged during shipping, but personally, I wouldn't be satisfied with any weak or non-clicky MX Blue switches.

Yea I don't know how to picture that distinction between if it's Cherry's fault or the keyboard manufacturer's fault. Some brands have perfect switches across the entire board while others don't. I'm leaning more towards brand quality. They should be testing out every single switch before they package it. Cherry probably does that too, but they ship out tons of switches so there could be that one dead switch every so often. IMO, it's the kb company's responsibility to check for consistency at that point.

My suggestion is to just get a more reputable kb.

Any recommendation for brands that are known for good quality control?

Off the top of my head Filco and Rosewill come to mind.

[Folio]

Any recommendation for brands that are known for good quality control?

I've always had good experiences from WASD keyboards. They were my first preferred keyboard company. Never any switch flaws. I've never owned a Ducky or a Filco, but those two are also really reputable from what I've seen on this forum. 

[microsoft windows]

You should get rubber dome switches. They are more reliable than Cherry blues and you don't have to worry about them being clicky at all!

[rowdy]

Of my two Ducky keyboards with MX blues, one clicks perfectly across the board, the other had two keys that did not click properly.

I totally overused the up arrow and after a week or so it started clicking more or less normally.

The X key I use far less often, and that still has a somewhat muted click.

It can happen.  Not often, fortunately.  Overall best solution is, as suggested above, to replace the switch/s.

[itzmeluigi]

One of my Shine 2s had a few keys that wouldnt click, almost a year later and they still dont click.  Both my Shine 3s click evenly across the board though.  If you already had three replacements then i would replace the defective switches.

[Novus]

They should be clicking evenly across the entire board.
I think you should RMA it.

[rowdy]

Is a non-clicky switch treated similar to how a dead pixel on an LCD screen is treated?  I.e. you need at least 5 non-clicky switches before they will let you return?

[Novus]

Is a non-clicky switch treated similar to how a dead pixel on an LCD screen is treated?  I.e. you need at least 5 non-clicky switches before they will let you return?

ROFL.

That's only for knock off korean companies.
Also CM is pretty good about it's RMA in my experience ... although my experience is with their pc components stuff.

[pichu23]

I have a Poker II with blue switches and it clicks quite consistently throughout the board.
Maybe give it some time to "Burn in" by typing often on it ? I'm not too sure heh. if not RMA, is always a solution.

[Novus]

Oh right we forgot to ask.
Which keys are the problem ones?

[ctm]

Oh right we forgot to ask.
Which keys are the problem ones?

The one I am still keeping has a down arrow key that does not click. The other ones I returned had a Pagedown and V key, respectively, that did not click.

[BucklingSpring]

"Is it normal that not all Cherry MX Blue switches are clicky?"

Absolutely not Although according to many poor "QC" Standards it is ok because it doesn't affect the keyboard functionality or usability.

Any Clicky MX switch that doesn't click is considered defective by Cherry itself. If you want I can dig out an email on this matter that I got from a Cherry representative. It is hard to tell if the switch left the Cherry factory with the problem or if the problem was induced during the Keyboard Assembly.

Any who. Last year I bought a CM QFR with MX Green for which many keys didn't click. I got a very hard time to get it replaced and CM only started to be nice when I made a big fuss about it here and on the other poopular keyboard enthusiasts Forum.

Back then I started a survey trying to poll information regarding faulty clicky MX's. It seams that they have come in waves and it is a fairly recent issue. Not many faulty clicky were reported beyond 3 years.

Get your keyboard replaced. If too many people do nothing about it, it will reinforce the "acceptability" of this annoying issue.

[dannejanne]

I have recently bought a new keyboard with Cherry MX blue switches. Today in fact. Three of the switches did not really click on it. Well they did but not as clear as all the others on the board. I fixed all three of them easily though in just a few minutes. I took off the keycaps on the keys in question and pushed the switch up & down slowly with a pin while blowing into the switch with my mouth at the same time. This pretty quickly fixed all three of them. So I guess some dirt had found its way into the switches.

[Puddsy]

MX whites: yes

MX blues: no

Some of them might not be as clicky as others, but rarely. They should all click, though.