QuickFire Stealth Failure

[tooki]

Back in October, I wrote a <a href="http://www.macintouch.com/readerreports/inputdevices/topic4160-002.html#d04oct2013">summary of the state of mechanical keyboards</a> on Macintouch.com. I just sent them the followup/revision, following the failure of one of my keyboards:

I originally wrote that Filco was top-quality, Cooler Master and Matias were second-quality, and el-cheapo like Rosewill third-quality.

Well I am revising Cooler Master into third-quality. On my Cooler Master CMStorm QuickFire Stealth, I begun having intermittent function on two keys (rarely used ones at that), which I originally attributed to software wonkiness. Once another keyboard ruled out the software, I decided to throw the warranty to the wind and open up the Cooler Master. What I found was shocking.

Before I even got to actually inspecting for the fault, I noticed that the circuit board is sticky, indicating poor cleaning after soldering. And on this stickiness I found little balls of solder, which could easily have caused shorts had they moved a bit. Some solder joints were "cold" (dull, indicating insufficient temperature, causing weakness) or incomplete, while others were big blobs of solder. It is the quality of soldering that I might have done as a budding electronics hobbyist -- when I was 8 years old. I've never seen soldering this bad in a commercial product.

So I did find the fault. On nearly half of the keys, the circuit traces are separating from the board at the solder joint.
As it happens, one of the traces on the "9" key separated so much that it completely broke the trace to the F7 and F8 keys, causing their failure.

This indicates to me that the board was soldered slightly too far from the metal plate, so that when the keyboard is screwed together, there is pressure along the board such that the traces are under load. Since the Cooler Master board is single-sided, the traces on one side bear all the force, and it doesn't take much to separate traces.

I am a light typist, and this keyboard was barely used, and many of the keys with this separation are ones that I seldom or never use. (And it clearly affects some rows more than others, so it looks to be more key location than wear and tear.) The only way this could have happened was either spontaneously due compression after assembly, or due to me pressing on the keycaps after removing them to apply dampeners. (Since this keyboard includes a keycap puller and alternate keycaps, this is hardly an unusual or unsupported operation.)

And that's just the failures my minimal electronics experience can see with the naked eye. I'm sure a microscopic analysis by an expert would be much more telling.

I am optimistic that I can patch the damage to the broken trace by bridging it with a wire. But short of rewiring the whole board with a layer of wires, I'm not optimistic about the Cooler Master's longevity. Pity, since the Cherry switches installed in it are durable enough to last for decades.

I suppose this is why Filco advertises that they use double-sided circuit boards with plated vias on their keyboards. This means the holes are lined with metal, like rivets, so solder goes through the board and bonds it on both sides, creating a much more solid mechanical connection. I also guess that's why the Filco costs nearly twice as much.

Now I see what others have said about the CM Storm soldering on here, e.g. Quick Fire TK disassembly and investigation (basic stuff and basic issues) and Left Alt fixed with pics - CM Storm QuickFire Rapid.

I think I'll take some macro shots later this week and post them, before I heat up the soldering iron. (If anyone has any unsolicited advice, feel free to add it!)

[Witling]

My Cooler Master Quick Fire has just stopped suddenly and dramatically. Cooler Master and I have come to a parting of the ways. I haven' checked causes yet but it's not the cable.

[tp4tissue]

Oh come on.. seriously..  I'm not defending CM.. but what are ya'll expecting for $50..

THe fact that you guys got a keyboard at all instead of a box filled with Confetti is amazing..

most of the problems are solder, pcb flex related.. but overall, they're easy fixes if you're not insistent upon remaining n00ber, just expecting things to work.

THEY DON"T..

Crack it open, and do some of that google your generation is so fond of.

[Grendel]

I suppose this is why Filco advertises that they use double-sided circuit boards with plated vias on their keyboards. This means the holes are lined with metal, like rivets, so solder goes through the board and bonds it on both sides, creating a much more solid mechanical connection. I also guess that's why the Filco costs nearly twice as much.

Yea. Funny thing is that Filco's, QFR's, and RK-9k's all have the same OEM -- Costar. Rosewill Helios boards are also made by Costar and dual layered if you are looking for something at Filco quality level at a reasonable price (esp. when these are on sale for $65.)