Beam Spring 104+SSK+122+62 Reproduction Project! now shipping

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The Chyrosran22 new Beam Spring trailer was just posted!

[PlsCrit]

Been using my B104 R2 for a couple weeks now and I love it  ! What an amazing project to come together... But damn did I not realize how truly big this thing is, I've (gently) placed my daily driver, which now lives at my office, on top for scale.

So far have been blessed with little to no issues, with one exception: small bits of plastic flake off some part of the beam spring module which settle down onto the pcb and cause keys to not register correctly. Has happened 3 times now which requires opening up the case and removing the debris. Not sure exactly what part they are from, but if I had to guess, the "beam barrel part B", or the keycap stem, or maybe even the bottom of the keycaps? The flakes are all white and plastic. I didn't want to mess with the module too much but in hindsight I should have attempted to locate the module the flake came from and inspected it to see which part is the culprit. Next time it happens Ill try to document it.

During keycap assembly some caps were harder to put on than others and required more force, this could have caused some plastic part around the stem or keycap to break off?

Edit**
Just re-read this part of the manual:

When putting the press fit washer back on the module, it is important that the module is pressed all the way down with a minimal amount of force; not so much force that you break one of the plastic legs of that white part inside the beam module.

Broken white “leg” on the beam barrel part B:  you may notice a broken off white part when removing a module for adjustment.  Sometimes this is hinted at when you can’t press a module down all the way. 

This might be the same issue, however the broken off flakes I observed do not resemble the legs, it is possible its a sliver of the leg though.

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Yes, you may have cracked or fractured parts of the legs when installing many of the keycaps (I have done this before, in my earlier testing of the early new beam spring keyboards years ago!).  You can sometimes detect it if the key module without an installed key wobbles a bit more than the other keys. 

Absolutely little to no force is needed to install the project keycaps, as mentioned in the very first sentence of Action Step 6 Keycap Installation:
"Be extremely gentle when pressing each key down to install it; you can easily break or fracture the white part of the beam module if you press too hard."

Now to think how to fix what was done:  I recommend trying to more quickly expose which keys are bad, to avoid you having to keep fixing things as they make themselves known.  What I might do is take a large sturdy flat object (something like the key set box, protected on the bottom side with a cotton towel etc.) and use it to press all of the keys down gently many times, maybe 100 times or more, and then manually press each key a bunch of times from slightly different angles, taking note of which ones don't feel right or produce an inconsistent signal in the Level Monitor screen of the diagnostic tool.  Then replace those modules with some of your spares from the first aid kit.  As always be extremely gentle with this method so as not to break or scratch any keys.

[PlsCrit]

Thank you for the reply, yes the corrective action you recommended is actually what I did earlier in an attempt to discover more keys affected. I opened the case twice this morning as a result of that, frustratingly a new key will become defective after Ive already put the case back together! haha

The modules under which I removed the loose pieces of plastic feel completely normal and have no detectable faults (by feel and by the leyden jar diagnostic tool) so Im deciding to leave them in for now. I guess Ill know if I really need to replace the module if the same ones fail repeatedly.

I thought I was pretty careful during keycap installation, I only applied as much force as necessary to install each one, but after finishing, I noticed many of the keycaps resting at different heights, I know its not the modules themselves as I inspected them all pre-installation to ensure they were all uniform in appearance, looking from multiple angles, pressing each one, etc... For the more egregious caps, I pushed them in a little more to get them more in line with the other caps. These modules definitely required more force than the others to have the keycap installed. There were only about 2-3 modules whose stems felt like they fit the keycap like a glove and required no force. Im assuming the factory that made these had some sort of tolerance for the dimensions of the stems, and similarly with the keycaps, and the slight variances resulted in some keycaps needing a more forceful install.

For the rest that are still higher than the others, Im hoping that days of typing will eventually move them down little by little. Im about to open the case for the 3rd time today now that Im finished with work and given the entire board your recommended mass press treatment (hopefully 8 hours of typing will have helped dislodge the rest of the pieces I havent discovered yet)

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Thanks for the update.  As a general note, these key sets are all from the same one production batch made years ago, that started shipping with the Round 1 boards; they do not have reports of disintegrating, and neither do the beam modules.  If one key out of 100 was bad then that would be one thing but for many keys to be affected and only on your board and not the hundreds of others that shipped in recent years, that is another thing.

With gentle pressing, all keys should be installable to the same relative height, not perfect like an MX cap but more than acceptable.

I am posting as I don't want folks to think this is a product defect, as not one person has reported it after years and hundreds of beam spring boards shipped.  And for many modules, not just one or two to be affected, and only on your board, points towards a specific problem with one user.

Another idea may be to hold the board vertically and remove all the keycaps to see if there is some debris, and then do one final careful wiping of the large capacitive PCB and the beam flippers.  Before putting the keys back, check the tops of each beam module as there may be some small flashing, though this is not likely.

You may want to also cover the keyboard when not in use as you may have a dusty environment.

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"New Model F Labs B104 Beam spring keyboard with solenoid typing test"

https://www.reddit.com/r/MechanicalKeyboards/comments/1tuzrze/my_chonky_boy/

https://www.reddit.com/r/MechanicalKeyboards/comments/1tuzrze/my_chonky_boy/opgktah/

"They feel awesome, it's a very unique experience to type on it, something never been felt in my life, not even a Model F can resembles the key feel. Smooth, deep thock and click happening simultaneously, you can't really describe it accurately, just like having the premium curry in your mouth, you can tell what's the ingredients in it, but it's indescribable when all the chemistry happening in your mouth. I no longer crave for another keyboard (except the unshipped B62), I think this is the end of my keyboard journey."