warped space bar?

[TGShadow69]

I just received my filco mj2 tenkeyless w/ browns today and it almost seems like the space bar is warped or bent.  I took it off to get a better look at it and it definitely appears to be bent up on the right side. I have never heard or seen of this before so i was wondering if this is a common problem on filcos?  its not that big of a deal to me because ill probably end up buying a set of pbt keycaps anyways. I'm more concerned about why this would have happened i.e. happened during shipment, and if that's the case should i return it?

[rowdy]

Apparently it can happen from time to time - the topic comes up every now and again.

For example http://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=31006.0 suggests you can use a blow dryer to straighten the space bar.

However if it is new, it should be covered by warranty, so you might enquire about returning it first, rather than risk potentially damaging it further.

[TGShadow69]

I think thats what ill do, but im getting a set of pbt keycaps so i dont know that i care all that much.

[dorkvader]

I think thats what ill do, but im getting a set of pbt keycaps so i dont know that i care all that much.

If your PBT space bar is also bent (It does happen!) the hairdryer method should help to fix it.

[tp4tissue]

I think thats what ill do, but im getting a set of pbt keycaps so i dont know that i care all that much.

If your PBT space bar is also bent (It does happen!) the hairdryer method should help to fix it.

there isn't a single pbt space bar that comes which is NOT bent. It's just in the nature of making um, which is why topre gives you an abs spacebar while using pbt on the rest of the caps,

Instead of hairdryer method, we should dub it the PBT hairdryer "doctrine".

If you want a slick functioning pbt space bar, you have to blowdry, then dunk in ice water, while applying gentle tension to the spacebar under water. You have 3-4 trys to get it right, by the fifth try, the plastic surface might be too denatured, which will turn colors very soon.

[dorkvader]

I think thats what ill do, but im getting a set of pbt keycaps so i dont know that i care all that much.

If your PBT space bar is also bent (It does happen!) the hairdryer method should help to fix it.

there isn't a single pbt space bar that comes which is NOT bent. It's just in the nature of making um, which is why topre gives you an abs spacebar while using pbt on the rest of the caps,

Instead of hairdryer method, we should dub it the PBT hairdryer "doctrine".

If you want a slick functioning pbt space bar, you have to blowdry, then dunk in ice water, while applying gentle tension to the spacebar under water. You have 3-4 trys to get it right, by the fifth try, the plastic surface might be too denatured, which will turn colors very soon.

Interestingly enough, all my PBT spacebars are straight. I have ones made by IBM, unicomp, and Cherry. I have heard that most of the new imsto ones are also straight.

[tp4tissue]

I think thats what ill do, but im getting a set of pbt keycaps so i dont know that i care all that much.

If your PBT space bar is also bent (It does happen!) the hairdryer method should help to fix it.

there isn't a single pbt space bar that comes which is NOT bent. It's just in the nature of making um, which is why topre gives you an abs spacebar while using pbt on the rest of the caps,

Instead of hairdryer method, we should dub it the PBT hairdryer "doctrine".

If you want a slick functioning pbt space bar, you have to blowdry, then dunk in ice water, while applying gentle tension to the spacebar under water. You have 3-4 trys to get it right, by the fifth try, the plastic surface might be too denatured, which will turn colors very soon.

Interestingly enough, all my PBT spacebars are straight. I have ones made by IBM, unicomp, and Cherry. I have heard that most of the new imsto ones are also straight.

Nope, look closely, they're ever so slightly warped, even if the're working correctly

[PointyFox]

I've had about 4 spacebars, and all of them have a slight bend.  You can tell how bent by lightly tapping on each side of your spacebar.  If it sticks up, you will hear a "tick" from it hitting the stabilizer.  It will be louder the more bent it is.

[dorkvader]

I think thats what ill do, but im getting a set of pbt keycaps so i dont know that i care all that much.

If your PBT space bar is also bent (It does happen!) the hairdryer method should help to fix it.

there isn't a single pbt space bar that comes which is NOT bent. It's just in the nature of making um, which is why topre gives you an abs spacebar while using pbt on the rest of the caps,

Instead of hairdryer method, we should dub it the PBT hairdryer "doctrine".

If you want a slick functioning pbt space bar, you have to blowdry, then dunk in ice water, while applying gentle tension to the spacebar under water. You have 3-4 trys to get it right, by the fifth try, the plastic surface might be too denatured, which will turn colors very soon.

Interestingly enough, all my PBT spacebars are straight. I have ones made by IBM, unicomp, and Cherry. I have heard that most of the new imsto ones are also straight.

Nope, look closely, they're ever so slightly warped, even if the're working correctly

I'm sure if I brought out an atomic force microscope, it might be a few microns out of place, It's not visibly warped to my eye, and I would say it's about equally as straight as an ABS spacebar.

Pointyfox: I get that on my IBM spacebar, because of toleraces in the barrel, though it is visibly deformed slightly around the stabilizer, I am sure you'd get the same with an ABS spacebar. (Just tried it with an ABS spacebar on my cherry. Due to cherry stabilizer tolerances, it also is a bit loose.

I would say that if PBT spacebars are warped, it is often not noticeable in use. Some of the older chinese spacebars had an issue with major warping, but they appear to have fixed things.

[Hyde]

I have a beige filco and my spacebar is bent too, I guess it's a common problem =_____=

[1stGenRex]

I've had about 4 spacebars, and all of them have a slight bend.  You can tell how bent by lightly tapping on each side of your spacebar.  If it sticks up, you will hear a "tick" from it hitting the stabilizer.  It will be louder the more bent it is.

just trued this on my Filco with stock keycaps, and it's just VERY slightly bent (I get the "tick" tapping on the right side) but I hadn't noticed it before, so I guess it's not that big of a deal.

[TGShadow69]

I've had about 4 spacebars, and all of them have a slight bend.  You can tell how bent by lightly tapping on each side of your spacebar.  If it sticks up, you will hear a "tick" from it hitting the stabilizer.  It will be louder the more bent it is.

This described what mine is like exactlly.
Im sure that my first filco's space bar had a slight bend also, but it was just to small to really notice. I'll post pics on Tuesday(if anyone still cares) of how bent it is. As of now its working fine for me now but I will end up replacing all of the keys to pbt eventually.