HHKB Type S 'whistling' sound

[b7ad]

I hope you'll share your results with us. I haven't tried a completely stock HHKB Pro 2 btw, so I sadly can't compare it to my Type-S. I really like my Type-S, though. It's 5 months old and doesn't have that whistling noise fortunately.

I love the Type-S too, aside from the whistling, thankfully mine isn't as bad as some peoples seem to be, and I may be imagining it but I think it's getting a little better. The stock HHKB is definitely more thocky tactile feeling though for sure.

I don't agree with people that say the Type-S feels the exact same as the regular HHKB but silenced, think it changes the feel quite a bit, I guess because of what you were saying.

So indeed I am excited to see what lubing the plungers as well as the slider rails feels like + the soft landing pads. I may end up lubing one board and lube+soft landing the other (JP) so will post results for sure!

[intelli78]

Update:

EK offered to replace the board with either a new unit or an open-box unit they had, which was tested and known not to whistle. I happily took the open box unit. I'd say it still has a very slight hint of the noise, but it's MUCH better than the first one. Doesn't bother me at all to type on this one.

So, EK performed well here, and I'd say the onus is on PFU to figure out how to eliminate this problem.

[b7ad]

Just a little update for anyone interested in this; Yesterday I opened up my HHKB again and lubed the stems themselves, previously I had just lubed the slider rails.

The whistle is pretty much all gone. When typing it isn't there, but if I press 2 or 3 keys near the center of the board on the bottom row, which were the biggest offenders, you can still hear it, but quieter than before.

May be worth considering for anyone experiencing this problem.

[Smasher816]

Hmmm that is interesting. I wonder if it is the custom Type-S sliders that cause the issue, it would make sense (I believe someone said they were different and slightly taller to make up for the landing pad thing). Perhaps it is just ever so slightly more skinny, which lets air slip by and creates the sound. By putting some lube it might fill up those gaps and help deaden the sound. Note: these are just my thoughts and they are 100% untested and unfounded - they are just a plausible scenario.

[Tyrosh22]

I would just like to add the following:

I received a used Type-S and none of the whistling was to be heard. However, the switches felt kind of hard to press and non-smooth. The board was manufactured in 2011 so I went ahead and lubed the thing. Smoothness was slightly increased and the sound is even nice now - beside the fact that it started whistling. o_o
Just wanted to let you know.