The Tecware Phantom 87 RGB is my third MK. I got it because it's hot-swappable and similar to my Ducky, which I got to replace a dead Rosewill. Skeptical by the Phantom's price, the reviews were encouraging.
Before the switches arrived, I used the board stock, and it was great.
But it didn't take long for my foray into hot-swapping to go south. Whether it's my fault or the board's or the switch pullers' or a combination, I don't know, but my experience is not encouraging.
Switches on this board are extremely difficult to pull and to set. Regarding pulling, the manual says "The switch will snap on to place and test immediately for response" (which is at least more intelligible than a lot of "Engrish"). But I haven't noticed any such snapping.
I started with Esc. The Phantom's puller was an absolute pain, so I tried a third-party 3D-printed (Cherry MX) puller but before long, one of its small legs broke, so I returned to using the Phantom's.
With far more effort that I imagined should be necessary, I finally got the switch out and a new switch in, setting it with the printed puller. The key worked.
I then went for the arrows. But with even more time and effort than before, the puller started bending the switch's top edge (which above the tab is quite thin--horrible design, IMHO), so I tried another switch and the same thing happened. After many attempts to extract both switches, one edge eventually broke. So, I partially pried the switch's corners with a small flat-head screwdriver, and this worked for them all.
But none of the keys worked. After plugging and unplugging the USB, and putting caps on and pulling caps off when plugged in and unplugged, and replacing a switch, and finally breaking the Phantom's puller in the process, three of four arrows currently work.
Absolutely maddening!
Is this normal for the Phantom or other boards?
Are there hot-swappable RGB boards that are not so difficult?
Would a metal puller be better?
Are there techniques for pulling and setting switches that I clearly missed?
What would you recommend (other than I get a new hobby
) ?
