My alt key is being funky :(

[marvkip]

My alt key on my new Leopold Tenkeyless w/ MX Blues is being FUNKY. It is as if it is being held down randomly. Is there anything that I can do to fix this without having to send it in? I don't want to have to possibly wait any longer to enjoy my keyboard. Also, Is anybody else having this problem?

[What is X?]

have you tried pulling the keycap off and putting it back on

[bionicroach]

I may be having the same issue on my blue Leo.  In my case, it's the A key.  If I hit the key off center, toward the bottom, it often sticks with a "crunchy" feel.  I blew the switch out with compressed air, but no luck.  Upon closer examination, I noticed that if you grasp the key stem and shift it up / down, there is a bit of play and you can reproduce the crunchy feel if you actuate the stem when it does this.  The other switches that work fine don't have the side to side play.  I contacted EK to see what they say.

[bionicroach]

I agree.  Or whoever the Germans outsourced the switch building labor to.  Too bad I'm not handy with a soldering iron.

Here are a couple crappy cell phone videos to (hopefully) illustrate the issue.

Terrible sound quality, but you can hear the difference on the A key.

When the A switch stem is pressed side to side (off center) it makes a click sound.  The S does not.  I believe this is when the sticking issue happens.

(I am not actuating the switch at all when it makes the click; only shifting side to side.)

[marvkip]

After some testing with Aqua's key-test I've discovered that pressing firmly on the windows or the z key will make the Alt key activate. Could this be a problem with my PCB? I'll try to upload a video when I get home cause I'm currently studying at school.

[bionicroach]

@marvkip - Sorry, I think I completely misunderstood your OP. The problem you're describing sounds totally different from mine.  Yours may not be the switch at all.  Could be a connection / PCB thing as you mentioned or even your OS.  Have you tried to repro the problem on another computer?  If you press alt again when the issue happens, does it toggle it back off?

[marvkip]

I'm currently at the computer lab at my school and I brought my keyboard with me and it still has the problem, so the OS and the computer itself is out of the question. I REALLY don't want to have to ship it back to elitekeyboards and wait a month for it to get back to me.

P.S. This rubberdome I'm typing on right now sucks ass in comparison.

edit: Do you think I'd be able to get some kind of priority shipping for free since I got a defective product?

[bionicroach]

Not sure, this is the first issue I've had with an EK product and they haven't answered my email yet.  I have heard positive customer service stories from others that had EK make things right with a defective product, though.  You should definitely contact them asap.

[NOMiS]

I blame the Germans more than the Koreans on this one.

I think the QC should have been done on the Leopold, since it is the final end product. So imo Korean's fault.

[marvkip]

Here's a video showing the alt key and the squeaky stabilizers too.

[bionicroach]

Just wanted to post a quick update to report that I contacted Brian at EK and he has arranged to ship out a replacement keyboard, so problem solved!

[audioave10]

Nice videos provided by you guys. I emailed EK to see what form of purchase they accept (paypal only?) I'm not so sure now.

[bionicroach]

Damn.   I was hoping you'd open it up and take pics.

Sorry, as a result of the beatings the wife/accountant doles out after every keyboard purchase, I now keep those warranty papers in a firesafe inside a fallout shelter in an undisclosed location.