New Filco - unresponsive key, fix?

[makawbird]

Hello!

I just received a new Filco Majestouch 2 with brown switches. Unfortunately, one of the keys (the Alt key) is not very responsive. I can push the entire key down and it will not activate. If I push the entire key down a little faster, or with a little force, the key will activate. Does anyone know if I can fix this or will I have to RMA my new keyboard?


Thank you for any replies.

EDIT: I guess I should add that I have inspected the switch by removing the cap, and I can't see anything visually wrong with it. This is all I've done so far, I don't know if it's possible to remove or otherwise 'open' the switch for inspection.

[itlnstln]

That's no biggie.  The real question is, "does it ping?"

You can try blowing the switch out with an air duster as there might be dust or debris in the switch (it happens); take off the cap, press the stem down a little and spray.  Otherwise, you might have to RMA. Personally, I wouldn't waste my time trying to fix it when you have a warranty.  I have a bad feeling that the switch mechanism might be bent or something, though.

[makawbird]

That's no biggie.  The real question is, "does it ping?"

You can try blowing the switch out with an air duster as there might be dust or debris in the switch (it happens); take off the cap, press the stem down a little and spray.  Otherwise, you might have to RMA. Personally, I wouldn't waste my time trying to fix it when you have a warranty.  I have a bad feeling that the switch mechanism might be bent or something, though.

I just removed the cap, pressed the switch down and blew into it. Now it works perfectly. I feel like an idiot. Thank you very much.

EDIT: Well, now it's broken again.
EDIT2: Now it's working again. Maybe I need an air duster to really get the obstruction out of there?

[itlnstln]

Yeah, there might be a piece of lint/dust/plastic shaving/whatever in there that really needs some "coaxing" to get it out.  If you have an air compressor with a blower attachment, that will really do the trick.  Otherwise, an air duster should be sufficient.

[itlnstln]

German clean manufacturing just isn't what it used to be.

It's more common to see this problem on Cherry blues where there are more moving parts to disrupt.

[makawbird]

I don't know if this is significant at all, but the concerned switch (the Alt key) appears to be mounted in a different manner, compared to the rest of the switches. I took a quick picture to show you what I mean but I'm not allowed to post links yet. It appears to be installed... upside down. The other switches are all mounted so that the "Cherry" logo/imprint is readable when you face the keyboard in a normal fashion. This switch, though, the entire thing has been rotated. I hope this description makes sense.

Maybe it doesn't matter, but I found it funny that the switch that doesn't work very well appears to be mounted differently.

[itlnstln]

It doesn't matter how the switch is mounted.  You'll find keyboards that have all the switches mounted upside-down, some sideways, etc.  Apple had a keyboard in which all of the switches (ALPS) were mounted sideways.

[makawbird]

Alright, thank you for your replies, I'll test the proposed solution if the switch continues acting up.

[shrap]

It's new, I'd RMA it. The more you try to fix it, the more likely you will run afoul of some warranty clause and be stuck with a malfunctioning keyboard forever.

[itlnstln]

I would still try blowing it out with compressed air; that isn't going to void any warranty.  Now, I wouldn't do any more than that.  If it doesn't work, I would certainly go the RMA route.

You don't want to be a Welly.