Author Topic: Help with sluggish keys needed  (Read 2474 times)

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Offline Lorizean

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Help with sluggish keys needed
« on: Thu, 07 November 2013, 05:10:53 »
Hi geekhack!

I'm new to the whole mechanical keyboard thing and I fear I may have harmed my precious keyboard.
I recently got a WASD v2 keyboard (tenkeyless) with Cherry MX Brown switches.

The day before yesterday I cleaned it for the first time (removed all caps, held it under running water and let it dry for 24 hours).
Since then, one key (specifically the 'R' key in Colemak, or 'S' in QWERTY) is misbehaving - it only registers the keypress 40-50% of the time.
I blew compressed air in the switch and it worked fine for a short while but now it's back to being stubborn.

Some other keys feel like they need a higher actuation force now, but that may just be my imagination and it's not as big a deal as the R key.

I do have a spare switch lying around, do I have to desolder and switch the old one or is there something else I could try?

Thanks for any help!
« Last Edit: Thu, 07 November 2013, 05:19:03 by Lorizean »

Offline BlueBär

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Re: Help with sluggish keys needed
« Reply #1 on: Thu, 07 November 2013, 05:52:59 »
The day before yesterday I cleaned it for the first time (removed all caps, held it under running water and let it dry for 24 hours).

What exactly made you think that would be a good idea?

Check if any of the traces for the key are somehow damaged, if not, desolder it and solder in the spare one. Not a guaranteed fix but might as well try.

Offline Lorizean

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Re: Help with sluggish keys needed
« Reply #2 on: Thu, 07 November 2013, 05:56:47 »
The day before yesterday I cleaned it for the first time (removed all caps, held it under running water and let it dry for 24 hours).

What exactly made you think that would be a good idea?

I read on numerous interne sites that it would be okay to do that.
I guess I should've done it differently.

I will try your suggestion, thanks.

Offline BlueBär

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Re: Help with sluggish keys needed
« Reply #3 on: Thu, 07 November 2013, 06:13:40 »
I read on numerous interne sites that it would be okay to do that.
I guess I should've done it differently.

Welp you know have proof for those people that it is not... Washing keycaps is fine though.

It maybe would have been fine if you let it dry longer - no gurantee. My guess is that there was still some water somewhere that didn't dry completly or even that some dirt got with the water flow into a switch.

Generally, using compressed air is enough if you don't spill anything over your keyboard. I would also recommend not eating near your keyboard and it should stay clean for a while.

Offline tp4tissue

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Re: Help with sluggish keys needed
« Reply #4 on: Thu, 07 November 2013, 06:19:10 »
hahahahahaha.... You just took the board and ran water over it?

I guess it wouldn't kill it but it's kinda hard to dry without taking it apart..

24 hours is def not enough....


Stop using it.. take the bezel apart, and really let it dry in a "warm area"  NOT too close to the house-radiator or it might melt...

Offline BlueBär

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Re: Help with sluggish keys needed
« Reply #5 on: Thu, 07 November 2013, 06:26:14 »
Stop using it.. take the bezel apart, and really let it dry in a "warm area"  NOT too close to the house-radiator or it might melt...

It doesn't need to be warm, just dry. Also putting it upside down on rice could help making the drying process faster.
« Last Edit: Thu, 07 November 2013, 07:25:45 by BlueBär »

Offline tp4tissue

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Re: Help with sluggish keys needed
« Reply #6 on: Thu, 07 November 2013, 07:14:23 »
Stop using it.. take the bezel apart, and really let it dry in a "warm area"  NOT too close to the house-radiator or it might melt...

Are doesn't need to be warm, just dry. Also putting it upside down on rice could help making the drying process faster.

pretty sure the rice only works if you put it in a "bag" with the rice..

Offline Patchwrks

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Re: Help with sluggish keys needed
« Reply #7 on: Thu, 07 November 2013, 17:20:23 »
it's gotta be sealed into the bag with the rice.
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Offline metalliqaz

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Re: Help with sluggish keys needed
« Reply #8 on: Thu, 07 November 2013, 17:23:48 »
What the hell???  You don't put the KEYBOARD under water, you only wash the KEYCAPS with water.

What if I told you that I tried to clean my cell phone by running it through the dish washer?  You'd think I was crazy.  That's how you look right now.

Offline tp4tissue

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Re: Help with sluggish keys needed
« Reply #9 on: Thu, 07 November 2013, 17:26:50 »
What the hell???  You don't put the KEYBOARD under water, you only wash the KEYCAPS with water.

What if I told you that I tried to clean my cell phone by running it through the dish washer?  You'd think I was crazy.  That's how you look right now.

I don't think it's crazy...   it's unconventional..  and CAN BE DONE....

Offline fohat.digs

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Re: Help with sluggish keys needed
« Reply #10 on: Thu, 07 November 2013, 17:35:58 »
That soap and water thing is common and accepted for rubber dome keyboards. As long as the electronics don't corrode it is OK.

Anybody who has actually disassembled or studied a mechanical switch realizes that it is a delicate and finely tuned device.

Any water with the exception of distilled water (and then it will not be pure because it will have dissolved the dirt you were trying to get rid of!) will leave traces of residue that will play hell with close tolerances.

I ruined a couple of Alps keyboards that way before I thought it through in my mind's eye.

Now I disassemble a used keyboard as completely as I dare, wash anything that can take it with soap and water, vacuum (suck, never blow, as the old saying goes) as much as possible, and wipe everything else with alcohol.
"Starting in 2011, the deficits again started to shrink. During Obama’s term  the deficit was reduced by $900 Billion  before finally in 2015 the GOP managed to wrangle a “reconciliation” bill out of Obama where he again cut corporate taxes, as well as made permanent some of George W. Bush’s original tax cuts. This is the year everything reversed. Before this, under Clinton, Bush and Obama the deficit in almost every year was gradually decreasing. The balance we had of taxes and the economy was bringing the deficit down, the money coming in was slowly catching up with the money going out until 2015. Trump’s subsequent tax cut has continued the new trend even after the rest of Bush’s cuts have since expired. Obama had an average GDP of 2.3%, with 11.6 million jobs created and unemployment peaking at 10% in 2009, then falling to 4.3% in 2016. If we had continued on that downward deficit track, we would have again reached balance and another surplus in 2017-2018.
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Offline Hellmark

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Re: Help with sluggish keys needed
« Reply #11 on: Thu, 07 November 2013, 20:08:46 »
Doesn't WASD lube all but the Blues? If you ran it under water, lube probably got washed off.

Also 24 hours is never enough time. On rubber domes, the least amount of time I have ever seen recommended was 3 days. Most of the time, closer to a week. Still that is on rubber domes which have no real moving parts and are 99% plastic or rubber.

Sounds to me like you hosed it, literally and figuratively.

Offline tp4tissue

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Re: Help with sluggish keys needed
« Reply #12 on: Thu, 07 November 2013, 20:22:15 »
Doesn't WASD lube all but the Blues? If you ran it under water, lube probably got washed off.

Also 24 hours is never enough time. On rubber domes, the least amount of time I have ever seen recommended was 3 days. Most of the time, closer to a week. Still that is on rubber domes which have no real moving parts and are 99% plastic or rubber.

Sounds to me like you hosed it, literally and figuratively.

it's probably not broken..

just needs more dry time.

Offline Hellmark

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Re: Help with sluggish keys needed
« Reply #13 on: Thu, 07 November 2013, 23:00:37 »
I'm the type that never says something is broken. Just question is will it require more skill than the OP can give?

Offline fohat.digs

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Re: Help with sluggish keys needed
« Reply #14 on: Fri, 08 November 2013, 06:38:07 »
I'm the type that never says something is broken.

Neil Young: "Rust Never Sleeps"
"Starting in 2011, the deficits again started to shrink. During Obama’s term  the deficit was reduced by $900 Billion  before finally in 2015 the GOP managed to wrangle a “reconciliation” bill out of Obama where he again cut corporate taxes, as well as made permanent some of George W. Bush’s original tax cuts. This is the year everything reversed. Before this, under Clinton, Bush and Obama the deficit in almost every year was gradually decreasing. The balance we had of taxes and the economy was bringing the deficit down, the money coming in was slowly catching up with the money going out until 2015. Trump’s subsequent tax cut has continued the new trend even after the rest of Bush’s cuts have since expired. Obama had an average GDP of 2.3%, with 11.6 million jobs created and unemployment peaking at 10% in 2009, then falling to 4.3% in 2016. If we had continued on that downward deficit track, we would have again reached balance and another surplus in 2017-2018.
– Frank V Walton 2025-07-01