Help needed regarding damaged switches.

[Marthenil]

Hello folks, long time lurker here, you guys helped me decide on what colour switches to get, and taught me a lot of things regarding keyboards, so thank you.

I couldn't find anything regarding this one on the forums so I'm going to have to make a new thread so here goes:

I own a Quickfire TK Brown and am very happy with it. However, some key ( Specifically O P < > M ) have an issue which has been going on since I bought the keyboard. If I press the key from an upwards angle there's some sort of resistance, as if the keycap is jamming on something. I actually didn't pay too much attention to this until today, when I pulled the keycaps off to do some cleaning.
The cherry switch on these caps is damaged. It's not much, and it doesn't hinder the switches' movement under any angle.
To clarify, the cavity marked in THIS PHOTO is worn. (Will edit with real photos once I get back home).

My question is, what is causing this? Faulty keycaps? Faulty switches? Anyway to solve this? Is it going to cause permanent damage?  (I'd rather not RMA the keyboard as it will take some time for it to get there leaving me with none)

[Melvang]

That appears to be a normal switch.  Is there any wear on the stem of the cap that would be on that side of the switch.  If not then the inside of the switch might have a touch of stuff in it.  Please do not just squirt compressed air into the switch unless you take precautions to not have any of the liquid/propellent come out of the straw as that will most likely kill the switch.

[damorgue]

That notch is supposed to be there. The image you linked does not appear damaged at all.

[Marthenil]

Ah yeah, sorry I wasn't more clear about this, that was a default photo of a switch to clarify the location of the damage. Here is a photo of mine with the damage.

[SpAmRaY]

I'm not seeing anything out of the ordinary?

[Puddsy]

Ah yeah, sorry I wasn't more clear about this, that was a default photo of a switch to clarify the location of the damage. Here is a photo of mine with the damage.

I guess there's a bit of stuff in that switch in the middle, but I don't see anything wrong.

[tp4tissue]

The cause of the jamming is as you've said.. the keycap stem grinding against the housing.. this can be a little better or worse depending on the thickness of the cap stem.. the thinner the better..

and certain sets will have smoother stems..

As far as cherry the thick imsto pbt stems i've had are the smoothest I've felt, the Signature plastics pbt stems are pretty smooth as well.

[Marthenil]

Right below the led, the notch is physically damaged. I guess it doesn't show too well on pictures but if you compare it to the leftmost switch the difference is visible.
Unless that is normal? But there is evidence of physical damage.

The cause of the jamming is as you've said.. the keycap stem grinding against the housing.. this can be a little better or worse depending on the thickness of the cap stem.. the thinner the better..

and certain sets will have smoother stems..

As far as cherry the thick imsto pbt stems i've had are the smoothest I've felt, the Signature plastics pbt stems are pretty smooth as well.

Issue is, I'm using the default keycaps. I guess CM screwed up? Would sand papering the stem ease the issue?