Author Topic: What happens to keyswitches when they reach/go over/ approach the 50M key press? (Read 368845 times)

knowsnokb · « **on:** Sat, 27 February 2016, 10:51:51 »

What happens to keyswitches when the reach/go over/ approach the 50M key press?

Do they just break?
Do the springs snap?
The plastic wear off?
The circuit breaks?

SpAmRaY · « **Reply #1 on:** Sat, 27 February 2016, 11:00:57 »

I would say most of the time switches that are good to start with, that is no problems from the factory, outlast the keyboards they are put into.

chyros · « **Reply #2 on:** Sat, 27 February 2016, 11:09:02 »

The contacts probably wear out.

3K · « **Reply #3 on:** Sat, 27 February 2016, 11:18:05 »

They explode.

Bucake · « **Reply #4 on:** Sat, 27 February 2016, 11:58:52 »

they vaporize

fohat.digs · « **Reply #5 on:** Sat, 27 February 2016, 12:11:08 »

Probably almost half of the Apple Extended Keyboards (AEK "1") that I have bought have had 2-6 dead switches, but otherwise I have found dead switches to be rare.

Technically, I suspect that these would be better described as "broken" rather than "worn out" but there are many ways for a tiny assembly of half a dozen to a dozen parts to fail.

Rad · « **Reply #6 on:** Sat, 27 February 2016, 13:17:07 »

So did they have a robot push down on a key 50 million times?

falkentyne · « **Reply #7 on:** Sat, 27 February 2016, 13:26:49 »

At 50,000,001, you had better stop or this happens....

What happens to keyswitches when they reach/go over/ approach the 50M key press?

klennkellon · « **Reply #8 on:** Sat, 27 February 2016, 14:12:48 »

The Heat Death of the Universe.

Findecanor · « **Reply #9 on:** Sat, 27 February 2016, 18:10:44 »

For Cherry MX, I suppose that the leaf spring inside it will wear out: bend and possible break. No more circuit and no more tactility.
If it was a tactile switch, the feel should have been diminished already by that time though.

BTW, I have had the top housing break on a switch -- not much used though.

Quote from: fohat.digs on Sat, 27 February 2016, 12:11:08

Probably almost half of the Apple Extended Keyboards (AEK "1") that I have bought have had 2-6 dead switches, but otherwise I have found dead switches to be rare.

Switches can also wear being pressed all the time... and in case of Alps: suffer greatly from dust.

njbair · « **Reply #10 on:** Sat, 27 February 2016, 21:38:00 »

Food and medicine have expiration dates, but it's not like the milk turns sour at 12:01 a.m. That's just the latest the company is willing to sell it. I'm sure key switches last even longer than 50 million presses, but at that point any reasonable person is going to have to concede that they got their money's worth.

rowdy · « **Reply #11 on:** Sun, 28 February 2016, 00:55:10 »

I can imagine the leafs getting thinner and thinner until they just wear away. But that would take many more than 50M presses.

tp4tissue · « **Reply #12 on:** Sun, 28 February 2016, 08:46:16 »

Basically.. the keypress becomes inconsistent, chattering, or intermittent operation as the leaf spring wears out..

jamster · « **Reply #13 on:** Sun, 28 February 2016, 20:52:44 »

It would take 10.7 years of non-stop typing at 70wpm to wear out the switch under the letter E (most common letter used in English). I'm pretty sure the keyboard would have been defenestrated well before approaching that limit.

demik · « **Reply #14 on:** Sun, 28 February 2016, 20:54:18 »

you have to go outside and start talking to people

*shudders*

Vittra · « **Reply #15 on:** Sun, 28 February 2016, 20:59:14 »

Quote from: demik on Sun, 28 February 2016, 20:54:18

you have to go outside and start talking to people

*shudders*

throwing my filco out, nothing is worth this

rowdy · « **Reply #16 on:** Mon, 29 February 2016, 03:31:13 »

Quote from: jamster on Sun, 28 February 2016, 20:52:44

It would take 10.7 years of non-stop typing at 70wpm to wear out the switch under the letter E (most common letter used in English). I'm pretty sure the keyboard would have been defenestrated well before approaching that limit.

I think I did a calculation like this a couple of years ago. CBF searching for it though, yours will do as an approximation

hwood34 · « **Reply #17 on:** Mon, 29 February 2016, 11:09:10 »

I've never come across a broken switch due to just age, but like other people I'd have to assume the contact points would just degrade or the leaves would break in some way.

Quote from: Rad on Sat, 27 February 2016, 13:17:07

So did they have a robot push down on a key 50 million times?

They actually do have a machine just to press the switches

Blaise170 · « **Reply #18 on:** Mon, 29 February 2016, 13:56:23 »

Quote from: Rad on Sat, 27 February 2016, 13:17:07

So did they have a robot push down on a key 50 million times?

piemancoder · « **Reply #19 on:** Mon, 29 February 2016, 16:29:38 »

They won't immediately magically stop working, the 50m measure is a very safe measure.

Quote from: Blaise170 on Mon, 29 February 2016, 13:56:23

Quote from: Rad on Sat, 27 February 2016, 13:17:07
So did they have a robot push down on a key 50 million times?

Was just about to link this video.

xtrafrood · « **Reply #20 on:** Mon, 29 February 2016, 17:03:41 »

Maybe the Germans know?

ander · « **Reply #21 on:** Tue, 01 March 2016, 02:25:14 »

I had a Cherry MX blue quit on me once. Well, it didn't exactly quit. It stopped generating characters, that's true. But the strangest stuff did happen whenever I pressed it—for example:

Our doorbell rang.

All the automatic garage doors on our street opened.

Scarlett Johanssen called and asked me out for coffee. ("Aw, come on," she said, "it's just coffee!")

The Florida Panthers won the Stanley Cup.

A dozen NIB Space Cadets appeared on eBay for $100 each OBO (+ $17.50 shipping).

Some of the more Asperger-y people here on GH suddenly started getting my jokes.

Okay, I realize that last one was a bit of a stretch.

rowdy · « **Reply #22 on:** Sat, 05 March 2016, 05:14:52 »

So testing for 50 million keystrokes - how long would that take?

Assuming 10 presses per second (which might be a bit high depending on how long the switch takes to return to rest), that is 5,000,000 seconds.

Which is around 57 days, 20 hours, 53 minutes, 20 seconds.

So about 2 months to test a switch? Does that sound right?

The above video mentioned that some switches were tested to 100M presses - 4 months continual bashing?

vincentk14 · « **Reply #23 on:** Sat, 05 March 2016, 07:09:11 »

my friend once told me that his keyboard will reach 50M key press
he said he will press it until 50M key press and see what happening
after few days, some people in suit come to his house
and after that i never see him again
rumour said if you press the 50,000,001 times, you will get abducted and sent to area 51 for alien research

i miss my friend

Blaise170 · « **Reply #24 on:** Sat, 05 March 2016, 12:08:55 »

Quote from: vincentk14 on Sat, 05 March 2016, 07:09:11

my friend once told me that his keyboard will reach 50M key press
he said he will press it until 50M key press and see what happening
after few days, some people in suit come to his house
and after that i never see him again
rumour said if you press the 50,000,001 times, you will get abducted and sent to area 51 for alien research

i miss my friend

50,000,001 - 000,000 = 51

Math checks out

Malenky · « **Reply #25 on:** Sat, 05 March 2016, 13:18:19 »

This

More

merlin64 · « **Reply #26 on:** Sat, 05 March 2016, 16:48:18 »

We should start a "50 million key press tour" in which we take one brand new switch and mail it to the list of people. Everyone who receives it has to press on it a number of times and post results haha.

When we get close to the last 100 presses, the last person needs to make a live feed so we can all watch. Once it reaches 50 million, everyone watching gets to bet on when they think the switch will break. All proceeds go to GeekHack, but the person who gets closest to the number of times before the switch fails, will have GeekHack buy them a keyboard of their choice using a portion of the proceeds. =).

knowsnokb · « **Reply #27 on:** Sat, 05 March 2016, 23:06:30 »

Can't verify but I've heard they evolve to the switch of a different kind, like a Pokemon.
Depends how your pressed it over the course of its 50,000,000 presses.
Blues could turn to greens
cherrys could turn to topres
Really depends how you treated it
Still can't verify though.

piemancoder · « **Reply #28 on:** Sun, 06 March 2016, 08:39:49 »

Quote from: knowsnokb on Sat, 05 March 2016, 23:06:30

cherrys could turn to topres

Is this how a Novatouch is made?

Capnmycraw · « **Reply #29 on:** Sun, 06 March 2016, 09:50:14 »

The nova era of evolution.

captsis · « **Reply #30 on:** Sun, 06 March 2016, 17:03:35 »

I'd imagine BS have a rating as well, no?

rowdy · « **Reply #31 on:** Wed, 09 March 2016, 04:12:50 »

Quote from: matt2dlg on Sun, 06 March 2016, 17:03:35

I'd imagine BS have a rating as well, no?

Dunno about a rating - most of those keyboards are 25+ years old and still going strong!

A bit of discussion about it here.

chyros · « **Reply #32 on:** Wed, 09 March 2016, 04:46:42 »

Quote from: matt2dlg on Sun, 06 March 2016, 17:03:35

I'd imagine BS have a rating as well, no?

25 M membrane, >100 M capacitive. It's not the springs or the plastic, it's the contacts.

Zeal · « **Reply #33 on:** Wed, 09 March 2016, 05:42:01 »

Nothing happens, the switch continues to work. Companies realistically test the switch actuations way past 50M, then cut their results a bit to a nice round number.

pr0ximity · « **Reply #34 on:** Wed, 09 March 2016, 06:48:25 »

Hall Effect have alledgedly been tested up to 30 billion keypresses, though how that could have veen done is a mystery I think.

klennkellon · « **Reply #35 on:** Wed, 09 March 2016, 14:27:33 »

Quote from: pr0ximity on Wed, 09 March 2016, 06:48:25

Hall Effect have alledgedly been tested up to 30 billion keypresses, though how that could have veen done is a mystery I think.

Maybe the Mormons know?

)

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Author Topic: What happens to keyswitches when they reach/go over/ approach the 50M key press? (Read 368845 times)