Repairing Mechanical Keyboards

[Fatfool]

Hi there,


I've got a filco (Brown Cherries) with keys that don't activate. Does anyone know of an individual or company that repairs such keyboards?

Thanks

 

[commach]

Replace with a new switch is the fastest repair.

I found a TTesports Poseidon mechanical keyboard with blue LED, 7 switches not working (some double register), desolder them, open up the switches, cleaned and manually bend the contact.

 

[Fatfool]

Gosh, and for those without soldering skills?

 

[wwenze]

Gosh, and for those without soldering skills?

Do this thing called "barter"

You do work in an area in which u are skilled at e.g. $30 per hour

You work for a few hours

Take the money and exchange it for kb repair service or a new keyboard.

 

[Koenig168]

Gosh, and for those without soldering skills?

It's not difficult. I replaced a few of the switches on my Razer BlackWidow Ultimate Stealth (first gen with Cherry MX Browns).

Took a bit of time and effort to disassemble and clean but it's my favorite KB and they don't sell this anymore. Still using it despite having a Logitech and another new Razer mechanical KB in storage.

 

[commach]

Honestly, no specific skill to desolder and solder a switch in a mechanical keyboard. Without LED, only 2 pins, with LEDs like the Poseidon, 2 pins for LEDand 2 pins for the switch. A simple 40w soldering iron and a suction pump can do the job with combine cost of less than $15.

The most difficult part is not desolder/solder, the testing (can download the test module or use online keyboard test feature) of the keyboard is the most daunting part. I tested every keys OK but my son said 2 of the switches doesn't always register. His typing style (very fast) is different, he could always get the stroke registered but never for me.

 

[Fatfool]

Do this thing called "barter"

You do work in an area in which u are skilled at e.g. $30 per hour

You work for a few hours

Take the money and exchange it for kb repair service or a new keyboard.

Well, hello captain obvious.

I'm aware of how I can get a new keyboard but I was enquiring to see if anyone knows of a person or shop that's able to provide this service so that I can you know..... make use of your advice

 

[Hafi]

Well, hello captain obvious.

I'm aware of how I can get a new keyboard but I was enquiring to see if anyone knows of a person or shop that's able to provide this service so that I can you know..... make use of your advice

can try SimLimSq, walk around those back lane at level 4/5. There are quite a number of repair shops there waving mosquito net during the weekdays.

 

[shadow84]

Such skills calls for a price. Is it worth to pay $30-$50 just to resolder a few switches?

If you are thinking of the fee to be = price you paid for your kb / no of switches * how many switches needed to resolder, then good luck liao. There is a saying, if you are good at something, never do it for free.

 

[wwenze]

$30-50, maybe during the time 5-rm HDB cost $250k or even earlier

 

[shadow84]

Lol, i just pluck a figure from the air, but it will not be like $10+/- unless TS knows the repairman personally. If so, he no need create thread le.

At that price or higher, TS might as well buy a new kb unless its a gift from his gf/wife.

 

[commach]

During the mid 80s till mid 90s, especially XT/286 era, almost all keyboard are mechanical. Shops in People Park Center charged $10 per switch, a 83 keys IBM XT KB cost about $250. A newer model with a switch for XT/AT at the underside cost about $280 per keyboard.

At the current price for keyboard, unless expensive or rare model, not economical to hire repairman.

 

[wwenze]

https://mobile.carousell.com/p/repa...Repair electronics&t-referrer_sort_by=popular

 

[Godeau]

$50 could get you soldering and desoldering tools, a spool of .8mm solder wire that will probably last a lifetime, a couple of mx brown switches and you'll still be left with some change.

Unless you have shaky hands, it just isn't worth it to pay a one time fee for someone to repair a few switches.

 

[Hafi]

not sure why pple have that sarcastic attitude, if you don't want or dunno how to help then just keep it to yourself instead of leaving your helpful "comments".

Filco depending on which model should cost around $189 for tenkeyless or $269 for bluetooth majestouch convertible no matter what... they are not considered cheapo among mechanical keyboards so if I were in TS position (btw I own a Filco Majestouch Convertible too), I will definitely try to find someone to see if it is repairable first or not before looking to buy another new one.

Not everyone have the luxury or mindset to dump or sell off their hardwares once they grown tired of it or if there any malfunction on the device. It is logical to seek any repair option first then see whether it is justifiable with the repair price then act accordingly.

 

[Fatfool]

I thank everyone here who's contributed constructively, whether it's been suggesting soldering or giving estimated prices to repair the keyboard.

Mine is a tenkeyless majestouch and I'm going to guess it costed me about $180 so while it's not super expensive, it's not a cheap keyboard either and as it's my workplace keyboard (as in it's mine but I use it for work), I'd rather get it repaired if the price is reasonable rather than getting a whole new keyboard.

After all, it does its job well as well... being a keyboard that's comfortable for me to type on at work.

As we've had our little debate here, it appears the situation has gotten worse. Now it's a cluster of keys that no longer work. the Q,W and the l,;',m areas don't work. So it's progressively failing and I don't know if fixing a couple of switches is going to arrest the problem or if it'll continue to spread to other keys

I'll be down at Sim Lim square to look at keyboards and to see if anyone does repairs I guess. I'm leaning towards a Leopold (Topre switch) and moving my current home Wooting One to work in the event.

 

[Darknights]

you can take this as learning opportunity. even if you buy a new keyboard, you can spend less than 50 bucks to buy the materials needed to fix your current one.

buy a desoldering pump(needed to remove existing solder), a soldering iron, and solder. it won't cost you a lot of money - probably less than 50 bucks. go to youtube and search for tutorials on how to desolder, and solder. i didn't have any experience in soldering as well, but i managed to fix up a whole keyboard on my own and it was pretty satisfying.

it might or might not fix your problem... but you'll definitely pick up a new skill while you are at it.

 

[wwenze]

I thank everyone here who's contributed constructively, whether it's been suggesting soldering or giving estimated prices to repair the keyboard.

Mine is a tenkeyless majestouch and I'm going to guess it costed me about $180 so while it's not super expensive, it's not a cheap keyboard either and as it's my workplace keyboard (as in it's mine but I use it for work), I'd rather get it repaired if the price is reasonable rather than getting a whole new keyboard.

After all, it does its job well as well... being a keyboard that's comfortable for me to type on at work.

As we've had our little debate here, it appears the situation has gotten worse. Now it's a cluster of keys that no longer work. the Q,W and the l,;',m areas don't work. So it's progressively failing and I don't know if fixing a couple of switches is going to arrest the problem or if it'll continue to spread to other keys

I'll be down at Sim Lim square to look at keyboards and to see if anyone does repairs I guess. I'm leaning towards a Leopold (Topre switch) and moving my current home Wooting One to work in the event.

Keyboards work by having a bunch of keys sharing the same PCB trace, if the trace spoils than the associated keys stop working. It's the same reason why when u hold down a key, some other keys stop responding.

 

[commach]

Oxidation set in, nothing wrong with the PCB or traces.

Mechanical switch work in this way. The 2 pins are close circuit (contact), when the user press the key, it open (disconnect) the circuit. The changing state of ON/OFF of the corresponding key will be detected by the keyboard ROM.

A complete key press must be ON follow by OFF and return to ON again.
In your case here, the key is in OFF (open circuit) due to oxidation or the contact lost it spring tension to maintain a firm contact. What you can do is to open up the switch and clean the contact point. Bend the contact slightly to increase the contact tension, don't over do it, if you bend too much, the key will become very stiff to press down.

This is how I fixed the 7 switches on the Poseidon with blue LEDs.

 

[franstam]

Oxidation set in, nothing wrong with the PCB or traces.

Mechanical switch work in this way. The 2 pins are close circuit (contact), when the user press the key, it open (disconnect) the circuit. The changing state of ON/OFF of the corresponding key will be detected by the keyboard ROM.

A complete key press must be ON follow by OFF and return to ON again.
In your case here, the key is in OFF (open circuit) due to oxidation or the contact lost it spring tension to maintain a firm contact. What you can do is to open up the switch and clean the contact point. Bend the contact slightly to increase the contact tension, don't over do it, if you bend too much, the key will become very stiff to press down.

This is how I fixed the 7 switches on the Poseidon with blue LEDs.

sigh these TT Poseidon Z keyboards have this common problem for failing switches or whatever causing non-registering keys or double keypress register.

does anyone know who is the distributor for TT esports in sg for RMA, and is it still 5 year warranty for this keyboard? thanks.

i have one set that has the above problem.

oh and hi @fatfool long time no see