Random Interestingness on Omron B3G-S

[hellothere]

Amber. I bought one of these. Mine is, cosmetically, a little better.

Chain of events:
* No power/lights. Bad 5 pin DIN to PS/2 adapter. Replaced.
* Approximately 10 keys weren't working, at all. As mentioned elsewhere, my new fix is to spam a key a zillion times to see if it'll register. Fixed two keys. A couple worked every now and then.
* There were maybe two dead keys in the function line row. I desoldered all the good ones, desoldered the bad ones in the alphanumeric block, then swapped the switches.
* Now the ESC key registers an entire diagonal row, like 5 t h m. Two or so keys in the numeric row work. Maybe two or three other random keys work.

At this point, you may have noticed that I didn't say I resoldered ALL the switches. I did so and all but two are consistently not working and four or so are inconsistent.

I was wondering if anyone else has seen this and, if so, this is related to the fact that the Omron switches have three legs. I've left keys unsoldered on Alps keyboards and I haven't seen this behavior.

[Polecat]

If the two connected legs were used as a jumper, to eliminate the need for separate jumper wires (or a double sided PC board), then having one of the two internally connected pins left unsoldered would cause anything past that point on a row or column not to work, and would cause that switch itself not to work if the unsoldered lead is on the "active" side. That makes more sense to anyone who's tried to lay out a single sided PC board without using jumpers.

edit: having one key activate an entire row suggests there may be multiple switches that are shorted internally or stuck on.

[Morron]

* Approximately 10 keys weren't working, at all. As mentioned elsewhere, my new fix is to spam a key a zillion times to see if it'll register. Fixed two keys. A couple worked every now and then.

I found that manually shorting the stubborn switches with a jumper got them started, and then spamming would make them work consistently.

[JP!]

spamming would make them work consistently.

This was all I needed to do on was of my boards! I had < 10 keys that would not register. Out of frustration I spammed one a few times in quick succession. To my surprise it worked. I tried it on the other with similar success. One key was extra stubborn but I didn't give up and eventually I had all keys working consistently.

[hellothere]

So, I bought another keyboard with Omron B3G-S. This time, it's a Chicony 5161A. Apparently I'm cornering the market on Omron switch keyboards. This one has only two keys that are an inconsistent problem: E, which chatters or just doesn't register, and the right shift, which sticks.

Again, spamming some of the keys made them work properly. I started with 7 bad.

I can't find the link I had on opening these switches. Anyone got any info?

[Muirium]

The switchplate in the B3G-S series is a partially sealed unit: the front panel affixes to the back panel using melted plastic lugs. The contact bridge fits so tightly into the back panel that it is virtually impossible to remove it. The centre leg is also fitted in such a way that it is impossible to remove it: the movable contact lug is above a square block of metal that is walled in on all four sides, with the leg protruding from a hole in the plastic. It is possible that the plastic is moulded in around the metal, as it does not appear possible to assemble the switch. No switchplate has ever been sighted fully disassembled. In comparison, the Alps switchplate is a simple sandwich of metal and plastic layers that can be manually disassembled and reassembled with very little damage.

Is your middle name Houdini?

[hellothere]

Well, I don't think "Houdini" would really fit me all that well.

Yes, I'm aware of what the Wiki says, however, I think the info really applies to the switchplate and not the entire switch. I'm still pretty sure I remember seeing a take-apart, but it wasn't on Deskthority ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

If someone comes across something like that, RSVP.

[Polecat]

Perhaps this will help:

https://forums.arcade-museum.com/thread ... es.417705/

[hellothere]

Perhaps this will help:

https://forums.arcade-museum.com/thread ... es.417705/

That's exactly it! Thanks very much!

[hellothere]

Review:
My below comments are mostly from using the Chicony, not the Wang: the Wang has a lot of keys that need help. Also note that my current two favorite keyboards are a Abko 935P capacitive and a Realforce R2 Topre, both with 45g weighting.

I like the Omron. A lot.

FEEL: A happy medium of IBM buckling springs, brown tactile Alps, and Kailh Box Jade. It is a bit too heavy for me, but I've already mentioned that l like keyboards with a bit lighter switch. However, it's rapidly growing on me, just like the brown Alps did. It's really crisp and satisfying.

SOUND: Very close to an actual typewriter, although muted. It's much louder than the Kailh and the Model M/F, I think. The sound is also more crisp and higher pitch.

Now, for the elephant in the room or, in my case, a 90lb dog: reliability.

As mentioned, when I got the KB, it had 7 bad keys. During the week-ish that I've been using it, I've occasionally had key ghosting/repeating, but this happens less often the more I type. The E key is now working again. The right Shift still occasionally sticks, but it's better. However, note that I haven't done any cleaning or other work at all. So, it might just be that you have to use the keyboard often for it to work properly.

I have not tried amber Alps. I'd love to compare the two.

[hellothere]

Perhaps this will help:

https://forums.arcade-museum.com/thread ... es.417705/

That's exactly it! Thanks very much!

Commenting on the Wang ...

I ended up with basically half the keyboard failing to register. I did the stuff suggested in the above link and about 70% of the switches started working again and working consistently. For the ones that were still problematic, I swapped some of the switches on the F key row with new linear B3G-S white switches from this person in the UK.

Everything now appears to be working. I'm typing on it right now!

I'm going to keep the Chicony, at least for a while. After testing for about a week, I'll put the Wang up for sale. The Chicony's switches feel a bit lighter, for whatever reason.

I can also confirm that yes, you do need to make sure to solder in all the switches or the keyboard just won't work. I can also imagine that if the keyboard wasn't stored well that re-flowing the solder in some places could bring a dead B3G-S back to life.

[hellothere]

Day two typing on the Wang. No problems with the keys. I did notice that the scroll lock LED doesn't light up. I've got recplacements!