KBT PURE ~ and ` not working

[levitha]

Hello,

I just recieved my KBT PURE keyboard and so far its great.

But i have a problem that the ~ and ` key right to the RSHIFT is not working.
- At least i can't get it working. There too is a Function called Apps on it, which doesn't work either.

The Orange LED is working just fine on the button.

See the picture of the button here, marked with within the red circle:
http://beck-tech.dk/kbtpure.jpg

Can anyone please help me if this keyboard is not working properly?

[levitha]

okay after a while i found out that the cherry key is not mounted too well to the print plate.

if i press the switch down harder it activates. Anyone with suggestions how to fix this or should i RMA the whole board?

[HzFaq]

If you have a soldering iron it isn't that difficult to re-solder the switch, if you don't, RMA.

Where did you get that btw? I've only seen them with the orange backlight.

[levitha]

it is with orange backlit

never tried to resolder a cherry switch. I do have solder iron, but would like if anyone had pictures of hows its done. I dont want to ruin the whole board.

[laffindude]

The soldering on these Pure boards is atrocious. I bet it is another cracked solder joint. Just touch the iron to the leads and melt the solder. Remove the iron and it should be good.

[Soarer]

The soldering on these Pure boards is atrocious. I bet it is another cracked solder joint. Just touch the iron to the leads and melt the solder. Remove the iron and it should be good.

+1 ... much easier than actual soldering/desoldering, so you should be fine

Possibly the cause of the dry joint is that the switch wasn't sitting on the PCB fully, so also apply a gentle pressure to the switch, pushing it towards the PCB, while you do it.

[levitha]

I tried your solutions guys, and when i desolder the iron, it seems like one of the pins to the cherry switch itself is missing or something?

If im looking closely to the other switches i can see the little pins sticking out just through the solder, but not on this particular switch.

Then i took a small piece of very thin iron which i penetrated through the soldering when it was melted.
- This trick makes the switch response better, but not too good as all the other switches.

Any other solutions would be appreciated

[bhtooefr]

Could be a damaged (melted, maybe) switch?

I'd go for RMA.

[RougeRambo]

if its a new board, RMA it.

[levitha]

I have sent Mechanicalkeyboards.com a mail about the problem. I just wait for an answer.

I really hope they pay the transport, otherwise it's really not worth it to RMA

[Filiprino]

My KBT Race came with some bad LEDs. After taking out the keycaps some LEDs stopped working. I have RMA'd the keyboard. I bought it on Amazon.fr so they'll refund me the shipping costs and keyboard.
I don't know if I should buy a new one. I don't want to wait for amazon for returning my money while I empty my bank account with new keyboards.

Also the shift and enter key stabilizers went out of their place :-/

[levitha]

Still, no answer from Mechanicalkeyboard.com.

Don't know if they just avoid cases like this. If they do, i can never recommend buying keyboards at their site.

Actually got really disappointed about the build quality of the KBT Pure. My Noppoo Choc Mini is of better quality, and Filco feels WAY better in terms of quality.

I could have bought a Filco TKL for 45$ cheaper at keyboardco.com...

[ripster]

Hmm... too bad. But it was a Holiday Weekend so maybe he is out of town or something. Small operation I'm sure and I like the hustle the guy shows in trying to develop his business. Review, Tech Overviews, Polls, Ripster pics and text....

I just opened up my KBTalking Pure and didn't see any quality problems with the soldering.

I'll put High Rez pics up here in a bit.

http://deskthority.net/photos-videos-f8 ... t2945.html

[metafour]

I had a Pure come with the exact same problem on a different key. I desoldered the switch and the pin was just bent. That's why it will work when you push hard on the switch. Desoldering the LED is the hardest part because of how small the connections are.

To be honest I think MechanicalKeyboards is going to expect you to pay for shipping to return it to them and then they'll cover the shipping of the fixed keyboard, or a replacement, back to you. This is just a guess as when I had this problem and contacted them through geekhack PM's, since they had a vendor presence there, I was just told to ship it back. When I replied asking some questions about what to expect I never heard back. That to me is poor customer service. I ended up fixing the issue myself since paying to have the keyboard shipped back was going to be roughly equivalent to purchasing an iron with an attached desoldering bulb from Radio Shack. I will certainly think twice about making any purchases from them in the future knowing that when there is a customer service issue they really might not step up to the plate and fix it properly.

[ripster]

Well, pretty standard procedure.

Don't go all Wellington1869 on us about RMA shipping policies. Bummer about TWO bent pins in a fairly small batch though. Sounds like they do have some QC quality problems to iron out. Not surprising given Vortex is a startup, not a Filco that has been in business for over a decade.

Oh boy, I get to post my FIRST RTFW!

Diatech, the company behind Filco keyboards, is officially 20 years old as of June 17th, 2012

[metafour]

I do agree that that is pretty standard procedure regarding shipping but I didn't get an answer to the rest of my questions which was the real issue for me.

[ripster]

Patience. 4th of July is a big deal here. We blow up stuff.

My neighborhood this morning looks like Detroit.

Even Brian at Elitekeyboards sold Click Clack July 4 Keys on July 5.

[metafour]

Umm, this was weeks ago. Not a holiday in sight at the time.

[ripster]

Ooopssss. Call him.

[levitha]

#metafour

- is it only the four pins that are holding the switch in place on the board, or do i have to push the small black plastics out of the board aswell?

[levitha]

Okay i actually just desoldered the whole switch.

And guess what. One of the pins was bend as metafour suggested - so thanks for the tip

The switch works like charm now, and really - That LED is so hard to get out. I even had a soaker to to soak the iron of the pins. It actually requires very much pressure and both of the LED pins has to be warmed up properly the whole time, to be able to take it out.

Still - how can the pin on the switch be bended in the production?

[ripster]

CONGRATS!

Wave Soldering looked fine to me but obviously they need some help with QC in the pick placement.

[qtan5370]

Em....It remind me to test keyboard more carefully.

RAM is big problem for international shopping.

Also, shipping condition might contribute to it too.

[levitha]

Shipping condition was very good though So it was just a faulty soldering on this particular switch.

I should have taken some photos when the keyboard was seperated.

[WinSomeLoseNone]

Shipping condition was very good though So it was just a faulty soldering on this particular switch.

I should have taken some photos when the keyboard was seperated.

Were the LEDs on the top or the bottom of the switch on your board? I have eight keys that are not lighting at all. They flickered on and off for a few moments when plugged in initially then completely went out.

I've had the board for 3 days now and the keys have not come back on once. I'm hesitant to disassemble and solder anything as I don't want to void any chance of an RMA if the switches are bad. Mechanicalkeyboards.com appears to charge a 10% restocking fee even for exchanges and I'll have to cover return shipping??

For the cost of they keyboard I feel like I've been duped.