Some of the MX black (blue spring mod) on my Poker are starting to fail. Sometimes they actuate twice on one press, sometimes they don't actuate at all. It started with [ ' ] and [ ; ] then eventually even [.] and showed the same symptoms. I've been using it daily ever since it was shipped, which makes it roughly 14 months or so (a good 12 hours a day, if not more).
I've gone through a month of testing with some help from xbb (my friendly keyboard nerd neighbor), and so far I could exclude USB and OS issues (tried switching to PS/2, and also tested the issue with Aqua Key Test, which should ignore the OS API and deal with the keyboard directly.
The feeling I have is as if the stem barely manages to push the switch plates apart, so sometimes it actuates, some others it doesn't and some times it fires a couple or more times (once I got 4 actuations in 1 press).
This happens especially if I don't push the key squarely in the middle of the keycap (e.g. pushing it down from one of the sides). Among other theories I gathered, there's one about Dry Joints, but a close inspection of the soldering does not show evidence of such defect.
My theories so fare are either:
- -Cold Joints, which could be consistent with defects after year(s) of operation
-Deformed stem rails on the switches' base
I would appreciate the community experience regarding this issue. Have you ever had it? What's the realistic lifetime expectation one can have from an MX switch? If it's not the switch, could it be the controller?
xbb and I are going to mod our pokers, plate-mounting all the switches, and I don't want to take any chances with this, since replacing a switch after that will be a pain in the arse.
If I can exclude PCB/Controller issues, then it's only a matter of soldering/switches. And I'd love to find out which it is, because if it's the switches, I'd rather buy a whole new bunch of MX reds than risk plate-mounting this batch that came with the poker, just in case it might fail. If in turn it's the controller then all I have to do is overpower xbb (easy peasy), steal his poker and come back home.
I'm hopelessly in love with the poker's layout, switching keyboard is a painful idea
Thanks in advance for your answers,
Cheers!
