Cherry Switch failing.

[AsRock]

Since Razer came out with the Blackwidow i have only used micro switch type keyboards how ever i don't believe the quality is there any more as more and more people are getting part failing or failing completely.

I have had 2 Blackwidows which both have failed or partly failed as the click stops with the blue switches so it becomes very noticeable.

It don't stop with those switches either as i have had 2 Ryos MK Pros with failing switches and even as i typed this noticed a letter did not type.

There is fixes out there which would not be to hard to do with the Razer keyboards except for the fact the use cheap clips which done wrong you will snap the top part. Never mind other cheap ass features like the key caps how they can break so easy and turn all shinny.

With the Ryos MK pro which the quality of the keyboard is way better than the Razer keyboard but how it's all soldered up is way more work to correct a faulty key.

I am not on about the LED's in this case just the actual switch it self and there is actually some fixes that may avoid the need to take the keyboard apart which requires a type of lube the make a part of the switch work correctly again how ever this don't work all the time without striping the key.

Now i have a keyboard that uses the Kailh switch and had no issue's with them at all.


Sorry these switches just don't seem to last long at all and there is many users who are having this problem, best part i could have a failing or failed key that is rarely used like in my case the ASWD and on my razer at least 2 are not working as they should and the arrow keys which i used a hell load work perfectly fine even if the key caps have gone all shinny lol.

 

[R-T-B]

The IBM Model M still has the best mechanical switch ever invented.

 

[erocker]

I've had issues as well with my old Black Widow and 2 different Corsair keyboards all with cherry switches. Currently I'm using a Thermaktake Posideon with blue switches for about 3 months and not a single issue. I'm under the impression that Razer's and Corsair's QC is pretty bad considering issues I've had with other products from them.

 

[GreiverBlade]

i use a Roccat Ryos TKL Pro (MX Brown), as you already know it since a bit of time now ... as far as it goes no issues, and i hope it will keep it that way ...

I'm under the impression that Razer's and Corsair's QC is pretty bad considering issues I've had with other products from them.

totally!

as for me about Razer : they are good as inexistent to me, i had a lot of them (mostly testing for friends, and i recommended none ) and none passed a half year without a RMA

 

[sneekypeet]

In all the switches I have used, I have run into funky things, multiple letters with a single press, LEDs that die or come dead, but in all honestly I have never ran across a dead switch. Sorry to say it but it seems you just had bad luck with the boards you are using.

Anything is possible though. On the whole, I think QC has gone downhill for a lot of manufacturers in order to save a buck here and there.

 

[AsRock]

The IBM Model M still has the best mechanical switch ever invented.

that's for sure, how ever they don't meet my requirements.

i use a Roccat Ryos TKL Pro (MX Brown), as you already know it since a bit of time now ... as far as it goes no issues, and i hope it will keep it that way ...



totally!

as for me about Razer : they are good as inexistent to me, i had a lot of them (mostly testing for friends, and i recommended none ) and none passed a half year without a RMA

Yeah i gave in on them a long time ago, if your warranty is like in the US it should be a 2 year warranty too. A lot of sites say it's only 1 year.

I have had 5 MK Pro keyboards 2 of which had bad LEDs which one of those they let me keep which oddly the keys other wise work perfectly fine.

Nearing my 2 years now and might be going on to my 5th MK Pro and it be 2 year since i got the 1st one, if they do not keep supplying after 2 years i will not be buying their stuff again either.

In all the switches I have used, I have run into funky things, multiple letters with a single press, LEDs that die or come dead, but in all honestly I have never ran across a dead switch. Sorry to say it but it seems you just had bad luck with the boards you are using.

Anything is possible though. On the whole, I think QC has gone downhill for a lot of manufacturers in order to save a buck here and there.

No not 100% dead just not working 100% some times taking 2-4 presses to work.

I would hardly call it bad luck after 7 mech keyboards having faults 5 of which for faulty keys.

I got the Kailh switch keyboard from you and that still works like day 1 when i got it from you, that said i have pretty much lost hope for Cherry switches and they are not what they used to be and we get to be left ripped off with some thing that should not be happening.

Don't know if PC World still do it in the UK but i do wish i could find a place in the US were the warranty resets on the replacement as this is 1/2 the reason quality gets so bad as they just give you the same crap until it runs out.

 

[sneekypeet]

i do wish i could find a place in the US were the warranty resets on the replacement

If you do find that, let me know, as I know nobody that offers such a thing here.
Just to let you know, QC has gotten so bad I am sent faulty units for review. They don't even take the time to check them out before sending them to me. They leave the factory boned!

Also keep in mind that Cherry had to really ramp production to try and meet the demand. They slacked for a while and is why many companies ended up looking to Kailh for their switches. I think both companies are sort of passing whatever just to keep up with the mechanical keyboard craze.

 

[R-T-B]

that's for sure, how ever they don't meet my requirements.

That's for sure... lack of n-key rollover is tough sometimes on a gamer, lol.

 

[AsRock]

That's for sure... lack of n-key rollover is tough sometimes on a gamer, lol.

It's not that, i require programmable keys. A lot of games even games like Skyrim \ FO3 have crappy keybindings.

 

[R-T-B]

It's not that, i require programmable keys. A lot of games even games like Skyrim \ FO3 have crappy keybindings.

That's a good reason as well.

 

[xvi]

My Vengeance K95 had three LEDs fail and the board I got back from RMA occasionally has issues registering the keypress on the "A" switch. Might as well get the stupid cloned switches if Cherries are going to have issues like this.

 

[AsRock]

My Vengeance K95 had three LEDs fail and the board I got back from RMA occasionally has issues registering the keypress on the "A" switch. Might as well get the stupid cloned switches if Cherries are going to have issues like this.

Funny 2 of all the keyboards failing on me were on the A key, and as i said above Kailh switch has given me no issue's and has out lasted 3 cherry keyboards now.

Pretty sad really as i don't type all that much mainly here other wise the A key would not be used at all. I thought it might be the force used on the key but i have used much more force on the arrow keys playing games than any other key but they never failed lol.

I hope company's like ROCCAT get the hell away from Cherry keys as it cannot be good for sales in the long run.

 

[GreiverBlade]

It's not that, i require programmable keys. A lot of games even games like Skyrim \ FO3 have crappy keybindings.

oh .... i need to find a IBM model M mod it for USB (i did found a "how to do it" tutorial not so long ago) and use my Maximus VII Ranger Keybot USB port ... i can bind any macro to any type of USB keyboard .... no matter what brand/capability
on a side note ... i only use button link on my mouse ...

and the lightning on my keyboard as i said once ... is accessory so if a led goes bad, well ... i just turn of the lightning on the keyboard.
that said ... i totally love my Ryos TKL and i could not return to a full keyboard (and the Ryos is the cheapest TKL around for me) also ... because i have a full Roccat desk ... (which unlike Razer passed the 1st 3 month without a piece failing or surface discoloring/damage ... )

 

[uuuaaaaaa]

I have used and abused a SteelSeries 7G and had no issues... Some of the razer blackwidows don't use cherry mx switches.

 

[R-T-B]

oh .... i need to find a IBM model M mod it for USB (i did found a "how to do it" tutorial not so long ago) and use my Maximus VII Ranger Keybot USB port ... i can bind any macro to any type of USB keyboard .... no matter what brand/capability
on a side note ... i only use button link on my mouse ...

and the lightning on my keyboard as i said once ... is accessory so if a led goes bad, well ... i just turn of the lightning on the keyboard.
that said ... i totally love my Ryos TKL and i could not return to a full keyboard (and the Ryos is the cheapest TKL around for me) also ... because i have a full Roccat desk ... (which unlike Razer passed the 1st 3 month without a piece failing or surface discoloring/damage ... )

If you get a "true blue" old IBM with an SDL port, you can buy a USB cable for SDL online on ebay and such. It has the converter chip built in, and to my knowledge works well.

 

[GreiverBlade]

If you get a "true blue" old IBM with an SDL port, you can buy a USB cable for SDL online on ebay and such. It has the converter chip built in, and to my knowledge works well.

yep now i remember ... i still had a hardware magazine that detailed that procedure and some other mods for that keyboard ... but my heart is sold to Roccat atm well the MX Brown are not so bad for either gaming or typing ... tho i just hope i will be lucky as usual and get no issues whatsoever until my Ryos wear off and die from old age

but i also wish that Roccat part away with Cherry and find a better alternative for mech switch, as long as they feels and sound like the browns ... i don't mind ( yes i love the feeling and sound of the cherry MX brown ... )

 

[AsRock]

oh .... i need to find a IBM model M mod it for USB (i did found a "how to do it" tutorial not so long ago) and use my Maximus VII Ranger Keybot USB port ... i can bind any macro to any type of USB keyboard .... no matter what brand/capability
on a side note ... i only use button link on my mouse ...

and the lightning on my keyboard as i said once ... is accessory so if a led goes bad, well ... i just turn of the lightning on the keyboard.
that said ... i totally love my Ryos TKL and i could not return to a full keyboard (and the Ryos is the cheapest TKL around for me) also ... because i have a full Roccat desk ... (which unlike Razer passed the 1st 3 month without a piece failing or surface discoloring/damage ... )

Well the other MK Pro i have with the dieing leds, one day i will just replace the caps and hope the keys don't actually fail on it.

You can but the Cherry switches but they are like $1.50 a piece, as i said above the Ryos MK Pro is constructed inside as one piece which i believe this makes it feel more solid keyboard how ever there is a load of contacts to unsolder to get to the keys.

I'll post a picture over the next few days when i have the time.

 

[L.ccd]

Just so you know, non-responding switches can be a result of failing electronics/pcb traces, regardless of the health of the switch. Razer is notorious for its poor keyboard quality (despite what their marketing department wants you to believe), so is Corsair (remember the dying LEDs issues and the poor RGB implementation in their later keyboards), and I am not sure that Roccat ranks very high either (I'm not too sure, but in any case the fact that a keyboards seems solid does not mean that everything is fine under the hood).

Also, repeaded keypresses on a single stroke is a typical issue with switches with mechanical contacts, which is countered with (usually) software debounce. Which means that if your keyboard has a bouncing (auto-repeating) key, that probably comes from a debounce time that is set too low, so it is a firmware issue.

In other words, most of the time, it's not Cherry's fault, it's the keyboard manufacturer's (the failure of the clicking mechanism in Blue switches is Cherry's, obviously).

If you really want a keyboard with none of these problems, either get one from a reputable brand (Ducky, CM, Filco...) or get a Topre board — they use electro-capacitive switches, which means that their switches are actuated with no mechanical contact, so there can be no bouncing issues. The main downside is that they are expensive.

Oh, and if you need programmable hotkeys/bindings, just use AutoHotkey. It is simple, very light, you can program almost anything you want and it works with any keyboard.

 

[AsRock]

Just so you know, non-responding switches can be a result of failing electronics/pcb traces, regardless of the health of the switch. Razer is notorious for its poor keyboard quality (despite what their marketing department wants you to believe), so is Corsair (remember the dying LEDs issues and the poor RGB implementation in their later keyboards), and I am not sure that Roccat ranks very high either (I'm not too sure, but in any case the fact that a keyboards seems solid does not mean that everything is fine under the hood).

Also, repeaded keypresses on a single stroke is a typical issue with switches with mechanical contacts, which is countered with (usually) software debounce. Which means that if your keyboard has a bouncing (auto-repeating) key, that probably comes from a debounce time that is set too low, so it is a firmware issue.

In other words, most of the time, it's not Cherry's fault, it's the keyboard manufacturer's (the failure of the clicking mechanism in Blue switches is Cherry's, obviously).

If you really want a keyboard with none of these problems, either get one from a reputable brand (Ducky, CM, Filco...) or get a Topre board — they use electro-capacitive switches, which means that their switches are actuated with no mechanical contact, so there can be no bouncing issues. The main downside is that they are expensive.

Oh, and if you need programmable hotkeys/bindings, just use AutoHotkey. It is simple, very light, you can program almost anything you want and it works with any keyboard.

Actually the fail is the switch it's self as they are failing to even click correctly so it has nothing at all to do with the rest of the keyboard.

You can even tell with other Cherry colors that they are not working as they should, if you carefully press a brown you can tell the difference.

All my faults have been due to LEDs which could be cherry and who made the keyboard to blame, maybe Cherry gave the wrong spec for the leds or the maker of the keyboard failed to see a possible issue.

But for the most part it's the actual switch that's failing and that's on Cherry and no one else. Just face it they are not what they used to be.

Some people are using mineral oil to solve the issue and some lube as the switch inside is not sliding as it should.

 

[Bill_Bright]

The IBM Model M still has the best mechanical switch ever invented.

Until the Northgate Omnikey keyboards came around. Especially the Omnikey 102. They were fantastic. Made of steel, weighed more than 5lbs and had the best mechanical/tactile feel and audible "click" around. The IBMs were great, but the Northgates were even better.

 

[micropage7]

wow, later im thinking about mechanical keyboard but since in here sometimes rma is suck i may re-thinking about it again

 

[L.ccd]

Actually the fail is the switch it's self as they are failing to even click correctly so it has nothing at all to do with the rest of the keyboard.

Yes, as I said when a clicky switch fails to click, the culprit is obviously the switch itself.

However, many other problems come from the way manufacturers design the electrical part of their keyboards (microcontroller, traces, and so on) or the firmware.

All my faults have been due to LEDs which could be cherry and who made the keyboard to blame, maybe Cherry gave the wrong spec for the leds or the maker of the keyboard failed to see a possible issue.

Cherry does not provide specs for LEDs (except for lead spacing, which is standard for all manufacturers anyway). There are four holes in the switch's plastic housing to let the LED's leads through, and that's all Cherry is responsible for. The rest comes down to the backlight implementation (electrical & software regulation), which are entirely designed by the keyboard manufacturer, and this is where problems usually happen.

 

[AsRock]

wow, later im thinking about mechanical keyboard but since in here sometimes rma is suck i may re-thinking about it again

RMA though ROCCAT has been great for me as long as you start the support ticket though their website, Razer fairly good but only warranted 1 year on the blackwidow i had from them and fail rate being about 7 months never got to try it again but i will tell you this they will out right ignore you after that 1 year is up.

Unlike the Steelseries experience i had recently although still waiting on them to send the mouse which has been a few weeks now and they do not respond to tickets. In fairness the mouse was way passed it's warranty although never had one last a full year but they said they will replace it but as i just said still waiting and i have asked whats taking so long but they saying nadda.

With ROCCAT i have always had the same guy get back to me and has always been happy to help with any questions with a 1-3 day turn over. Kinda wondering how i am going get treated after november if this one fails when my 2 years is up but we will see.

Yes, as I said when a clicky switch fails to click, the culprit is obviously the switch itself.

However, many other problems come from the way manufacturers design the electrical part of their keyboards (microcontroller, traces, and so on) or the firmware.


Cherry does not provide specs for LEDs (except for lead spacing, which is standard for all manufacturers anyway). There are four holes in the switch's plastic housing to let the LED's leads through, and that's all Cherry is responsible for. The rest comes down to the backlight implementation (electrical & software regulation), which are entirely designed by the keyboard manufacturer, and this is where problems usually happen.

Except for the LED issue in the passed who ever was to blame the rest plain and sinple has been the key at fault. which over the last 4 years i have had at least 18+ switches to go faulty even ones i rarely use..

 

[R-T-B]

Until the Northgate Omnikey keyboards came around. Especially the Omnikey 102. They were fantastic. Made of steel, weighed more than 5lbs and had the best mechanical/tactile feel and audible "click" around. The IBMs were great, but the Northgates were even better.

Heh, not familiar. How many of them have survived out of curiosity? I seriously don't know and am asking for my own edification.... If it's anything like the Model M quite a few should still be operational, and that's a feat in and of itself.

 

[sneekypeet]

Heh, not familiar. How many of them have survived out of curiosity? I seriously don't know and am asking for my own edification.... If it's anything like the Model M quite a few should still be operational, and that's a feat in and of itself.

Looks to be quite a few used ones on eBay still.