Thursday, July 31st 2025

Wooting Plans To Address 80HE Coating Issues in 60HE V2 Ahead of Launch

by
Cpt.Jank
 Discuss (17 Comments)
Since the launch of the Wooting 80HE, the keyboard brand has seemingly had nothing but trouble with its coatings on the zinc alloy cases for that keyboard, with users reporting chipping and peeling of the coating, sometimes after relatively short periods of use. As part of the development of the Wooting 60HE V2, Wooting has been investigating these coating issues in an attempt to avoid the same situation for the new compact keyboard. In a recent video published on YouTube, Wooting founder, Calder Limmen, revealed that the brand's testing has narrowed the cause of the coating degradation down to a reaction with sweat. Wooting says that the number of these cases is "almost negligible" compared to the overall sales figures of the 80HE.

In an attempt to address the issue for the upcoming 60HE V2, the company has been conducting tests on the new aluminium case slated to launch with the 60HE V2, using artificial sweat and controlled environments. The test revealed that certain chemicals and oils in sweat are reacting to the coating specifically, and not the alloy itself, although the company declined to mention which chemicals were specifically causing the issues. The good news for prospective buyers of the 60HE V2 is that Wooting says it is closing in on a coating process that will mitigate the peeling issues. Limmen also mentions that the coating issue is one of the reasons the price for the 60HE V2 has not been announced yet.
Full update video available here:
Source: Wooting on YouTube

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17 Comments on Wooting Plans To Address 80HE Coating Issues in 60HE V2 Ahead of Launch

#1
Cheeseball
Not a Potato
Probably PH balance related. The PH balance of the sweat on the back of my hands is around 6.5 to 7.0 in a relatively dry room and not actively sweating. However if I just came back from an activity that had me sweating (LOL) then it goes down to at most 4.1 if I don't dry my hands. Because of this the WASD and surrounding keycaps on my Keychron K2 HE have "glossed" a bit compared to the to the other keys. And I clean this keyboard once every two weeks.
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#2
Shrek
One reason I like plastic as a material.
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#3
Space Lynx
Astronaut
ShrekOne reason I like plastic as a material.
I thought all keycaps were plastic?
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#4
Shrek
Was thinking of an exposed frame.
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#5
Event Horizon
I guess you could say that fun isn't the only thing that sweaty tryhards ruin now.
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#6
Cheeseball
Not a Potato
Space LynxI thought all keycaps were plastic?
I believe he means for the case, not the keycaps. Almost all keycaps are plastic (ABS or PBT) except for the special artisan ones which could be resin, metal or even glass.

The keycaps on my Keychron are ABS which is why some of them started to shine.
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#7
FoulOnWhite
Gaming gloves anyone? :roll:

What a sweaty lot we are.

Would powder coating the aluminium not work or is that kinda what they are doing.
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#8
ZoneDymo
the fact they made a 60 v2 makes me expect a 80 v2....so now im waiting for that
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#9
Cpt.Jank
ZoneDymothe fact they made a 60 v2 makes me expect a 80 v2....so now im waiting for that
I doubt they'll be making an 80HE v2 anytime soon. Half of the upgrades to the 60HE v2 are from the 80HE. The only thing they'd really need to add is the split space bar from the 60HE v2...
CheeseballThe keycaps on my Keychron are ABS which is why some of them started to shine.
Believe it or not, those are PBT caps...I think they just don't have an incredibly pure PBT blend. Also, even PBT isn't immune to shine, unfortunately.
ShrekOne reason I like plastic as a material.
Skin oils affect plastic pretty poorly a lot of the time, too. There are a few really good coatings that hold up well, like anodising and some spray coatings and powder coating, but those aren't perfect, either.
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#10
Drash
People don't give fingernail length enough credit for keyboard shine. Where I work women (mostly) with longer nails quickly remove the scripts from their laptop keys and even eat into the plastic. If you can press a key vertically down without your nail hitting it; I bet your keys wont be shiny. You don't have to be a nail biter with deformed fingers, just the short end of short. I can still peel a label but I don't scratch - I've got ABS keys that are 10+ years old that don't look shiny. Whereas I see 2 year old laptops with significant plastic loss past the key legend - especially from those with the fake looking super bright and tough coated fingernails.
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#11
Cpt.Jank
DrashPeople don't give fingernail length enough credit for keyboard shine. Where I work women (mostly) with longer nails quickly remove the scripts from their laptop keys and even eat into the plastic. If you can press a key vertically down without your nail hitting it; I bet your keys wont be shiny. You don't have to be a nail biter with deformed fingers, just the short end of short. I can still peel a label but I don't scratch - I've got ABS keys that are 10+ years old that don't look shiny. Whereas I see 2 year old laptops with significant plastic loss past the key legend - especially from those with the fake looking super bright and tough coated fingernails.
I think this is partially true, but also I think a lot of women with longer nails tend to use more skincare products, and those also affect plastics quite badly. Other people, like my GF, just have aggressive skin oils/weird pH balance. I used my Wooting 80HE for months with no signs of keycap shine before she started using it, and within a month or two of daily use by her, the spacebar looked like it was coated in a clear lacquer, and the edges on some of the alpha keys were visibly warped from wear. She doesn't have long nails, and she doesn't even use hand cream or anything. Just the wrong combination of oils/acidity/chemicals.
ZoneDymothe fact they made a 60 v2 makes me expect a 80 v2....so now im waiting for that
What changes would you make to an 80HE v2? Most of what makes the 60HE v2 special is stuff from the 80HE (8 kHz polling, gasket mount). The best you could hope for is a split space bar, Lekker Tikken switches, and a case material/coating revision. The latter could both just be updates to the current 80HE, too. I don't really think there's any need to refresh the whole 80HE keyboard. Wooting could easily add the updated coating to the 80HE line-up and introduce a split space PCB and space bar kit (extra keycaps and switches...)for the module.
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#12
_roman_
Plastic also has several issues with different "chemicals". There is no generic purpose fits all plastic.
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#13
Cheeseball
Not a Potato
Cpt.JankBelieve it or not, those are PBT caps...I think they just don't have an incredibly pure PBT blend. Also, even PBT isn't immune to shine, unfortunately.
Seriously? That's not good if thats the case because I've only owned this keyboard for less than 8 months. While overall the functionality and usability is great, that keycaps should at least be higher quality.
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#14
EnviousFrog
They need to include a sweaty big nerd gamer shirt with every purchase.
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#15
slyphnier
wear and tear with use is normal and unavoidable
most metal will rust, plastic become brittle etc.
maybe only full-glass materials that can last very long time, but that also have various cons over other materials,

but to note in here is short-time, paint chipping/peeling in short-time just means the paint coating is thin without any top-coat for protection
we can look at our car, those withstand hot direct sun, getting rain dust etc. the paint will still looks fine for years
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#16
Cpt.Jank
CheeseballSeriously? That's not good if thats the case because I've only owned this keyboard for less than 8 months. While overall the functionality and usability is great, that keycaps should at least be higher quality.
That is indeed questionable, yeah...Still better than some Logitech keyboards, where the keycap stems randomly deteriorate and snap off...I'd honestly rather have my keycaps become shiny. Can call it "character" lol. It should be noted that really durable PBT keycap sets cost a lot. You can't expect $80-100 keycap quality on a board that only costs $145, you know? I still would like to see them last a little longer than that.
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#17
LabRat 891
Funny enough, there are American companies that have long figured out how to get a finish to stick to Zamak (Zinc-based casting alloy). -Finishes, that are regularly exposed to sweat and abrasion, too.
Ex: Strassell's Machine, Inc
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