I’m a professional programmer and I bought two Model 01, one as a backup. After using the first one for almost three years, it seems to have more and more problems with various keys.
Has anyone specialized on fixing Model 01 keyboards in Europe yet? Or would be willing and capable of “renovating” or fixing the keyboard? (like a “general overhaul”)
I am, since today, using my backup keyboard, and it’s really nice to type on it, all fresh and working smoothly and it would be great to have the other keyboard fixed to work just as well again - as I don’t have a backup keyboard anymore now.
I guess mostly it’s a matter of dust in the wrong places. I have detached keys and cleaned everything here and there, but last time the key would stop working and I just don’t have the time or patience to go through and fix everything.
Hi,
I’m not specialized in Model 01 , but I use mine since a couple of years. So I know a few tricks.
If you want I can take a look at it.
Kind Regards;
Wim
Belgium
What kind of issues are you noticing? Also does Keyboaridio offer a pay service for the board maintenance? Thats impressive you had the board last 3 years before it started being a problem to use, without maintenance.
For the record, I maintain my Model 01 myself, and it required maintenance to clean pretty much every few months especially early on with the over lubing problem. To help make the cleaning procedure tolerable I spread it out over the course of a few days during the work week. I use a backup Cherry G80 11800, which is decent, but it is motivation to get the keybord.io cleaned quickly, since I type much better on the Model 1.
Anyways what I do is, remove all key caps, turn the board upside down and use a 1"-2" dry paint brush, to brush the gunk and dust out, after that I then follow the recommended keyboard.io cleaning process for keys that are chattering badly, and retest until the chattering stops. Since I have started doing the turning over and dusting out technique first I have had to do the keyboard.io process less, which is a good thing since that is the really time consuming part, that and running the diagnostic over and over to try and reduce and find the keys chattering.
I’m surprised to hear of maintenance being needed at all. Mine is from one of the very first batches, and I’ve used it a ton in the intervening time. The closest thing to “maintenance” I’ve done is swapping out the keycaps for the Colemak set that just arrived in the mail a couple of weeks ago.
I suspect the reason to be dirt in the key casing. And I’m not sure if it can be fixed or needs replacement.
And yes, it seems that dirt is the one and only threat to this great keyboard. I can imagine that regular maintenance would have prevented this from happening, but I have never before maintained a keyboard and it would be great not having to spend that time.
@tiltowaitt Mine is also from the first batches! My usage may vary from yours, I wear more woolen sweaters than you, maybe
Anyways - I could imagine that there are people out there who’d like to make a business out of repairing this keyboard. Shipment to the US and back - sounds a bit too costly to make sense! (I’m in Germany.)
I would try the Keyboard.io Cleaning procedure on that one key. I had the left ctrl key stop working on mine a few months ago, and that process restored functionality. But depending on how dusty your environment, which batch of Model 1 you have may have a large impact on how much maintenance your will need. But ya this board has been a lot of work to keep performing well for me, but it has been worth it. Good luck.
Taking off keycaps and using an air bulb to blow the dust out. You might need a brush or so, because some of it might be greasy or sticky. Also, I have performed the procedure that Jesse describes with the alcohol dropped into the key casing (turning the keyboard to one side, hitting the key multiple times etc), and I was able to save one key with it.
We’ve seen some instances of failing keyswitches. These generally take the form of metal fatigue on the electrical contacts inside the switch.
The symptom you’ll see is either a key that gets “stuck on” or a key that stops registering keypresses at all.
If that happens, the only solution is to replace the switch.
If your Model 01 is less than a year old, we’ll do the repair free of charge and cover the return shipping. Email us at help@keyboard.io to start to set that up.
If your keyboard is more than a year old, your warranty has expired. While we won’t be able to do it forever, if you’re the original owner of your keyboard, we’re happy to do the repair at no cost, charging you only for the return shipping. Same deal goes: drop us email at help@keyboard.io to set that up.
If you would prefer that we send you switches to do the repair yourself, that’s an option, too. If you’re out of warranty, we’ll charge shipping. Customers outside the US may be able to find cheaper switches from places like https://keyboardco.com. (Their switches + shipping to Europe will be a lot cheaper than our shipping to Europe alone.)
That’s actually pretty cool - but I’m unsure if I could type without ever being able to look at the keys. I do look at them sometimes (I’m using the german NEO2 layout)
@jesse, I’m wondering if the issues I’m facing that I’ve emailed about recently are related to this. I have two keys which no longer register key presses, although the LEDs still light up. Obviously, my Model 01 is more than a year old. I’d be willing to pay for a repair if that’s possible.
That sounds like mechanical failure of the switches. We’re still offering to do out of warranty repairs for just the cost of shipping for these kinds of issues.
On my second model 01, I have, after at least two years of daily usage, one failing key, and I finally managed to replace it I took one out of the older model 01 that had broken before. Now at least I know how to do it and that it works, now is the time to buy some switches
and it would be great to have the other keyboard fixed to work just as well again - as I don’t have a backup keyboard anymore now.
I took one out of the older model 01 that had broken before. Now at least I know how to do it and that it works, now is the time to buy some switches