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What is the cause of mechanical keyboard springs making that "scratching" sound?

John55
By John55
in Peripherals
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Go to solution Solved by b emoji,
4 hours ago, John55 said:

 So the moisture in my breathe probs didn't reach the spring

 

4 hours ago, John55 said:

spring did not rust?

Yeah, i doubt it's that, shouldn't rust that quickly 

 

 

4 hours ago, John55 said:

If that is the case, then why are some of my springs smooth as hell? Don't they use the same springs for all the keys?

They use the same springs, but some may have older more worn out tooling. Spring crunch is pretty common on most stock springs, even 1$/Switch Zeal switches have terrible springs sounds. 

Posted

I got this keyboard 1 month ago. Every key is fine except for the A key. You can literally hear the spring creaking. I am not sure how does a company can get every spring right except for ONE key? Why are the springs for the other keys smooth as hell but then this ONE key spring scratches. Did it rust? Is a spring creaking the sound of it scratching against the side of the switch holder? How can I possibly fix this?

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Are you sure it's the spring that is making the noise and not just the plastic vs. plastic contact of the switch against the housing?

"We're all in this together, might as well be friends" Tom, Toonami.

 

mini eLiXiVy: my open source 65% mechanical PCB, a build log, PCB anatomy and discussing open source licenses: https://linustechtips.com/topic/1366493-elixivy-a-65-mechanical-keyboard-build-log-pcb-anatomy-and-how-i-open-sourced-this-project/

 

mini_cardboard: a 4% keyboard build log and how keyboards work: https://linustechtips.com/topic/1328547-mini_cardboard-a-4-keyboard-build-log-and-how-keyboards-work/

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15 minutes ago, minibois said:

Are you sure it's the spring that is making the noise and not just the plastic vs. plastic contact of the switch against the housing?

Ik it is the spring because when I slowly tap down, you hear the metal creaking like you would if you press down on a spring mattress. Also, it is only occurring on the A key and nothing else. Is the spring perhaps not straight so it is bending which is causing it to rub against the side of the switch holder? 

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24 minutes ago, John55 said:

I am not sure how does a company can get every spring right except for ONE key?

They may not check every switch, either when the switch is manufactured, or when the keyboard is actually being built. Shit happens. 

"It pays to keep an open mind, but not so open your brain falls out." - Carl Sagan.

"I can explain it to you, but I can't understand it for you" - Edward I. Koch

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4 minutes ago, John55 said:

Ik it is the spring because when I slowly tap down, you hear the metal creaking like you would if you press down on a spring mattress. Also, it is only occurring on the A key and nothing else. Is the spring perhaps not straight so it is bending which is causing it to rub against the side of the switch holder? 

All the fixes I can think off will 'void the warranty'.

If you are truly worried and think something is not okay, RMA it.

"We're all in this together, might as well be friends" Tom, Toonami.

 

mini eLiXiVy: my open source 65% mechanical PCB, a build log, PCB anatomy and discussing open source licenses: https://linustechtips.com/topic/1366493-elixivy-a-65-mechanical-keyboard-build-log-pcb-anatomy-and-how-i-open-sourced-this-project/

 

mini_cardboard: a 4% keyboard build log and how keyboards work: https://linustechtips.com/topic/1328547-mini_cardboard-a-4-keyboard-build-log-and-how-keyboards-work/

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Is this spring scratching the spring rubbing against the plastic switch though? Because I don't want it to chip away at the keyboard. 

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11 hours ago, John55 said:

Is this spring scratching the spring rubbing against the plastic switch though? Because I don't want it to chip away at the keyboard. 

Usually it's just a bad quality spring, which can cause spring ping. If it sounds like a "ping" or something crunching/creaking it's most likely just the spring. Only real solution would be to desolder the switchers and get swap out the springs for something better (TX Springs, CWW, KMAC Springs, etc.), or/and lube them with oil, like GPL 105, Paraffin oil, or LSD Oil. 

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On 2/25/2020 at 5:06 AM, b emoji said:

Usually it's just a bad quality spring, which can cause spring ping. If it sounds like a "ping" or something crunching/creaking it's most likely just the spring. Only real solution would be to desolder the switchers and get swap out the springs for something better (TX Springs, CWW, KMAC Springs, etc.), or/and lube them with oil, like GPL 105, Paraffin oil, or LSD Oil. 

@b emoji So the moisture in my breathe probs didn't reach the spring(cause of the Cherry MX Red Switch surrounding the entire spring) meaning the spring did not rust? Just bad quality? If that is the case, then why are some of my springs smooth as hell? Don't they use the same springs for all the keys? I will mark that you solved if you can answer this real quickly and thanks for the input

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4 hours ago, John55 said:

 So the moisture in my breathe probs didn't reach the spring

 

4 hours ago, John55 said:

spring did not rust?

Yeah, i doubt it's that, shouldn't rust that quickly 

 

 

4 hours ago, John55 said:

If that is the case, then why are some of my springs smooth as hell? Don't they use the same springs for all the keys?

They use the same springs, but some may have older more worn out tooling. Spring crunch is pretty common on most stock springs, even 1$/Switch Zeal switches have terrible springs sounds. 

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On 2/27/2020 at 12:49 AM, b emoji said:

 

Yeah, i doubt it's that, shouldn't rust that quickly 

 

 

They use the same springs, but some may have older more worn out tooling. Spring crunch is pretty common on most stock springs, even 1$/Switch Zeal switches have terrible springs sounds. 

@b emoji When you say that they use the same springs but may have older more worn out tooling, what does that mean? Are they using older/used parts when they built the keyboard even though I bought it new?

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