Contact leaf snapped in white Alps clone switch — broken?

[spinnylights]

Hello! I just got my first ever mechanical keyboard today, since the rubber dome board I've been using is starting to give out, but I'm off to a rather rocky start. The contact leaf in the switch for the spacebar seems to have snapped in two, and it appears to have killed the switch.

It's a Focus FK-2001 with white Alps clone switches (they say "B19" on the switch housing). When I first got it, it was quite dirty and many of the keys were chattering, but otherwise all the keys worked fine. So, I took off all the keycaps and washed them, and while they were drying I dusted the inside of the board off with compressed and and thoroughly cleaned the case and so on. I then put the keycaps back on once they were dry. The keys had stopped chattering, but now the spacebar no longer worked. When I opened its switch up, I discovered that somehow the front part of the contact leaf had separated from the back part and was now stuck inside the keycap. I tried to put the switch back together so that the front part of the contact leaf would be in the right place, but to no avail—it still won't register keypresses.

Here's the snapped-off front part of the contact leaf:

broken_switch.jpg (373.27 KiB) Viewed 2560 times

Is there anything I can possibly do to fix the switch, or does it need to be replaced? Presuming it does need to be replaced, all I have is a cheapo soldering iron from Harbor Freight I've almost never used—would that be good enough to do the soldering work or do I need a nicer iron? I'm worried because I have very little money and a nice soldering iron is sort of out of my budget.

[Chyros]

That's not a complicated Alps switch. it's probably a clone switch. Which is why it went wrong (the switchplate in complicated Alps is much less fragile). It might be pin-compatible with Alps, though. You'll have to replace the contract terminal, which probably means just soldering in a replacement switch.

[spinnylights]

Oh hi Chryos! I've watched tons of your videos. Thanks for the info—I was wondering a little bit if they were clones since the switch housing says "B19". I could probably just swap in the switch from one of the keys I'm unlikely to ever use (like "Pause") so I don't have to track down a compatible replacement. Do you think my dinky soldering iron is up to the task? It doesn't have a temp control and I'm not sure what the operating temperature is—I just don't want to damage the board.

[mike52787]

I could send you a spare switch to replace it, just pay shipping and its yours. PM me.

[Chyros]

Oh hi Chryos! I've watched tons of your videos. Thanks for the info—I was wondering a little bit if they were clones since the switch housing says "B19". I could probably just swap in the switch from one of the keys I'm unlikely to ever use (like "Pause") so I don't have to track down a compatible replacement. Do you think my dinky soldering iron is up to the task? It doesn't have a temp control and I'm not sure what the operating temperature is—I just don't want to damage the board.

If it makes you feel any better, I do all my soldering with the cheapest soldering iron I could find (doesn't have temperature settings or anything like it), the cheapest solder sucker, and I use a soup bowl to hold the iron, I don't even have a soldering station or braid or that little scrubby sponge thingy. And I didn't have any experience soldering before either.

Some people spend a fortune on proper soldering gear and the task might seem daunting at first but trust me, you don't need that stuff, and soldering is easy . Just let the iron heat up, hold it on the solder until it's liquid, and then suck up the solder as soon as possible.

Glad you're enjoying the videos btw .

[lancre]

Oh hi Chryos! I've watched tons of your videos. Thanks for the info—I was wondering a little bit if they were clones since the switch housing says "B19". I could probably just swap in the switch from one of the keys I'm unlikely to ever use (like "Pause") so I don't have to track down a compatible replacement. Do you think my dinky soldering iron is up to the task? It doesn't have a temp control and I'm not sure what the operating temperature is—I just don't want to damage the board.

If it makes you feel any better, I do all my soldering with the cheapest soldering iron I could find (doesn't have temperature settings or anything like it), the cheapest solder sucker, and I use a soup bowl to hold the iron, I don't even have a soldering station or braid or that little scrubby sponge thingy. And I didn't have any experience soldering before either.

Some people spend a fortune on proper soldering gear and the task might seem daunting at first but trust me, you don't need that stuff, and soldering is easy . Just let the iron heat up, hold it on the solder until it's liquid, and then suck up the solder as soon as possible.

Glad you're enjoying the videos btw .

And patience. If the pin doesn't want to budge, or if the pin is bent, don't force it. If you force it you might rip off the contact from the PCB. Braid might help with the stubborn ones. My Omnikey has a few jumper wires - I learned my lesson the hard way!

[spinnylights]

I could send you a spare switch to replace it, just pay shipping and its yours. PM me.

Thanks so much for the offer! I think I'm going to try swapping in one of the switches already on the keyboard to save money, but if that goes awry somehow I'll get in touch with you.

If it makes you feel any better, I do all my soldering with the cheapest soldering iron I could find (doesn't have temperature settings or anything like it), the cheapest solder sucker, and I use a soup bowl to hold the iron, I don't even have a soldering station or braid or that little scrubby sponge thingy. And I didn't have any experience soldering before either.

Thanks—that actually does make me feel a lot better! I'll track down a solder sucker and have a go at it.

And yeah, I love the videos! The information is really interesting and I find them very relaxing. Thanks for making them!

And patience. If the pin doesn't want to budge, or if the pin is bent, don't force it. If you force it you might rip off the contact from the PCB. Braid might help with the stubborn ones. My Omnikey has a few jumper wires - I learned my lesson the hard way!

Thanks for the warning, I'll be careful!