Model F XT weird issues

Mizar

01 Mar 2019, 12:56

Hey, I have a Model F XT that works just fine.. until it doesn't. It seems that whenever I press particularly hard on the numeric keys(the normal ones, not the numpad), it will start typing completely random characters, and lots of them. This also happens if I hit the bezel of the keyboard with my thumb for example, or if I hit my desk hard enough to create vibrations.
Does anyone know what can cause this? I opened the keyboard and the PCB seems fine.

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SneakyRobb
THINK

01 Mar 2019, 16:55

Hi,

are you using an xwhatsit or the soarer converter?

If you don't have good foam this can occur as well. Have you restored the board, and are all the metal tabs that hold it together intact?

orihalcon

01 Mar 2019, 19:13

Would have to say there's probably some dust causing an issue, so a full restore or at least completely blowing out all the dust with the back cover off and wiping down the capsense pcb with microfiber cloth would be in order. It's kind of a pain to do it because getting the keyboard back together (especially the spacebar) is tricky. You basically have to run some floss under the hammer from the top to hold it down to the barrel so that it doesn't move out of place as you are trying to get the back plate back onto the barrel plate. There should be quite a few tutorials on how to do this.

Red_October

03 Mar 2019, 22:18

One thing to ensure with these is that there is continuity of grounding from the keyboard all the way to the main signal ground at the PC. If this is not maintained (as by USB hub, extension cable, etc.) it will do all kind of weird stuff. For testing, plug the converter right into a USB port on the main board or an expansion card, which should have good earth.

Mizar

04 Mar 2019, 10:16

Extremely late reply, but here goes:
1. I'm using a Soarer's converter, I opened the keyboard but did not change anything, the foam seems stock but the outlying foam I could see didn't look rotten. I didn't do much to the keyboard apart from cleaning it with wet wipes, I'll check the metal tabs a bit later and come up with some screenshots.
2. I probably should do that, yes. The spacebar was what kept me away from even attempting it.
3. I will try what you said, it's currently plugged in the front IO panel of the case, I'll try moving it to the back of the case.
EDIT: I tried the back port and although it did not solve the problem, it seems to have made it much more difficult to reproduce, as in I had to hit the keyboard harder and for longer to make it go nuts.
EDIT 2: I tried pressing on the keyboard progressively harder instead of hitting it and it seems this also makes it spew out random characters, I think it might be due to the fact that the foam is too thin/too tightly compressed.

Mizar

07 Mar 2019, 15:41

Just as I was preparing to add photos to this thread, I noticed this screw(see attachment) being a little loose, about 1cm off the contact pad and the washer sitting on top of it. I tightened it down and excitedly reassembled the keyboard. I think this fixed the problem or at least made it much more bearable, as I could now press on the keyboard and hit it without getting random characters on screen. The only way to get it to write unwanted stuff was to drop it on my desk from a distance of about 30cm (moment of silence for the desk please), and even then it was a single space bar, instead of the endless train of characters it used to type before. I came back with this because maybe someone else will have a similar problem in the future and this might be of use.
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swampangel

07 Mar 2019, 16:41

Glad you solved your problem, and thanks for sharing the solution :)

Red_October

14 Mar 2019, 19:38

Dropping any Model F from a height causes the space bar to register. This is physics not a problem with the keyboard; the space bar is so fucking huge it has that much momentum that it overcomes even the atomic return spring on a Model F. It was the ground after all. Just like in an automobile bad ground makes all kinds of wacky shit happen.

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