A couple years ago, I bought a new keyboard. A Keychron K10, to be exact. I chose that model because it was a full size keyboard, including both a function key row and a number pad.
When I first bought the keyboard, it worked great! It was replacing a corsair K55 that had become too “gamery” for my tastes. The K10 came with a mechanical switch, comparable to a cherry MX Red. I thought that would still be too loud, so I purchased the silent switches and planned to replace them. After I replaced the switches, I noticed that my 9 key on my number pad was not working. Oh well, I didn’t use that key very often anyway; or so I thought.
After about a year and a half of owning the keyboard, the c key also stopped working. That was a bigger issue. Supposedly you don’t know what you have until it’s gone, and I noticed very quickly. Not only is the letter c used for about 2.8% of all words Wikipedia, but it’s also used by me, and most people, commonly for ctrl+c to copy. Not only could I not copy/paste with my keyboard (nothing a macro for my mouse wouldn’t fix), but I also had to dedicate my copy buffer to the letter c so that I could paste it with ctrl+v. To say it was infuriating was an understatement.
I reached a point with my that to type the letter c on my other computers, I would reflexively reach for ctrl+v. This persisted for the better part of 3 months. I told myself that I would fix it or buy a new keyboard, and simply threw it on the pile of things I had to do.
Well, today was the day. I finally had enough of pasting the letter c.
The first thing I did was to research how you should take apart the keyboard. Keychron has some pretty good documentation available on their website, linked here.
I first took off the keycaps.
Then, I took off the switches.
After I took off the switches off, I replaced the hot swappable PCB socket that connect the switch pins on both the C key and the 9 key.
Then I reassembled the rest of the keyboard.
Update as of 9/24/2024: The C key is now working intermittently. The 9 key is fine, but I am at a loss as to why I’ve been having so many troubles with this key. I am going to replace the switch and socket one last time, and if doing that/opening the keyboard up again doesn’t fix it, I will be buying a new keyboard. Preferably a steelseries.
Update as of 12/2024: I ended up replacing the keyboard with a Steelseries Apex 3. It was a great choice.
