Its a Razer Blackwidow elite I got for cheap, the listing just said “sold as is” and had some pictures. Didn’t mention anything about bad keys. Kicking myself now for trying to cheap out. My question is if there is anything I can do to repair it. If so is it worth doing? The switches are not hot swappable if that’s important.
Probably savable, I guess it just depends how much time / effort you want to sink into it.
I recommend starting by finding where the problem is. Try shorting the pins that are soldered to the board, that will tell you if it’s the switch itself that’s broken.
There seems to be a fair few videos on YouTube around this type of keyboard repair aswell.
If I wanted a mechanical keyboard, I’d buy a mechanical keyboard.
If I wanted an electronics project, then I’d repair it.
Not to diss electronics projects. I’ve done those myself, and they can be rewarding. But there’s a reason that repair shops aren’t much of a thing any more. Just usually doesn’t make sense economically.
If you very specifically want an exact keyboard that’s out-of-production and where the only way to get one is to repair, or you very specifically want some particular feel that isn’t available commercially, then maybe it’s worth putting time into it, aside from the project value.
If it was listed as Used on eBay then you’ll likely be able to get your money back because it’s not fully working. If it was listed as Parts or you bought it from a less regulated platform, on your head be it.
As for repair, it depends what’s wrong with it. It sounds like some of the switches might be dead, but if they are then you’ll want to source replacements, but from where? Do you have any soldering equipment/skills?
It might be a fun repair project if you’re into electronics, but if you weren’t… then better luck next time.
I got it from eBay and I am working on a refund/return. Hopefully it works out.
Does it have on-board remapping? If so, maybe reset them with the Razer software, see if that makes a difference. Maybe somebody did something silly.
If not, then I’d disassemble it, connect to a pc and see what happens when you connect the pins of the switches of the keys that don’t work. Do you get a response? Then it sounds like a bad switch. If not, then I suppose it’s the pcb.
What keys don’t work?