Cause of unresponsive/sluggish keys on G74

[griftir]

I noticed that one of the keys on my new G74 was not responding as well as the others. I decided to pop the keys off and compare the unresponsive one to the normal functioning ones. Here's what I found: The bottom of the sluggish/unresponsive key had a little circle of plastic glued onto it, to give it more contact with the rubber portion of the key that makes contact with the PCB. On several other keys that I pulled up, the little plastic shim was not present. This leads me to believe that the QC standards for a functioning keyboard were set rather low, and that this was a proposed fix for non functioning keys. I for one am not happy with this, and I wish there was a way to get my money back. Here's some pictures. Don't laugh at my photography, I borrowed my wife's SLR.

http://imgur.com/a/k744G

[BrodyBoy]

Okay....I won't laugh. But I think I might take some photos for you later tonight!

[dstrakele]

Shims are used in many engineering applications to get parts into proper alignment. Their use alone does not constitute poor QC. It is the fact that your issue was NOT properly resolved with a shim that indicates poor QC. I find it more deplorable in your case since the issue was identified and they surely would've tested the fix, but let it pass with continued poor functionality.

[JRd1st]

I noticed that one of the keys on my new G74 was not responding as well as the others. I decided to pop the keys off and compare the unresponsive one to the normal functioning ones. Here's what I found: The bottom of the sluggish/unresponsive key had a little circle of plastic glued onto it, to give it more contact with the rubber portion of the key that makes contact with the PCB. On several other keys that I pulled up, the little plastic shim was not present. This leads me to believe that the QC standards for a functioning keyboard were set rather low, and that this was a proposed fix for non functioning keys. I for one am not happy with this, and I wish there was a way to get my money back. Here's some pictures. Don't laugh at my photography, I borrowed my wife's SLR.

http://imgur.com/a/k744G

Wow! That's sad... why would anyone laugh?

[griftir]

Update, if anyone cares.

I came up with a pretty good fix for my key. It's definitely a better makeshift fix than the manufacturer's fix.

it involves a little bit of disassembly of the key, but it was worth it in my opinion.

You have to remove the key and the little plastic bracket underneath. You will reveal a rubber dome that's function is to push down 2 conductive membranes that close the circuit for the keypress. The rubber dome is not really attached to the board, but is held down by other plastic bits, so I was able to slide thin pieces of rubber underneath that allowed the key to have less give and grant more responsive keypresses.

I hope this helps somebody.

[dstrakele]

+1 @griftir! You will henceforth be known as the "KeyMaster" (a Matrix reference).

[mwyeoh]

Thanks for sharing griftir!
I was having issues with my spacebar too! The right hand side was quite unresponsive but the left occasionally gave problems.
I added a couple of pieces of cardboard (It was really thin cardboard, so one layer wasnt enough) and now its really responsive!

I guess they made the spacebar a little too thin...

[StefanLundmark]

Wow, and here I thought I was unlucky with my spacebar key. It's also quite unresponsive on the right side, and sometimes when pressing it down and keeping it down, it can register as being let go.

I'd try these fixes but the last time I lifted off a laptop keyboard, it got very misaligned afterwards. Is this stuff easy?

[BrodyBoy]

Wow, and here I thought I was unlucky with my spacebar key. It's also quite unresponsive on the right side, and sometimes when pressing it down and keeping it down, it can register as being let go.

I'd try these fixes but the last time I lifted off a laptop keyboard, it got very misaligned afterwards. Is this stuff easy?

You don't take off the whole keyboard (which doesn't come off separately anyway....it's part of the whole top cover assembly). You just remove the offending keys to make modifications underneath them.

[busybox42]

I did the cardboard fix as well. There are three metal bars on the underside of the space bar key. The one on the top and on the bottom slide through little holes and help hold the key in place. I am not exactly sure what the little on in the middle is for but. I popped it off , put two pieces of fairly thin cardboard up underneath it and used the bar to lock it the pieces in place. Popped the key back on and it's perfect! Thanks guys!