Why do my keyboards keep breaking?

March 5, 2007 8:09 AM

Why do my keyboards keep breaking?

I've got a G5 Mac tower. Over the past couple years, I've burned through three (possibly four, I've lost count) keyboards, and it's always the same problem- some permutation of the cluster of keys around "i" stop working- not always exactly the same ones, but always in that area of the keyboard. The latest happened some time last night, without warning as always. Different keyboard brands are at work. Everything's plugged into a good grade surge protector.

My initial thought is that there was some sort of power surge killing the circuitry, but the latest keyboard was plugged into my Dell LCD rather than directly into the Mac. Is there any hope for me?

posted by mkultra to Computers & Internet (17 answers total)

Frankly, I suspect it's your fault. Are you a hard typer? I know several people who bash keys so hard that they destroy a keyboard in several months.
posted by Faint of Butt at 8:19 AM on March 5, 2007

Response by poster: No, not really. Never had this problem with keyboards at work computers, or on my laptops.
posted by mkultra at 8:22 AM on March 5, 2007

You might be getting foreign objects stuck under the keys.
posted by grouse at 8:30 AM on March 5, 2007

Other suspects:

humidity - anything moist nearby? Beverages? Radiator?

Static/EMF - any phones, PDAs, speakers, printers, etc. between the keyboard and monitor?

Styli - Do you sometimes tap the keyboard with a ballpoint pen, say, while listening to music, making phone calls, or jotting onscreen items onto (physical world) sticky notes?

Artwork - Any marquettes, webcams, action figures, sculptures, or other items that occasionally fall from atop the monitor onto the keyboard now and then?

Storage - any catalogs, magazines, books, or envelopes resting beneath the keyboard for any period of time?
posted by Smart Dalek at 8:32 AM on March 5, 2007

Have you tried all of the normal methods for cleaning (popping all the keys off and using compressed air, dishwasher)? Seeing what, if anything, fixes one would probably go a long way toward figuring out what was broken in the first place. (FWIW, I've only seen three methods of keyboard breakage: dust/crumb obstructions under the keys, water/liquid damage, and cord ripped off. My very cheap keyboards all have fingernail indentations in the keys, but still work.)
posted by anaelith at 8:39 AM on March 5, 2007

Do you play computer games at home, or use any other keyboard-bound software exclusively at home and not at work? If so, repeatedly hammering on the game's home keys (I,J,K,L is a standard Forward/Left/Back/Right cluster, and 7,8,9,U,I,O,J,K,L is a standard proxy for the number pad) is doing it in.
posted by ardgedee at 8:41 AM on March 5, 2007

Response by poster: The keyboard is on a sliding tray under my desk, so it's isolated and protected from various foreign objects. Yes, use compressed air to keep it clean. It doesn't feel like anything is stuck under those keys.

I do game, but I haven't in weeks and the games are WASD, not IJKL, and the keyboard has a dedicated number pad. In other words, I really don't think those keys have been getting any more use than any others. No password I use anywhere has "i" in it.
posted by mkultra at 8:44 AM on March 5, 2007

It seems your problem isn't unique; I found a site chronicling one user's keyboard issues with a G5 iMac, and an entire AppleInsider forum concerning input errors with G5 units.
posted by Smart Dalek at 9:25 AM on March 5, 2007

Do you have a cat?
posted by Hogshead at 9:53 AM on March 5, 2007

Response by poster: Yes, and I've considered that, but they stay off the keyboards and I keep them clean with compressed air.
posted by mkultra at 9:55 AM on March 5, 2007

Keyboard tray, eh? Maybe that's your problem. I can see two possible issues. It's possible that the sliding tray is causing undue stress on the cable though I think that would cause generalized random failures. The other possibility I see is when the keyboard is slide under it makes something (probably the cable) hit the keyboard near the 'I' key.

You might want to crawl under your desk and watch what happens when you slide the tray in and out.
posted by chairface at 10:37 AM on March 5, 2007

"slide" => "slid". I swear that wasn't there when I submitted.
posted by chairface at 10:39 AM on March 5, 2007

Response by poster: I've checked, it's completely unobstructed there.
posted by mkultra at 10:41 AM on March 5, 2007

I always used to kill keyboards along the left hand home row. If they didn't get killed, the responsiveness of the keys would get mushier and mushier until they were a chore to type on.

After going through 3 or 4 keyboards a year on my home computer, I finally sucked it up and blew a ton of cash on a Northgate OmniKey clone. Haven't bought a new keyboard in about 3 years.

That doesn't answer your questions, I know, but I never got one either other than "keyboards aren't made as well as they used to be."
posted by tumult at 10:46 AM on March 5, 2007

You could try a tactilePro. It has a 5 year warranty.
posted by chairface at 11:45 AM on March 5, 2007

I don't know why your keyboards keep breaking but you might want to try the IBM Model M, the loud clacky heavy one. Unicomp is still making the keyboard. According to Wikipedia they cost about $50. I bet that keyboard would last a lot longer since I suspect your typing style is damaging to modern flimsy keyboards.
posted by 6550 at 12:05 PM on March 5, 2007

I've owned a Tactile Pro and I thought it was garbage. The keys were clicky, yes, but the rest of the build quality was trash (the key matrix often overloaded after 2 or 3 simultaneous keys) and I gave it away after too long.

Model M/OmniKey clones are infinitely better. Cherry makes some awesome keyboards, too.
posted by tumult at 2:15 PM on March 5, 2007