Dashboard 🏠

Symptoms: metallic ticking or rattle on spacebar, enter, shift, backspace.

Fixes: clip and lube the stabilizers (dielectric grease on wire ends, GPL 205g0 on housings), holee mod the wire with a fabric band-aid, balance the wire so both sides click in evenly. Re-seat the keycap — an uneven press is often just a tilted cap.

Symptoms: one keypress registers twice; usually a single problem key.

Fixes: update firmware first (debounce fixes ship in QMK/VIA updates), blast the switch with compressed air, swap the switch if hot-swap. On soldered boards, try raising the debounce time in firmware before desoldering.

Symptoms: dead key, or an entire row/column out.

Fixes: single key — check for a bent switch pin (straighten gently with tweezers) or a damaged hot-swap socket. Whole row/column — usually the PCB: test with tweezers across the socket contacts in VIA's matrix tester; if the tweezers register, the switch is the problem, not the board.

Symptoms: grinding feel, spring crunch, or ping on some switches.

Fixes: lube the rails (3203 for tactiles, 205g0 for linears — thin coats), bag-lube the springs with GPL 105, film the housings if they wobble. Never lube the legs of a tactile switch unless you want to erase the bump.

Symptoms: board powers on (LEDs) but nothing types, or no power at all.

Fixes: try another cable (data-capable USB-C, not charge-only), another port (skip hubs), check the daughterboard JST connector is fully seated, and re-flash firmware in bootloader mode. If the board enters bootloader but won't flash, verify you have the right firmware file for the PCB revision.

Symptoms: echoey case sound, metallic reverb after each press.

Fixes: add case foam or the tempest mod (painter's tape on the PCB back), PE foam between PCB and plate for a poppier sound, swap plate material (FR4/POM warmer than brass/aluminum). Spring ping specifically = bag-lube the springs.

Symptoms: caps wobble, fly off, or stems crack when removed.

Fixes: always pull straight up with a wire puller (plastic ring pullers scratch and stress stems). Loose caps — a tiny piece of tissue or keycap-stem tape in the stem tightens the fit. Cracked Cherry-profile stems on thick PBT are usually from over-tight switch stems: check switch stem dimensions before forcing.

Symptoms: socket comes out with the switch; the key is dead.

Fixes: support the socket from behind with a finger every time you insert a switch, and check pins are straight before pressing. A lifted pad needs soldering: reflow the socket and bridge to the trace — or take it to someone with a hot-air station. Log which socket in your build notes so you babysit it on future swaps.