Writing Problems: Dealing With Mechanical Keyboard Switches

I purchased this keyboard in early January. I chose MX Cherry Red switches over the other options as a result of typing frequently for writing, but also the occasional videogame; I don't need something incredibly responsive and light.

For the most part, this keyboard has performed well. I absolutely love the feeling of typing on it; nothing feels particularly too strong, nor does it feel too light for anything. I've noticed my typing has improved, with a significant reduction in typical typing errors and hitting incorrect keys during gaming. It's nothing amazing, but it's mostly something entry level before I decide what best fits me before throwing more money into something else.

That said, I recently noticed something peculiar: often when typing, the N key would register two presses, instead of one, frequently resulting in words coming out as 'somethinng' or 'annd'. It wasn't too consitent, so I went ahead and assumed I was just typing too fast, pressing down on the key before the switch was able to reset and just registered two presses as a result. No other key would reproduce this strange occurrence. Was it due to hand placement when typing?

The answer was no. Having downloaded a program that detects and diagnoses potential issues with keyboards, I began tuning it to several ms response times in hopes of discovering something; I did. I was experiencing what many call 'switch chatter', a problem that occurs when a switch is either broken, or perhaps loose and experiencing some dirt beneath it. This results in varying frequencies of double-presses, 'gg' or 'ee' at the single press of a key.

There's multiple fixes for this: take the keyboard apart, replace the switch entirely. Remove the switch, add some lubricant and hope the switch performs smoother. Or simply remove the keycap and apply some form of alcohol. I chose the latter, due to a mild inconvenience of not owning a soldering iron. Fortunately having some Isopropyl alcohol sitting around, I removed the keycap, pressed the switch down, and gently rubbed some of the Isopropyl alcohol into the switch via a small paintbrush (a Q-Tip also works, but I had none).

Fortunately, that seems to have fixed the problem (seriously, I hope this isn't a 'for now' case because I can't be bothered with dealing with returns and slow support from the retailer I purchased it from) and now the N key feels as fluid as it was on the day of arrival.

In short: keep your mechanical keyboard clean; these issues are stupidly frequent among many mechanical keyboard switches, and you're bound to run into this issue in the future. Grab some rubbing alcohol, preferably Isopropyl; but check the ingredients. PCB's respond wonderfully to Isopropyl alcohol cleaning, but others work depending on what the other, for example, 30% of ingredients may be. I also used this software to detect issues with my switches, which really helped me find out whether I was just going insane or there really was an issue lurking.

If you're also experiencing that issue, it's worth using a few drops of alcohol rather than going through the hoops of replacements and/or purchasing new switches and keyboards.