Group Buy Keyboards and Replacement PCBs- A Lesson Learned

Submitted by CincyBOO t3_1252scl in MechanicalKeyboards

Hey y'all,

First & foremost, I've gotten into the mech keyboard hobby because of this wonderful community. I love you all, and my wallet despises each and every one of you.

I wanted to write this post as a lesson learned early in my keyboard journey. I've built six keyboards to date, and recently jumped into the specialty keyboard group buy market. I built my first groupbuy keyboard, a Sun68, with Holy Panda switches and JTK Sora keycaps. A beauty.

The hotswap PCB I bought with the keyboard has officially crapped out on me after a few months of use. I worked with the manufacturers (who were responsive and helpful) to flash, reset, and otherwise troubleshoot the PCB. No dice. Unfortunately, the PCB is gone and I am in the unenviable position of having a lovely keyboard that doesn't work.

I wanted to write this post to share a lesson-learned & a question to this community:

1.) If you entering the group buy market, and your wallet can afford the additional expense, I would recommend always picking up a back-up PCB as part of the groupbuy. I wouldn't be in this position if I had done so, and will do so moving forward (and have done so for my Ocelot macropad and Mammoth75).

2.) For those, like me, who finds themselves in this predicament, what avenues do we have to explore? I've checked all vendor websites, ebay, discord, reddit, etc. no luck so far.

Thank you all, and hopefully this helps someone else avoid the issues I face! Otherwise, keep clacking away!

Cheers,

CincyBOO

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1

xxInsanex t1_je323er wrote

Thats a risk with most group buy companies, something happens after the warranty period and you're basically shit out of luck

4

lex62lex t1_je46b5p wrote

There are options. Probably a few people that actually bought an extra pcb and would sell you one aftermarket, otherwise you could ask the manufacturer for files and get a pcb made. Last option would be to design a pcb that fits your board.

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KaigeKrysin t1_je4dy35 wrote

Have to admit, plus side of living in Australia is i get a years warranty regardless.

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Latias10point0 t1_je5e205 wrote

Unfortunately velocifire are known for terrible pcbs. I will probably never buy a board of theirs again after joining their discord for help with my sun68 pcb. Best bet is the aftermarket, if that fails then maybe finding a drop in replacement. Tricky situation to be in :( always possible to design your own too ;)

2