Solved Replacing keyboard letters that have worn off

On my Logitech K800 Wireless Illuminated the keys never wear off, and, BTW, this is not a question either...

I suppose I got what I paid for. I only paid £10 for the HP K1500 keyboard in September 2019 so it is now 'old' at 4 years. No regrets though because I am not a gamer or need to type fast and neither do I spend hours/day using it. I know serious computer users/players can pay a lot for keyboards and if I had done that then I would be unhappy but that is not the case.

wiganken said:

I know serious computer users/players can pay a lot for keyboards

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You’re right, and regrettably so. My last one cost me AUD$250

MX Keys here. Best I've ever had. $100

K..., that's enough, guys!!! You're gonna wear out your keyboards!!!

I only paid £10 for the HP K1500 keyboard in September 2019 so it is now 'old' at 4 years.

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the cheap advent keyboards from currys work ok, but the letters will wear off over time. easily fixed with the stick on letters. I seem to remember the wired version was about 6.99 but they don't seem to have them now. I am typing this on one. They only have the wireless version at 9.99 at the moment.

I tried a wireless keyboard before the wired one I am using now and I found the connection unreliable and typed letters didn't appear sometimes. Very frustrating. Don't know if it was a faulty KB or a Bluetooth issue but the wired one is 100% reliable. I'll try to keep it as long as I can even if I have to Tippex new letters on every key.

wiganken said:

I tried a wireless keyboard before the wired one I am using now and I found the connection unreliable and typed letters didn't appear sometimes. Very frustrating. Don't know if it was a faulty KB or a Bluetooth issue but the wired one is 100% reliable. I'll try to keep it as long as I can even if I have to Tippex new letters on every key.

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I don’t do wireless either. Not a fan of charging things.

antspants said:

I don’t do wireless either. Not a fan of charging things.

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I felt that way too. But you can get quite a number of keyboards that run off batteries rather than having to plug them in and recharge them. Wife got me a wireless keyboard and monitor combo for my little Beelink mini-pc and Mac-mini and it's nearly 2 years old now and on the original batteries. I was worried about having to change them out every couple of months, but that doesn't seem to be the case.

I recall getting one of those cheap $11.95 keyboards with the spongy keys. The thing just refused to die on me and it was funny because I bought a set of three for about 20 bucks for my daughters to kill because they're so hard on keyboards that I waited until they got older before I got them anything worth keeping. (I know, I know.. bad logic.) Well, the first two died within the year but this one keyboard kept up to my abuses for the longest while until nearly all the letters were rubbed off the keys. "Z" and "X" remained intact, and a few others. The number keys were almost all present. 5 years later the keyboard finally croaked. I'm a touch typist so It really didn't matter much to me but the little bumps for home row were almost undetectable by that time as well. One can actually wear the plastic thin over time, I learned.

I now use a "Cherry MX Blue" that has served me well for years. It's a mechanical keyboard that has a nice, tactile feel to it but it is rather noisy and I have fooled a few people on the phone with it who have asked me if I still use a typewriter. The keys do light up on the thing but I hardly ever look at them when I'm using the keyboard. This is pretty much the extent of my RGB passion. I like discrete and this isn't too loud or glaring and it seems to compliment the stock cooler on my HERO build so, meh... I guess I'm slowly being converted to RGB after all.

I just got this one as I'm too lazy to lean forward to type on the laptop's one.

Edwin said:

MX Keys here. Best I've ever had. $100

View attachment 71475

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I'm a long time Logi[tec] user for keyboards and mice and have never had an issue until a short time ago - I broke [or let's just say I found the left Shift key badly cracked one morning and the Cat looking guilty]. I contacted Logi and as the unit was out of warranty [they last ages usually], they would not give or even sell me a replacement Key Cap.

There are third party sellers online but they did not have the key in stock so I ordered a replacement MXkeys S and am very pleased especially the auto key lighting when your hands approach the keys I'll likely try one of the 3rd party key suppliers for the keyboard with the broken keycap and use it as a spare [ It still works fine by the way, just looks a bit strange

barman58 said:

I'm a long time Logi[tec] user for keyboards and mice and have never had an issue until a short time ago - I broke [or let's just say I found the left Shift key badly cracked one morning and the Cat looking guilty]. I contacted Logi and as the unit was out of warranty [they last ages usually], they would not give or even sell me a replacement Key Cap.

There are third party sellers online but they did not have the key in stock so I ordered a replacement MXkeys S and am very pleased especially the auto key lighting when your hands approach the keys I'll likely try one of the 3rd party key suppliers for the keyboard with the broken keycap and use it as a spare [ It still works fine by the way, just looks a bit strange

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I was a Logitec Prodigy fan and used to use Logitec hardware for well over a decade. One day my Prodigy keyboard began acting wonky and I really think it was due to the software that accompanied it. Shortly thereafter the mouse began acting up. I contacted Logitec for help and didn't get much in the way of support even though at the time these items were still both under warranty. They would update their software often and used this as a means to push their latest products. (In other words, Adware.) Sometimes the updates seemed to solve my keyboard issue but about a week or so later I'd start having the same issues again and it would be time for yet another update. Finally I decided that enough was enough and asked for a replacement. By that time the warranty for the keyboard and mouse was off. They told me I had to buy new again. Fair enough. After over two decades of being a Logitec customer I no longer purchase their hardware and I don't advise that anyone else do likewise. Loyalty should be both appreciated and rewarded. My name was in their data banks for decades.

When a big fat cat corporation disregards my customer loyalty the only thing left to me is to reciprocate by disassociation. I refuse to reward their lack of dedication in return for my loyalty. This is pretty much the only recourse a paying customer has these days.

Well, the most obvious solution is

1) buy a new keyboard identical to existing keyboard

2) lever off letter from new keyboard to replace old letter.

Hang on a minute - something does not quite gel with this solution .

cereberus said:

Well, the most obvious solution is

1) buy a new keyboard identical to existing keyboard

2) lever off letter from new keyboard to replace old letter.

Hang on a minute - something does not quite gel with this solution .

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It was going so well until....well...it wasn't.

Well, since there is mention of broken keys and such, I am experiencing that problem now on my Dell XPS 15 9570 keyboard with the "T" key. Basically, the two clips on the back of the key itself broke, so it no longer clips to the plastic white piece which is fine using a sample image below:


The clips would be the shown on the bottom left picture in the bottom, mines is on the top.

The hinge is basically the piece on the right hand side so it looks like this:


where the middle rubber piece acts like a spring. My quick solution was taping the key on the top side as without the tape, everytime I hit the key, it will require multiple strikes before the letter "T" shows on the screen and ofcourse the key would pop and land elsewhere on the keyboard so before I get the key replacement, does anyone have any suggestions as while the key works only because the center acts like a spring, there is another problem, the back of the key is supposed to attach to the hinge, does anyone know if there is a type of removeable adhesive or something else I can use temporarily so that when I do get the replacement key either by buying a new key or from a new keyboard as replacing the keyboard appears to be extremely hard on this machine since it would require removing every on top of it instead of other machines where the keyboard is attached to a removeable part.

I had that issue with an Asus once before. I remember carefully popping a key less used than the one in question and placing it where the broken key came from. Other than that, Maybe the manufacturer would send you one? I can’t imagine they would expect techs to replace an entire keyboard for one key issue. But then again, there is probably profit in that. $$$

antspants said:

I had that issue with an Asus once before. I remember carefully popping a key less used than the one in question and placing it where the broken key came from. Other than that, Maybe the manufacturer would send you one? I can’t imagine they would expect techs to replace an entire keyboard for one key issue. But then again, there is probably profit in that. $$$

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I mean I can get a new key but it takes some time and I need to use the computer daily. For whatever reason, the key works better if only the left side is taped from top to bottom. I tried Rubber Cement but it didn't even stick. Actually, they will only sell the entire keyboard and EBay seems to have third party replacements and also some that uses the Dell Part Number but even the later assuming it's real or even the one Dell would sell as replacement might only mean the keyboard works as a OEM part but the keys might different inside as it seems even the places that sells replacement keys that claims to be genuine OEM keys for $4.99-$6.99 per key plus $5.00 shipping seems to have two different hinges, one like mines with the top holes on the top row and one has it with the holes slightly lower so there might even be two versions for the keyboard even for the real thing. But keyboard key replacement companies can make a fortune at $5 a key on a 80 key keyboard which is $400 for a keyboard that costs $18 to replace, Dell sells the keyboard for $50, currency is in USD$.

www.laptopkeyreplacements.com appears to sell replacement keys for laptop and desktop keyboards and this is what it says about the Hinge:
"The hinge clip is the plastic scissor clip that swivels up and down underneath the keyboard key cap. It is usually either black or white and functions as the part that holds the back of the key to the keyboard.

Manufacturers often use different keyboard vendors during production and each vendor has its own unique type of hinge clip. "

And this is why people keep buying cheap, throw aways.

antspants said:

I had that issue with an Asus once before. I remember carefully popping a key less used than the one in question and placing it where the broken key came from. Other than that, Maybe the manufacturer would send you one? I can’t imagine they would expect techs to replace an entire keyboard for one key issue. But then again, there is probably profit in that. $$$

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For Dells at work that I called warranty on, they replaced the entire keyboard.