As the title describes, the laptop is reading keyboard inputs even when i'm not pressing anything.
Nothing feels off with the keys when pressed, and pressing them does lead to an independent input, but as stated they will randomly go off on their own even when not pressed. It started as just the "i" key, but then spread to the "8", "[", and now the "t" "5", and "ctrl" key; and has gone from being occasional, to frequent (to being nonstop or occasional again randomly) to being consistently nonstop, I fear as a result of my attempts to fix it, such as by blowing compressed air through the gaps in the key switches or rummaging between them with a toothpick (This also suggests it is not the switches themselves that are broken, but whatever component they all connect to)
The laptop (A Walmart OP/Overpowered 17+, a rebrand of the Tonfang GK7CN6S) has rather large gaps between the keycaps, so dust, hair, debris, etc often falls between them, and then some further down between small gaps in the key switches themselves (at least what I believe are switches: it is advertised as having mechanical keys, and the thread here for the 15in says it has proprietary brown or blue switches; with users in the thread for the 17in model here thinking it uses the same ones, but aren't sure; but I've had other people tell me that they're non mechanical sicssor keys); so I assume that that is what caused the issue: I've had cases where keys don't read a press (or maybe duplicate them) in the past, but it has usually solved itself after a bit, this is longer lasting and way more severe.
As stated, i've tried to dislodge any debris that's made it's way into the keyboard internals, even further down then just below the keycaps, but that, if anything, has just made the issue worse, so I'm thinking i'm going to need to either
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So yeah, my list of actual final questions, with all that said, are:
1. Let me know if you all think my assessment of the cause is correct
2. If you think me accessing below the switches and and cleaning that area is likely to resolve it
3. If I can pry the switches out from the front, or if it needs to be disassembled from the back
4. If all else fails, and the keyboard needs to be replaced entirely, if listings like this include internal components for me to do so/to have somebody else do so, or if these are just the keycaps. I only see the keycaps in the photos, but related listings for other keyboards from the same sellers show internal connector cables
5. If those listings are just the caps and I can't fix the issue, can I (or whoeever I pay to disassemble it) just disconnect the keyboard internally and can I use a USB keyboard?
Nothing feels off with the keys when pressed, and pressing them does lead to an independent input, but as stated they will randomly go off on their own even when not pressed. It started as just the "i" key, but then spread to the "8", "[", and now the "t" "5", and "ctrl" key; and has gone from being occasional, to frequent (to being nonstop or occasional again randomly) to being consistently nonstop, I fear as a result of my attempts to fix it, such as by blowing compressed air through the gaps in the key switches or rummaging between them with a toothpick (This also suggests it is not the switches themselves that are broken, but whatever component they all connect to)
The laptop (A Walmart OP/Overpowered 17+, a rebrand of the Tonfang GK7CN6S) has rather large gaps between the keycaps, so dust, hair, debris, etc often falls between them, and then some further down between small gaps in the key switches themselves (at least what I believe are switches: it is advertised as having mechanical keys, and the thread here for the 15in says it has proprietary brown or blue switches; with users in the thread for the 17in model here thinking it uses the same ones, but aren't sure; but I've had other people tell me that they're non mechanical sicssor keys); so I assume that that is what caused the issue: I've had cases where keys don't read a press (or maybe duplicate them) in the past, but it has usually solved itself after a bit, this is longer lasting and way more severe.
As stated, i've tried to dislodge any debris that's made it's way into the keyboard internals, even further down then just below the keycaps, but that, if anything, has just made the issue worse, so I'm thinking i'm going to need to either
- Actually remove the switches, this video shows somebody else doing so with the 15 inch model (not sure if it'd be possible to do in the 17 inch one, or if it's safe to pry them out like this, I already tried and wasn't able to get them without without applying more force then I felt comfortable applying)
- fully disassemble the laptop to access the keyboard internals (or more likely, to pay somebody to do so for me, I'm not comfortable doing so myself, esp. when there's no complete teardown guide for this laptop model anywhere
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
So yeah, my list of actual final questions, with all that said, are:
1. Let me know if you all think my assessment of the cause is correct
2. If you think me accessing below the switches and and cleaning that area is likely to resolve it
3. If I can pry the switches out from the front, or if it needs to be disassembled from the back
4. If all else fails, and the keyboard needs to be replaced entirely, if listings like this include internal components for me to do so/to have somebody else do so, or if these are just the keycaps. I only see the keycaps in the photos, but related listings for other keyboards from the same sellers show internal connector cables
5. If those listings are just the caps and I can't fix the issue, can I (or whoeever I pay to disassemble it) just disconnect the keyboard internally and can I use a USB keyboard?
Last edited:
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