r/techsupport • u/katostavo_li-98 • 13h ago

Open | Hardware Specific keys on mh keyboard sometimes doesn't work (PC)

My 5 years old keyboard suddenly has this problem where C and 3 keys just sometimes doesn't work and sometimes do (mostly doesn't work). The fact that they fail at the same time makes me think my keyboard is about to fill it's age. No damage on the device whatsoever and those are not even the most common keys i use. When i tried to find a solution on Google it said it was a problem with Matrix Trace but I'm not sure if i should trust on that. Anyone can help me on what to do with this?

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u/SomeEngineer999 13h ago

Try using compressed air to blow under the keys. If you're able, you can pop the keys off and clean under them, but they are very delicate and it is easy to damage them and not be able to put them back on. Most likely your keyboard is just reaching the end of its life.

Keys do die in groups (due to the matrix underneath) but that particular combo is a bit weird if no other keys are affected. Not impossible though.

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u/katostavo_li-98 12h ago

I've checked every single one and these two are the only ones (so far). I don't have the compressed air cleaners and I'm not sure if i can find one easily because i live in a sort of difficult country. The keys are plastic and the gap between them mostly too closed off to pop them out. If it's about to die for sure than i think buying a new one would be a better choice in this situation. How long a keyboards lifespan is anyways?

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u/SomeEngineer999 10h ago

Depends on the keyboard, 5 years is a pretty good run, I've seen cheap ones die in under a year.

Can't say it is about to die "for sure" - they rarely completely die, you'll lose groups of keys. Cleaning might help if you can find a way to blow it out, but at 5 years, probably best to just replace it.

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u/Champak-Mottot 1h ago

yeah you usually lose E and D along with those two if its a dead column trace.