Build and Repair Services
NOTICE: Build services are on hold until June 1st 2024. We will not be accepting new service requests during this time. New repair service requests will still be accepted.
Keyspresso offers a wide range of mechanical keyboard services in the North York region of the Greater Toronto Area, Canada. The range of services we can provide are described below. Reach out to us if your needs aren't listed.
All work is performed by our experienced service technicians. We've worked on custom keyboards, typically designed by community members and originally offered through group buys, and boards from a variety of brands (including Razer, Corsair, Coolermaster, Filco, Vortex, Glorious PC, and Keychron).
Contact Us. Use the chat icon in the corner, or send an e-mail (services@keyspresso.ca). Give us details and images to help us get an idea of what your needs are and provide you with an estimate.
Turnaround Time. Our turnaround time is typically 1-2 weeks. During holidays and busy times, it may take 1 month or longer to complete your work.
Drop it off or mail it in. Once you have confirmed and agree to work with us, we will provide you with information on sending your parts to us by mail, or dropping it off locally in the GTA. If you require parts to finish your build, we can provide them as needed.
Estimates and Pricing. When we provide you with a quote or estimate, it is an estimation and not a final invoice- the final amount will depend on the work that was needed for the service. Some situations require more work and will therefore increase costs.
Pricing is always based on the amount of time we need to spend, and the complexity of the work. You can save on service costs by disassembling your board in advance, tuning your own stabilizers, pre-installing switches and stabilizers, or providing any replacement parts needed.
Payment. We accept a variety of payment methods in Canadian Dollars (before sales tax subject to your province of residence). Sales tax and shipping charges may apply depending on your province.
OUR SERVICES
Build and Assembly Services
Kit Assembly
Modern keyboard kits have become more complicated and assembling even a hotswap kit can be quite challenging and time consuming. There are so many parts (some even optional)- from gaskets, feet, dampening materials at all levels, decorative weights, so many screws, and even- springs?! It can be confusing.
We can get your board built to look and sound its best. We'll assemble the case for you, apply any sound dampening material included, install your switches and keycaps, and tune your stabilizers. If there's anything missing, incompatible, or problematic, we'll get you get the right parts.
Stabilizer Tuning and Lubrication
Stabilizers comprise of a wire connecting two sets of stems. They add stability to longer keys such as shift, enter, backspace, and space. Untuned stabilizers are unpleasant to the ear due to the rattling noise. Poorly tuned stabilizers may have too much lube which makes the supported key press feel unresponsive and sticky.
With this service, we apply grease and lubricant to stabilizers to reduce the rattling noise while also ensuring the switch remains responsive and not sluggish.
Soldering and Desoldering Services
We perform a number of soldering and desoldering services:
- Switch Soldering: Soldering switches onto a PCB.
- Switch Desoldering: Removing switches soldered onto a PCB. We use a Hakko FR-301 for desoldering work.
- Rebuild Service: Desolder switches and solder on new ones.
- LEDs: We can solder LEDs through your switches and onto your board (must support LEDs).
- Hotswap Conversion: Convert a soldered PCB into a hotswap one using Mill-Max sockets.
- Hotswap Sockets: Install hot swap sockets from Mill-Max, Kailh, Gateron, Tecsee, and more. For Kalih-style hotswap sockets, your PCB will need to have the footprint supporting these sockets. Mill-Max sockets, however, will work with standard solderable PCBs.
- We use Mill-Max 3305 sockets. The 3305 series are designed specifically for mechanical keyboard switches as they have a lower lip (helps make the switch stay flush) and tail lengths matching switch pin lengths, or slightly lower. These sockets replace the formerly popular 7305 series.
- Throughole Kits: Examples including the Discipline 65, Mysterium, LCK75, etc. These kits require components such as diodes, a Pro Micro, buttons, LEDs, knobs (rotary encoder), screens, and more- to be soldered on. They can be notorious challenging and time consuming due to the sheer number of parts that need to be installed and tested. Some parts, like SMD LEDs and USB ports, also require additional skill to install properly. The possibility of error is much greater on these types of boards- so they require a lot more time to build and test. As such, the cost to build these kits is incredibly difficult to estimate and we recommend you budget 2-3 times the cost of the kit for assembly charges.
Repairs
If your keyboard is not functioning properly, we can take a look at it to diagnose and identify problems and doing the work necessary to fix them.
Sometimes it's as simple as a single switch desoldering and resoldering. But half of the time, the problem isn't the switch. For this reason, be aware that an estimate may not be possible- however, we strive to avoid incurring unnecessary costs if the cost to replace your board is less than the cost to repair it.
Our help blog is intermittently updated with advice on helping you diagnose problems with your keyboard and how to fix them.
Additional Service Charges and Risks
- Desoldering risk: desoldering is a time consuming and potentially risky process. PCBs vary in quality (this is the case with many prebuilts). We do our best to ensure the PCB remains in a functional state, but we cannot make any guarantees.
- Desoldering switches with LEDs: LEDs take more time and effort to remove.
- Mill-Max sockets: they require extra care to avoid sockets being dropped, and prevent having solder get into the sockets. Mill-Max sockets may also require more time to fit on PCBs with smaller holes and desoldered PCBs.
- Disassembly adds to your final invoice as it can be difficult and time consuming. While we are able to do the disassembly, there are risks involved. In some cases, your case may incur damage if we are to disassemble the build for you (this is especially a problem with prebuilt keyboards).
Switch Lubrication Services
Switches are the core components of your keyboard and the strongest contributor to how your board sounds and feels. Unlubed switches can feel scratchy and sound unpleasant so many enthusiasts choose to lube their switches to improve their typing experience.
Our switch lube service is done completely by hand to ensure lubricants are applied evenly for each switch. It costs $1.10 CAD per switch, with $0.10 CAD additional for film (we select the film to use based on what switches you have).
Lubing switches involves disassembling and reassembling each individual switch to apply lubricant to each switch part and improve its sound and feel. Our shop supplies brushes, lubricants, greases, brushes, stem pickers, and more for DIY hobbyists. We encourage hobbyists to try it themselves!
If your switch has rattle between the top and bottom housing, we also offer switch film which can be applied while we are working on lubricating your switches. We offer many types of film made of various materials and at varying thickness.
Do I need lube services?
- One of the challenges of lubing your own switches is applying too much lubricant, which leads to sluggish and heavy switch feel where a 62g spring weight will feel much heavier than it should feel.
- Sometimes, pre-lubed or factory lubed switches from the manufacturer may be done inconsistently. If your switches don't feel great, you might want to have them re-lubed properly. You can try doing it yourself but if you'd rather not, we can help.
If you are new to the hobby, we recommend you choose a hotswap keyboard and try out your switches before deciding to have them lubed. With sound dampening material in modern hotswap keyboards, and improved manufacturing and materials, many new switches sound great without requiring lube work!
Consultation
End-to-end service that assists you with finding and building a keyboard based on your preferences. More details here.