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Hello!
Approximately three weeks ago I got myself the Das Professional Silent and pretty much have no complaints other than the keys fading. What intrigues me is that the advertisement directly states:
"Laser-etched key cap inscriptions to prevent fading"
In this link here: http://www.daskeyboard.com/model-s-professional-silent/
Being that I worked to save up a good 110$ for this, I'm kind of a clean freak with it, and I'm curious if you other guys are having this same problem. Searching Google led me to a website where someone said laser-etched keys actually make fading easier so yeah, thats pretty much it. What are your experiences with the key caps fading? Currently my Shift, A, S, Alt & B button are starting to gray/darken out.
First of all is this fading? Or do I just need to clean my keycaps harder? Any tips from people with the Das Keyboards or just mechanical keyboards in general would be a great help; Thanks in advance!
P.S. Any cleaning & prevention tips outside of this http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/viewmessage.php?topic_id=94807 would also be greatly appreciated 
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What do you mean by fading/grey-ing, are the keys starting to show some white-ish coat over the keys that can be wiped away?
Are your keys starting to shine?
I don't think there's much you can do about it. For the people who are extremely picky about the shining/graying/fading, the most surefire way to deal with it, is to purchase a set of PBT key-caps with the lettering literally etched/cut in to the plastic. PBT however is mroe textured, and not-finished.
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Thanks for the reply, it pretty much looks like this but not nearly as bad (More like the brightest parts of the A and O on the key), so I guess it is fading away. And thanks for the info on PBT.
![[image loading]](http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4093/4905101627_b17771ef27.jpg)
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On July 02 2011 03:53 Kingqway wrote:Thanks for the reply, it pretty much looks like this but not nearly as bad (More like the brightest parts of the A and O on the key), so I guess it is fading away. And thanks for the info on PBT.
Yeah, my Filco has something like that, the white-crap that accumulates that I have to rub off with a cloth, though my keys don't seem to fade like that.
Just so you know, PBT keycaps, aren't the easiest things to come by.
If you want to, you usually have to wait for people on forums such as Geekhack (usually done by Geekhack forum employees) to organize group-buys, then they put in a massive order for whatever keys people want, colored, PBT, printed a certain way etc etc. And then you jump in on one of those.
Problem with that is, they are still quite expensive, I think there was a group-buy not long ago that come out to $60-70ish shipped for black on black engraved PBT key-caps. Tankguys, the store ran by overclock.net (the PC forum) They carry them, but they are currently out of stock atm.
http://www.tankguys.com/site-merchandise/overclock-net-pbt-cherry-black-black.html
I'm hoping that Tankguys get their PBT black on black keycaps in stock soon, I would really like to change out my keycaps, not that theres anything wrong with them, but they are getting shine-wear and I don't like having to wipe off the crap that accumulates so the etched look seems to work better.
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The keys are etched and filled with some white material. Over time the white material that sticks out will be rubbed away, leaving you with a somewhat muted grey-white inside the keycaps (you can feel the ridge of the keyprint turning into a valley over time). This seems perfectly normal to me.
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Hey- I don't know if you've had the keyboard too long or what, but we do have a 30-day guarantee if you want to return it for another board. Not sure why that is happening as I have been typing on mine for about a month and haven't had that problem at all. A couple of the letters did look slightly faded, but when I took a damp cloth to them, I was able to wipe away what I guess were the oils from my fingers.
The fact that these keys have been laser etched and then filled should result in them not wearing down like the image you submitted. That one looks like the key was printed on, hence the fading.
If you aren't happy and it's still within the time period, check with our support team about the warranty:
http://www.daskeyboard.com/guarantee/
Sorry you are having a negative experience with the board. I will say if you can still feel the letter on the key, try cleaning it a bit harder as the filler is still there.
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Laser etching is supposed to last quite a long period of time. If it's only been three weeks I'd suggest raising a little bit of a stink over it. Daskeyboards will stand behind their product.
If you're looking for something guaranteed to last longer find a keyboard where the keys are printed by either dye sublimation or double-shot injection molding. You will definitely end up paying more for those though.
See:Mechanical Keyboard Guide
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On July 02 2011 05:02 daskeyboard wrote:Hey- I don't know if you've had the keyboard too long or what, but we do have a 30-day guarantee if you want to return it for another board. Not sure why that is happening as I have been typing on mine for about a month and haven't had that problem at all. A couple of the letters did look slightly faded, but when I took a damp cloth to them, I was able to wipe away what I guess were the oils from my fingers. The fact that these keys have been laser etched and then filled should result in them not wearing down like the image you submitted. That one looks like the key was printed on, hence the fading. If you aren't happy and it's still within the time period, check with our support team about the warranty: http://www.daskeyboard.com/guarantee/Sorry you are having a negative experience with the board. I will say if you can still feel the letter on the key, try cleaning it a bit harder as the filler is still there.
Wow, never seen that before. Proactive customer service. Rather impressive.
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mine is just get dirty, not faded away.
Btw dear daskeyboard, what liquid should i use to clean the keycaps ? And what should i do to prevent it from dust ?, my keyboard seems to love dust...
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On July 02 2011 04:46 echO [W] wrote:Just so you know, PBT keycaps, aren't the easiest things to come by. If you want to, you usually have to wait for people on forums such as Geekhack (usually done by Geekhack forum employees) to organize group-buys, then they put in a massive order for whatever keys people want, colored, PBT, printed a certain way etc etc. And then you jump in on one of those. Problem with that is, they are still quite expensive, I think there was a group-buy not long ago that come out to $60-70ish shipped for black on black engraved PBT key-caps. Tankguys, the store ran by overclock.net (the PC forum) They carry them, but they are currently out of stock atm. http://www.tankguys.com/site-merchandise/overclock-net-pbt-cherry-black-black.htmlI'm hoping that Tankguys get their PBT black on black keycaps in stock soon, I would really like to change out my keycaps, not that theres anything wrong with them, but they are getting shine-wear and I don't like having to wipe off the crap that accumulates so the etched look seems to work better.
Hmm if they are that pricy I'll just probably just learn to live with the slight fading haha. Thanks a lot for the info though, appreciate the help! Too bad they don't have these at like bestbuy or something haha.
On July 02 2011 05:02 daskeyboard wrote:Hey- I don't know if you've had the keyboard too long or what, but we do have a 30-day guarantee if you want to return it for another board. Not sure why that is happening as I have been typing on mine for about a month and haven't had that problem at all. A couple of the letters did look slightly faded, but when I took a damp cloth to them, I was able to wipe away what I guess were the oils from my fingers. The fact that these keys have been laser etched and then filled should result in them not wearing down like the image you submitted. That one looks like the key was printed on, hence the fading. If you aren't happy and it's still within the time period, check with our support team about the warranty: http://www.daskeyboard.com/guarantee/Sorry you are having a negative experience with the board. I will say if you can still feel the letter on the key, try cleaning it a bit harder as the filler is still there.
Thanks a lot for the reply! I had no idea DasKeyboards followed TL :D
I've had the keyboard for approximately three weeks so I'm pretty sure I'd be under the 30 day guarantee. It's not bad fading, it's just something I've noticed "starting to happen". I am on the computer for hours so maybe it's just wearing due to frequent usage. Pretty much all the terran hotkeys are beginning to fade out, of course if its fading.
I tried to do the damp cloth method, but it doesn't seem to rub off, as it was my first guess that it might be some oils from my fingers. I haven't tried the isopropyl alcohol or diluted soap method (not sure how to exactly go about doing that anyways since it says not to apply on to the cloth?) which was suggested on the support page of the main website.
Currently, my keyboard looks like this. Honestly, the fading can't be noticed since it was just my cell-phone camera, but you can notice it when looking at the shift key and comparing it with the caps lock. The camera quality kind of blurrs the white together, so you can't really notice it on the small keys.
+ Show Spoiler +
Also, I can't imagine typing on a normal keyboard anymore since this keyboard is my first mechanical, and I just can't imagine the idea of shipping it back :D
Though I will consider it.
Also, I hope I didn't make it seem as if I'm dissatisfied with the keyboard, I was just unsure as to how to go about dealing with the fading on the lettering for my keys. All-in-all its a great keyboard.
On July 02 2011 05:34 Quanbsn wrote:
mine is just get dirty, not faded away.
Btw dear daskeyboard, what liquid should i use to clean the keycaps ? And what should i do to prevent it from dust ?, my keyboard seems to love dust...
http://www.daskeyboard.com/support/
Try here!
EDIT: What I do is I just use that wrap that they packaged the keyboard in and put it over my keyboard whenever I'm not using it. This prevents dust from accumulating on the gloss for the most part. And then I just wipe my fingerprints down with the super cool soft cloth that they provide in the box either after I play a game or before I go to bed.
Also, thanks to everyone else who posted!
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Be careful about cleaning your keycaps with alcohol. I know you're not supposed to clean Filco keycaps with alcohol as it will screw up the keycaps and I think eat into the plastic..
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We recommend folks use a tiny bit of alcohol to clean their keys. I think the suggestion of not putting it on the cloth is so you don't try to do so with a drenched cloth and end up dripping liquid into other areas of the keyboard. Use as little as possible and it should work. Haven't heard about alcohol eating away at the plastic. If this is a concern, use the lowest percentage you can find.
We did post a blog post on this as someone shared their cleaning story with us after he spilled a drink on his keyboard and was able to clean it so that it worked again.
In regards to dust, there is no way to prevent dust without using a cover or something like that. If there were, I would use the method all over my house so I wouldn't have to dust. However, the micro cloth we send with the keyboard easily wipes off all dust and fingerprints.
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Upvote for customer service.
Also, the best method against dust is buying a vacuum and using it 
My experience in cleaning any of my peripherals is that window cleaner works just fine. So far, none of my mice or keyboards have melted because of it.
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Alcohol will only eat into the plastic if left on there, I would guess. A light amount, it should just evaporate too quickly to do any damage.
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I also own a Das keyboard, however I did my research before purchasing one, and I did find a few cases of the keys wearing off, mostly due to abuse, but some due to just heavy gaming use with sweaty hands, that is why I purchased the ultimate silent edition, blank keys have a much harder with the whole letters wearing off business.
The fastest solution is to just buy another keyset, and a key remover tool, you can get whatever font you want, and it'll only cost a couple bucks (around $15 for a really nice full 104 key set)
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I've been noticing the same exact thing with mine, and also found it weird that they specifically say that the keys are laser etched to prevent fading even thought this keyboard fades faster than all my previous ones.
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Send them a email and ask for an exchange? since it did not hold up to what it promised.
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EPT![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/UEwvT.jpg)
