60HE Board Failure and No Response from Support in Over Two Weeks | Wooting | Page 1

regal patrol Jul 23, 2023, 5:13 AM

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Hello, my 60HE failed on June 27th. Currently, I'm unsure of the reason for the failure, though we do know something went wrong in the power delivery part of the board. Customer support was excellent and super transparent. I was told on July 4th that they would send a new PCBA out and that I should allow up to 2 weeks for my order to be fulfilled. On July 11th, I reached out curious about the order batch, then again on the 18th, with no response. I also started an entirely new ticket on the order with the replacement PCB on July 20th. Once again, without response (Though this was extremely recent, so I'm not exactly expecting a reply yet). The order tracker still says order received/processing. I've invested more money than I'd like to admit into my Wooting, and im just frustrated that it failed so soon. I have no issue with a delay; however, I would like better communication. I still absolutely loved my Wooting and look forward to when I get the replacement PCB. How else can I get in contact with them? Has anyone else had their 60HE board fail?

lone muralBOT Jul 23, 2023, 5:13 AM

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Thanks for posting your support request!

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silent crater Jul 23, 2023, 4:22 PM

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There is likely still a huge backlog of support requests, Wooting hired a lot more people for support but it still take some time to handle all the tickets. It's also summer time, so I expect some maybe make holidays now.
Wooting basically got surprised by the rapidly increasing popularity. Just a year ago only a few people worked at Wooting. So while it's a Wooting problem they already try to improve there. It will likely take a while until the support response is as fast as they want it to be.

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About the issue, it looks bad and it seems there is some gunk. Would be interesting to check it out on a better picture.
Can you maybe provide a better one where the USB area is in focus?

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By the way, have you may swapped or tried another case at any point?

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~~I have no clue where the gunk may came from.~~ Neither the ceramic capacitor C5, nor the ferrite bead FB1 or the resistor R55 should be able to leak to my knowledge.

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So my guess is that either the ferrite bead or the capacitor maybe got that hot that the coating melted.

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Besides that it can also be some residue of the foam which sticks to the PCBA now due to excessive heat.

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Meaning it would be good to know if you can clean it up with isopropanol so see if it's something on the coating or if it's the coating.

regal patrol Jul 23, 2023, 4:59 PM

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Hey, I totally understand. I just wasn't expecting issues with the order processing after the support process had gone so well, tbh. It was in the original case when it failed. However, I did order a custom case after they confirmed that they would replace the PCB. I wouldn't be surprised if that's residue from the foam. Right as it shut off, I could smell an awful burning smell that turned out to be the foam. I can still smell it from the foam in that area weeks later. I would try to clean it, but they said to ship the old one back once I receive mine so they could check it out. So, I wanted to leave it in the same condition as when it failed.

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Also, here you go. My phone won't focus on that part of the board well.

silent crater Jul 23, 2023, 5:01 PM

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Ah, so they likely want to inspect it to figure out what went wrong. As far as I know they only do that rarely.

regal patrol Jul 23, 2023, 5:02 PM

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Yeah, I haven't seen a board failure like this yet

silent crater Jul 23, 2023, 5:03 PM

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The ferrite bead is the cause.

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But again, have you put the module in a different case before? Even that it failed in the original one.

regal patrol Jul 23, 2023, 5:06 PM

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I forgot to mention. After it shut off, there was also a deep black mark on the USB-C connector. Unfortunately, I cleaned it off already. Nope, this was my first time removing it all together.

silent crater Jul 23, 2023, 5:08 PM

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The majority of the damage appears on the bottom side. There is a big crack which typical occur when there was some stress due to a bad standoff.

regal patrol Jul 23, 2023, 5:09 PM

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Oh I see

silent crater Jul 23, 2023, 5:13 PM

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I know it can be already enough to put the module in a case which is incompatible due to a bad standoff position just once. This component is very sensitive to mechanical stress.
So even if it seems to be fine after a bad case was used at a first glance, it can be that there were already micro cracks which leads to failure later on when this components got warm due to heat expansion.

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Like I'm not aware that a single full size Wooting died to this problem even it should have the same layout for the input power filtering and so should have the same likelihood for this failure type.

regal patrol Jul 23, 2023, 5:18 PM

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Good point. On the topic of the cracks tho. I did install it into a case a few weeks after it failed (just to see if I liked it) so it may have come from that.

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but I never really tightened any of the screws

silent crater Jul 23, 2023, 5:19 PM

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What case was it?

regal patrol Jul 23, 2023, 5:20 PM

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https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256804307637718.html?spm=a2g0o.order_list.order_list_main.5.21ef1802U21T1p&gatewayAdapt=glo2usa Had seen someone else with a build in it, and it seems like a steal for this price

fiery depot Jul 23, 2023, 5:21 PM

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(source) https://wooting-technologies.notion.site/de7a52e2b5a941258a17e448b0c9d9b0?v=5ec0b31c59db4a51b8a86a1288249e9f
seems the case is on the list\

silent crater Jul 23, 2023, 5:21 PM

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If the component was already dead it was likely already broken. But I would think mechanical stress would then cause the already present cracks to come apart but not causing new ones. Meaning I would expect that it would not cause cracks which weren't already there.

regal patrol Jul 23, 2023, 5:21 PM

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When I installed it I barely tightened the screws and removed all of the case standoffs like the person whose build I saw did as well.

regal patrol Jul 23, 2023, 5:22 PM

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fiery depot (source) https://wooting-technologies.notion.site/de7a52e2b5a941258a17e448b0c9d...

Yikes. Should I return the case then? I really liked it and it seem to fit well inside of it

silent crater Jul 23, 2023, 5:22 PM

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You need to remove the standoff which is marked red and insert that in the green spot.

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I guess that is just screwed in.

regal patrol Jul 23, 2023, 5:25 PM

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Oh If I remember right, when I received it, almost all the holes had standoffs in them. It just seems like it would sit far too high with them in. https://www.reddit.com/r/WootingKB/comments/10i1xlz/love_the_60he_added_custom_case_cable_keycaps/ original post I found the case from

silent crater Jul 23, 2023, 5:26 PM

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If the standoffs elevate the PCB too much I would not recomment to use that case.

regal patrol Jul 23, 2023, 5:28 PM

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Do you think I could find smaller standoffs, maybe? The only case with a similar-ish design is the Mekanisk Fjell but thats far more than Im willing to spend

silent crater Jul 23, 2023, 5:29 PM

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Like if it elevate the PCB so that the USB port don't fit anymore you would need to remove all standoffs. But then the bad position would be the same height as the good one and so there would not be enough clearance anymore.
In that case you should not use that case. If you still want to use it you need to provide enough clearance by removing material at the bad position.

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The question is how the USB port fits. It can be that you can use a small standoff but it can be that you can't insert any, not even a small one.

regal patrol Jul 23, 2023, 5:32 PM

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So enlarge the USB port area? How would I go about doing that? Something like a small file?

silent crater Jul 23, 2023, 5:32 PM

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https://wooting-technologies.notion.site/60-Light-Edge-Alu-Plastic-3b5a1e66d03446bf9ab9ad687d8d99f4

Wooting's Notion on Notion

60% Light Edge Alu/Plastic

At least one report from Discord (Lucy D#9374) that the case has spacing issues with the components on the underside of the PCBA.

Measure twice and ensure absolutely no parts stick up more than what the PCB requires in all locations (Particularly the unused standoffs, even if removed - the raised areas need to be sanded/grinded down flat to mat...

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Looks like the area where the bad position is needs to be removed.

regal patrol Jul 23, 2023, 5:34 PM

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which area are you referring to?

silent crater Jul 23, 2023, 5:34 PM

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Otherwise you need to enlarge the USB port hole to the top so that the USB connector can fit when the standoffs are used at the correct positions.

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regal patrol Jul 23, 2023, 5:35 PM

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oh okay

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That doesn't seem too bad. Just make it flush with the surrounding area right? As that seems far easier than expanding the usb port

silent crater Jul 23, 2023, 5:38 PM

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I don't know. I don't know the dimensions of that case so I can't tell.

regal patrol Jul 23, 2023, 5:38 PM

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this is the only pic of dimensions on the page

silent crater Jul 23, 2023, 5:41 PM

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The PCB and the USB connector together are around 3,84 mm thick.
The USB connector should be the highest component of the PCBA.
So if you extent the cutout of the USB port to the south so that the area where the bad standoff position is is a deep as that it should be fine I guess.

silent crater Jul 23, 2023, 5:42 PM

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regal patrol this is the only pic of dimensions on the page

Nah, the death of the areas would be interesting not the wide or length.

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If you remove the yellow area it should be fine.

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Like to make this area as deep as the USB area and the inner area.

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The problem is that most of the cases are designed for top mounted PCBs, but the components on the Wooting are backmounted.

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So the standard standoff can be too high for the Wooting. And this is also the reason why the elevation for a bad standoff for a bad spot causes trouble.

regal patrol Jul 23, 2023, 5:49 PM

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Alright. Would a nail file work? I'll try it once I get some extra time. I would hate to finally get the new PCB and then damage/maybe even kill it due to cracking. Thank you so much. Any idea of how long it would take for the PCB to be fulfilled? They said two weeks max, and we're cresting on three. I bought a keyboard to use while waiting for the replacement, so im not really in a rush anymore. Now just worried that an issue came about with the replacement.

regal patrol Jul 23, 2023, 5:49 PM

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silent crater The problem is that most of the cases are designed for top mounted PCBs, but the...

Oh I didnt know that

silent crater Jul 23, 2023, 5:50 PM

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Hmm, I assume it will take a while. So my guess is that a Dremel with the correct bit would be the best tool for this, besides a proper CNC machine. 🙂

silent crater Jul 23, 2023, 5:51 PM

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regal patrol Oh I didnt know that

What's why the board is likely too high if a standoff is used.

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Hmm, wait no... Now that I think about it a standoff should rather help than causing issues.

regal patrol Jul 23, 2023, 5:52 PM

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What type of bit am I looking for? Ill try to find the standoffs and put them back in and take pics.

silent crater Jul 23, 2023, 5:53 PM

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Because then the USB connector of the Wooting should be too low because it's deeper and so a standoff should rather help to elevate it enough again so that the port is high enough to reach the hole of the case.

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Some hard one to grind metal.

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I guess this may work: https://www.amazon.com/-/de/dp/B00004UDJL

Dremel 9903 Tungsten Carbide Cutter

The Bosch 1/8 in. Tungsten Carbide Cutter may be used to shape or smooth, or to remove material. You can use it on steel and stainless-steel, cast iron, nonferrous metals, fired ceramics, plastics, hardwood and other hard materials.

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Can you remove the standoff on the wrong position and insert that in the correct position. Then to put something flat in the case which rests on multiple standoffs and to make a picture from the outsite into the USB port.

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So I can see at which height the flat thing appears through the USB port.

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I'm interested in which horizontal height the underside of the PCB would be.

regal patrol Jul 23, 2023, 6:10 PM

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Wow I didn't realize just how big these standoffs were. (Rested pcb on it). The port is so high that you can't even see it lol

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Gonna purchase a Dremel and a carbide cutter and give it a try. Relieved I'm avoiding potential future issues. If it doesn't work out, maybe I'll just buy one of the Mekanisk cases. Thanks again. I really appreciate it! 🙂

silent crater Jul 23, 2023, 6:51 PM

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Hmm, in that case it would be cheaper to sell that case and wait for the case from Wooting. 😄

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Not sure what I'm looking at.

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In the case the round thing is the elevation of the standoff that is far to high.

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And it seems the standoffs are indeed far to long. Which raises the question for me for which boards these are made for. The board should have a very very high USB connector if that should still reach the port with these.

regal patrol Jul 23, 2023, 6:55 PM

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silent crater Not sure what I'm looking at.

sorry was hard to get a good angle. But just was trying to show how high usb connector was

regal patrol Jul 23, 2023, 6:55 PM

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silent crater Hmm, in that case it would be cheaper to sell that case and wait for the case fr...

So far, a good enough Dremel + the bit should only cost me 50-60 so im not too worried. I do wish I had checked the compatibility section tho.

amber hinge Jul 23, 2023, 8:49 PM

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Hey hopefully they respond tomorrow. Worries me about ordering anything from them

regal patrol Jul 23, 2023, 8:52 PM

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Hey! Thanks, me too.

silent crater Jul 23, 2023, 8:56 PM

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regal patrol So far, a good enough Dremel + the bit should only cost me 50-60 so im not too w...

I can't gurantee that it will work. It can be that the bit is not good enough. I don't actually have experience with that.

regal patrol Jul 23, 2023, 8:58 PM

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Its fine. A friend has one that I can borrow, so its practically free to test now

#60HE Board Failure and No Response from Support in Over Two Weeks