Wooting longevity

[true hound]

So I have a flaretech keyboard that's really starting to show its age (I'm running out of switches to swap around to try to keep the keyfeel at least a little less crunchy and some of them are bottoming out at like, 50% according to the software), is there any way to try to stretch them out further or should I just bite the bullet and get a new keyboard
and if I do, what's the long term support for the wooting HE switches look like
is there something like a standard so you aren't locked into wooting still existing and still manufacturing the switches on their website?

[odd hamlet]

Thanks for posting your support request!

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[remote junco]

I'm afraid that the Flaretech switches are no longer in production, nor in stock in meaningful amounts with us. The best we can offer are switches for emergency repairs on a case by case basis (meaning a couple, not a full set), since we only have precious few left and no way for us to restock them again.

[true hound]

also is differential wear a thing with the HE switches and if so is there per key calibration on the new boards?

cause I stopped using the analog stuff entirely like a year or two back cause it's just become too inconsistent

[raven geode]

differential wear on flaretech was mainly the switches wearing which can happen on any swiTch technology. you are after all rubbing pieces of plastic along each other

[true hound]

a few of my keys bottom out at like, 50-95% of "bottomed out" according to the software

[raven geode]

however unlike adomax flaretech typbe b switches the swiTches require dfor HE/TMR boards are plentiful and not just made by 1 company

[true hound]

I think my D key might have had a partial LED failure because it bottoms out at 50%-ish even if I swap the switch?

[raven geode]

the worst on magnetic keyboards in this regard would be wobble of the stem which causes the magnet to move slightly up and down which can cause inaccuracy together with smth like rapid trigger

i dont even know if hall effect sensors can really break if operated properly

as in you dont spill water on it or such

[true hound]

so like, generally speaking any magnetic switch with the physical form factor required to install in the keyboard would function with the HE wootings?

[raven geode]

but yeah we never wanted to lock people into us with flaretech either but adomax had insane MOQ. he switches have soread to tons of manufacturers and #🔧│keyboard_modding is very keen on putting other switches into our keyboards as well as other HE boards

[raven geode]

i think theres no modern HE switch that doesnt work except maybe low profile switchea

[random bay]

I'm glad to see that you've still got your flaretech keyboard and are enjoying it!
How long have you had it now? Has to be at least five years, maybe even 8 or 9.

It's a point of pride for us that if you want to keep your current board going, we're going to support it as long as we can, both physical hardware and software.

But on the hardware side, that's becoming harder and harder...

We still have a few switches left we can send as replacements, max of 5 linear Reds per customer or maybe can stretch up to 8 clicky blues.

In the decade that Wooting has been making keyboards, we've learned an enormous amount about how to make them better and how to make them to last. If you're ready to upgrade to a hall effect Wooting keyboard, you can expect it will last at least as long as your flaretech, and probably much much longer.

In the meantime, the hall effect keyboard market has grown tremendously, meaning that there are many third party companies and manufacturers that can provide products that work with our hall effect keyboards. We've been trying to support this healthy competition and have seen success in that.

Thank you for your long term support!

[true hound]

I thiiiink it's only been 5-6 years? the lekker stuff was announced only a few months after I got it IIRC
also I assume there aren't any plans in the pipeline to make an updated full size? :c

oh another related question on the software side, as I understand it some of the software capabilities on newer versions of wootility haven't been rolled out to the flaretech boards for reasons of not enough onboard compute/memory, are the older HE boards at any risk of this for anything other than polling rate as you start rolling out stuff like the 80HE and 60v2?

[raven geode]

if by older you mean getting an AVR version (which we dont sell on our store anymore) then yes. we currently only sell ARM boards

[true hound]

by older I meant the 2 HE on the store

also looks like it doesn't have switch customization options stock?

[raven geode]

it got updated to the arm chip

[raven geode]

none of the preassembled boards do. only our module options as they are a assemble yourself kit essentially

the 2he doesnt use the module construction like 60he and 80he do so youd have to buy siwtches and then pull out all L60s installed and plop in whatever switches you buy from us or another store/manufacturer

[true hound]

it comes with L60s?

[raven geode]

yes

all the preassembled boards come with L60s by default

[true hound]

the suggested addon was L45s and I was like, expecting that to just be spare switches and was worried about that being a little light

[raven geode]

L60 is comparable to the flaretech red/blue switches force to press fully down (ofc they are fully linear)

[true hound]

I always felt like the blacks offered more granular control over the actual linear bit but I'm also speaking from a "the actual linear sensing portion of the switch's travel is (less than) half as long as the HE switches" perspective

[raven geode]

so as far as im aware theres no switch with 80g bottom out springs preinstalled. we do offer spring packs though so you could spring swap switches to 80g or even more

[true hound]

yeah I was thinking I might just get a 2HE, see how it feels, and if it's not heavy enough grab a spring pack

[raven geode]

also we havent announced any remake of the 2he other than the upgrade from avr to arm mcu which has happened like a year or 2 ago at this point

[true hound]

and based on the typical timescale y'all work on I assume that if there were any plans for anything like that on the drawing board it'd be like 2+ years out anyways

(also in the end it'd be giving you more money for more quality keyboards, which seems like a win to me?)

do the lekker switches come prelubed?

[raven geode]

if wed redesign the 2he it would prob be more like the 60he v2 where its mainly 8khz polling and an updated case design to depart from floating keys as we consider it outdated design (as one can tell by the 60he, 80he and uwu not using it

[raven geode]

yes

stabs are prelubed as well

ofc prelube wont compete with a good handlube job but it is better than unlubed

[true hound]

you overestimate my lubing skills