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K63 Wireless Keyboard Battery Lifespan


Waterman

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Dear Corsair:

 

As this keyboard need to be charged every 2-3 days if it is used to play game as intended. I am curious to know what is the battery cycle of this keyboard? What happened if the battery cannot be fully charged anymore?

 

A $20 keyboard can really last more than 10 years, or even 20. What will happen to this keyboard after the battery lifespan is out?

 

Do you guys replace the battery for us?

 

Why didn't you guy choose to design the keyboard with replaceable battery?

Edited by Waterman
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I have to agree and I did think this when I bought the keyboard a few weeks ago, as at no point will it be used as wired. The battery will need to be replaced at some point, and at £120 for a wireless keyboard, I expect to get about 3-4 years out of it. Batteries also diminish in their capacity over time.

 

I used a K800 for 4 years, a great keyboard and weeks between charging, but you can tell the difference alone when ALT+TAB with the K63 wireless as It's instant, like wired, unlike the K800 where there's a slight delay, which in gaming, especially FPS is critical. I love this keyboard though, It's well built and solid, instant responsiveness, the tenkeyless is great as I don't use numpad anyway, but I would liked to have seen some RGB. Hopefully the battery can be replaced in the future when needed.

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Hi Corsair Nick,

 

Thanks for telling us that. This is actually a significant information, because it is not disclosed upfront for such an expensive keyboard.

 

So after 2 years what are we suppose to do if the battery is dead? Please guide us here. Unless you are telling us to throw it away and buy a new one?

 

Please keep in mind that if the battery is dead the blue light will not work too. I tested it when the battery is low, the blue light will not turn on even when it is actively being charged. Therefore without the battery this keyboard is a regular wired keyboard without any light.

Edited by Waterman
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I have to say that a non-replaceable battery for a £120 keyboard is very poor as I plan to use this for more than 2 years, and at no point ever will it be used as wired. This really isn't helping you as a company as a replaceable battery would be easy to implement. Logitech can do it, but I guess Corsair are so greedy that they can't see past the balance sheet and are not taking a long term view? It's highly unlikely I'll buy another Corsair product. Edited by tywyn
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  • Corsair Employees
Hi Corsair Nick,

 

Thanks for telling us that. This is actually a significant information, because it is not disclosed upfront for such an expensive keyboard.

 

So after 2 years what are we suppose to do if the battery is dead? Please guide us here. Unless you are telling us to throw it away and buy a new one?

 

Please keep in mind that if the battery is dead the blue light will not work too. I tested it when the battery is low, the blue light will not turn on even when it is actively being charged. Therefore without the battery this keyboard is a regular wired keyboard without any light.

 

RGB lighting will still continue to function when wired and communicating with the CUE software on the system. When in wired mode, all connectivity is done over the wire, even if the wireless dongle is connected.

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RGB lighting will still continue to function when wired and communicating with the CUE software on the system. When in wired mode, all connectivity is done over the wire, even if the wireless dongle is connected.

 

That is what I was hoping. But mine didn't work when the battery ran out and I plugged the USB in.

 

Even if the RBG work while USB is plugged in. After roughly about 2 years, which is where most battery start to decline, are you telling us to use it as a wired keyboard?

 

I really think you all should start considering a program for replacing the battery for your customers. It is much better than making the customer buy another keyboard because the battery does not work. It is not environmental friendly, and a waste too. Please, seriously look into it.

 

The design of this keyboard is beautiful and comfortable. Please don't let this keyboard becomes a waste just because of the battery.

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  • Corsair Employees
That is what I was hoping. But mine didn't work when the battery ran out and I plugged the USB in.

 

 

Do you have CUE installed and running with a lighting effect set when you connected the K63 wireless through a USB cable? And was it connected to a USB 3.0 port on your PC?

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Do you have CUE installed and running with a lighting effect set when you connected the K63 wireless through a USB cable? And was it connected to a USB 3.0 port on your PC?

 

Yeah, when the battery ran out, it was connected to the USB 3, I have CUE, it came with the Corsair One, updated. When battery is out or very low, it wouldn't charge properly. The blue light cannot be turned on too. (on both CUE and the keyboard lightswitch)

 

Also, I notice another problem. If I am using bluetooth as a mean to connect, then I charge it and left the USB cable plugged in and turned off the computer, when I turned it on again, there will be a green and blue light, indicating that it is charging and is using bluetooth, despite that there is a cable connecting to the Corsair One.

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  • Corsair Employees
Yeah, when the battery ran out, it was connected to the USB 3, I have CUE, it came with the Corsair One, updated. When battery is out or very low, it wouldn't charge properly. The blue light cannot be turned on too. (on both CUE and the keyboard lightswitch)

 

Also, I notice another problem. If I am using bluetooth as a mean to connect, then I charge it and left the USB cable plugged in and turned off the computer, when I turned it on again, there will be a green and blue light, indicating that it is charging and is using bluetooth, despite that there is a cable connecting to the Corsair One.

 

I reached out to our engineers for K63, and the keyboard does not restore backlighting until the battery is in the low range of change. This is to ensure the battery reaches an optimal state before the keyboard backlighting begins to draw current against it and the incoming USB power. You will need to press the backlight brightness button to turn the backlights back on once they have reached the appropriate charge level.

 

For you K63 owners, does the keyboard still function wirelessly if you plug in a USB power cable (no data)?

 

When the charge cable is connected, all communication is processed over the cable to the PC.

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  • 2 months later...

bit concerned about this, to be honest i didn't expect such a poor design choice from corsair.

 

marrying mx switches with a lifetime of 50 million plus activations with a battery expected to last 2 years is pretty lame to say the least.

 

have purchased a k63 wireless and am looking into returning due to this. why wasn't a simple rechargeable aa set up used? have used this is many other products without issue. at least sell a replacement battery.

 

what are those of us who need a wireless keyboard expected to do after two years? the best we can expect is to take the switches and build a new keyboard ourselves.

 

i've been using corsair products for years, tbh both of my current builds, htpc (which the keyboard is for) and my main desktop both have corsair ram, corsair PSUs, corsair fans & one is even in a corsair case, but after this my next build will likely not feature corsair products. feel more than a little cheated.

Edited by chillibeef
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1) I use mine via BT and charging all the time from a USB charging port on my power strip.

 

2) If the battery starts to go, you can use the device wired, even if it's wireless and on a USB power source.

 

3) I am kinda bummed that the battery is not easily replacable. So basically, we'd have to pay to have it replaced by Corsair after 2 years, or get creative on our own. ;)

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  • 1 month later...

I just bought the K63 and like it so far aside from the fairly short battery life new out of the box. I'm having some concerns now knowing that there is no way to replace the battery in the future.

 

@Corsair Nick, if we notice a drop in battery life while within the 2 year warranty period, does this mean that we can RMA our K63 and get a replacement sent out?

 

I have a great keyboard from Filco that has been working for 6+ years without a hiccup and seems like it'll last another 6+ years.

 

I'm a little uneasy about the fact that with the K63 I might be stuck shelling out for a new one every few years because the battery is a ticking time bomb.

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I just bought the K63 and like it so far aside from the fairly short battery life new out of the box. I'm having some concerns now knowing that there is no way to replace the battery in the future.

 

@Corsair Nick, if we notice a drop in battery life while within the 2 year warranty period, does this mean that we can RMA our K63 and get a replacement sent out?

 

I have a great keyboard from Filco that has been working for 6+ years without a hiccup and seems like it'll last another 6+ years.

 

I'm a little uneasy about the fact that with the K63 I might be stuck shelling out for a new one every few years because the battery is a ticking time bomb.

 

Yes, you can RAM the board within 2 years if you are experiencing problems with the battery life.

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3) I am kinda bummed that the battery is not easily replacable. So basically, we'd have to pay to have it replaced by Corsair after 2 years, or get creative on our own. ;)

 

You can always crack open the keyboard and find a replacement battery online for pretty much nothing. I'd be shocked if Corsair didn't just use an off the shelf battery that was mass produced in China.

It would be way cheaper than any replacement battery Corsair would sell.

Edited by Inheritance
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You can always crack open the keyboard and find a replacement battery online for pretty much nothing. I'd be shocked if Corsair didn't just use an off the shelf battery that was mass produced in China.

It would be way cheaper than any replacement battery Corsair would sell.

Well, that would be the creative part I was referring to. :) From the sound of things it may involve soldering, but I've made my own connects in the past too.

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  • 1 year later...

The K83 suffers from the same intentional crippling:

 

https://forum.corsair.com/forums/showthread.php?t=193368

 

And no we cannot just open the case and replace the battery. The case is multiple layers of superglue directly onto PCB. Look at the disassembly of the K83 in the TechPowerUp article. They said it is completely impossible to open without breaking, and that they assume not even Corsair will be able to open the cases.

 

Basically Corsair has stuck a LiPo battery with a 2-3 year shelf life into a superglued keyboard case, so that when the battery is expired (swelling and unable to hold a charge), the keyboard must be thrown away.

 

With average charging (3 times per week) this will happen around the 2 year date. Conveniently when the warranty ends.

 

My only question is WHO decided on this design and WHY?

 

Thanks Corsair.

Edited by svartchimpans
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  • 1 month later...
I bought the thing 3 weeks ago and just pulled it out of the box 2 days ago. I like it but decided to google and YouTube replacing the battery and eventually landed here. I should have known better than to buy from these guys. I bought a mouse and keyboard before and I did not use the mouse long before buying another. The backlit keyboard I had before the lettering started rubbing off about 3 months in. Now it turns out if the letters are still readable on this after the battery dies it's nothing but a doorstop. Come on corsair you can do better you surely do not deserve the name you have from my experience with you so far. The very least you can do is put your technicians to work on a firmware update that will still allow us to have a backlit keyboard when the battery dies or else this simply becomes a used $10 general typing keyboard which is not what we were led to believe we were buying. It cannot be difficult to write something that will allow the backlight to work with a dead battery plugged in. The more I think about this I'm getting peeved at myself for not pulling it out earlier so I could just return it and be done with you guys. I was going to buy the lap base but why would I waste the money if it's just going to be thrown in the trash due to you guys having no customer loyalty. Edited by ruralamerican
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I suppose I'll just wait and see what happens with this keyboard in a couple of years. If it turns out that I lose the backlighting, I will be very upset. I see 7 screws, so it shouldn't be impossible to open up, and the leads can be cut to slice in a new battery.

 

Otherwise it has to be sent back to Corsair and pay to have them replace it, which would probably be cost prohibitive. Seriously, meh.

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I suppose I'll just wait and see what happens with this keyboard in a couple of years. If it turns out that I lose the backlighting, I will be very upset. I see 7 screws, so it shouldn't be impossible to open up, and the leads can be cut to slice in a new battery.

 

Otherwise it has to be sent back to Corsair and pay to have them replace it, which would probably be cost prohibitive. Seriously, meh.

 

You just never know they may release and update that deals with it and maybe not. I would think something will come of it if enough people speak up. You don't get a good name through bad behavior. i just know for my experience with Corsair peripherals if they don't this will be 3 for 3 bad and I will just stick with someone trusted like Logitech. I would have gone with them here but their wireless lacked back lighting. I did go with them on the wireless gaming mouse I bought at the same time.

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You just never know they may release and update that deals with it and maybe not. I would think something will come of it if enough people speak up. You don't get a good name through bad behavior. i just know for my experience with Corsair peripherals if they don't this will be 3 for 3 bad and I will just stick with someone trusted like Logitech. I would have gone with them here but their wireless lacked back lighting. I did go with them on the wireless gaming mouse I bought at the same time.

 

Problem is that they're release a new revision with detachable battery, and expect you to buy it.

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