K70 Keyboard, Eleven (11) dead LEDs

[Loki76]

First, it isn't a common issue at all. This is because I base it on the numbers we have sold versus the number actually returned to us for the issue. You claim there is more than what I imply yet you have no facts except conjecture to support your case.

 

Second, if you continue to have issues with your keyboard, then we do have options and you can discuss it with our customer service if you are not happy with the same replacement. The K70 is selling VERY VERY well right now and the reason why replacements may be delayed is simply an inventory issue (shortage).

 

You can jump up and down with threats to report to us to X and Y or you can calm down, and let us do our best to assist you. We strive to do what we can for all our customers and if you're one of the unlucky few that continue to have the same problem persist, we'll come up with a solution.

 

 

Sure, I went to Amazon.com and read through the reviews (84 in total), 8-9 people wrote that they had several LED lights dying on their K70's. Just on that alone it is a statistic of 10% failure rate. That is pretty big. Let me remind you of all the potential customers that DIDN'T go back and updated their reviews with LED failures after a few months of ownership.

 

I also check what version of K70 the people that had LED failures had. It was 7-8 out of 9 that had the SILVER version with blue LED's that had most of the failures. This points towards a problem with that specific keyboard.

 

Moreover, when people RMA the keyboard they have a top option of "dead LED" as RMA reason for the K70. If it was so uncommon I doubt it would be there in the first place.

 

When people right here on the forum have said they received a replacement K70 and THAT one also failed with LED lights, something is wrong and no, it is NOT an uncommon issue.

 

The reason I react, is because this is a premium product with a premium price. Unless specifically requesting a prepaid shipping label you're a stuck with an EXTRA charge of shipping costs ON TOP of the initial price.

 

Perhaps I am a little extra perturbed seeing as I have had several Corsair products fail on me over the years. 3 out of 4 products failing with in a short time span from purchase date is not a good track record, personally for me.

 

M95 dying with the sensor in just a few days (bought around the same time I bought my K70), then the K70 with 4 dead LED's, I would also suspect at least some more would die along the way as many others have had.

 

The Corsair HS-1 headset was my first Corsair product bought several years ago, it had a COMMON issue as well, on the cord you have the sound card/volume adjuster. Inside after a while many people lose the connection to one of the ear-cup speakers (sound going out). Read several people had the same problem. It was not mishandling of the product either, being careful to have it on the lap.

 

My last ( out of the 4 products) is the Corsair Obsidian 550D case. Great case and ironically the only one that didn't fail, cause it has no parts to fail at. Although the side panel did break, with the plastic bit falling off keeping it close. So I guess 4 out of 4 products breaking.

 

How about that for a track-record?

 

You just don't like that a Corsair customer is upset and posting about it here.

 

I am to receive my replacement K70 tomorrow, after a 30 day long RMA process. I had to call support cause you had my K70 for 5 business days without sending out a replacement and giving me and update as to why. I learned that you have the silver k70 on back order and you guys couldn't be BOTHERED TO INFORM me of this, bad , very bad. So I said I want my K70 sent out and she was helpful and I got a black version sent out ( remains to be seen once I have it), which is fine by me cause either one looks great.

 

Don't get me wrong, your products do have FEEL and LOOK of great quality. The K70 is arguable the best looking mechanical keyboard out there. It is just so annoying that the smallest, cheapest component such as the LED's failing.They are essential to properly see the keys, but completely non-essential for it's function.

 

So here's hoping my replacement work.

 

So I did get a solution by getting a black replacement to my Silver one. Which I was told in the ticket was not possible. I am just upset over some of these aspects. If there is a back-order on the replacement keyboard, you should notify your customer about it. Any threats is only the result of it taking close to 30 days to get my RMA done. Ultimately it was about ME having to push for things to happen, request a prepaid label, call to have a solution of the back-order issue which I was not informed about. I get told it will take a few days to process the faulty K70 for tests and days go by with no update. I could have been waiting for weeks. Where do you lay the blame for that?

[fastattaq]

And so it begins.

Owner of a silver/ blue LED K70 with the Cherry MX Reds.

Just lost my first LED under the "F" key on my 2 month old keyboard. Based on everything I've been reading on various forums including this one, and on product reviews posted on Newegg and Amazon, it is probably the first of many LEDs to go out.

 

I already spent $130 on this "high-end" keyboard. I am definitely not looking forward to spending more money on RMA shipping costs, especially if this QC problem can occur on the replacement board. If I knew I was going to spend more than $130 on a keyboard, I would have just bought a Happy Hacking or a Filco instead.

 

Have QC issues been addressed with the MX Brown and Blue versions?

[fastattaq]

Just as I predicted, my first dead LED was the beginning of a chain reaction. 48 hours after losing the LED under the "F" key, I lost the LED under my "5" key.

 

I will continue to post here as my LEDs continue to go out one by one.

 

edit 10-14-13, Noticed another LED out this morning.

[Sandog]

I had several LED's go out on my K70. I RMA'd the keyboard to Corsair and they quickly provided me a new one. Now I have 5 LED's out on the replacement keyboard and 1 LED that is dim.

 

I am waiting for a reply from Corsair.

[pyroxene]

Hello, just registered today to say that my k70 that's nearly a month old has 3 dead LEDs (comma and 2 arrow keys).

 

Now this was bought in the US and I'm living in the Philippines...

3 dead LEDs isn't the end of the world but I don't know if it's worth the hassle to RMA this (to Taiwan?) and receive another defective keyboard if it's a manufacturing issue.

 

UPDATE:

3 months in, TWENTY THREE dead LED keys... It's the end of the world. :[pouts:

Silver/blue k70 as well.

 

I had several LED's go out on my K70. I RMA'd the keyboard to Corsair and they quickly provided me a new one. Now I have 5 LED's out on the replacement keyboard and 1 LED that is dim.

 

I am waiting for a reply from Corsair.

 

Looks like I'll have to wait a bit more...

Someone please post a successful RMA soon...

[arkweld]

LED failure is endemic to Corsair keyboards. Statistical rebuttal aside you can just search for "Corsair dead LED" on Google and find reports from all over the Web, not just on this forum and Amazon but enthusiast sites and even YouTube.

 

I'm on my second K90 and that has multiple backlighting failures too. At this point the inconvenience and expectation of another failure is not even worth returning it, so I'll have to live with it.

 

Until Corsair start using a simple user-replaceable LED key switch mechanism then the possibility of losing an entire keyboard to multiple failures is still too high. If indeed this issue is not that wide of a concern then at the least Corsair should be offering free expedited shipping for all LED failures. As it is a replacement takes too long, the initial shipment is too much extra expense to ask over an oft reported defect and the failure rate of a replacement still unacceptable.

[Princess_Frosty]

LED failure is endemic to Corsair keyboards. Statistical rebuttal aside you can just search for "Corsair dead LED" on Google and find reports from all over the Web, not just on this forum and Amazon but enthusiast sites and even YouTube.

 

I'm on my second K90 and that has multiple backlighting failures too. At this point the inconvenience and expectation of another failure is not even worth returning it, so I'll have to live with it.

 

Until Corsair start using a simple user-replaceable LED key switch mechanism then the possibility of losing an entire keyboard to multiple failures is still too high. If indeed this issue is not that wide of a concern then at the least Corsair should be offering free expedited shipping for all LED failures. As it is a replacement takes too long, the initial shipment is too much extra expense to ask over an oft reported defect and the failure rate of a replacement still unacceptable.

 

They'd also pull the line from stores until they can work out how to manufacture this kit without huge number of defects.

 

I've sent over quite a significant amount of information about the multiple failures people are getting with these keyboards, to the point of sale where I bought mine, hopefully they'll pull the products to save other people this hastle.

 

Of course if Corsair were decent enough to arrange couriers to pick up their own defective products this would be a non issues, they could simply keep shipping them out again and again until we happen to get a good one.

 

But obviously with a product line with such a common problem they'd lose a lot money, so that's our job, to pay for their mistakes, because the huge price premiums these keyboards come with is not enough we need to be scammed out of more.

 

Shame because I have corsair RAM and a corsair PSU and otherwise like their kit, I felt safe buying a another high end part from them for my PC but they had to go and ruin their reputation.

 

None of my future gaming rigs or builds for friends and family will have ANY corsair parts in them, out of principle. That's the only recourse we have here.

[fx9]

This is not an issue that is commonplace and points to a defective keyboard. We can replace it for you under RMA which we have approved.

 

wrong, it's a common problem. I made a thread of the same issue with K95, but none of corsair employees replied.

I ended up pestering my seller to do the RMA with the distributor, which as you can guess, a pain in the *** process.

Next time, the LED dies again, I wouldn't bother to ask Corsair for help, I will just open it up and solder a new LED myself.

 

Thanks for the help, never will I purchase another corsair product again.

[BlueWolf]

Same here, got the Corsair K70 brown switches from newegg a month ago, and now the 'K' button, and media LED's are dead. Also the left part of the space bar seems to be loose. Very disappointed because this is my first mechanical keyboard and I was really hoping for some good quality for the $130 that I paid for this.

[Zaim]

That is not right. Corsair should be responsible for shipping both ways. It is THEIR fault the product is defective, not the consumer's.

 

I'm on hold now with Customer Support awaiting to find out if they are going to generate me a shipping label. If not, they lose my business forever. I've never dealt with a company that did not pay shipping both ways on a defective product. That is just bad business.

 

There are a lot of companies who don't pay shipping both ways, in fact I don't even know one company that does.

 

I've got a K90 and K95, perfectly fine, no dead LED's, maybe its a bad batch ?

[RealWild1]

I wish this thread had been a bit more prominent as I was ordering my K70. I received it September 7, and as of today, I just got my first dead LED on my R key. Unfortunately, I am now expecting more and will be looking into the RMA process. Really wishing I had gone with a different mechanical choice instead...

 

If what I'm reading here is correct and the RMA process requires me to pay more money for a now obviously overpriced keyboard, something needs done there, RAM Guy... Priority mail is cheap and adequate. Why punish your customers for your own defective merchandise?

[RealWild1]

LED failure is endemic to Corsair keyboards. Statistical rebuttal aside you can just search for "Corsair dead LED" on Google and find reports from all over the Web, not just on this forum and Amazon but enthusiast sites and even YouTube.

 

I'm on my second K90 and that has multiple backlighting failures too. At this point the inconvenience and expectation of another failure is not even worth returning it, so I'll have to live with it.

 

Until Corsair start using a simple user-replaceable LED key switch mechanism then the possibility of losing an entire keyboard to multiple failures is still too high. If indeed this issue is not that wide of a concern then at the least Corsair should be offering free expedited shipping for all LED failures. As it is a replacement takes too long, the initial shipment is too much extra expense to ask over an oft reported defect and the failure rate of a replacement still unacceptable.

 

After discovering this dead LED, that is actually where my search started tonight - how to replace an LED on this keyboard. Better business model all around if you give your customers a fee of buying a small bag of replacement LEDs to replace periodically over going through the hassle of an RMA for an overly expensive keyboard. Popping off the keys is nice and easy, so now just make that process another layer deeper to get at the LED.

[fx9]

I had never experience LED failure with any other branded keyboard before, like Logitech G15, Razer Lycosa and Microsoft Sidewinder X4.

Razer Lycosa by far served me the longest for 3years until the membrane under the WASD key wore off.

 

LEDs in my experience are hardy and durable, which most are spec'ed to last at least 100k hrs.

Hopefully, the underlying problem is not a failure in the LED circuitry design in Corsair keyboard. If yes, then self replacement of the LEDs are out of question.

 

Only time will tell.

[JarmonSolutions]

I too now have 11 dead blue leds. It started just like most with only 2 dead then the next day 2 more then 3 and now the number is 11 dead. I have an RMA number so will be sending mine back for a replacement. I have to say I am worried as I have read more than one member has been sent back a black and red K70 even though they sent in a silver and blue K70 due to the S&B boards being on backorder. I want the same color back that I sent in. Did Corsair inform you they were going to send you back a different color or did they just do it and explain why they did after the fact? I wonder if the problem is putting the led under the key where it could possibly be causing it to shake loose. Perhaps not as one of the lights out is the number 6 key on my number pad keys. I seldom use these keys.

[QuorthonRhar]

I just returned my keyboard and this is the end of my relationship with Corsair. More an more people are reporting these problems, and even though Corsair is trying to make this look like an isolated problem, it is not. It is wide spread problem, and it's not affecting just couple of keyboards released out in the wild.

 

From this video, and many others for that matter, you can see flickering/pulsating effect whenever someone is trying to record this keyboard and its backlights. Even though the guy in this video mentioned this is not due to keyboard, but to his camera, and our eyes can't detect it, that's not entirely true. In many cases you can get similar effect by setting your shutter speed the wrong way. Non-written rule (180 degrees shutter) is to keep your shutter speed double of what is your fps (frame rate), so for example if you're shooting at 30 fps, your shutter speed should be 1/60, if you're shooting at 60 fps, your shutter speed should be 1/120. To read more about it, go here: http://tylerginter.tumblr.com/post/11480534977/180-degree-shutter-learn-it-live-it-love-it

 

But, that's not the case here. I just tested it with my Canon 7D, tried every single possible setting, every shutter speed/fps combination... every single time I get exactly the same thing - unbelievable waves of pulsating backlight, all kind of flickering etc. This never happened with my CM QuickFire TK keyboard. You can watch a lot of videos on YouTube, all kind of keyboards with backlights, QuickFire, Ducky Shine 3, etc... none of them flickers. Corsair Vengeance K70 does flicker, and it does have a huge problem with dying LEDs. I believe there is even bigger problem and it's circuitry related. That proves one thing - when people start experiencing one LED dying, shortly after number of dying LEDs grows super fast. It's not done properly, and Corsair needs to admit this, recall this product and compensate everyone affected.

 

Another thing that proves something is really wrong is, many people who already went through whole RMA ordeal, got their keyboards and shortly after LEDs started dying again. So, don't tell me they purchased a lemon, two times. Some people are saying they returned it even 3 times and same story all over again Just look at this video and all the comments and replies to it.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=7jqZAdA4tmU&t=30

 

Anyway, this is the video I've mentioned above (just the part showing backlights):

 

Again, this is not due to wrongly set shutter speed. Look up any other keyboard with backlights video on YouTube, and you won't see them flickering. Something is wrong with Vengeance K70 LED circuitry.

[bonk3rs]

After 6 month I got 2 dead LEDs and just received my replacement. Guess what: It doesnt work at all. I payed 15€ shipping costs to replace my half broken keyboard with a completely broken keyboard. It is not even turning on rather than being recognized by the OS. Unbelievable...

 

Now I have to pay 15€ again to be at least able to sell it. Great!

[xnaron]

Yesterday I picked up a K70 (gun metal grey, cherry mx brown). I was gutted when I read this thread. I did a lot more research on the net and a LOT of people are posting about this problem. I feel like mine is marked for death. :)

 

However I have fallen in love with it and don't want to give it up. So what I did is go back to the store and buy their in store product replacement insurance for a 2 year period for $12. This means I can get it exchanged at the store anytime in the 2 year period if the led's or anything else on it fails. This makes me feel a lot better. Hopefully, if this is a widespread issue and mine fails, Corsair will figure it out and I'll get a good one eventually.

 

Just putting this out there to other people who might be a little uneasy buying one after reading about the LED failures. If you have an option to buy similar insurance you might want to do it and rest easier knowing you won't have to pay the shipping charges. I live in Canada and if I had to ship back to the US it would be at least $30 to $40.

[DigiChaos]

Welp, one month after buying the k70 w/ cherry browns on Amazon I have two LEDs out. I cannot even create an RMA on the corsair site because their ****ty system doesn't see CH-9000050-NA as a valid part number. With all the talk about Corsair not providing shipping costs, I think I am going to hit up Amazon for a return because they are awesome. Thanks Corsair time to start looking elsewhere.

[NekoTwilight]

All of the LEDs are slowly dying on my keyboard as well. Really upsetting for a $140 product that isn't even a month old. Also pretty bummed to see that the last time an employee paid attention to this thread was to get in a fight with a customer.

 

Oh well, RMA time.

[SethKinast]

Welp, one month after buying the k70 w/ cherry browns on Amazon I have two LEDs out. I cannot even create an RMA on the corsair site because their ****ty system doesn't see CH-9000050-NA as a valid part number. With all the talk about Corsair not providing shipping costs, I think I am going to hit up Amazon for a return because they are awesome. Thanks Corsair time to start looking elsewhere.

 

Same thing just happened to me. 22 days in, Browns, lost 4 LEDs. Can't even do an RMA through Corsair because their system doesn't have the part number. Will RMA through NewEgg. Really disappointed; I saw all the reports of bad LEDs and hoped it really was an isolated problem but it's clearly not.

[hutt132]

A LED died on my K70 MX Brown today after two months. They said I have to pay for replacement shipping...

[Capone2412]

Same thing just happened to me. 22 days in, Browns, lost 4 LEDs. Can't even do an RMA through Corsair because their system doesn't have the part number. Will RMA through NewEgg. Really disappointed; I saw all the reports of bad LEDs and hoped it really was an isolated problem but it's clearly not.

 

Just call the toll-free Corsair hotline, they can initiate the RMA for you.

[DigiChaos]

I am not going to RMA mine. I dont want to pay for shipping for something I already paid over $100 for. The keyboard works fine for now and Corsair is simply losing a customer.

[Hancoque]

My K70 red/silver also has 12 dead LEDs already. I wonder if replacing a dead one with a new one makes them work again and if they will also die after some time. Does anyone have experience with this? We really need to know what's causing the issue.

 

I have these theories:

 

1. Cheap LEDs are used.

Solution: Replace faulty LEDs with better ones.

 

2. Some (but not all) USB ports are causing the LEDs to fail, maybe by feeding improper voltages to the keyboard and there's no mechanism for protection.

Solution: Use another USB port or hub.

 

3. The keyboard's circuitry is damaging the LEDs.

Solution: None.

 

Does anyone know the specs of the used LEDs? I'd like to know ampere, volt, luminosity (mcd) and radiation angle.

[Hancoque]

Another thought: Maybe it's usage related. I have the keyboard running 24/7 (no stand-by or other power management) at the lowest light intensity setting. At night I switch the lights off manually.