Krawm Posted February 12, 2014 Share Posted February 12, 2014 3. The keyboard's circuitry is damaging the LEDs. Solution: None. there one open the thing cut the trace add a diode and resistor on every led to regulate the power going in would be really cheap to buy smt component but would take for ever to put in place and would void the warranty Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Krawm Posted February 12, 2014 Share Posted February 12, 2014 Very nice and informative read. Especially, do not fail to read the part related specifically to LED LIGHTS (subtopic name half way through the article): http://www.davidsatz.com/aboutflicker_en.html I especially like that little simple tabel: lamp type flicker-factor ---------- ------------- LED dimmed at 50%: 99 % LED on transformers: 40 - 70 % LED, low cost supply: 0 - 15 % LED, quality supply: 0 - 3 % Now, I understand why neither my CM Storm QuickFire TK and QuickFire Ultimate have any flicker at all. Because they use Quality Power Supply, that's why. Every single video recorded, regardless of the framerate or shutter speed, I get super stable LED lights recorded. Not a single flicker or light wave recorded, super steady shot of lights completely still. Well, that's not the case with my K70. Flickering is all over the recording, un-watchable at times. Every other YouTube video reviewing K70, has same problem exactly. So... why my TK and Ultimate which both I found under 80 Canadian dollars use Quality Power Supply, and almost twice more expensive K70 uses Low Cost Power Supply is beyond me. Talking about cutting corners... but still charging customers premium price. Especially when you see how many people are complaining, that alone tells you it's not an isolated little problem, it's wide spread. And Corsair still charging shipping cost when product is RMA's. There is a name for situations like that - a recall. Corsair, admit it. This product is faulty. Help your customers rather trying to tell them they're wrong. Maybe sometimes they are... but not in this case. I know I am nobody, and my decision about not buying anything Corsair ever again, does not mean anything to you... you have millions of others people (for how long, that is the question). But you failed me, and you failed all of us for that matter. I SO wanted to love this product. One of the prettiest and smartest keyboard designs out there. Looks miles ahead of any other mechanical keyboard available... but I don't want to pay for looks only. I need functional keyboard. LEDs dying, is bad enough alone... but people reporting keyboards getting completely disabled after some time, and them not being able to type on them at all - well, that sounds like a serious issue to me. I returned my K70, but still visiting these forums to see if anything will change. Yes, I still have hope... but this whole thing and where it's going, does not look too good at the moment. I was hoping I will see some new posts people telling there is a new batch, even Corsair announcing it giving us some hope... but nope. Nothing! Sad! the reason the led are flickering is very simple the led are power by ac but are polarize (light up only then the current flow in the right direction) when the led are off your looking at 1.7 v ac at 97.84 hz not enough volt to power the led when you use the light setting it goes like this 1= 2.358v at 681.6 to 685.6 hz 2= 2.695v at 676.6 to 681.4 hz 3= 2.209v at 768 to 772.3 hz the first 2 setting use different voltage to increase brightness while the third one use higher frequency, the more on time the led has the more light it can produce regardless of voltage with the side effect of flickering the video the only bad things is that with out a diode to protect the led it's exposed to a lot of reverse current and that also they are never truly off Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Krawm Posted February 12, 2014 Share Posted February 12, 2014 Did a quick tally of all the people that posted here, and most either said they had K70s with blue LEDs or did not say at all. However, nobody said they had red LEDs. Also ~30 people have posted here with successive LED failures So it does seem like only the blue LEDs are failing Cherry MX Brown with blue leds version here too Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
setsunil Posted February 12, 2014 Share Posted February 12, 2014 The 1st LED died after one month used. How dare you say it is not common case? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Krawm Posted February 12, 2014 Share Posted February 12, 2014 The 1st LED died after one month used. How dare you say it is not common case? 6 weeks 10 led gone on mine make that 13 the media one just died too Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
setsunil Posted February 12, 2014 Share Posted February 12, 2014 I said "1st" because I think this will not be the last failed one. Besides, all the media keys except mute are all too dim to see the light. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Empty Backpack Posted February 20, 2014 Share Posted February 20, 2014 Anyone know where to get replacement LEDs and what are their specs. I ended up with some dead LEDs and cannot ship it back to US. Today i bought some cheap chinese 3mm leds (those are only ones i can found in Turkey that fit in that hole) but they don't work. I don't know their specs either but they stay constantly on even when other LEDs are off. And they get dim when they should get brighter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rob81 Posted February 20, 2014 Share Posted February 20, 2014 Did they pull it back? Estimated delivery mid April ! Everywhere out of stock. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tarbensen Posted February 20, 2014 Share Posted February 20, 2014 Anyone know where to get replacement LEDs and what are their specs. I ended up with some dead LEDs and cannot ship it back to US. Today i bought some cheap chinese 3mm leds (those are only ones i can found in Turkey that fit in that hole) but they don't work. I don't know their specs either but they stay constantly on even when other LEDs are off. And they get dim when they should get brighter. I think you have turned the LEDs wrong then. They must turn the right way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Krawm Posted February 21, 2014 Share Posted February 21, 2014 Anyone know where to get replacement LEDs and what are their specs. I ended up with some dead LEDs and cannot ship it back to US. Today i bought some cheap chinese 3mm leds (those are only ones i can found in Turkey that fit in that hole) but they don't work. I don't know their specs either but they stay constantly on even when other LEDs are off. And they get dim when they should get brighter. KINGBRIGHT - L-7104QBC-G - LED, 3MM, BLUE, ULTRA BRIGHT http://www.farnell.com/datasheets/1519892.pdf is the closes i know of Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Empty Backpack Posted February 21, 2014 Share Posted February 21, 2014 I think you have turned the LEDs wrong then. They must turn the right way. Actually you can put in only one direction, there are some notches at legs and switches to prevent wrong assembly. Even there is a big A letter on the Switch to show you the Anode side of the LED. Nevertheless I did it wrong. Still can't believe.. Everything works now. Thank you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Empty Backpack Posted February 21, 2014 Share Posted February 21, 2014 KINGBRIGHT - L-7104QBC-G - LED, 3MM, BLUE, ULTRA BRIGHT http://www.farnell.com/datasheets/1519892.pdf is the closes i know of Thank you for the info. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TechnoFrog Posted March 4, 2014 Share Posted March 4, 2014 I just had my "6" key LED die this evening, I was totally unaware of this issue until a quick web search turned up this thread. I am debating doing an RMA, but if they have not fixed the problem...what is the point? Any updates from Corsair on this problem? How about refunding our money so we can get something that is more reliable, is that an option? K70, Cherry MX Brown, Blue LED's here. T'Frog Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShadowSociety Posted March 7, 2014 Share Posted March 7, 2014 It really is too bad that they have had so many issues with this keyboard as it has become my favorite keyboard by a large margin. I had previously gone through 5 K70 (MX Red) keyboards all suffering the faulty LED issue, when I finally decided to get a refund. I followed the topic further and heard a rumor that they had changed their LED source so I decided to pick up a K70 (MX Blue) in January and was extremely happy with it until today when I noticed a few lights on my number pad was out. This makes a total of 6 Corsair keyboards I have gone through. I do not believe this is an isolated issue, I am not sure if I should to try to RMA once more in the hopes of getting a K70 that will not fault or cut my losses ask for a refund and take my business elsewhere. (As much as I love this keyboard this is not the quality I expect from Corsair.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beerone Posted March 7, 2014 Share Posted March 7, 2014 Just returned my K70 due to Led Light Failure as well. Was going good for two months then I noticed one then another then another. See how this new one goes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rem1858 Posted March 8, 2014 Share Posted March 8, 2014 I've had my beloved K70 since Christmas, its a UK layout Gunmetal, with blue LEDs, MX Brown. Had no idea about this issue until I spotted my left shift key's LED had gone out earlier today. Totally gutted, spent a long time picking the right mechanical keyboard for myself, and this is the one. Unfortunately I care about having the blue lighting, so I'll have to send it back. It'll be interesting to see if the rest of the LEDs start dropping like flies now the first one has a gone, a lot of people seem to say its a chain reaction. I'm just a bit concerned that the replacement I get will do the same. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShadowSociety Posted March 8, 2014 Share Posted March 8, 2014 If it was anything like my situation, it will. I went through 6 consecutive keyboards, none of which lasted more than 2 months. I really hope they take a hint and switch their blue LED supply, this is definitely not an isolated issue. I really hope to see an official comment acknowledging this issue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mr_zen256 Posted March 9, 2014 Share Posted March 9, 2014 Just registered to acknowledge I had exactly the same issue of LED failure with my Silver K70. I sent the KB back to the place of purchase on the 9th of Jan and a replacement is due back to me on Monday. The failed keys were F12 and Pause Break. I will report back if my replacement keyboard suffers a similar fault. Well, looks like I have a dead LED on my replacement board. Not cool. Interestingly, BOTH times the LEDs failed on the keyboards was when they had been turned off for an extended period. I had gone away for a week on both occasions. Upon power on, the LEDs had failed. So, back to the place of purchase to have the silver/blue led replaced with black/red led. Very disappointed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dave_reap Posted March 10, 2014 Share Posted March 10, 2014 Hi Guys, F2 key went out today... then just as im typing this I have noticed pagedown key has went also :( - I doubt that will be the end of it :( Loved this keyboard since I got it... was totally unaware this problem existed until I came here... clearly IT IS a common issue and corsair just don't want a big song and dance made about it Ramguy posted "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." Ramguy if you get this does this mean we can exchange it for the red led version? it seems to be just the blue leds suffering from this issue. Cherry brown silver with blue leds Cheers, Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steveleeb Posted March 17, 2014 Share Posted March 17, 2014 I'm back after getting Corsair K70 for Christmas. (Gun metal with blue backlight). Everything is still running smoothly. I only use the lights at night (on low) for up to 5 hours at a time. Other than that, I turn them off when I don't need them. For those that are paranoid about it, this seems to be working so far, or maybe I'm just lucky. *Shrug* Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShadowSociety Posted March 17, 2014 Share Posted March 17, 2014 I'm back after getting Corsair K70 for Christmas. (Gun metal with blue backlight). Everything is still running smoothly. I only use the lights at night (on low) for up to 5 hours at a time. Other than that, I turn them off when I don't need them. For those that are paranoid about it, this seems to be working so far, or maybe I'm just lucky. *Shrug* You may very well be lucky, but you have only had it since Christmas. I'm not sure whether turning the lights on only a part of the time has any impact as I have read multiple posts of people who never turned on the back lighting feature that still noticed dead LED's. Be wary and keep a copy of your invoice just in case. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mr_zen256 Posted March 18, 2014 Share Posted March 18, 2014 It seems the problem arises when the keyboard/pc has been turned off for an extended period of time. I usually have my system running 24/7, however the LEDs turned off at night. Both times the LEDs failed on my Silver K70's was upon returning after a week of the PC being turned off. My second K70 had the F5 key fail first, then the Q key and 4 Numpad key failed the following two days. I have since returned my replacement keyboard and now have the Black K70 with red LEDs hoping I will have more luck. I will report back if my 3rd keyboard suffers the same fate as the first two. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dave_reap Posted March 19, 2014 Share Posted March 19, 2014 I got mine at Christmas also and this just started for me. I would concur that it seems to occur when the keyboard is turned off for an extended period... was away for 4 days... pc off and 2 more keys out on power on :( (v and down arrow) I have treated this thing like a baby... ie only using the lights very sparingly and when i do on the lowest settings... it has not made any difference to the problem occurring. Its some sort of design flaw or bad LED... To the guy above now using the red one... did corsair change it to the red version for you or did the retailer you bought it off change it? I bought it off an independent on Amazon so I would rather just go through corsair for the replacement Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mr_zen256 Posted March 19, 2014 Share Posted March 19, 2014 To the guy above now using the red one... did corsair change it to the red version for you or did the retailer you bought it off change it? I went back to the retailer. Just outright bought the Black K70 with the red LEDs and sent the Silver K70 back for a refund. That way I get a renewed store warranty with this keyboard. The K70 is my ideal keyboard and I simply want it to just work as it should. Hence why I've been willing to stick with it even after two replacements. After "burning in" this keyboard for a couple of weeks, I'll swap it out for another keyboard for a week then swap it back in to see if there is any fact to the theory. Judging by the numerous posts in this thread, I anticipate the black K70 wont suffer the same issue as the silver. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lagasi Posted March 26, 2014 Share Posted March 26, 2014 After not using my K70 for 1-2 weeks with computer on 24/7, LED's off, I got 19 dead LED's. I got mine in November 2013 so it has been about 5 months. I only turned on the LED's to the dimmest setting when I used it. Also, the num lock indicator never worked. I'm waiting for RMA to get approved. K70, Cherry MX Browns, Gunmetal with blue LED's Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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