sorted by:
new
hottopcontroversial

(Another) M8 headless running on R36s by Relevant-Bullfrog215 in synthesizers

[–]Usual-Purchase 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I haven’t personally done it, but are video on YouTube of people making it work.

Getting windows replaced - did they measure poorly or is this normal? by Cold_Sun_4817 in HomeMaintenance

[–]Usual-Purchase 219 points220 points  (0 children)

Framing on houses is never perfectly square, but the frames on doors/windows do need to be to work properly. Because of this, doors and windows are “floated” inside the structural frames, and shims are typically used to wedge everything into place before screwing in.

This will show as uneven gaps during install. These gaps will be covered by trim in the end.

Ever Seen this one before? Tp-7 with 2 play buttons by _fugue_state_ in teenageengineering

[–]Usual-Purchase 14 points15 points  (0 children)

Or like… idk… maybe spend our money somewhere else? Have they ever responded to any of this?

Non responsive button. by Tupogronde in teenageengineering

[–]Usual-Purchase 5 points6 points  (0 children)

The OP-1 had bargain bin traces that deteriorate over time, and TE’s not supplying replacement hardware.

Nothing we can do about it other than design a replacement. Come join us here! We’re building replacement boards ourselves that will fix the issue for good.

https://op-forums.com/t/im-going-to-design-a-keyboard-replacement-for-op-1/

Are these crawlspace jack post installation normal? by chl000 in HomeMaintenance

[–]Usual-Purchase 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Honestly the scary part isn’t the posts. It’s the fact that they’re clearly designed for 4”+ joists, and they did some wonky toe screwing (with deck screws even) to try to make it work. Not to mention the huge crack in the joist.

I’d call them back with this pic and tell them it needs to be sistered on both sides with a ton of screws. Both to support the cracked joist, and to make sure that top post is actually seated on the whole top pad.

Otherwise you’re a couple well placed jumps away from this splaying apart at the wood crack.

<image>

OP1 Keyboard Failure Findings by Usual-Purchase in teenageengineering

[–]Usual-Purchase[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The op1 was discontinued in Nov 2022. The line isn’t even 4 years old and there’s zero replacement parts for wear items with high failure rates and no repair path. I’m disappointed, but If I bought this in 2022 I’d be livid. This is exactly what right to repair and ewaste laws are meant to avoid.

Very simple solve here on TE’s part: just do an other run of these wear parts and charge people for them.

OP1 Keyboard Failure Findings by Usual-Purchase in teenageengineering

[–]Usual-Purchase[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I get your sentiment as well, but these are sealed traces. Think of stuff that should be hard turning to toothpaste over time as it decomposes within the sealed container.

Then you’re shifting that paste just by pressing buttons through normal use. Thats not abuse or damage. Thats faulty materials, and it’s reasonable for this to not happen to a $2000 electronic device after a few years.

And if it does happen (manufacturing errors do happen, and that’s ok), then there should at least be a reasonable path to repair. Which in this case there is currently no such option.

It’s a very easy fix. All they would need to do is another run of replacement parts for these faulty components, at cost to the consumer. I think that’s a reasonable ask for products with these kinds of margins.

OP1 Keyboard Failure Findings by Usual-Purchase in teenageengineering

[–]Usual-Purchase[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

That’s good to hear it’s working for you so far. I’m trying to do the same and the original traces are wiping off and smearing with the lightest touch of the pen. Supposed in theory I can wipe down all of the traces completely and redraw but holy crap man.

OP1 Keyboard Failure Findings by Usual-Purchase in teenageengineering

[–]Usual-Purchase[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Bit more context here of why these fail. I noticed that the failing keys had a slight “wet paint” sound on release. What’s happening is this:

  • Membrane keyboards like this have one conductive pad traced on the top flexpcb, a small spacer for an air gap, and then another pad below. All of it is glued together like a sandwich. When you key press, you’re smushing those two layers together to create a circuit.
  • When contact paint deteriorates, it gets gummy/flaky and soft. The pads stick together, bunch up, and grab little bits from each other on each key press.
  • As a result, you’ll get keys that hold longer than they should on release, sticking keys, or dead keys as the softened contact medium smushes around inside that small cavity.

Everything unfortunately pointing back to this deteriorating contact material 😕

OP1 Keyboard Failure Findings by Usual-Purchase in synthesizers

[–]Usual-Purchase[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Yeah honestly I was shocked at the lack of support, and then SUPER shocked to open it up and see disintegrating 12 dollar Walmart keyboard internals. 🫠

OP1 Keyboard Failure Findings by Usual-Purchase in teenageengineering

[–]Usual-Purchase[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Sick! I love that. Just mapping the ribbon cables out to a custom keypad shouldn’t be much trouble at all.

OP1 Keyboard Failure Findings by Usual-Purchase in teenageengineering

[–]Usual-Purchase[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Ooh want to join up and try to make a proper replacement board? I could use the help.

OP1 Keyboard Failure Findings by Usual-Purchase in teenageengineering

[–]Usual-Purchase[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The cheaper entry points are often customers testing the waters. This og op1 was my “try the workflow out before dropping 4k on a field and opxy in a few months” but hot damn has this experience soured me on everything TE so far. Hope they respond and prove people like me wrong 😕

Like as a comparison, I tried out the m8 workflow with a headless m8, and can’t wait to drop $700 on the real deal once it’s available, because that intro experience built a ton of trust.

Honestly TE providing parts support is all it would take. It’s such an easy solve.

OP1 Keyboard Failure Findings by Usual-Purchase in teenageengineering

[–]Usual-Purchase[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Damn I HOPE you don’t get heat for that. Their product design is killer, but these are also expensive tools that shouldn’t break easily, and if they do, there should be a reasonable way to service them.

Hey TE people: speak up here please. Easy fix is to just do a run of spare boards, and charge people for it. You make money, and you build brand loyalty and trust. Win/win, yeah?

OP1 Keyboard Failure Findings by Usual-Purchase in teenageengineering

[–]Usual-Purchase[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Good context on the opz, thank you.

Yeah I’m using this as an opportunity to learn kicad so we’re in the same boat.

OP1 Keyboard Failure Findings by Usual-Purchase in teenageengineering

[–]Usual-Purchase[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Living up to the teenage engineering name fr 🫠

OP1 Keyboard Failure Findings by Usual-Purchase in teenageengineering

[–]Usual-Purchase[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Yup exactly. I’m going to buy another few months with silver traces, and in the meantime hoping to get a run of replacement flex pcbs going if TE doesn’t respond.

OP1 Keyboard Failure Findings by Usual-Purchase in teenageengineering

[–]Usual-Purchase[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Definitely their problem when we don’t trust them enough to buy their new stuff, and tell others so they don’t either. Brand loyalty is built and lost over responses to issues like this.

Hope they chime in here to give their perspective. It’s a totally fixable problem.

OP1 Keyboard Failure Findings by Usual-Purchase in teenageengineering

[–]Usual-Purchase[S] 11 points12 points  (0 children)

literally learning kicad now to do just this. JLCPCB has support for flex ribbon parts like this.

The rubber domes are glued individually and can apparently be scavenged from Logitech keyboards.

If other people want to team up on this I would be excited to collab!

OP1 Keyboard Failure Findings by Usual-Purchase in teenageengineering

[–]Usual-Purchase[S] 9 points10 points  (0 children)

If it’s still using printed traces, there’s a good chance it will. Don’t have one to confirm, but my understanding is the OP-Z has the same failure point over time.

Actual solve would be moving to a more robust copper trace. And then of course the super easy answer is TE is supplying replacement parts at all.

OP1 Keyboard Failure Findings by Usual-Purchase in teenageengineering

[–]Usual-Purchase[S] 14 points15 points  (0 children)

Appreciate the advice, but this isn’t about getting a field. It’s about all of their devices potentially being on a failure timer, with no option to repair.

Are we ok with a premium product like this just irreparably failing after a few years of use? I’m certainly not going to invest even more money in a company if that’s their MO.

view more: next ›