Aflion Blue Sky switches arrived and I tested them using a howswap keypad PCB I wasn’t using to avoid wearing out hotswap socket and plate slots unnecessarily.
Out of 70 switches ordered, 69 arrived. I can overlook this.
Found 11 bad switches after testing twice (7 failed both, 4 failed one).
While not as bad as reported 20 out of 70, this is definitely not normal and makes Aflion a questionable manufacturer. This kind of failure rate suggests they either don’t do QC or have a faulty QC process.
Slightly bending pin didn’t help so I plan to look into why they’re bad later today (haircut) but this is unacceptable at this level of pricing.
Ah that’s a bummer! I really hoped it was just the Australian batch…
They also make the Black Sesame switches which didn’t have any problems at all (at least mine didn’t). I wonder what went wrong in this particular switch production process. It’s such a shame as the switch is otherwise great and it really hurts their reputation if this becomes a “thing”.
Invokeys pulled the Black Sesames after reports they chirped. I haven’t heard that with my batch, but they’re off the market indefinitely while that’s investigated.
OK. I was going to cut my hair in the backyard (a COVID routine turned lazy habit) but weather didn’t ease up as much as I thought.
I opened one of the bad switches and the first thing I noticed is that moving the stem barely moved the contact leaf. Second thing I noticed is that the inverted U part of the contact leaf looked flatter than usual.
Shape of contact leaf is easy to damage without a proper jig so I took the flat iFixIt tweezer with legs very slightly thicker than the U shape bend and very slowly inserted into the leaf just enough to feel the bend widening a bit.
I then put the switch back together and tested the switch with modified contact leaf. And drumroll… the switch started working. To confirm, I modified contact leaf of remaining 6 bad switches plus 4 switches that failed the first test pass. Every dang switches now register keystrokes cleanly.
Looks like Aflion has some changes to make, not just to the design of their switches but how they run their business. Until then I won’t be buying any more Aflion switches.
What did you think of the Class80 in the end? The extras are doing the rounds and I’ve been looking for a “fun at the top” kind of board. I think I’d prefer the Thermal+ but…I’m a child of the 80s…
Full disclosure, I haven’t built it yet - but in terms of the kit and the quality it all appears to have, I’m impressed.
While I do have a couple customs, mid-range boards are more my wheelhouse, so I don’t have a whole lot to compare it to in terms of its own price bracket. That said, the machining and finish look excellent to me - it oozes material quality in a way none of my other boards do.
Waay back in like 2015 when I first decided I wanted a heavy metal TKL, I knew I wanted something pretty understated, but edified on the desk. I loved my Ducky One, but feeling the top shell flex where I rested my thumb against it left me wanting something more solid. (It happened to be slightly bowed there, and flexed really easily.)
I wanted basically the same thing I had, but with no squeaks, creaks, or chassis flex. Had no idea what I was getting into, ha - but say all that to say - the Class80 thoroughly puts a bow on that search.
It’s not just solid like any aluminum chassis will be - it really is like an edifice. It’s a humongous slab of aluminum - it doesn’t need a weight - but it has a huge brass one on the inside anyway. It’s not going anywhere.
this is a render, but that’s exactly what it looks like
I think the styling is basically perfect for what it is. It looks completely at-home in the realm of 80’s computing, complete with a place to put your pen on the forehead and a nice little downward angle at the front. The details of that are clean and simple, again looking right at-home in the referenced era - even if they weren’t a direct reference to original Game Boy cartridges.
Wow, thanks! I’m very glad to hear that there don’t seem to be any quality issues - at the eye watering price it’s going here (AUD700 = ~USD480) I’d really like it to be of a certain quality!
I don’t care much for the solenoid and buzzer, but I really like the pen holder and general aesthetic, the sound tests online seem promising (deep), but boy it might take up half my desk
Hmmmmmmm, I might have to sacrifice the Mode Envoy for this hmmmmmm
I think it’s extras…at least that’s what they released in Oz. It’s the conversion rate from US dollar that’s a bit rough… and yeah, not a lot of extra foam, pcb, etc available
hmmmmmm
thank you for taking those pics!
I’m not sure if I’ve left it too late by dilly dallying
and yeah, not a lot of extra foam, pcb, etc available