Mike S wrote:

I bought an HP elite v2 kbd because it has such great action, it's the
fastest kbd I've ever used. After about a year the End key stopped
working, today the C, D and E keys stopped working. Does anyone have any
experience with these kbds? Do they die off after a year or so? I'm
going to take it apart and see if there are any easy fixes, any comments
would be interesting to hear.
TIA,
Mike

Keyboard that use rubber-like membranes with carbon patterns to short
across PCB contact points always wear out. The rubber-like compound
dries out and becomes more stiff. The "action" is the difference in
thickness around the protruding stub that suddenly collapses when flexed
beyond a certain point. Because of the physical wear of pressing the
carbonized membrane against metal contacts, the membrane's contacts wear
out (less carbon, less reliable contact). The more you type, the sooner
the membrane fails.

You would have to look inside the keyboard to see what technology was
used for the "switches". Some keyboards really do still use switches
which is why they are pricey. For a $30 wifi thin profile keyboard
(https://www.amazon.com/HP-Wireless-E...dp/B005HNHRA6),
that one is not using switches. It's a cheap wifi keyboard. Get
another one. If that's what you like, buy 2 so you have a spare on hand
when the first one breaks or goes flaky (again). A mechanical switched
keyboard will run about 5 times, or more, the cost of the one that you
bought (and most of the mechanicals are wired, not wifi like you got).

I also buy cheap[er] keyboard; i.e., no mechanical switches, just
membrane "switches". I buy 2 because the membrane keyboards do not
last. I figure that I'm lucky if the keyboard remains reliable (like
new) for 2 years, especially since I'm prone to pound on them
occasionally (if I got rid of my video games, I'd pound on the keyboards
much less often). I have a spare waiting in a drawer because I know
that membrane keyboards do not last. They are not built to be
repairable. With a mechanical switch keyboard, you can buy a new switch
and solder in a replacement key.

They aren't built to last. Look at the warranty. Be glad if the
product survives beyond then. They know the failure rate of their
devices at at which point in the curve to establish a warranty threshold
or how much to invest in hardware quality to get minimally beyond the
warranty threshold.

When was the last time you turned your keyboard upside down, held it
with one hand on one side, and banged it against your other hand and
then reversed the procedure to know out any crumbs, hair, or other crud
that got inside? What you have is not a waterproof keyboard. Crud will
get inside. If it manages to get under the membrane (between it and the
PCB contacts) then you aren't going to shake it out hence why most
warranties won't cover liquid damage. After banging out any crud that
got inside, blow it out using a duster can. Often hair and lint won't
shake out but you can it blown out. You'll have to blow from several
angles as the hair and lint may wrap around the stem of the key or cram
into places that require blowing from several directions.