# Double-Tapping Issues with Razer Blackwidow



## TwoCables

It may be dust or debris inside the switch. This is happening to me with my spacebar on my Filco Majestouch with Cherry MX Blues. One solution suggested to me that I haven't tried yet is to put a drop or two of high percentage rubbing alcohol or isopropyl alcohol (I'd say 90% or higher) inside the switch while you have it pressed down. Then press it several times, wait 10-15 minutes for the alcohol to dry, put the cap back on and try it to see if it's any better. If not, then do this again with one or two more drops. Note: I was told that at first, the switch will feel a little different but it clears up relatively fast.

My reason for not doing it is it hasn't reached a point yet for me where it''s always doing it. It's just doing it on occasion.


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## legendarylinc

Thanks for the suggestion, might try it later









Earlier, I pulled the key off and gave it a few firm presses on the switch, and a bit of a wiggle and it seems to have a helped the double-tapping a little bit. But yeah, maybe a clean will help.


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## TwoCables

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *legendarylinc*
> 
> Thanks for the suggestion, might try it later
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Earlier, I pulled the key off and gave it a few firm presses on the switch, and a bit of a wiggle and it seems to have a helped the double-tapping a little bit. But yeah, maybe a clean will help.


Yeah, it sounds to me like it needs to be cleaned. Mine is the same: if I do a really fast and long drumroll on my spacebar, then it sometimes clears right up. Other times it doesn't. I guess it depends on where the debris or dust is inside the switch. Sometimes it will be fine and then suddenly in the middle of a post it will begin doing it and sometimes I get 3-4 spaces with one hit!

Maybe if it works for you then it might be motivation enough for me to try it so that I no longer have to deal with it.


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## legendarylinc

I couldn't find any cleaning alcohol, so I just used this Lens cleaner I had lying around and thought it was suitable to use.

It actually worked, I did pretty much exactly what you said.

I haven't had any double-tapping problems afterwards, my typing experience was much less frustrating.

So, thank you very much for the suggestion


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## TwoCables

Wow. I wouldn't have expected that to be safe to use, but that's only because I don't know what that stuff is. It must be just a simple alcohol solution!

So, did it work after the first application? Or did you have to repeat it? This is making me want to try it on my spacebar's switch even though it's working fine at the moment.


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## legendarylinc

I just used like 2 drops of the solution and pressed the switch a few times and then let it dry, then put the key back on and it seemed to be working fine.

Also, be careful when taking off your space bar. They're not exactly the same as a regular key on your keyboard. You might wanna read a guide for space bars.

If you decide to do it, then good luck


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## TwoCables

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *legendarylinc*
> 
> I just used like 2 drops of the solution and pressed the switch a few times and then let it dry, then put the key back on and it seemed to be working fine.
> 
> Also, be careful when taking off your space bar. They're not exactly the same as a regular key on your keyboard. You might wanna read a guide for space bars.
> 
> If you decide to do it, then good luck


Nah, I've already learned how to do it. I watched a couple of YouTube videos and then I did it myself. I wanted to take all of the caps off so that I could give my keyboard a good cleaning and so that I could maybe suck the debris out of my spacebar's switch with a vacuum (but it didn't make any difference). All that's left for me now is to take it off again and put some alcohol solution in there like you just did. This is very encouraging!


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## TwoCables

I finally did this to my Filco Majestouch because my spacebar was doing it again today, and so far, so good! Just in case anyone's like, "doing what again today?", I was getting 2 or more spaces when I would press my spacebar just once (sometimes more than 5 spaces). I could usually fix it by just doing a long "drum roll" on it in Notepad, but that wasn't working today.

So here's exactly what I did:


I removed the following key caps: both the left and right Alt keys, then X, C, V, B, N, M and the key next to M that has both the '<' symbol and the comma.
Then, I removed the spacebar
I found a syringe that's "for oral use only" and I sucked up maybe 10-15 drops worth of 91% Isopropyl Alcohol (it's the only alcohol I have). I was trying to suck up only 4-5 drops worth, but hey. lol 
Using a toothpick, I pressed the switch all the way down. I didn't want my finger to be in the way!
I carefully dropped 1 drop into the switch, and then I pressed the switch like a couple dozen times or so in rapid succession
Then I added a couple more drops and pressed the switch several times again in rapid succession
I noticed that I wasn't getting drops in on one side of the switch, so I added 1-2 more drops to that side and then I pressed the switch probably a hundred times or so in rapid succession because I was done adding drops. I like to be thorough. 
Then I held the switch all the way down with the toothpick for maybe 2 minutes.
While holding it down, I blew gently straight down at the switch from about 10" above it just to help with evaporate the alcohol.
Then 10 minutes after I added the last drop (so, right before I began holding the switch down with the toothpick), I put all the caps back on and turned my computer on
I tested it, and lo and behold it's working perfectly now. No more spacebar problems! The click sound is even reduced a bit just as I was told it would be, so I know I did this correctly.

So yeah, I'm a happy camper now! I actually have you to thank legendarylinc because seeing it work like it did for you made me confident that this was worth doing.


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## legendarylinc

I think that this is overall a pretty good guide to troubleshooting a double-tap issue.

It seems as so a lot of mechanical keyboards do suffer from this time to time.

And this solution seems to have worked flawlessly.


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## TwoCables

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *legendarylinc*
> 
> I think that this is overall a pretty good guide to troubleshooting a double-tap issue.
> 
> It seems as so a lot of mechanical keyboards do suffer from this time to time.
> 
> And this solution seems to have worked flawlessly.


Yeah, it's just amazing. I can't find the right words to express how nice it is to have confidence back in my typing. I mean, here I woke up today and the first bit of typing I did was filled with big spaces between most of my words. I was having a good day, so I was not about to let that ruin it. lol Otherwise, I probably would have just dealt with it all day!

So now I have two things in my little toolkit for my keyboard: the keycap puller and a syringe. lol The next switch that gives me trouble is gonna get doused with a few drops of alcohol, so they'd better behave.


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## boOzy

I'm getting some really annoying double taps in my W button of SteelSeries 6Gv2. I'm going to try this fix aswell, hope it works like it did for you guys


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## TwoCables

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *boOzy*
> 
> I'm getting some really annoying double taps in my W button of SteelSeries 6Gv2. I'm going to try this fix aswell, hope it works like it did for you guys


I do too because damn, there's nothing like regaining confidence back in my typing. I used to kind of always be on edge like, "when is it going to start doing it again?" and that was my spacebar! lol Sometimes my sentences would start looking like this. That's an exaggeration. Usually it was kind of like this, but sometimes not as often, other times it was like this and it would take forever to type one flawless sentence. lol I had to press my spacebar very gently and quickly which wasn't easy! After putting a few drops of my 91% Isopropyl Alcohol in there, I no longer worry about it. Except now, of course, because I'm talking about it!  I feel like it's going to start doing it again and then I'll look down and my spacebar will have a trollface on it.


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## TwoCables

My spacebar is doing it again: two or more spaces for a single hit at random but relatively infrequent times. I'm disappointed that this only lasted about 2 weeks. Although, if I have to clean it every 2 weeks just to have 2 weeks of confident typing, then I guess that's fine. At least it's easy to do.


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## legendarylinc

Yeah I would suggest just giving it another thorough clean. Could you say that your workspace is very dusty? If so, maybe that's causing the keyboard to become dirty really quick. It could also be a defect in the keyboard hardware, but it doesn't really sound like that's the issue, because cleaning it fixed it in the first place. Anyway, good luck with getting it working properly again.


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## TwoCables

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *legendarylinc*
> 
> Yeah I would suggest just giving it another thorough clean. Could you say that your workspace is very dusty? If so, maybe that's causing the keyboard to become dirty really quick. It could also be a defect in the keyboard hardware, but it doesn't really sound like that's the issue, because cleaning it fixed it in the first place. Anyway, good luck with getting it working properly again.


I wish I could say that it's extra dusty, but I vacuum my keyboard every day and I'm very anal about making sure my hands are always as dust-free and as lint-free (and generally as clean) as possible before using my keyboard. So this debris that's in the switch must be so much that the only fix it permanently would be to either find a way to clean the switch out or replace it entirely.


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## legendarylinc

Well, I've heard some people that have exchanged switches with switches that they don't really use on the keyboard, such as scroll lock or something that isn't pressed so commonly which wouldn't matter much if it was double tapping. Maybe look up a guide if you're inclined to think it's a bad switch or something. Seems like a bit of a risky method, but it could work. Good luck if you do decide to do it.


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## TwoCables

Oh yeah, I forgot about that possibility. I'll clean it again and if it keeps doing this about every 2 weeks, then that switch will be replaced by Scroll Lock because it's literally the only key I never press, except for the Right Windows Key.


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## legendarylinc

I think the A key on my keyboard might be starting to double-tap again


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## TwoCables

I'm not surprised because the only real way to fix it permanently is by finding a way to get that debris out of the switch.


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## TwoCables

Well, here we are 2 weeks later to the day and guess what! Yep, it's doing it again.


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## TwoCables

It has been doing it again for about the past week or so off and on, and it started doing it a bit more today so I put another 'batch' of 5-6 drops of 91% Isopropyl Alcohol in the switch and I'm good to go again. It's very nice that I was able to go about 2 months this time!


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## Alex78

Hi there,
It has been quite sometime since anybody posted here







I just wanted to ask you did you manage to do
any permanent solution for your spacebar switch or you just keep cleaning it each tow weeks or so?
did you try compressed air without any alcohol ?


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## TwoCables

It's still not a permanent fix, but now for about the past few weeks to a month or so, I only see it a maximum of like a dozen times per day as opposed to seeing it every other word or so. Therefore, I'd say that it should become a permanent fix after 1 or 2 more cleanings. So, now instead of just about 2 months of it being problem free, it about 5-6 months this time.

I don't have compressed air and I don't buy compressed air because I have a powerful vacuum that reverses.


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## TwoCables

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Alex78*
> 
> Hi there,
> It has been quite sometime since anybody posted here
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I just wanted to ask you did you manage to do
> any permanent solution for your spacebar switch or you just keep cleaning it each tow weeks or so?
> did you try compressed air without any alcohol ?


This is a follow up to my post directly above this one.

I just finished cleaning my spacebar switch again with 91% Isopropyl Alcohol (which is simply what I happen to have and fortunately it works), and so I will post again if/when I need to clean it again.


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## R4- D4

Had th3 sam3 issu3 on my w and e k3ys and as you can s33, on3 of th3m compl3t3ly stopp3d working...any id3as? W k3y is din3 though.


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## Slodds

Some things just blow my mind and this is one of them. My keyboard is mechanical so how the heck does rubbing alcohol do a damn thing?

IT WORKED. Stopped my A key from maaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaking me type like that.

PRO TIP: Make sure it's only a few drops because I accidentally poured a ton of rubbing alcohol on my keyboard and ended up getting it in my eyes. ****'s no fun.


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## legendarylinc

Wow, this post is quite old. Can't actually believe it has assisted someone provided being from so long ago.


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## elektroneg

My blackwidow had the same problem. It was repeating "a" and "s" keys. "A" was giving 2-3 repeats like one time out of five. It was very annoying. I did what TwoCables suggested. I used 90% ethanol and a cotton swab to apply it to the switch, pressed it many times, let it dry for about 15 minutes. Now both keys work great, no repeats! Thanks! =)


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## Joeygiggles

Took me forever to find other people having this issue lol. I am either going to try and clean it or go ahead and swap the switches out. Thanks a bunch for the input on this thread from everyone


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## Joeygiggles

Also I just noticed that this started happening when I got my new wireless mouse, Razer Naga. Now this could be coincidence of course because I just started to notice the T key was doing it as well. The keyboard is 3 or so years old so it could just be age


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## Bradm4n12

Thanks for the input guys! I had the problem with my 2013 blackwidow ultimate's 'U' key double registering. Made a key cap puller out of a paper clip, used some compressed air on the switch. Seems to have fixed the issue. I'll get some alcohol in the future for a better clean. Now just to figure out how to fix the Enter key sticking after logging into windows from a lock screen....


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## TwoCables

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Joeygiggles*
> 
> Took me forever to find other people having this issue lol. I am either going to try and clean it or go ahead and swap the switches out. Thanks a bunch for the input on this thread from everyone


You won't need to replace the switches. 

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Joeygiggles*
> 
> Also I just noticed that this started happening when I got my new wireless mouse, Razer Naga. Now this could be coincidence of course because I just started to notice the T key was doing it as well. The keyboard is 3 or so years old so it could just be age


From what I understand, it's not age; it's dust and stuff inside the switch housing.

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Bradm4n12*
> 
> Thanks for the input guys! I had the problem with my 2013 blackwidow ultimate's 'U' key double registering. Made a key cap puller out of a paper clip, used some compressed air on the switch. Seems to have fixed the issue. I'll get some alcohol in the future for a better clean. Now just to figure out how to fix the Enter key sticking after logging into windows from a lock screen....


Keep in mind though that we're not removing any of this dust; we're just cleaning it away temporarily. So, this is going to be something that you will have to keep doing either as frequently as once every few weeks, or as infrequently as once every few months.


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## Exalted

For those of you that the aforementioned solutions do not work for - the issue is indeed hardware related but it can be easily fixed with the razer synapse software. Create a new macro for the affected key and set its function for its own letter with the record delay function on.


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## psylem

I would like to add that instead of cleaning or using additional software to work around this issue, there is a feature called Bounce Keys which may exist as part of the OS that can hide this problem (the Wikipedia page has a link to the setting for both Windows and Gnome if you'd like specifics).

A friend of mine lent me an old Razer Blackwidow which I'm trying out on Ubuntu. I was about to give up on it as this one has about 5 keys that randomly output double keystrokes. Not often, but frequently enough to enrage me. Other than this issue, the keyboard had a nice feel to it so I figured I'd look for a solution and ended up on this thread.

As it's not mine, I'm not keen on introducing it to alcohol (though I do find the idea of an alcoholic keyboard somewhat novel). Also, I can't use the Razer software on Linux. Going into Accessibility settings and setting Bounce Keys to the minimum 50ms was sufficient to make this keyboard usable again. I've not noticed any adverse effects, I don't think I can possibly double tap a key that fast.


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## robtorbay

I have been having this same issue for the past little while and I never thought it would be something simple like dust in the switch! Stoked that this resolved the issue. Thx for creating this thread.


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## TwoCables

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *robtorbay*
> 
> I have been having this same issue for the past little while and I never thought it would be something simple like dust in the switch! Stoked that this resolved the issue. Thx for creating this thread.


Yeah, it's important to keep mechanical keyboards as clean and as free from dust and other small debris as you possibly can. I actually vacuum mine every single day using a horse hair wood furniture brush attachment. What I do is, I vacuum off the loose stuff that I can see on top of the key caps. After I've done that, I press the horse hair attachment right down on the keys to create as much suction as possible, and I do this over and over until I've done the entire keyboard. This helps to get yesterday's dust and debris out from underneath and to help maybe pull out anything that might have worked its way inside of the switches. Hopefully. So far, this seems to have proven to be quite effective. I haven't needed to update this thread with another cleaning report since April 6th of 2014. Not bad, especially considering that it looked like I was having to do it 2-4 times per year.

I haven't taken my keycaps off in a couple of years and I honestly don't really see any evidence that I need to. It looks pretty damn spotless down underneath my keycaps from what I can see.

So yeah, keep it clean and you should be able to avoid problems.


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## drazah

Also, dust caps/covers work dreams if dust is an issue in your location. I personally do not use one anymore because I bring my keyboard to and from work every day in a sleeve but when I lived up north the dust was really bad and could see a fine layer of dust even after just 1 day with the cover on. Now, I just regularly brush it every day and vacuum it when I notice it getting really dirty. I remove the keycaps at least once a month to give it a full cleaning just because I'm a hobbyist and enjoy that kinda stuff.


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