Mechanical Keyboard Club!

[kelvinhall05]

1 minute ago, the pokemon kid said:

Restoring alps only really goes so far. Once dust has gotten in then it usually does unrepairable damage to the sliders and they just remain scratchy. Which Alps are these? Blues, Ambers or SMK?

The mod looks ace though, very clean wiring!

First-gen white, surprisingly. This is the only known 8801 with white Alps. The previous owner talked to a few people who described them as "blue Alps with white sliders) so I dunno.

 

These are almost spotless inside and the board itself was very clean, so I'm not sure why they feel bad. Could be all the lube has dried up. I haven't done anything to the switches yet.

[the pokemon kid]

42 minutes ago, kelvinhall05 said:

First-gen white, surprisingly. This is the only known 8801 with white Alps. The previous owner talked to a few people who described them as "blue Alps with white sliders) so I dunno.

 

These are almost spotless inside and the board itself was very clean, so I'm not sure why they feel bad. Could be all the lube has dried up. I haven't done anything to the switches yet.

The lube on alps is quite a long lasting lube however you could open them all up and give the sliders a lube as it will make no difference to the overall tactility or click. Might help the switch out with becoming smoother. However I have had some NOS yellows which were just scratchy straight away. It might just be bad consistency...

[kelvinhall05]

10 minutes ago, the pokemon kid said:

The lube on alps is quite a long lasting lube however you could open them all up and give the sliders a lube as it will make no difference to the overall tactility or click. Might help the switch out with becoming smoother. However I have had some NOS yellows which were just scratchy straight away. It might just be bad consistency...

I agree with your consistency point. I've had boards in equal condition where one feels great and the other feels like Cherry MX.

 

I don't have any lube on hand otherwise I'd give it a shot.

[the pokemon kid]

2 hours ago, kelvinhall05 said:

I agree with your consistency point. I've had boards in equal condition where one feels great and the other feels like Cherry MX.

 

I don't have any lube on hand otherwise I'd give it a shot.

Lubing the stems makes a big difference in feel, my Yellows and Ambers both feel much smoother and quieter after lubing them. If I even get some browns I am going to be sure to lube them up too!

[Dr0y]

Got my kailh box white today, I will put them in the gmmk this week end as I don't really have the time to do that sooner.   I tried one free switch and it's quite loud ... but the click is really sharp just like I wanted.

 

I also got a gateron stabilizer kit, some stabilizer foam pads and some switch film.  Still not sure on which of my switches I would like to try the film. 

 

 

@kelvinhall05  Really nice job on that wiring, looks great.  It's kinda sad that those switches don't feel as nice as they sound.   Hold on to the keyboard until you have some lube, maybe it will make them feel better. 

[Dissitesuxba11s]

Took a while to get here due to COVID shipping delays, but my Thic Thock Marshmallows have arrived! These things are cute!

 Hot take: They're not bad. I don't really notice the difference with the progressive spring VS a regular spring. They are very smooth stock with a nice pop upon release. Got to put it in a board to really appreciate them better.

 

EDIT: Just noticed that the product page shows that the price is $10/pack. I paid half that when it was on group buy last November.

EDIT 2: Also, LOOK AT THAT CUTE STICKER!!!

Edited September 22, 2020 by Dissitesuxba11s

[Go-Kart]

My Varmillo got caught up in the initial Chinese pandemic lockdown. Very happy with it. MX Clears.

[kelvinhall05]

My Blueberries came today...disappointing. Kinda mushy, some are moldy.

Spoiler

Jokes aside, testing as loose switches, they are quite nice. Have to decide whether to build myself another Southpaw75, or a Corne...problem with the Corne is then I'll only have 38 left, which isn't enough to build much with.

[Dr0y]

So I've installed the kailh box white I got monday and for now I'm enjoying them ... the click is about what I was looking for ... a bit high pitch and really sharp.  The weighting of the switch is not something that bothers me for now, but I will see with time.  I will have to wait and use them more to see if it's something I like in the long run.  I don't think that the box navy would have been better for me as I find the white already loud enough. 

[geo3]

8 hours ago, Dr0y said:

So I've installed the kailh box white I got monday and for now I'm enjoying them ... the click is about what I was looking for ... a bit high pitch and really sharp.  The weighting of the switch is not something that bothers me for now, but I will see with time.  I will have to wait and use them more to see if it's something I like in the long run.  I don't think that the box navy would have been better for me as I find the white already loud enough. 

Navy and Jades have a thicker click bar and therefore a lower pitch sound. 

[Dr0y]

On 9/25/2020 at 1:13 PM, geo3 said:

Navy and Jades have a thicker click bar and therefore a lower pitch sound. 

I don't really know if lower pitch would be better for my taste or not ...   I might get some box navy in the future.  

 

I've bought and installed some SA profile keycaps and the sound of them is really better compared to the sound with my dsa profile keycap.  There was something off with the dsa profile keycaps that made them sound not really what they were supposed to be I think.  My dsa set is double shot pbt and quite thick but the keycaps are quite short and I think it creates some sort of resonance or let escape the "other sound" of the switches a lot ...   that is fine with the gateron yellow or kailh speed copper but doesn't sound quite good with the kailh box white ... it was almost killing the click and made the keyboard way louder that it was supposed to be ... even with non clicky switches I think.  The SA profile I have is double shot abs and it's also quite thick ... it gives them a lower, deeper sound for the "other sound" or what's left of it cause it kills most of it and enhance the click quite a bit.  So now I'm hearing more the click and less other thing and it's a really satisfying click.   Also yes I have a tendency to bottom out quite a lot when I type.  I'm really not a pro typist.  

[DailyProcrastinator]

A well waited for order arrived yesterday from The Key Dot Company! My C³ Kiwi switches (67g Tactile with a T1 stem), Tribosys 3204 lube, and MX Switch Opener.

 

Out with the Zealios V2's, I have decided that these are the weapon of choice that I will solder into my Tofu96. I can't image a better tactile switch (more on that later) so I ordered more of the 65g for that larger keyboard. I will be lubing them as well.

 

Switches out, check . PCB out, check .

 

Side by side.

 

Losing my lubing virginity, I feel like a teenager all over again!

 

I did not fully understand all the variations just within screw in stabs until doing this. While I did order cherry screw in stabs I now realized these are an older style, so I clipped them prior to lubing.

 

Bippity bobbity put the switch in the sockety.

 

The green housing dilutes the LED light, which ultimately, whatever, I don't really mind. For now I am still waiting on my GMK Red Sun caps but as I daily drove this keeb for the past 6 weeks+ I will now do so with these C³ Kiwi switches. 

 

I said earlier that I could not imagine a better switch than the Zealios V2 65g Tactile, well.... Stay tuned. These Kiwis are pretty damn nice, I am having a VERY hard time telling the difference. After a week or two I will swap half the board out for the Zealios switches, and give that a go. After some testing and real world use I will provide some sound comparisons as well as more insight on overall feel of both switches. 

[DionysusGanesha]

WASD V3 104-Key Keyboard Case: Black Switch Type: Cherry MX Brown I paid $180 for it. I love the Brown switches and it's still pretty clicky. And despite the Windows logo, I'm running Manjaro Cinnamon 24/7 now. (Paw-print mandala by Lisa Bodo - https://www.etsy.com/shop/Sweetpea718)

[kelvinhall05]

Corne came in. Still waiting on keycaps and pro micros to finish completely, but for now, here it is:

Quite a cute board tbh

[kelvinhall05]

Quite nice with black keycaps!

Spoiler

 

[kelvinhall05]

Best custom on earth, with the best switches on earth; smith corona leaf springs:

Spoiler

Mapped matrix, wired to Pro Micro, running QMK.

[DailyProcrastinator]

Short review and PSA on the Keycool KC84. I bought this on Drop (product run now over), but it is available on KPrepublic as well, they seem to be the main vendor that still sells these with regular stock.

Short version: Do NOT buy.

 

Sadly this is a completed dud. Which is to bad, because this board initially seems like a great budget option ($85 USD), for the price you get Cherry hot-swap sockets in a 75% layout, with wireless connectivity, and backlighting. But it was not meant to be.

Spoiler

Immediately upon using the keyboard I have experienced issues. Keystrokes are not registering or they register as a hold-down press. Making this entirely unusable, this is not even for quick double pressing, this is simply while typing (while wired, did not even bother trying wireless).

At first, I thought it was a specific key and that the switches needed to be taken out and re-seated. But this does not seem to be the case, it is any random key at a random given time, and often enough that it impedes any use for this keyboard. I tried swapping some switches for some Kailh Purples I had on hand but this improved nothing.

 

My next step was to attempt to re-flash the software. I seemed to have successfully done so, but the issue persisted, so whether or not this worked is still in question.

 

This heeis a type tsssssst to     provide an example             of the issu I have had withhhhh myKC84,,,,,,, as you cn see keystttttrokes aremissed and often registerrrrrrrr    as hold own pressss. I       really wanted this to wrk,but Iave no idea what ese totry....

 

I usually don't feel the need to negatively review a prodict. Typically I contact the seller/manufacturer and get a replacement etc. I'm reasonable enough to understand that sometimes products are defective, it happens, this is not always a fair indicator of whether or not a product is any good.

 

I really appreciate that Drop was able to offer me a full refund (however I'm still down on shipping from US to Canada).

 

But with the KC84 the issues are clear right away, compounded by the complete lack of warranty, these are pretty good indicators on the quality of the product. Additionally, within 1-2 weeks of shipping, the comments on issues (similar and others as well) are already trickling in. 

 

Some pics:

Spoiler

 

So as it would seem this is now a large paper weight. And unfortunately with this keyboard cheap = cheap.

 

Also, this product has ZERO warranty from the manufacturer. However, as this issue happened immediately upon receiving the product Drop was able to provide me with a full refund (very grateful). But this would likely vary depending on the issue and how long you have had the product for. Again, best to avoid this product all together.

 

UPDATE - Oct.10th (still not working):

Spoiler

Here is another test with my Keycool KC84, I have since pulled ALL caps, and replaced ALL the switches with Kailh Purples. I noticed several of the switches were not properly seated, even when pulling the caps off several of the switches (Gat Browns) came off with the caps. There were several small pieces of plastic stuck between the switches and PCB that I removed.

 

Additionally, a lot of the switches were very hard to remove, the switches I placed remove with easy.

I spent extra time making sure all the switches were properly mounted and 'clicked' into the socket, but again, this was a waste of time and I cannot recommend this keyboard. I have also now noticed that with longer use the keyboard will frequently disconnect and then reconnect. (Up until here I was using the KC84 to type, but it took so long as I had to constantly re-type what I was saying, so I gave up). There clearly is an issue with the mainboard or the software is corrupt.

 

I will once again try to re-flash the software. IF this fixes the issue I will once again update this post, if not you can assume that this keyboard continues to not work.

 

 

UPDATE - Oct.28th (still not working):

Spoiler

Took the KC84 apart last night, just on the off chance that there was an obvious soldering issue etc. All the hot-swap sockets were firmly soldered in place. Seems like this think is just a dud, to bad.

 

 

Reddit Thread

[Eschew]

Keyboard Update!

Swapped in some Kailh Speed Gold switches for my alphanumeric keys, replacing the Kailh BOX Blacks that I've been using daily.

 

 

Kailh Speed Gold Sound Test

Spoiler

CLICKYS ARE SUPER FUN.

[Dissitesuxba11s]

On 10/8/2020 at 3:17 PM, TheDailyProcrastinator said:

-snip-

A bit of a hassle but can you provide a picture of the back of the PCB, and a close up of one of the hotswap sockets? I have a feeling that the hotswap sockets may have come loose. On my iGK64, some of the Kailh hotswap sockets partially blocked the holes for the aligning pins of the switches so when you install the switches, you risk pushing on the hotswap socket and breaking the solder joint.

[DailyProcrastinator]

3 hours ago, Dissitesuxba11s said:

A bit of a hassle but can you provide a picture of the back of the PCB, and a close up of one of the hotswap sockets? I have a feeling that the hotswap sockets may have come loose. On my iGK64, some of the Kailh hotswap sockets partially blocked the holes for the aligning pins of the switches so when you install the switches, you risk pushing on the hotswap socket and breaking the solder joint.

I will look into this and update! Thanks for the idea!

[Dr0y]

14 hours ago, Eschew said:

CLICKYS ARE SUPER FUN.

Click jacket in those righ ? ... they sound good ... how is the feeling ?

[kelvinhall05]

4 minutes ago, Dr0y said:

Click jacket in those righ ? ... they sound good ... how is the feeling ?

Yeah the only clicky switches you can buy new that aren't click jacket based are Matias (click leaf) and Kailh BOX (click bar).

[Dr0y]

12 minutes ago, kelvinhall05 said:

Yeah the only clicky switches you can buy new that aren't click jacket based are Matias (click leaf) and Kailh BOX (click bar).

I have the box white and I like them, quite sharp click.  How does the  matias compares ?

[kelvinhall05]

26 minutes ago, Dr0y said:

I have the box white and I like them, quite sharp click.  How does the  matias compares ?

Also a sharp click but I wouldn't buy Matias, I just used them as an example.

 

Get genuine used Alps SKCM instead.

[DarkEnergy]

Recently acquired keyboard #2, Vortex Race 3. The aluminum case feels amazing.