Cleaning/Restoring Vintage MX Blues?

[thefarside]

I saved a Chicony 5181 from the trash that has Cherry MX blues. I’m disassembling the board to clean and retrobright and wanted to ask if there’s anything that is typically done to Cherry switches.

They switches seem fine. They feel tactile and click although the sound has a rattle and higher pitch than I’m used to in my alps and IBM boards.

My plan was to gently wipe the dust and dirt off the switch plate with alcohol and a small sponge. My philosophy is to leave switches alone if they don’t have a problem, but if there’s anything that’s typically done during a cleaning/restoration I’d appreciate any advice.

Board with most keys removed:

9C1C505E-D143-4922-B763-2F5827730AD1.jpeg (3.93 MiB) Viewed 2841 times

Closeup of the switches:

FF946844-B496-48BB-85F7-4A239FE911F4.jpeg (2.17 MiB) Viewed 2841 times

[jsheradin]

If they still click and feel smooth you should be fine to leave them as is. If possible I always give stuff a soapy water soak and ultrasonic clean for peace of mind that dust isn't wearing them out.

With MX blues specifically, I've come across a few very worn boards that lost their click. The internal mechanism is totally free but the bump on the slider has simply worn down to the point that they're nearly linear. I don't think there's any way to bring the click back once they reach that point.

[xxhellfirexx]

They switches seem fine. They feel tactile and click although the sound has a rattle and higher pitch than I’m used to in my alps and IBM boards.

Maybe try adding some lube to the switches as suggested by photekq.

2) Vintage MX blues lubricated with a very minute amount of GPL 103 on the legs. Really, I'm not joking. It makes the click much more low pitched and makes the tactility incredibly pleasant for use.

[SK-8K]

MX Blue and their clones are underrated. People hate them because they because they only used them in RGB "gamer" trash boards but in a vintage keyboard they are a good experience.

[thefarside]

Maybe try adding some lube to the switches as suggested by photekq.

2) Vintage MX blues lubricated with a very minute amount of GPL 103 on the legs. Really, I'm not joking. It makes the click much more low pitched and makes the tactility incredibly pleasant for use.
[/quote]

Thanks I might give that a shot. I don’t have GPL 103 but I have Nyogel 767A and 760A and Max-Pro lubricant. I’ll see how they compare.

MX Blue and their clones are underrated. People hate them because they because they only used them in RGB "gamer" trash boards but in a vintage keyboard they are a good experience.

I agree if it wasn’t for the higher pitch and rattle they would sound good and they don’t feel bad at all. Below is a video I made while I was getting a feel for them.
https://youtu.be/I8KpW9UB5oY

[Bjerrk]

2) Vintage MX blues lubricated with a very minute amount of GPL 103 on the legs. Really, I'm not joking. It makes the click much more low pitched and makes the tactility incredibly pleasant for use.

Thanks I might give that a shot. I don’t have GPL 103 but I have Nyogel 767A and 760A and Max-Pro lubricant. I’ll see how they compare.

You're looking for something really low viscosity. GPL 103 is an oil (!)

Nyogel 767A is at the opposite end of the spectrum, essentially.

[Lynx_Carpathica]

You're looking for something really low viscosity. GPL 103 is an oil (!)

Nyogel 767A is at the opposite end of the spectrum, essentially.

Yup. You don't want to slow down the mechanism, or you'll end up with MX Whites instead of blues. Not to mention Cherries are a pain in the arrrs to fix. The contacts are sensitive, if you bend them in any way, it'll interfere with the tactility. Lubed it in the wrong way? already said what'd happen. Not to mention you'll have to desolder _everything_

[photekq]

Thanks I might give that a shot. I don’t have GPL 103 but I have Nyogel 767A and 760A and Max-Pro lubricant. I’ll see how they compare.

Don't!

GPL 103 only. Even GPL 105 is too thick for MX blues, I think. It absolutely has to be a thin oil, I wouldn't recommend you even search for alternatives.

[mmm]

Thanks I might give that a shot. I don’t have GPL 103 but I have Nyogel 767A and 760A and Max-Pro lubricant. I’ll see how they compare.

Don't!

GPL 103 only. Even GPL 105 is too thick for MX blues, I think. It absolutely has to be a thin oil, I wouldn't recommend you even search for alternatives.

Do you have a sound demo on how it affects the sound laying around? I'm quite intrigued.

[photekq]

Do you have a sound demo on how it affects the sound laying around? I'm quite intrigued.

Not on hand, annoyingly I've got my modded MX blue board stored elsewhere. I'll try and remember to make one when I can.

[thefarside]

Thanks I might give that a shot. I don’t have GPL 103 but I have Nyogel 767A and 760A and Max-Pro lubricant. I’ll see how they compare.

Don't!

GPL 103 only. Even GPL 105 is too thick for MX blues, I think. It absolutely has to be a thin oil, I wouldn't recommend you even search for alternatives.

Thanks I won’t try anything else. I might just clean the board and try it with the switches as is and see how I like it.