I ruined an entire keyboard... | Alps SKCM White OVERLUBED Sound Test

[clickandthock]

I recently ruined an entire keyboard while lubing the switches with Krytox... The result, the Alps SKCM White on my Omnikey 102 are completely over lubed... Here a sound test video SKCM White Stock VS Overlubed. Next time, I will listen Chyros and make a soft clean... If you do lube your alps switches, do it lightly!

[xxhellfirexx]

It would be interesting to ask people what switch they think the overlubed one is just from the sound test.

[guidemetothelight]

I dont think they are overlubed , i quite like their sound.

[Chyros]

It does sound quite horrible. They don't even click consistently anymore xD .

Get get why people smear arse butter all over their switches xD .

[guidemetothelight]

It does sound quite horrible. They don't even click consistently anymore xD .

and thats why i like the keyboard space , cause (almost) everything is subjective.
i get why you dont like their sound , i mean the original sound / the loudness we expect and love with alps is gone. But i still like their sound , a little bit more "well rounded"

[inozenz]

sounds more like a tactile switch now love it

[snacksthecat]

Sorry about your keyboard mishap. If it's any consolation, your video making skills are amazing. An abundance of relevant info and specs on the screen, great shots, great sound, and your editing makes it all sing. Bravo x100!

[clickandthock]

It would be interesting to ask people what switch they think the overlubed one is just from the sound test.

Great Idea!! :O

[clickandthock]

I dont think they are overlubed , i quite like their sound.

You know what, me too. At first, I felt that it was a great improvement. You loss the click, but gain a really smooth feel and deeper sound! But the problem is the consistency... All switches feel different and it really annoying after a while...

[clickandthock]

It does sound quite horrible. They don't even click consistently anymore xD .

Get get why people smear arse butter all over their switches xD .

I know right! No consistency anymore... I like the feel (if you don't mind that your clicky switches are not clicky anymore ) , but consistency ruined it... It's the last time I put lube (yeah harse butter) on Alps switches! Same for wax mod of other shitty idea I could find online. I waste enough Alps switches already.
The problem is that people like me, coming from MX switches type to vintage switches, think that everything is smoother and the better with lube, which I found to be the opposite when come to Alps switches...
When I watched your lubing test video, my first reaction was to denied... I mean, how lubing Alps SKCM Orange would not feel better than stock one?? But after several switches ruined, I have to admit your were fuc*** right...! Less is better with Alps. From now on, I will only do soft clean mod on my switches. I think I will do a test video about that too.

[clickandthock]

Sorry about your keyboard mishap. If it's any consolation, your video making skills are amazing. An abundance of relevant info and specs on the screen, great shots, great sound, and your editing makes it all sing. Bravo x100!

Thanks mate!!

[LambdaCore]

An underrated part about mechanical key switches is how many factors indeed play into their sound, feel, so on. Chassis, lubrication or lack there of, and of course the main design itself! Most of this is down to preference, I actually tend to prefer my switches unlubed in a good chassis (think a Model F reverberating in it's beast of a chassis or an omnikey.) A lot of MX-type switches with copious amounts of lube to me sound kind of like a weaker Topre, and some people desire that sound enough to try and modify Topre to fit that description! Either that or they value smoothness over sound, which is totally valid. I actually like my Topre stock due to the pop sound that I find so satisfying on my 55g.

With Alps, they were prelubed I believe, I've heard of good success with the wax mod to restore Alps to how they were meant to feel out from the factory. That said, there's most certainly a market for other types of lube to change up the switch to suit one's personal needs - if you do something like this with tactile alps I'd highly recommend using small pieces of paper between the leaf and the housing which solves inconsistencies with worn leaves however could also come in handy if the lube similarly causes inconsistencies with the sound. Unsure if this would work with White Alps, I think it'd only dampen the click even further.

[clickandthock]

An underrated part about mechanical key switches is how many factors indeed play into their sound, feel, so on. Chassis, lubrication or lack there of, and of course the main design itself! Most of this is down to preference, I actually tend to prefer my switches unlubed in a good chassis (think a Model F reverberating in it's beast of a chassis or an omnikey.) A lot of MX-type switches with copious amounts of lube to me sound kind of like a weaker Topre, and some people desire that sound enough to try and modify Topre to fit that description! Either that or they value smoothness over sound, which is totally valid. I actually like my Topre stock due to the pop sound that I find so satisfying on my 55g.

With Alps, they were prelubed I believe, I've heard of good success with the wax mod to restore Alps to how they were meant to feel out from the factory. That said, there's most certainly a market for other types of lube to change up the switch to suit one's personal needs - if you do something like this with tactile alps I'd highly recommend using small pieces of paper between the leaf and the housing which solves inconsistencies with worn leaves however could also come in handy if the lube similarly causes inconsistencies with the sound. Unsure if this would work with White Alps, I think it'd only dampen the click even further.

You're right! There is so many factors that can change the sound! Lube is one of them! But lubing clickies have always been tricky and my experiences with wax was not terrible. Maybe I should give it one last try... But yeah, I think I will let my Alps as is the next time!

[hellothere]

With Alps, they were prelubed I believe, I've heard of good success with the wax mod to restore Alps to how they were meant to feel out from the factory. That said, there's most certainly a market for other types of lube to change up the switch to suit one's personal needs - if you do something like this with tactile alps I'd highly recommend using small pieces of paper between the leaf and the housing which solves inconsistencies with worn leaves however could also come in handy if the lube similarly causes inconsistencies with the sound. Unsure if this would work with White Alps, I think it'd only dampen the click even further.

The paper mod on tactile switches = good. The paper mod on clicky switches will not work.

I had thought that there wasn't lube on white Alps or newer. I recently bought an OmniKey with white Alps that was a couple serial numbers away from an identical OmniKey with blue Alps and they had a dot of lube on the middle of the non-notched side of the slider. They still sounded like white Alps and they didn't feel any more special to me.

The "problem" I have with the wax/boil method is that there isn't a way to make it that there's a consistent amount of wax that sticks to the slider. Whether that translates into an actual problem, I don't know. I'd need to do more research.

[Meowmaritus]

I know this thread's old but just wipe the lube off the place where the click leaf slips off the slider and wipe it off the face of the slider where the leaf hits it. The sound will immediately become significantly more clicky, possibly even as clicky as stock. It's tedious but no more tedious than anything else involving opening up alps

[Stu42]

Yikes. Just curious. Do you think the issue is that you put the lube on too thick or that you put it in areas where you shouldn't have...like on the leaf (or both, I suppose)?

[clickandthock]

Yikes. Just curious. Do you think the issue is that you put the lube on too thick or that you put it in areas where you shouldn't have...like on the leaf (or both, I suppose)?

Not too thick for sure. But maybe I should have not apply it on the steam and just on the housing rails...

[hellothere]

Yikes. Just curious. Do you think the issue is that you put the lube on too thick or that you put it in areas where you shouldn't have...like on the leaf (or both, I suppose)?

Not too thick for sure. But maybe I should have not apply it on the steam and just on the housing rails...

Something I haven't tried is lubing both the stems and the upper housing rails. That's too much work for too little return-on-investment, for me. If someone else wants to try, please post your results.

Hmmm. Wax/boil mod for the upper housings. There's an idea.