deskthority

I am currenly testing a white alps board I found, I cleaned it and opened all the switches to clean them out.
Is it normal they still bind?
It is quite used, the keycaps have quite a lot of shine on them tho.

How did you clean the switches?
Maybe the switches are just fucked beyond repair.

This can happen with Alps that have been heavily used. One thing that can help a lot in my experience is adding some dry lubricant. I use Dupont Non-Stick Dry Film Lubricant with Teflon Fluoropolymer on some switches I previously thought to be awful even after a few rounds in the ultrasonic, and it worked wonders!

A trick is to spray both the slider and the top housing, it seems to work a bit better.

@ZedTheMan: Could you give us some details on exactly how you lubricate Alps switch parts with the Dupont dry lubricant spray? It can be difficult to lubricate small parts evenly and accurately using a spray can. Thanks!

BTW, as Chyros has noted, the best thing is to find Alps switches that are pristine, and they should then be free of any binding. However, most of us are not so lucky. I have had good results using Super Lube 51010 oil, but it is tedious applying this with a small brush, and you need to take care to avoid getting the oil on the electrical contacts.

Has anyone here had any experience with using molybdenum disulfide as an Alps switch lubricant?

My experience:

- disassemble all switches
- clean the sliders and top housing with denture tabs
- place the sliders in a cardboard box that can be tossed after
- spray generously with dry lube
- flip the sliders (I wore latex gloves)
- spray other side with dry lube
- reassemble

I didn't try to lube the housings and I didn't worry about full coverage on the slider sides. For an Acer 6011 that started out filthy, this seemed to work well.

mark201200 wrote: How did you clean the switches?
Maybe the switches are just fucked beyond repair.

Just some compressed air and my fingers

Ultrasonic cleaning works extremely well for thorough cleaning of switch parts and keycaps.

If the Alps switches are extremely dirty, the bottom switch housings and switch plates ought to be cleaned in addition to the sliders, top housings, springs, and (if present), tactile or click leaves. However, it is difficult to clean the bottom switch housings and switch plates in situ. In such cases, it would probably be better to desolder the switches and clean everything in an ultrasonic cleaner before drying, lubing, reassembly, and resoldering.

Up until now, for lubing, I have been using Super Lube 51010 oil, but for future jobs, I am going to give the Dupont dry lubricant with Teflon a try. I have ordered both the spray and the liquid in a squeeze bottle.

Hypersphere wrote: @ZedTheMan: Could you give us some details on exactly how you lubricate Alps switch parts with the Dupont dry lubricant spray? It can be difficult to lubricate small parts evenly and accurately using a spray can. Thanks!

BTW, as Chyros has noted, the best thing is to find Alps switches that are pristine, and they should then be free of any binding. However, most of us are not so lucky. I have had good results using Super Lube 51010 oil, but it is tedious applying this with a small brush, and you need to take care to avoid getting the oil on the electrical contacts.

Has anyone here had any experience with using molybdenum disulfide as an Alps switch lubricant?

I have not tried using that as an Alps lubricant just yet.

To be perfectly honest, my strategy was to put all of the sliders into a pile over a paper towel, spread them out, and then just absolutely drench them with the dry lubricant, which starts out wet. Then shake them around and continue to spray. Then, take each top housing and spray the underside with the lubricant. I didn't mind being sloppy or worry about overlubing because it made a dry coat rather than a wet grease which could get everywhere.

Yeah, starting out in good condition is the best scenario but even bad switches can be brought to be pretty good with the right care.

I use 3-in-1 PTFE oil mixed with Super Lube PTFE grease.

Leshe wrote:

mark201200 wrote: How did you clean the switches?
Maybe the switches are just fucked beyond repair.

Just some compressed air and my fingers

There are some potential problems here. Blasting dirty switches with air could blow the dirt from one place to another within the switch. This method would also fail to remove grime that was adhering to the various parts of the switch. Air from an air compressor can also contain oil that could contaminate the switch, and if the pressure is too high, the high velocity of the air stream could damage the switch. If the air was "canned air", this gets quite cold after a few blasts, which can result in moisture condensing in the switch.

Your best bet would be to remove the top housings and clean at least the sliders and top housings using one of the methods already suggested in this thread. You might also want to clean the click leaves and springs. If the bottom housings are visibly dirty, it can be problematic and possibly counterproductive to try cleaning them in place, so a last resort would be to desolder the switches and clean the bottom housings and switch plates. After cleaning and drying, lube and reassemble.

Otherwise, find a white Alps board that is in better condition!

I second the motion for an ultrasonic cleaner, if you have one. Personally I like to take them apart and inspect each switch part before tossing them into the ol' vibrating bathtub. That way you can know which things are naffed beyond cleaning and if you need replacements.

sealclubber wrote: I second the motion for an ultrasonic cleaner, if you have one. Personally I like to take them apart and inspect each switch part before tossing them into the ol' vibrating bathtub. That way you can know which things are naffed beyond cleaning and if you need replacements.

I lamentably don't have one. It would certainly be really helpful, but I am skeptical about this one I found, it is insanely small, so to clean all switches i would need to put them in 4 groups, or even 5!
Also it is 9$,(aproximated from my country's pricing) so I don't know if it is that effective enough.
Apart from that, how much lube is enough to each part?
I saw that "Super Lube 51010 oil" that Hypersphere suggested and it seems that it is quite an small amount, to clean the sliders, switch housings in general.