Vent: My first attempt at hand-lubing switches went way too far

I got a set of Gateron Yellows and spent about 4 hours last weekend lubing every single one with Krytox 205g0. The board feels like I'm typing on wet clay now, totally mushy with no sound at all. I think I put on way too much and maybe even got lube on the stems. What's a good way to fix this without having to buy a whole new set of switches?

3 comments

3 Comments

susan_hart171mo ago

Totally mushy with no sound" happened to me. I used a dry brush to gently wipe the stems and inside the housings, which helped a lot.

-1

andrewf2329d ago

Honestly, wiping with a dry brush seems like a temporary fix at best. If the keys are already mushy and silent, that points to a deeper problem with the switches themselves. Gunk inside might be part of it, but brushing probably just moves the debris around. You might even push it further into the housing. A real fix needs taking the keycap off and maybe cleaning the switch with proper contact cleaner, or just accepting that the switch is worn out. A quick brush is just putting a band-aid on a broken leg.

dylanh813d ago

You ever see a keyboard so dirty it looked like a science project? My buddy tried the dry brush thing on his old gaming board, said it felt worse after. He ended up pulling the keycaps and found a whole layer of chip dust and hair packed in the switches. That brush just wedged it in tighter. He had to soak the switches in alcohol to get the click back.