Cherry mx red feels heavy

[acidthrot]

i had a keyboard with cherry mx reds and they felt nice and light but the keyboard broke, i purchased the exact same keyboard as a replacement and the new switches feel way heavier. im assuming they will get lighter with use but im not sure how long that will take as its causing me some finger pain

[pixelpusher]

i had a keyboard with cherry mx reds and they felt nice and light but the keyboard broke, i purchased the exact same keyboard as a replacement and the new switches feel way heavier. im assuming they will get lighter with use but im not sure how long that will take as its causing me some finger pain

No, the spring will not change weight or "loosen up" over time.  Are you absolutely sure both were "cherry" reds?  There are many brands that sell mx switches with red stems and their springs will all feel different. 

If the weight is bothering you, you should probably consider getting something with different switches than what you have currently.  There are several switches out there with lightweight springs if you decide to build something yourself.  Or for premade, Gateron white are sometimes an option, and very lightweight.

[Rob27shred]

i had a keyboard with cherry mx reds and they felt nice and light but the keyboard broke, i purchased the exact same keyboard as a replacement and the new switches feel way heavier. im assuming they will get lighter with use but im not sure how long that will take as its causing me some finger pain

No, the spring will not change weight or "loosen up" over time.  Are you absolutely sure both were "cherry" reds?  There are many brands that sell mx switches with red stems and their springs will all feel different. 

If the weight is bothering you, you should probably consider getting something with different switches than what you have currently.  There are several switches out there with lightweight springs if you decide to build something yourself.  Or for premade, Gateron white are sometimes an option, and very lightweight.

It is possible Cherry F'd up & put black springs into a batch of reds destined to an OEM? Remember the silent blacks that had red springs NK got awhile back? At least I think it was silent blacks with red springs, either way it was Cherry switches is my point LOL! OP what keyboard are we talking about?

[acidthrot]

its a corsair k63 so just an old corsair board. i had the same keyboard before with the exact switches but these new ones feel a fair bit heavier its actually causing some discomfort, but maybe the old reds are heavier cause they are worn in more ?? im not sure if a gaming board would have the wrong springs in the switches

[Rob27shred]

its a corsair k63 so just an old corsair board. i had the same keyboard before with the exact switches but these new ones feel a fair bit heavier its actually causing some discomfort, but maybe the old reds are heavier cause they are worn in more ?? im not sure if a gaming board would have the wrong springs in the switches

The fact that it is a gaming board or a Corsair wouldn't make a difference. Cherry could've made the mistake (as they have before) & I highly doubt Corsair would check the switches to see what spring they have. They'd just see the red slider & assume all is good most likely.

[Findecanor]

What did you do with the old keyboard? Did you try them side-by-side?

Is it possible that the previous keyboard would have had "MX Silent Red" instead of regular clacky Reds?
The Silent Red variety is often perceived to be lighter.

Then there are Corsair keyboards with the same form factor and general appearance with "MX Speed" switches, which definitely are lighter.

[acidthrot]

its identical keyboard and they aren't silent switches , and sideby side there is a noticible difference in weight, can use make switches lighter overtime??

[acidthrot]

also i read that cherry mx switches springs vary from different weights in the same switches, so apparently it could be 45 grams to 60 grams of force depending on what you get

[Findecanor]

Key switches of the same type should not vary more than a couple g. If they are rated at 45g, they could be between 42g and 48g at most.

Keys wear unevenly. Best to compare keys on the function key row.

Have pulled a key and seen what a switch looks like?

[acidthrot]

yeah the switches look normal, but as long as the switches wear overtime i wouldn'tmind im just not sure if it would get lighter overtime or not from use

[Rhienfo]

Key switches of the same type should not vary more than a couple g. If they are rated at 45g, they could be between 42g and 48g at most.

Cherry variance is +-20g so it could be a maximum of 80g but it wouldn't affect every switch that much (and would rarely go to that weight), I believe that it could be an error on cherries part with the springs as people have said.

If you want to keep using the board you have, maybe desoldering and replacing the springs with an aftermarket option like tx would work (You can lube the switches if you are doing that as well, but that's not necessary, just if you are going to desolder you might as well) then solder it back, or you could just buy another board with lighter springs.

The desoldering option may not be good because they might not use leaded solder, which is much harder to desolder, so a desoldering gun will be much preferable if you want to minimize risk of damage of the pcb. So you might be better off just buying a new keyboard, or getting someone else to desolder than resolder for you.