Author Topic: Kailh BOX Pale Blue (Old Stock) Click w/o Activation  (Read 5564 times)

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Offline Zekromtor

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Kailh BOX Pale Blue (Old Stock) Click w/o Activation
« on: Tue, 14 January 2020, 00:03:05 »
Is this a known problem with Kailh BOX switches? It's very disappointing.

I tried "old stock" BOX Pale Blues and it's quite easy to depress them to the point of clicking, yet not get activation. They were labeled "old stock" from NovelKeys and super cheap ($15/100). So I swapped them out for BOX Browns which were normal stock and twice the price, and the problem is much less noticeable since they are not nearly as tactile...but if you try, with about half of them, you can get them to pass the tactile point without activating. Keep pushing and then they activate. I don't think I'd love the browns even if they worked perfectly, but the pale blue's had potential.

I've got some crystal BOX royal's on their way. If they have the same issue, I'm going to be done with Kailh.
« Last Edit: Wed, 15 January 2020, 22:25:08 by Zekromtor »

Offline equalunique

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Re: Kaihl BOX Pale Blue (Old Stock) Click w/o Activation
« Reply #1 on: Tue, 14 January 2020, 09:01:21 »
Yeah it's a known problem. Annoyingly, most people don't care, which bothers me, because kailh box clickbar switches get recommended a lot as the best clicky switch.

I have box pale blues, box jades, box pinks, box china yellow, and box china jade switches. All of them do this. Some have said the same about box whites.

Ultimately, no box switches click because they actuate, and no box switches actuate because they click. The only cherry-compatible switches which do that are the ones using clickjackets, and that's because these styles of clicky switch are designed differently.

I did have Box Navies where I didn't notice this, however, so there's that. It's not because they don't have this issue, but rather because they are so tough to actuate due to the thickness of the clickbar and heavy spring, that the velocity of the force typically used to press them means most users don't notice.

For super clicky clickjacket switches, the best combo I've tried (I haven't tried many) was a kailh speed gold stem inside an outemu sky housing. Similar things have been said about using those sane stems inside novelkeys cream switch housings. Cherry mx greens are pretty good too, but keep away from the gateron ones. On reddit hieronbob(sp?) has been working to bring aristotle clickjacket stems back, which should make a stronger click too.

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« Last Edit: Tue, 14 January 2020, 09:05:05 by equalunique »

Re: Kaihl BOX Pale Blue (Old Stock) Click w/o Activation
« Reply #2 on: Wed, 15 January 2020, 09:29:19 »
Kailh* or kaiuha

Offline Zekromtor

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Re: Kailh BOX Pale Blue (Old Stock) Click w/o Activation
« Reply #3 on: Wed, 15 January 2020, 22:28:22 »
Spelling corrected.

Pretty disappoint to know this company produced tons of switches that specifically don't work as they should, and that people don't seem too bothered by it. Navies are indeed so heavy that they may not have this problem, but they're essentially useless to a touch typist imo.

Offline equalunique

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Re: Kailh BOX Pale Blue (Old Stock) Click w/o Activation
« Reply #4 on: Thu, 16 January 2020, 08:34:57 »
I'm disappointed too. Also, a lot of the tactile box switches start to click over time, and all of them, even the box linears, can have a little stem twist.

Clicking tactiles: https://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=96672.0

Twisting: https://www.reddit.com/r/MechanicalKeyboards/comments/e73i4p/help_twisted_kailh_box_jade_stems/f9vbaen

That being said, I'm at least happy with the box linear typing experience. They're reasonably smooth and the IP65 resistance seems like a plus. The stem twist is easier to overlook when using blanks or pseudo-blanks like G20 Semiotic.

NN_ Sherbet switches released a few days ago. There isn't any info on them posted online. They wouldn't have the two previously mentioned issues because they aren't the box design. The clickbar design is still bothersome, but this one looks initially like it may use a very thick clickbar: https://www.keebtalk.com/t/novelkeys-sherbet-switches/7914

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Offline rxc92

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Offline Maledicted

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Re: Kailh BOX Pale Blue (Old Stock) Click w/o Activation
« Reply #6 on: Sat, 18 January 2020, 15:13:59 »
I actually tried as hard as I could with my box jades and navies to do this. I literally could not manage it. I tried 10+ switches on two separate boards. I'm not sure if that's one of their incremental improvements (as mine are fairly fresh off of the slow boat from China), or the intrinsic characteristics of the thick clicks.

Offline Zekromtor

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Re: Kailh BOX Pale Blue (Old Stock) Click w/o Activation
« Reply #7 on: Sun, 19 January 2020, 02:28:25 »
I've got crystal BOX royals installed at the moment. I am happy to report that these particular switches don't suffer from the same problem. Note, they are high tactility, not clicky switches, and they have no clickbar - and the clickbar is likely the source of the original problem.  These are a variant (clear bottoms) of the ones that some people say are "too tactile" however, I don't find them to be that. Yes, they have a very hard tactile bump, however, they have a fairly low activation weight, which works I think is a decent combo. I like them better than the browns. It feels like there is very little travel before the activation, which I also like.


Offline jacethesaltsculptor

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Re: Kailh BOX Pale Blue (Old Stock) Click w/o Activation
« Reply #8 on: Sun, 26 January 2020, 12:55:30 »
I actually tried as hard as I could with my box jades and navies to do this. I literally could not manage it. I tried 10+ switches on two separate boards. I'm not sure if that's one of their incremental improvements (as mine are fairly fresh off of the slow boat from China), or the intrinsic characteristics of the thick clicks.

They have improved a lot, as when I had first heard of the problem, until now, I've not been able to get one to actually do this. I think that this is becoming a fairly rare thing.

Unicomp M122 - Unicomp Classic Trackball - IBM Model M13 - IBM Model F122 - IBM Model F Bigfoot - IBM Model F AT - Ducky Shine 3 Yellow

Offline Maledicted

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Re: Kailh BOX Pale Blue (Old Stock) Click w/o Activation
« Reply #9 on: Sun, 26 January 2020, 21:46:40 »
I actually tried as hard as I could with my box jades and navies to do this. I literally could not manage it. I tried 10+ switches on two separate boards. I'm not sure if that's one of their incremental improvements (as mine are fairly fresh off of the slow boat from China), or the intrinsic characteristics of the thick clicks.

They have improved a lot, as when I had first heard of the problem, until now, I've not been able to get one to actually do this. I think that this is becoming a fairly rare thing.

That's what I figured. I have Frankensteined ... 5 thick click boards now. I haven't noticed this on any of them.

Offline rkindt

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Re: Kailh BOX Pale Blue (Old Stock) Click w/o Activation
« Reply #10 on: Thu, 30 January 2020, 17:12:55 »
I've had my box jades and used them for a few months. I haven't noticed any issues with them other than people coming in my room to tell me to type quieter.

Offline Maledicted

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Re: Kailh BOX Pale Blue (Old Stock) Click w/o Activation
« Reply #11 on: Thu, 30 January 2020, 17:57:01 »
I've had my box jades and used them for a few months. I haven't noticed any issues with them other than people coming in my room to tell me to type quieter.

Just break out a Model F for a night or two, they'll be begging for the jades back.

Offline flurryvelvet

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Re: Kailh BOX Pale Blue (Old Stock) Click w/o Activation
« Reply #12 on: Sat, 01 February 2020, 00:25:32 »
I've had my box jades and used them for a few months. I haven't noticed any issues with them other than people coming in my room to tell me to type quieter.

Just break out a Model F for a night or two, they'll be begging for the jades back.

Or maybe any ALPS SKCM clicky switch.
Heck, maybe even a Cherry MX Blue clone.

Offline Maledicted

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Re: Kailh BOX Pale Blue (Old Stock) Click w/o Activation
« Reply #13 on: Sat, 01 February 2020, 21:07:27 »
I've had my box jades and used them for a few months. I haven't noticed any issues with them other than people coming in my room to tell me to type quieter.

Just break out a Model F for a night or two, they'll be begging for the jades back.

Or maybe any ALPS SKCM clicky switch.
Heck, maybe even a Cherry MX Blue clone.

Maybe I should compare again, but clicky SKCM being even bassier than the jades always seemed a little muted to me. Cherry MX Blue I could see, maybe.

Offline leetuser

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Re: Kailh BOX Pale Blue (Old Stock) Click w/o Activation
« Reply #14 on: Tue, 07 July 2020, 16:25:23 »
I just put some Pale Blue Heavies in my keyboard. The problem is not that it just sometimes actuates without a click. It does the opposite as well by clicking without actuating. Maybe it's just the way I hit certain keys, but I notice it more on certain keys. I gotta try swapping some of them out and see if it's actually the case. Otherwise, they really feel great. I like them much more than the Jades.

Offline Maledicted

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Re: Kailh BOX Pale Blue (Old Stock) Click w/o Activation
« Reply #15 on: Tue, 07 July 2020, 17:22:06 »
I just put some Pale Blue Heavies in my keyboard. The problem is not that it just sometimes actuates without a click. It does the opposite as well by clicking without actuating. Maybe it's just the way I hit certain keys, but I notice it more on certain keys. I gotta try swapping some of them out and see if it's actually the case. Otherwise, they really feel great. I like them much more than the Jades.

This thread, and others, made me try my hardest to find some box switches that exhibited these ... characteristics. It does seem like some of my jades can click without actuating, having spent a decent amount of time looking for it on daily driver boards. I can't say I have noticed the reverse yet. I only notice it when trying really hard to find it, and it seems to happen on a small number of switches that I have tried. All of my box clickies that are actually in boards are thick clicks, so I imagine that makes detecting such a thing much more difficult since overcoming the tactile event basically means you're going to bottom out immediately after (especially with jades). I wonder if people who put emphasis on such things are trying to prevent bottoming out, with clicky switches?

I find it interesting when I do see people ending up preferring pale blues to jades or navies. Why is it that you think that's the case for you? Are the navies just a bit too heavy? Do the jades seem, to you, to have too much tactility in relation to their spring weighting? Personally, I somewhat like the balancing of spring weight and click bar in the pale blues, but the tactility is underwhelming and the click is higher-pitched.

Offline leetuser

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Re: Kailh BOX Pale Blue (Old Stock) Click w/o Activation
« Reply #16 on: Tue, 07 July 2020, 19:55:11 »
I just put some Pale Blue Heavies in my keyboard. The problem is not that it just sometimes actuates without a click. It does the opposite as well by clicking without actuating. Maybe it's just the way I hit certain keys, but I notice it more on certain keys. I gotta try swapping some of them out and see if it's actually the case. Otherwise, they really feel great. I like them much more than the Jades.

This thread, and others, made me try my hardest to find some box switches that exhibited these ... characteristics. It does seem like some of my jades can click without actuating, having spent a decent amount of time looking for it on daily driver boards. I can't say I have noticed the reverse yet. I only notice it when trying really hard to find it, and it seems to happen on a small number of switches that I have tried. All of my box clickies that are actually in boards are thick clicks, so I imagine that makes detecting such a thing much more difficult since overcoming the tactile event basically means you're going to bottom out immediately after (especially with jades). I wonder if people who put emphasis on such things are trying to prevent bottoming out, with clicky switches?

I find it interesting when I do see people ending up preferring pale blues to jades or navies. Why is it that you think that's the case for you? Are the navies just a bit too heavy? Do the jades seem, to you, to have too much tactility in relation to their spring weighting? Personally, I somewhat like the balancing of spring weight and click bar in the pale blues, but the tactility is underwhelming and the click is higher-pitched.

Uhhh.. You know what... I made a terrible mistake with my comment. I didn't realize that Kailh made Pale Blue Box switches. I thought everyone was talking about "Pale Blue Speed Heavies"


I didn't have this problem actuating and not actuating switches with the Jades, so they win in that department. The only other box switches I have used are Hako True and True Royals. These pale blue speed switches give an absurd about of mis-actuation which is really a bummer.