Holee mod or Krytox XHT-BDZ

[unni]

Anyone compared Holee mod (with 205G0) against Krytox XHT-BDZ ? which one is better ? I am planning to mod newly ordered Durock Piano plate mount stabilizers.

Thanks in advance for suggestions

[Leopard223]

All stabilizers are awful and will tick eventually or at least will have some sort of a tick, I've read couple of inputs by users about this XHT-DBZ still ticking, I'd go with that Holee mod if you're confident in being successful, maybe mix it with that grease but I'm unfamiliar with that aside for being apparently "the next best thing"..

[Darthbaggins]

Normally you lube with the Holee mod to prevent the chances of rattle in other places.

[unni]

thank you for the replies.

I never done holee mod before. just saw the the videos on youtube.

[chungsteroonie]

I first tried BDZ, and it was a very stressful experience especially on the first attempts.  This is with Durock V2 stabilizers.  You test and look, and think, and chase down where you think the stabilizers are rattling adding little bits of lube with a syringe into the spots you think are the culprits.  It's never "perfect" but the ticking time-bomb with BDZ is if you step a little bit over the line and put too much lube in, it will spill out and drag your stabilizer down into a slow/soupy mess.

I did not like the idea of the Holee mod for 2 reasons.  The cloth material of the bandaid I felt would disintegrate in the stabilizer over time as the wire rubs back and forth on it with each keypress.  Also, the grease will seep into the cloth and eventually interact with the bandaid adhesive causing it to fail.

So, I tried the Epsilon mod, and that actually worked ok although it was a real pain to execute.  There was a bit of an initial "break-in" period on the Epsi mod where I had to spam the keys hard, but in the end, it settled into a nice spot.  There was, however one rattle on one side of the spacebar in that keyboard that would rear its ugly head if you spammed it really hard.  This never went away, and I'm running the Epsi mod long-term on one of the keyboards in the house to test longevity.  What I don't like about this mod is I think it slows down the stabilizer a bit, and while in my testing the deskeys film material should do a better job of stopping grease from interacting with the adhesive, the rubbery bits of the deskeys films are not designed for something to rub back and forth over it, and this this rubber layer flakes off if you agressively rub it side to side.

What I ended up using on 3 keyboards so far and it working REALLY well is using UHMW tape 5 mil thickness and applying it the same way you would do the Holee mod (apply only to the top contact surface of the stabilizer insert). . . This tape is typically used on furniture drawers to make them slide easier.  If you use about 1/3-1/2 the amount of lube that Taeha Types used in his stab lubing tutorial, I found the stabilizers all came out consistent, fast, and PERFECT. . . .with very little lube applied. . .

This is what I'm currently doing for all of my future builds.

[_rubik]

The cloth material of the bandaid I felt would disintegrate in the stabilizer over time as the wire rubs back and forth on it with each keypress.  Also, the grease will seep into the cloth and eventually interact with the bandaid adhesive causing it to fail.

This. So many times over. I don't know why or when we started down this path, but cloth bandaids with a mild adhesive was never a lasting or sustainable solution. To me, little bits of lube soaked cloth in my keyboard just feels necrotic. I'd rather stick with a lube / grease and live with the mild rattle.

What I ended up using on 3 keyboards so far and it working REALLY well is using UHMW tape 5 mil thickness and applying it the same way you would do the Holee mod

Well now I have something to add to the project pile. I've never considered UHMW tape, but polyethylene (or whatever the tape is) feels worlds better than bandaid cloth.

[chungsteroonie]

I just uploaded a video where I walked my 9yo daughter through installing the UHMW variant of the holee mod in detail. . .muck ups and all. There is a time-stamp in the description of the video to locate the relevant parts.  You can also see/hear the resulting stabilizer performance.

https://youtu.be/GjwHRzsvyyM

[QWER|key]

I just uploaded a video where I walked my 9yo daughter through installing the UHMW variant of the holee mod in detail. . .muck ups and all. There is a time-stamp in the description of the video to locate the relevant parts.  You can also see/hear the resulting stabilizer performance.

https://youtu.be/GjwHRzsvyyM

What a great video.  Penelope types better than I do  )

[problemxyz]

This thread came at the right time as Ive been wondering the same about band-aid. The best so far has been medical tape that is like athlete's tape. And have made so the lube is only applied to the corner of the stab bar, meaning not on the tip that goes into the housing. This has been the best so far for me. No tick or anything but I can't attest to it holding up for very long as Ive only done it less than a week ago.

I even tried holee mod with duct tape because I was wondering that clotch would just blend with lube one way or another. It wasn't even that bad.
 

but polyethylene (or whatever the tape is) feels worlds better than bandaid cloth.

Care to share details about the polyethene you are using? When I look it up I run into many different kinds of tape.

[queasy]

Awesome video chungsteroonie, really loved it!
Great parenting and group effort! 

[unni]

I am planning to try UHMW mod. Which lube would be better ? XHT-BDZ or 205 ?

[chungsteroonie]

I am planning to try UHMW mod. Which lube would be better ? XHT-BDZ or 205 ?

Don't use BDZ on UHMW modded Durock V2 stabs.  Relatively little G205 G0 is needed to control the wire rattle once the gap has been narrowed by the UHMW tape.  Also, if the grease migrates outside of the stabilizer stem, it won't drag down the entire assembly as much as the BDZ which is super sticky and impossible to remove by "easy" methods like sticking a brush into the gap.

[Kokukenji]

Love the holee mod in the beginning, then I notice slight ticks because of the lube. Been trying different materials to see what would last longer. At this point, might just do a good lube/tune job and call it a day, haha.

[Engedi_]

I think my fears for the holee mod is realized in the comments. I've had my keyboard for several months now. Out of 4 stabs, i had to relube the backspace, and for some reason a bandaid came off of the left side of the spacebar stab (to be fair this might be due to a poor modding job since it was my first time holee modding). So I had to apply a generous amount of BDZ but it still rattles a bit. Not too bad. The other stabs are fine. Probably because I don't use it as often.
Regarding, not doing the holee or epsi mod and just sticking to lube/tune... I haven't had a keyboard long enough to confirm this but wouldn't you have a board with accumulated "puddle" of lube, since you'd apply lube more often than if you would with the holee mod?... idk

My solution to this is very expensive. Just own multiple boards that are all holee modded and swap a board every week. You will only have to re-mod your stabs once every year or two, lol. Most people do buy more than one keyboard anyway...

[unni]

thank you everyone for suggestions.

I changed the stabs to Everglide panda v3 plate mounted stabs (i think its same as Durock, and both are made by jwk) because of some shipping issue. First I tried holee mod UHMW tape. The attempt failed, since the stab came with some lube/oil in that and tape didn't stick into it (i didn't have the patience to wash and dry  ).

So I tried  XHT-BDZ lube. my observations after 1 weeks of use,

• Really easy to apply
• No Rattle at all
• Initially had a sticky feeling, while pressing the key. but it gone (or may be adjusted to it) after some use

I have 1 more set of stabs left. I will try UHMW on that one another week, and get back with my experience

[Kuratar]

What I ended up using on 3 keyboards so far and it working REALLY well is using UHMW tape 5 mil thickness and applying it the same way you would do the Holee mod (apply only to the top contact surface of the stabilizer insert). . . This tape is typically used on furniture drawers to make them slide easier.  If you use about 1/3-1/2 the amount of lube that Taeha Types used in his stab lubing tutorial, I found the stabilizers all came out consistent, fast, and PERFECT. . . .with very little lube applied. . .

Hey all, not sure if this topic is still followed but I performed the holee mod with UHMW tape as chungsteroonie mentioned and it works out extremely well. Here is my soundtest albeit with ****ty recording setup:

I used novelkeys plate mount stabs and there is no rattle at all with performing both the regular tapping on the keys and tapping while the key is pressed halfway (same method of testing as keybored's big video on other lubing methods other than grease for stabs). There isn't a mushy feeling either unlike band aids so thus it required no break in. I did use a decent amount of lube and things went fine but my left shift seems to have been overlubed initially. Now the left shift feels fine after some usage but yeah definitely as chungsteroonie said use a bit less lube than usual.

If anyone wants, I can record another video closely testing the stabs if needed. Again, it is with a ****ty setup so sorry about that but it is something!

[138yen]

I just uploaded a video where I walked my 9yo daughter through installing the UHMW variant of the holee mod in detail. . .muck ups and all. There is a time-stamp in the description of the video to locate the relevant parts.  You can also see/hear the resulting stabilizer performance.

https://youtu.be/GjwHRzsvyyM

Hey I know this is quite an old thread now, but has the UHMW tape ever worn down after heavy usage? Was just wondering if it could be a more consistent alternative of the holee mod, which have been the absolute bane of my modding experience.

[granola bar enthusiast]

i second this, in my experience the bandaid from the holee mod frequently gets displaced and its a real hassle to fix, would love to see more mods to help combat this or new materials played with.
in the past i tried painters tape as a replacement for bandaid... it didn't go so well to say the least

[Darthbaggins]

I normally stick with just using 205g0 on my stabs, occasionally I use dielectric as well depending on how bad the wire rattle is.