Best spring mod for MX blues... clear springs or black springs?

[metalliqaz]

Oh knowledgeable geekhackers, lend me your wisdom.  I have heavy springs galore.  Which is preferred?

Note: I have a batch of MX whites.  I wonder if I should try those first...

[CPTBadAss]

I vote for Black springs because Black Spring + Blue Stem = Ghetto Greens. And I love Greens.

Also I love stock White switches . My daily drivers at home have Greens and Whites

[dorkvader]

Yes, try the whites. Light whites are pretty nice, and for louder switches, I prefer green/white springs.

I now have 100 62g whites and 100 stock whites. I'll be comparing them and making some KB's later.

To be clear, I recommend putting the white springs in the blues and putting lighter springs into the whites.

[metalliqaz]

Ah yes ghetto greens.  I understand clear springs are even heavier than black springs.  So I guess if I used those it would be like super greens.  Perhaps that would be too much for the tactile bump on the blues.

Are white springs closer to black or clear springs?

[Dubsgalore]

I always thought that white and green springs are closer to clear springs

[CPTBadAss]

According to rkinze Black, Green, and White switches all use the same spring. I think that Whites feel heavier but I'm not sure.

Edit: Soarer asks the exact question. White switches feeling heavier might be a function of the lube and the stem rather than the spring. Or it could be in my head lol.

[Dubsgalore]

According to rkinze Black, Green, and White switches all use the same spring. I think that Whites feel heavier but I'm not sure.

good to know, thank you for the link

[metalliqaz]

I'm leaning towards getting experimental and using the clear springs.  I kinda like the symmetry.  Swap the springs for ergo clears and super blues.

[IvanIvanovich]

No. Black has a 60/80cN , white/green have an 80/100cN which is the same as the greys. Clears are 65/100cN. According to Cherry data sheets.

[Dubsgalore]

No. Black has a 60/80cN , white/green have an 80/100cN which is the same as the greys. Clears are 65/100cN. According to Cherry data sheets.

I was going to say, i thought i knew they were different

[Reckthor]

Where can i buy Black springs?

Must try Ghetto Green's

[jdcarpe]

SmallFry preferred 65g Blues.

[bazemk1979]

my opinion blues with 65g Korean springs for the alpha/numeric and 80g Korean springs for the modifiers

[tbc]

so clears still have the highest 'ramp up' from actuation to bottom out, meaning that it should be the easiest one to not bottom out on?

[metalliqaz]

I've been switching my blue/clear springs for the past few minutes and I also took a look at my vintage black springs.  I noticed that the blue springs are longer than the black springs, which are longer than the clear springs.  Apparently the blue springs are more compressed to start with, and the clear springs are less compressed to start with.  This is an interesting feature that I never realized before.  That means in addition to the actual weight of the spring, the compression level could effect how the spring feels at the top of the stroke.  I don't know how I didn't know that until now.

Anyway I just did a test run on eight of my new super blues.  They are so loud and I love them  )

[Neo.X]

55g black and 62g clear is fun to type on. Especially 55g black. 

[metalliqaz]

55g black and 62g clear is fun to type on. Especially 55g black. 

55g black, also known as "red"

[Neo.X]

55g black and 62g clear is fun to type on. Especially 55g black. 

55g black, also known as "red"

Red is lighter, black is stiffer.

[MOZ]

my opinion blues with 65g Korean springs for the alpha/numeric and 80g Korean springs for the modifiers

This man speaks the truth!

[CPTBadAss]

55g black and 62g clear is fun to type on. Especially 55g black. 

55g black, also known as "red"

Red is lighter, black is stiffer.

The stems are the same thing, just different colors. Reds are lighter since they have 45 cN springs and Blacks are heavier since they have 60 cN springs. If you swap in Korean 55g springs into Blacks, theyre *about* the same as the 45cN Cherry springs. So same switch.

Edit: I tried 55g Blacks in Chicago, they felt the same as Reds. But according to rkinze, there should be a bit of difference. Hm...

[Neo.X]

55g black and 62g clear is fun to type on. Especially 55g black. 

55g black, also known as "red"

Red is lighter, black is stiffer.

The stems are the same thing, just different colors. Reds are lighter since they have 45 cN springs and Blacks are heavier since they have 60 cN springs. If you swap in Korean 55g springs into Blacks, theyre *about* the same as the 45cN Cherry springs. So same switch.

Edit: I tried 55g Blacks in Chicago, they felt the same as Reds. But according to rkinze, there should be a bit of difference. Hm...

Ye, the stems are the same. So 55g black feels same as 55g red. But the extra force of 55g makes the key rebounce faster which feels much better than stock red.

[IvanIvanovich]

55g spring, lighter than stock red spring by about 5g since they have around ~60g bottom out force. There still seem to be lots of confusion comparing the Korean springs which are marked on bottom force, against stock springs which are referred to Cherry on actuation force, which are quite different points of measurement. But you can see the relative bottom force on Cherry if you look the force diagrams on the MX datasheet, and go against there when you want to compare on the aftermarket spring.

[metalliqaz]

Got my keyboard together (mostly) now and I'm typing on my blues with clear springs.  These feel really great.  Its definitely heavier than I'm used to but very much liking the feel of it.  I think the click is somehow louder, too

[Lammie]

How does the blue with clear spring feel compared to stock mx green? Lighter, same, or heavier?

[Defect]

How does the blue with clear spring feel compared to stock mx green? Lighter, same, or heavier?

You necro'd a thread, FYI.   But anyways, Blue with Clear loses a lot of the tactility.  This is because the Clear spring ramps up in force as you compress it more than the black spring does.  It is lighter at the top than the black spring, but heavier at the bottom.

MX Blues click by "jumping" one part of a 2-part slider.  The clear spring pushes up on this part more than the black spring does, reducing the click noise.

They do feel pretty nice though.

[tbc]

is it me or are ghost blues loud as hell?

[metalliqaz]

My blues with clear springs sure as heck don't sound any quieter.  I don't know how they compare to a MX green switch because I don't have a MX green board.  All I can say is that I really like them.

[daerid]

I tried Blue with Clear springs, was the worst typing experience I've ever had

[Eszett]

I tried Blue with Clear springs, was the worst typing experience I've ever had

Hi! Can you elaborate please ...? Why so?

[metalliqaz]

I tried Blue with Clear springs, was the worst typing experience I've ever had

Hi! Can you elaborate please ...? Why so?

It's probably one of two reasons.  Either he doesn't like stiff springs, or he doesn't like the reduced tactility.  (stiffer springs remove the sensation of tactility)

Since this thread got necro'd, here is the finished board:

[daerid]

It's probably one of two reasons.  Either he doesn't like stiff springs, or he doesn't like the reduced tactility.  (stiffer springs remove the sensation of tactility)

Since this thread got necro'd, here is the finished board:

I usually don't have a problem with stiff springs (stock Clears are my fav MX). Something about Clear springs and Blue stems though makes the springs suuuuper heavy though. I made a post about it a while ago, I'll try and dig up the link.

[Grendel]

MX Blues click by "jumping" one part of a 2-part slider.  The clear spring pushes up on this part more than the black spring does, reducing the click noise.

Nah, the slider is propelled by the switches leaf contact spring, the click won't change w/ different main springs.

On a side note, blue/green/white w/ clear springs are my favorite switches. Lighter to actuate (than green/white, a bit heavier than blues), harder to bottom out. Using browns w/ clear springs for gaming, perfect.