Quick question regarding clicky ALPS

[mungry]

Is there supposed to be a downstroke click as well as an upstroke click? Blue alps (I have in possession) seem to have both downstroke and upstroke clicks yet ambers (which I also have in possession) seem to only have a downstroke click. I'm inquiring to understand what the proper standard is for alps when they are cleaned. I'm cleaning them, but i'm not sure if i'm doing it properly in such a way that it restores them to their former glory.  Any insight would be much appreciated!

[chyros]

Is there supposed to be a downstroke click as well as an upstroke click? Blue alps (I have in possession) seem to have both downstroke and upstroke clicks yet ambers (which I also have in possession) seem to only have a downstroke click. I'm inquiring to understand what the proper standard is for alps when they are cleaned. I'm cleaning them, but i'm not sure if i'm doing it properly in such a way that it restores them to their former glory.  Any insight would be much appreciated!

Virtually ALL clicky switches have some upstroke click in addition to a downstroke one. If you want to know for sure, compare it to the sound in my Acer KB-101A video .

[mungry]

Oh, okay. It just seems to me  that the upstroke click in blues is far more prominent than that of ambers. I have watched a couple of your videos man (thanks for making them), but I can never tell each stroke apart because you pressed them too quickly. Maybe you could inform me just through your personal experience that if you find blues have more upclick? Maybe the ones I got are just old or something. Even in the same switch one blue will sound nicer than the other. haha! thanks for replying btw

[ctm]

I don't have a full board of blue Alps, only one in a switch tester. Mine doesn't have a noticeable upstroke click (there is a slight bump in upstroke when click leaf returns, but it's not as strong as a click), just like white, amber Alps and Matias click in my switch tester.

[mungry]

Huh, alright. Seems like alps are prone to vary a lot. Probably has something to do with the 12 something parts that make a single switch up lol- oh an also the fact that they are a few decades old  ). I might of extended the click leaf or the tactile leaf too far to create an upstroke click. idk from what I gather they should make an audible click on the upstroke but i'm far from an expert. I wish there was a detailed diagram depicting each and every component and their function- it's a lot to do though...

[chyros]

From my experience they don't click that loudly on the return. Did you modify the switches in any way?

[mungry]

Yeah I extended the click leaf and the switch plate a bit. It took countless assemblies and disassemblies to achieve the prominent upstroke click fro each blue switch. Seems to me that there not supposed to have that based on what you said. And ambers, in my experience, feature a far more prominent tactile bump and slightly louder click due to the increased force which seems in line with your videos. But I can't get the ambers to make that prominent upstroke click. Chyros (and ctm), thank you for sharing your experience because now I understand that stock alps do not feature such a prominent upstroke click.

[alh84001]

There should be no click on the upstroke (I actually quite hate that click, since it detracts from that nice downstroke click + bottoming out harmony when typing on clicky alps). At most, there should be kind of like a subdued ping. I noticed that when disassembling switches, especially if they are not in nice condition, when assembling them back, some combinations of top housing/slider/click leaf will exhibit a click with a greater chance than other combinations. That's why I now always keep parts together when cleaning them. If it happens in the future, try rotating the parts a bit. It can be tedious, but it could help.

[klennkellon]

On worn out white Alps it seems that if you press them off-center they can click loudly on the way back up as well.