PSA: DO NOT lube your Topre switches

[zpcomstock17]

I was wondering why my Topre switches felt off after lubricating them, while other (cherry and alps) switches felt a tad smoother and silent, but the switches started to feel... odd.
You do silence the upstroke, thought not at a great cost.
When I decided to trade off my Type Heaven, the trader requested it to completely unlubed. So I took some rubbing alcohol and got to work on the lubed stems. Then I found out the cause of the odd feeling to the sliders, when I had the housing upside-down, the slider would sluggishly drag down the rails until it dragged to the end. Compared to the unlubed sliders, which clacked down the rails as soon as my finger slipped away from them. Before shipping it the trader, I assembled the Type Heaven back up and immediately went to test out the switches again. They felt satisfying to type on again.
The lubricant must have killed the feeling of switches because the components in a Topre switch are very different from a basic mechanical switch. Unlike Cherry switches' rebound which is from the spring of the switch, Topre's rebound /does not/ come from the spring and relies on the natural rebound of the rubber domes. The rebound of a spring is much stronger compared to the rebound of rubber. So lubricating your Topre switches can gum it up.
If you want silence your Topre switches then do it the right way with silencing rings. Hyperspheres or other silencing rubber rings (aka Dental bands) is the right way to silence your Topre switch. Don't even put a drop of lube of the switch, silencing rings are the only way to go if you don't want to impact the feel and performance of your switch.

[xondat]

How did you lube your TH and what with? Lots of people lube HHKB/RFs and never go back.

[nmur]

hmm dunno. i've lubed 5+ topre boards and i swear by it.

i don't lube for silencing at all, not sure why someone would. i lube to minimise what little friction topre switches have. if it's affecting the actual feel of the switch to that degree then you may have been applying too much to applying to the wrong places

[henz]

i lube, what you describe with the slushy hanging upside down is correct in my case as well, but... the feels when using the keyboard is way better.

[Glissant]

You should really change that title to include "to silence" somewhere, and also please expand on what king of lube you used and where exactly you put the lube.

I've never heard of anyone else actually use grease type lube to silence their Topre sliders instead of landing pads or o-rings or dental bands. Interesting to see something different.

I'll also add that I've lubed and silenced 3 different Realforce boards, 2 HHKB pro 2s and a FC660C without any of the mentioned issues you had.

[zslane]

I've never heard of anyone else actually use grease type lube to silence their Topre sliders instead of landing pads or o-rings or dental bands.

Yeah, me neither. Very bizarre.

[devoi]

Are you sure you didn't use too much lube? It's not too hard to accidentally put too much, and it'll make the sliders really sluggish, especially the stabilizer ones.

[zpcomstock17]

GPL 205

[SpAmRaY]

I think you used too much lube.

You only should put a very thin streak along the slider track.

And maybe use krytox grease and oil mixed versus grease only.

[need]

Stock Topre is almost too smooth for me to begin with, so I don't really see any point in lubing it. Plus lube can get messy/dried up after a few years, which means more time spent on maintenance. So no, I'll never lube Topre switches. They are as perfect as they could be.

[nmur]

Stock Topre is almost too smooth for me to begin with, so I don't really see any point in lubing it. Plus lube can get messy/dried up after a few years, which means more time spent on maintenance. So no, I'll never lube Topre switches. They are as perfect as they could be.

i've only lubed if i was installed silencing rings. not worth it by itself

[need]

Stock Topre is almost too smooth for me to begin with, so I don't really see any point in lubing it. Plus lube can get messy/dried up after a few years, which means more time spent on maintenance. So no, I'll never lube Topre switches. They are as perfect as they could be.

i've only lubed if i was installed silencing rings. not worth it by itself

I have silencing rings on too, but I didn't notice any increase in friction.

[tkim]

I was wondering why my Topre switches felt off after lubricating them, while other (cherry and alps) switches felt a tad smoother and silent, but the switches started to feel... odd.
You do silence the upstroke, thought not at a great cost.
When I decided to trade off my Type Heaven, the trader requested it to completely unlubed. So I took some rubbing alcohol and got to work on the lubed stems. Then I found out the cause of the odd feeling to the sliders, when I had the housing upside-down, the slider would sluggishly drag down the rails until it dragged to the end. Compared to the unlubed sliders, which clacked down the rails as soon as my finger slipped away from them. Before shipping it the trader, I assembled the Type Heaven back up and immediately went to test out the switches again. They felt satisfying to type on again.
The lubricant must have killed the feeling of switches because the components in a Topre switch are very different from a basic mechanical switch. Unlike Cherry switches' rebound which is from the spring of the switch, Topre's rebound /does not/ come from the spring and relies on the natural rebound of the rubber domes. The rebound of a spring is much stronger compared to the rebound of rubber. So lubricating your Topre switches can gum it up.
If you want silence your Topre switches then do it the right way with silencing rings. Hyperspheres or other silencing rubber rings (aka Dental bands) is the right way to silence your Topre switch. Don't even put a drop of lube of the switch, silencing rings are the only way to go if you don't want to impact the feel and performance of your switch.

OP what you have described is either the end result of too much lube (wrong viscosity or amount). Even after lubing my sliders immediately return to the upright position when the plate is held upside down.

[kmba]

I've heard this before, and it usually comes from someone who lubed the entire slider, and not just the rails, or put way too much or too thick of lube on the rails. Rails alone will add some silencing and some friction reduction without causing slow rebound when done correctly. I've seen people use thin and thick switch lube, and I think thick (were talking a mix here, not a straight grease or thick stabilizer lube) is a good route for staying power.