[GB] PURPLE/CLEAR ZEALIO SWITCHES (Complete)

[strict]

Thank you very much for the suggestion for fixing the chattering issue bro. Do you have a success rate for the mod?

100% of my chattering switches are now working as expected. 10 of the 12 worked perfect after the first tweak, and the remaining two only took one more light nudge and they started behaving properly as well.

[ideus]

So I'm pretty confident I found a very painless fix for the key chattering issue. You need to take a flat jewelers screwdriver and ever-so-light bend the inner-most contact toward the center post of the housing. When you are tweaking the contact, you just need to give it 3 or 4 light pushes in the direction of the center post. You should NOT feel like you're bending anything and it should NOT look like you've bent it once you're done if you did it right. The tolerances here are incredibly tight so you just need a very fine adjustment and that should fix it. I was able to fix all 12 of the chattering switches on my Phantom doing this and I didn't have to solder/desolder a single thing. From my testing this does not alter the feel or performance of the switch in any way other than fixing the chattering and early actuation.

I drew a very crude diagram to try to help explain my technique. Basically you take the contact highlighted in blue and lightly nudge it a couple of times towards the center post of the housing in red.

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Thank you very much for the suggestion for fixing the chattering issue bro. Do you have a success rate for the mod?

I was able to fix all 12 of the chattering switches on my Phantom doing this and I didn't have to solder/desolder a single thing.

I'd say 100%

Awesome, cannot appreciate enough your diligence in finding a solution for this issue.

[tofgerl]

Problem found, patched and hopefully we'll find a permanent fix for the next version.

I love open source hardware!

[Oobly]

So I'm pretty confident I found a very painless fix for the key chattering issue. You need to take a flat jewelers screwdriver and ever-so-light bend the inner-most contact toward the center post of the housing. When you are tweaking the contact, you just need to give it 3 or 4 light pushes in the direction of the center post. You should NOT feel like you're bending anything and it should NOT look like you've bent it once you're done if you did it right. The tolerances here are incredibly tight so you just need a very fine adjustment and that should fix it. I was able to fix all 12 of the chattering switches on my Phantom doing this and I didn't have to solder/desolder a single thing. From my testing this does not alter the feel or performance of the switch in any way other than fixing the chattering and early actuation.

I drew a very crude diagram to try to help explain my technique. Basically you take the contact highlighted in blue and lightly nudge it a couple of times towards the center post of the housing in red.

Show Image

Very good work!

This leads me to believe a possible way to prevent this issue is to solder them "from the inside". What I mean is that you press the soldering iron to the inside edge of the pin (the side towards the bottom of the switch) when soldering it instead of the outside (side towards the top) for that pin.

[3K]

I just thought about choosing an other weight for the mods on my Zealio board. Then I noticed something...

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[swimmingbird]

I just thought about choosing an other weight for the mods on my Zealio board. Then I noticed something...

More

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Stabs?

[3K]

I just thought about choosing an other weight for the mods on my Zealio board. Then I noticed something...

More

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Stabs?

Yep  :(

[ideus]

I just thought about choosing an other weight for the mods on my Zealio board. Then I noticed something...

More

Show Image

Stabs?

Yep  :(

What PCB is that?

[3K]

I just thought about choosing an other weight for the mods on my Zealio board. Then I noticed something...

More

Show Image

Stabs?

Yep  :(

What PCB is that?

A SPRiT PCB that I got in Leandrens groupbuy some weeks ago. Pretty good quality I think!

[cjhard]

Since you haven't put the switches in yet, you can still work most of them in there if you're careful. That Spacebar is going to get weird since it doesn't have the slot for the wire like a non-universal plate would have for plate-mount stabs. You could try sliding the wire into the stabs after they're attached, but since the FaceW has the Spacebar wire towards the Alphas, it may not be a piece of cake...

[KaminKevCrew]

Since you haven't put the switches in yet, you can still work most of them in there if you're careful. That Spacebar is going to get weird since it doesn't have the slot for the wire like a non-universal plate would have for plate-mount stabs. You could try sliding the wire into the stabs after they're attached, but since the FaceW has the Spacebar wire towards the Alphas, it may not be a piece of cake...

I can confirm that getting the space bar stab in there after the plate is on is a complete pain in the butt. My stab wire kept coming out of the stabs when I took the space bar out, and I've had to get it back in there 5 or 6 times. It takes more pressure than I really want to put on that stuff, but my switches were already soldered after I thought I had fixed the problem or I would have pulled the pcb off again (already did that twice...)

To that end, there were some stab inserts that screw into the pcb, which I'm going to use with Mira and the gold bars. Hopefully that will completely eliminate the issue. (zealios are going into that board too!!!)

Edit: that's the same plate I used! So yeah... For pressing the space bar stab in, I used the ifixit pro toolkit's wide tipped straight tweezers, but the two sides had come apart, so it's basically a very very thin flathead screwdriver.

[E3E]

Since you haven't put the switches in yet, you can still work most of them in there if you're careful. That Spacebar is going to get weird since it doesn't have the slot for the wire like a non-universal plate would have for plate-mount stabs. You could try sliding the wire into the stabs after they're attached, but since the FaceW has the Spacebar wire towards the Alphas, it may not be a piece of cake...

I can confirm that getting the space bar stab in there after the plate is on is a complete pain in the butt. My stab wire kept coming out of the stabs when I took the space bar out, and I've had to get it back in there 5 or 6 times. It takes more pressure than I really want to put on that stuff, but my switches were already soldered after I thought I had fixed the problem or I would have pulled the pcb off again (already did that twice...)

To that end, there were some stab inserts that screw into the pcb, which I'm going to use with Mira and the gold bars. Hopefully that will completely eliminate the issue. (zealios are going into that board too!!!)

Edit: that's the same plate I used! So yeah... For pressing the space bar stab in, I used the ifixit pro toolkit's wide tipped straight tweezers, but the two sides had come apart, so it's basically a very very thin flathead screwdriver.

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news here, but screw-in stabs won't help. I use them on my Octagon and Lightpad and Gateron blanks and cherry OG, both incredibly tight-fitting on the stabs, can indeed still force the stab dummies out of their positions and cause the wire to pop out. I feel your pain though, as I had to go through it a few times, even desoldering a switch or two to get it back in there (with SIP sockets that were recessed into the PCB holes! GOD IS IT TERRIBLE TO DESOLDER THOSE UNLESS YOU HAVE CHIPQUIK, even with a vacuum-powered desoldering gun).

I'd recommend using wax carving tools (they look like dental picks) to shimmy the wires back into the stab clips. It's how I've done it. The issue is not so much with how the stabs are mounted (PCB/Plate/PCB screw-in) to the board but with how the mx mount dummies can pop out of position. It sucks, but yeah.

[techmattr]

So I'm pretty confident I found a very painless fix for the key chattering issue. You need to take a flat jewelers screwdriver and ever-so-light bend the inner-most contact toward the center post of the housing. When you are tweaking the contact, you just need to give it 3 or 4 light pushes in the direction of the center post. You should NOT feel like you're bending anything and it should NOT look like you've bent it once you're done if you did it right. The tolerances here are incredibly tight so you just need a very fine adjustment and that should fix it. I was able to fix all 12 of the chattering switches on my Phantom doing this and I didn't have to solder/desolder a single thing. From my testing this does not alter the feel or performance of the switch in any way other than fixing the chattering and early actuation.

I drew a very crude diagram to try to help explain my technique. Basically you take the contact highlighted in blue and lightly nudge it a couple of times towards the center post of the housing in red.

Show Image

I had 28 chattering switches and was able to fix all 28 with this method. I'm curious to see if it lasts. I would guess over a bit of time it would return to original position. We'll have to wait and see.

[KaminKevCrew]

Since you haven't put the switches in yet, you can still work most of them in there if you're careful. That Spacebar is going to get weird since it doesn't have the slot for the wire like a non-universal plate would have for plate-mount stabs. You could try sliding the wire into the stabs after they're attached, but since the FaceW has the Spacebar wire towards the Alphas, it may not be a piece of cake...

I can confirm that getting the space bar stab in there after the plate is on is a complete pain in the butt. My stab wire kept coming out of the stabs when I took the space bar out, and I've had to get it back in there 5 or 6 times. It takes more pressure than I really want to put on that stuff, but my switches were already soldered after I thought I had fixed the problem or I would have pulled the pcb off again (already did that twice...)

To that end, there were some stab inserts that screw into the pcb, which I'm going to use with Mira and the gold bars. Hopefully that will completely eliminate the issue. (zealios are going into that board too!!!)

Edit: that's the same plate I used! So yeah... For pressing the space bar stab in, I used the ifixit pro toolkit's wide tipped straight tweezers, but the two sides had come apart, so it's basically a very very thin flathead screwdriver.

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news here, but screw-in stabs won't help. I use them on my Octagon and Lightpad and Gateron blanks and cherry OG, both incredibly tight-fitting on the stabs, can indeed still force the stab dummies out of their positions and cause the wire to pop out. I feel your pain though, as I had to go through it a few times, even desoldering a switch or two to get it back in there (with SIP sockets that were recessed into the PCB holes! GOD IS IT TERRIBLE TO DESOLDER THOSE UNLESS YOU HAVE CHIPQUIK, even with a vacuum-powered desoldering gun).

I'd recommend using wax carving tools (they look like dental picks) to shimmy the wires back into the stab clips. It's how I've done it. The issue is not so much with how the stabs are mounted (PCB/Plate/PCB screw-in) to the board but with how the mx mount dummies can pop out of position. It sucks, but yeah.

Dang. Well, maybe I just won't swap my space bar once I put it on (I got a titanium one, so I doubt that it will get switched out frequently, because it's pretty cool.)

[W_hinklebottom]

Whoo Hoo! These things look almost too good to put caps on! Thanks Zeal

[AdmiralSquid]

@W_hinklebottom.

That is a really cool board, what PCB/Plate are you using?

[KaminKevCrew]

@W_hinklebottom.

That is a really cool board, what PCB/Plate are you using?

I'm pretty sure the plate is one of the ones that leandre had on his shop.

[W_hinklebottom]

@W_hinklebottom.

That is a really cool board, what PCB/Plate are you using?

I got the Plate and the PCB from Leandre's last group buy (he is doing an IC for another one now) It is a universal 60% plate designed by JDcarpe and the pcb is a Sprit Face w. The next group buy is going with winkeyless b. pcb which supports RGB LED underlighting. The switches are of course Zealios 67g tactile, best group buy I decided to pull the trigger on.

[HoffmanMyster]

Just assembled another board with Zealios last night. 

Re: Soldering temp concerns with the switches
There is definitely something going on with the soldering process, and I believe it has to be heat.  I tested all my switches with a multimeter before assembling and they were fine.  After assembly, four switches chattered.  I desoldered them and installed new switches, just barely "kissing" them with heat and solder, and it worked fine.  This is not ideal from a soldering-quality perspective, which kinda bums me out, but it's what I had to do to make the board work.  :-/

Just sharing my story to add to the list of feedback. 

@Zeal, I personally don't care at all about the fact these switches are clear (I'm in it for the lack of annoying mods needed).  Do you have any thoughts on offering a more "true" Cherry approximation that uses the original materials?  I really like the way the switches feel, I just don't like how narrow the processing window is for soldering.

I just thought about choosing an other weight for the mods on my Zealio board. Then I noticed something...

More

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If this plate accepts plate-mount stabs and you haven't already desoldered, and you really don't want to desolder, I'd be happy to send you some plate-mount stabs.

[Oobly]

Just assembled another board with Zealios last night. 

Re: Soldering temp concerns with the switches
There is definitely something going on with the soldering process, and I believe it has to be heat.  I tested all my switches with a multimeter before assembling and they were fine.  After assembly, four switches chattered.  I desoldered them and installed new switches, just barely "kissing" them with heat and solder, and it worked fine.  This is not ideal from a soldering-quality perspective, which kinda bums me out, but it's what I had to do to make the board work.  :-/

Just sharing my story to add to the list of feedback. 

@Zeal, I personally don't care at all about the fact these switches are clear (I'm in it for the lack of annoying mods needed).  Do you have any thoughts on offering a more "true" Cherry approximation that uses the original materials?  I really like the way the switches feel, I just don't like how narrow the processing window is for soldering.

I just thought about choosing an other weight for the mods on my Zealio board. Then I noticed something...

More

Show Image

If this plate accepts plate-mount stabs and you haven't already desoldered, and you really don't want to desolder, I'd be happy to send you some plate-mount stabs.

...  a possible way to prevent this issue is to solder them "from the inside". What I mean is that you press the soldering iron to the inside edge of the pin (the side towards the bottom of the switch) when soldering it instead of the outside (side towards the top) for that pin.

Worth a try? Could even try to "fix" a chattering switch by reflowing with a bit of pressure and holding it long enough to soften the plastic.

I'd suggest using Cherry switch bottoms, but they will add a little just a little scratchiness to the slider movement. Prevents the slightly rough bottom out and the melting issue, though.

[HoffmanMyster]

Just assembled another board with Zealios last night. 

Re: Soldering temp concerns with the switches
There is definitely something going on with the soldering process, and I believe it has to be heat.  I tested all my switches with a multimeter before assembling and they were fine.  After assembly, four switches chattered.  I desoldered them and installed new switches, just barely "kissing" them with heat and solder, and it worked fine.  This is not ideal from a soldering-quality perspective, which kinda bums me out, but it's what I had to do to make the board work.  :-/

Just sharing my story to add to the list of feedback. 

@Zeal, I personally don't care at all about the fact these switches are clear (I'm in it for the lack of annoying mods needed).  Do you have any thoughts on offering a more "true" Cherry approximation that uses the original materials?  I really like the way the switches feel, I just don't like how narrow the processing window is for soldering.

I just thought about choosing an other weight for the mods on my Zealio board. Then I noticed something...

More

Show Image

If this plate accepts plate-mount stabs and you haven't already desoldered, and you really don't want to desolder, I'd be happy to send you some plate-mount stabs.

...  a possible way to prevent this issue is to solder them "from the inside". What I mean is that you press the soldering iron to the inside edge of the pin (the side towards the bottom of the switch) when soldering it instead of the outside (side towards the top) for that pin.

Worth a try? Could even try to "fix" a chattering switch by reflowing with a bit of pressure and holding it long enough to soften the plastic.

I'd suggest using Cherry switch bottoms, but they will add a little just a little scratchiness to the slider movement. Prevents the slightly rough bottom out and the melting issue, though.

Oh wow, I missed that post of yours.  Thanks for re-quoting!  I think the logic is sound, and I'll give it a try with the next board.   :thumb:

[ideus]

Would someone try to find the relation between strict's fix and the melting theory? Someone has tested the switches before soldering and found some casualties after it, that still point to some issues with the melting point of the switch's bottom.


I could do that when I got my switches, but, I am not sure how long that may take.

[HoffmanMyster]

Would someone try to find the relation between strict's fix and the melting theory? Someone has tested the switches before soldering and found some casualties after it, that still point to some issues with the melting point of the switch's bottom.


I could do that when I got my switches, but, I am not sure how long that may take.

My theory is that putting a little lateral pressure on the switch contact while heating the solder/pin (and subsequently melting the bottom of the switch a bit with the solder that flows down into the hole) causes the leaf inside to shift a bit towards the top (away from the center of the switch).  Strict's fix pushes the leaf just that little bit back toward the center.

[ideus]

Would someone try to find the relation between strict's fix and the melting theory? Someone has tested the switches before soldering and found some casualties after it, that still point to some issues with the melting point of the switch's bottom.


I could do that when I got my switches, but, I am not sure how long that may take.

My theory is that putting a little lateral pressure on the switch contact while heating the solder/pin (and subsequently melting the bottom of the switch a bit with the solder that flows down into the hole) causes the leaf inside to shift a bit towards the top (away from the center of the switch).  Strict's fix pushes the leaf just that little bit back toward the center.

That makes sense, it seems then that strict's fix compensates the effect of the melting bottom on the leaf contacts alignment.

[filphil]

Just assembled another board with Zealios last night. 

Re: Soldering temp concerns with the switches
There is definitely something going on with the soldering process, and I believe it has to be heat.  I tested all my switches with a multimeter before assembling and they were fine.  After assembly, four switches chattered.  I desoldered them and installed new switches, just barely "kissing" them with heat and solder, and it worked fine.  This is not ideal from a soldering-quality perspective, which kinda bums me out, but it's what I had to do to make the board work.  :-/

Just sharing my story to add to the list of feedback. 

Speaking of bad technique I did something a little bit different but my goal was the same as yours.  I tinned my tip with excess solder hoping that the heat stored in the solder would transfer quickly once contact was made with the joint and adding a little bit of solder to essentially flood it.  The joint looked similar to the others but who knows on the other side of the pcb?  It's been used for the past two or three days now with no issues. 

[cjhard]

Just assembled another board with Zealios last night. 

Re: Soldering temp concerns with the switches
There is definitely something going on with the soldering process, and I believe it has to be heat.  I tested all my switches with a multimeter before assembling and they were fine.  After assembly, four switches chattered.  I desoldered them and installed new switches, just barely "kissing" them with heat and solder, and it worked fine.  This is not ideal from a soldering-quality perspective, which kinda bums me out, but it's what I had to do to make the board work.  :-/

Just sharing my story to add to the list of feedback. 

Speaking of bad technique I did something a little bit different but my goal was the same as yours.  I tinned my tip with excess solder hoping that the heat stored in the solder would transfer quickly once contact was made with the joint and adding a little bit of solder to essentially flood it.  The joint looked similar to the others but who knows on the other side of the pcb?  It's been used for the past two or three days now with no issues. 

You could probably make that easier by throwing some flux down in there before tip touching. I've seen this technique used for SMD soldering alongside tacky flux goop.

[KaminKevCrew]

Just assembled another board with Zealios last night. 

Re: Soldering temp concerns with the switches
There is definitely something going on with the soldering process, and I believe it has to be heat.  I tested all my switches with a multimeter before assembling and they were fine.  After assembly, four switches chattered.  I desoldered them and installed new switches, just barely "kissing" them with heat and solder, and it worked fine.  This is not ideal from a soldering-quality perspective, which kinda bums me out, but it's what I had to do to make the board work.  :-/

Just sharing my story to add to the list of feedback. 

Speaking of bad technique I did something a little bit different but my goal was the same as yours.  I tinned my tip with excess solder hoping that the heat stored in the solder would transfer quickly once contact was made with the joint and adding a little bit of solder to essentially flood it.  The joint looked similar to the others but who knows on the other side of the pcb?  It's been used for the past two or three days now with no issues. 

You could probably make that easier by throwing some flux down in there before tip touching. I've seen this technique used for SMD soldering alongside tacky flux goop.

Maybe that's why I didn't have any issues. I was using flux goop.

[jiexi]

Whoo Hoo! These things look almost too good to put caps on! Thanks Zeal

Show Image

Now we need purple stabilizers

[Skuloth]

Whoo Hoo! These things look almost too good to put caps on! Thanks Zeal

Show Image

Now we need purple stabilizers

yes please

[njbair]

Are people overdoing it with the solder? I can't imagine using enough heat to cause melting like this, although all my Zealios are still sitting in the bag. But I know my iron very well and always try to use as little heat as possible.

Matias switches are clear and I've never had problems but I'm not sure if it's the same kind of plastic.

[strict]

Are people overdoing it with the solder? I can't imagine using enough heat to cause melting like this, although all my Zealios are still sitting in the bag. But I know my iron very well and always try to use as little heat as possible.

Matias switches are clear and I've never had problems but I'm not sure if it's the same kind of plastic.

I've been soldering since I was 12 including hundreds of Playstation and Xbox mod chips (DMS and Xecuter) very successfully. I've installed thousands of Cherry and Gaterons switches at this point and never had a bit of trouble with any of them until the Zealios. I soldered mine on a relatively low temp (575F) and didn't keep the iron on the legs for anything even approaching an exorbitant amount of time but still had 12 switches on my Phantom chattering.

[KaminKevCrew]

Are people overdoing it with the solder? I can't imagine using enough heat to cause melting like this, although all my Zealios are still sitting in the bag. But I know my iron very well and always try to use as little heat as possible.

Matias switches are clear and I've never had problems but I'm not sure if it's the same kind of plastic.

I've been soldering since I was 12 including hundreds of Playstation and Xbox mod chips (DMS and Xecuter) very successfully. I've installed thousands of Cherry and Gaterons switches at this point and never had a bit of trouble with any of them until the Zealios. I soldered mine on a relatively low temp (575F) and didn't keep the iron on the legs for anything even approaching an exorbitant amount of time but still had 12 switches on my Phantom chattering.

I think I was close to 700F, and that let me solder quickly, which may have had less heat bleed, and made it so none of mine melted.

[njbair]

Are people overdoing it with the solder? I can't imagine using enough heat to cause melting like this, although all my Zealios are still sitting in the bag. But I know my iron very well and always try to use as little heat as possible.

Matias switches are clear and I've never had problems but I'm not sure if it's the same kind of plastic.

I've been soldering since I was 12 including hundreds of Playstation and Xbox mod chips (DMS and Xecuter) very successfully. I've installed thousands of Cherry and Gaterons switches at this point and never had a bit of trouble with any of them until the Zealios. I soldered mine on a relatively low temp (575F) and didn't keep the iron on the legs for anything even approaching to an exorbitant amount of time but still had 12 switches on my Phantom chattering.

OK well then it's clearly not a matter of skill. I'm glad mine are still in the bag so I can learn from others' experiences.

[tofgerl]

I still think it might actually be more pushing the pins than the amount of heat. Of course, if you heat it too high so the plastic melts, that would disturb the pins...

[myotherteeshirt]

I've been soldering since I was 12 including hundreds of Playstation and Xbox mod chips (DMS and Xecuter) very successfully. I've installed thousands of Cherry and Gaterons switches at this point and never had a bit of trouble with any of them until the Zealios. I soldered mine on a relatively low temp (575F) and didn't keep the iron on the legs for anything even approaching an exorbitant amount of time but still had 12 switches on my Phantom chattering.

Adding in my experience here for statistical purposes:

I just put 90-odd zealios in a quickfire TK over the weekend, and found no issues so far, though i didn't use the EK switch hitter which i will try when i get home.

I had to redo some switches because the first time i forgot to put in the cherry stabs before i soldered the switches in, and then i had to fix a broken trace (secondhand board) on the enter key with copper wire - so 3x solder, 2x desolder in total on that one switch.

I use a SEEED mini soldering iron set to 300C, which google tells me is just a hair off 575F. Haven't noticed any chattering at all so far, and this is my first time soldering since school. I did examine that one switch and found no deformation of the plastic housing.

What i did was similar to filphil in that i'd tin the iron a bit more than i needed to, and once i saw the pad get shiny (i don't know if that is the best way to describe it, but it there would be a sheen that originated from where my iron touched the pad that would run around the pad - i assumed this meant the pad was hot enough or that the solder was flowing to the pad), i added more solder to the pin. Spent no more than 5 seconds on each joint.

I think we need a few sacrificial zealios to test a few situations - iron against pin to see how long it takes to deform at different temps, and iron with pressure against the pin to see if the issue is independent of housing deformation.

[apolotary]

Got my pack of 67g Zealios today! Modded my KBParadise v60 with TEX acrylic case and a plate from LeandreN.

It took me a while to realize what these switches were reminding me of though. I'm fairly certain that they are super-close in tactility to Matias Click switches, except they don't click (duh). I'm curious to try lighter versions, as I used to be a huge fan of Matias Quiet Click switches and as far as I remember those were slightly lighter in feel than their noisy counterparts.

Overall, huge props to Gateron and Zealio for putting this out! I'm fairly happy to finally have my favorite flavor of mechanical switches in Cherry MX format without having to worry about keychattering or a shoddy micro-usb connector

Made a crappy typing test and comparison video for anyone interested:

[Tyr]

Been using my 67g purple Zealio build for a week now, I had no issues with chattering or actuating to high. When I read these comments I even went to test with Switch Hitter, but it confirmed that all is normal. I soldered my build with my Aoyue on 400C with a 1,6mm chisel tip and I had to desolder 2 keys to reseat the spacebar stabiliser wire which had come loose, but those keys are fine as well. All switches have had a sip sockets installed. Super happy with the switches, I was afraid they were going to be too light as I'm coming off of mx clears but they're really comfortable.

[HoffmanMyster]

Are people overdoing it with the solder? I can't imagine using enough heat to cause melting like this, although all my Zealios are still sitting in the bag. But I know my iron very well and always try to use as little heat as possible.

Matias switches are clear and I've never had problems but I'm not sure if it's the same kind of plastic.

I won't claim to never make mistakes (I wish ) ), but I've been soldering for well over 10 years and never had this issue.  I've worked to get my soldering technique up to par and try to avoid cold joints, so I apply a bit of heat, but never to the point that I'd be concerned about applying too much.

I don't feel comfortable with the technique many are suggesting of applying "just enough heat to melt the solder", because that won't give the best transfer of heat to the pad, which is important for a good joint.

But I'm just a hobbyist, so if any professionals can weigh in that'd be nice.  Maybe I've been going about it wrong and didn't realize it. 

[UTEster750]

Are people overdoing it with the solder? I can't imagine using enough heat to cause melting like this, although all my Zealios are still sitting in the bag. But I know my iron very well and always try to use as little heat as possible.

Matias switches are clear and I've never had problems but I'm not sure if it's the same kind of plastic.

I won't claim to never make mistakes (I wish ) ), but I've been soldering for well over 10 years and never had this issue.  I've worked to get my soldering technique up to par and try to avoid cold joints, so I apply a bit of heat, but never to the point that I'd be concerned about applying too much.

I don't feel comfortable with the technique many are suggesting of applying "just enough heat to melt the solder", because that won't give the best transfer of heat to the pad, which is important for a good joint.

But I'm just a hobbyist, so if any professionals can weigh in that'd be nice.  Maybe I've been going about it wrong and didn't realize it. 

I'm no pro either but I've done a share of soldering and I think what you said has merit. I think having a good temperature then just only having heat contact for as long as needed instead of a long exposure to a colder iron.

[Zeal]

Hey guys, just a quick update:

The remaining geekhackers spring lube was shipped today. mkawa's very sorry about the lube delays -- he's been super busy with work and also has family matters to deal with.

I expect to receive the spring lube sometime next week, and will turn around the remaining 10% of orders that are left. After that, we can finally conclude the GB. Thanks everyone.

[Lepidus]

Got my zealios at the same day some SPRiT springs arrived. So why not post here? )

Although they appear to have the same weight, their "construction" is indeed very different. Yet, couldnt feel any difference, even between the 62g and 65g. Maybe my fingers are broken.

By order: Cherry MX clear, Zeal 65g, Sprit 62g gold plated, Sprit 65g "regular"

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[Zustiur]

Got home from work early to find switches waiting for me. Yay. Now if only I had a plate and PCB ready

[alex952]

For me it was my first time soldering, and I only got 4 out of 76 (Ergodox) chattering ones.

I haven't really tested thoroughly, but from my experience, there might me some kind of degree of chattering, as the first keys that I noticed always double-press when I hit them, at any force whatsoever, but the last two that I realized had the same issue, do not affect my typing at all if I press them normally.

I've got 4 spares, so I guess I will be desoldering the affected ones and using those as replacements because I cannot remove the switch with it sitting in the plate 

[breitling]

Noticing at least a couple of the keys chattering right now. Its a bit annoying but I will try that fix that was mentioned earlier. I only have 3 extra keys so hopefully this will work or I may have to order more.

[cjhard]

Order more anyway, otherwise you won't have any for when there exists a PCB with RGB LED support and some sort of software accessible interface to control the LEDs.

Imagine your entire keyboard switching colors based on which mode you're in in vim!

[Oobly]

Been using my 67g purple Zealio build for a week now, I had no issues with chattering or actuating to high. When I read these comments I even went to test with Switch Hitter, but it confirmed that all is normal. I soldered my build with my Aoyue on 400C with a 1,6mm chisel tip and I had to desolder 2 keys to reseat the spacebar stabiliser wire which had come loose, but those keys are fine as well. All switches have had a sip sockets installed. Super happy with the switches, I was afraid they were going to be too light as I'm coming off of mx clears but they're really comfortable.

Show Image

That keyboard case is awesome!

And I agree with Hoff, best to use a high enough heat for just enough time. You want to heat the pad with the tip more than the pin, but it still needs some for the solder to "wet" it and not form a dry joint. Tinning them before insertion may help.

I'll be replacing the Gateron Browns in my Magicforce when it arrives, but that's gonna only be in January, so I may try install a few in the Ducky PCB I have lying around to test and share my findings.

[renzpwns]

Been using my Pok3r with Zealios for a few days now with no chattering issues. Probably did the worst soldering job in the history of the world using a really cheap $10 iron and solder from China. First time soldering though to be fair. The 65gs feel great and will report back if I run into some issues in the long run. Hopefully some of the problems people are having would be resolved in the later versions of the switch. Thanks again Zeal for the great switches 

[yowaffle]

Got my pack of 67g Zealios today! Modded my KBParadise v60 with TEX acrylic case and a plate from LeandreN.

It took me a while to realize what these switches were reminding me of though. I'm fairly certain that they are super-close in tactility to Matias Click switches, except they don't click (duh). I'm curious to try lighter versions, as I used to be a huge fan of Matias Quiet Click switches and as far as I remember those were slightly lighter in feel than their noisy counterparts.

May I ask why you used to be a huge fan of Matias Quiet Click? I alternate between the 65g Zealios and MQCs at work and home and am curious!

[breitling]

Just fixed all my chattering keys using the method illustrated above. I noticed the keys that had the issue were ones that the key was engaging when you just tapped the key really lightly, so it occasionally resulted in a double-press when pushed a certain way. This made it easy to diagnose which keys were having the issue as I would tap the key really lightly a few times and see if it would register a click.

I also did not want to desolder my key switches and realized I could reach that contact without removing the key switch and just push the stem down all the way and insert a very thin jewelers screwdriver into the space between the stem and the case and it is just enough room to bend that contact back.. it definitely works 100% for me so far on about 4 switches. Some of the function and lock keys its harder to tell if its chattering.

Thanks guys for all the help in this thread, very useful.

For the record, I soldered at 450 degrees using a small chisel tip.. not sure the measurement.

[inanis]

Zeal, quick question I saw your not above regarding orders with lube, what about the orders with cables? Will those be going out in a similar time frame?