geekhack Community > Keyboards
Kailh Box Brown Silent- rather disappointed
HungerMechanic:
--- Quote from: jcoffin1981 on Sun, 04 July 2021, 23:48:19 ---I have not heard of U4 Boba, but I will look into it.
I am now experimenting with the Durock Light Tactiles.
--- End quote ---
U4 Boba is a recent product of the OUTEMU custom line. U4 is the stem [tactile like T1, but dampened], and Boba is the housing. Boba housings are very tight, with little wobble, and the tactile leafs are quieter. The tactile leaf is Herculean in strength, so it's also used for making Holy Panda derivatives. There's lots of stuff you can put in a Boba housing, but U4 is the #1 silent tactile right now.
Please let us know how the Durock Light Tactiles work out. I have Pewter, but I don't like the factory lube. I'm not sure what kind of lube is best for them, maybe a thin coat of GS1 all over or something. Tactile leaf seemed kind of weak or dead to me, even compared to MX Brown. I prefer the Pewter stem in whatever the Taro Ball housing is made from. Natural weight for the Durock Light Tactile seems to be around 57-60 G.
jcoffin1981:
--- Quote from: HungerMechanic on Mon, 05 July 2021, 14:23:13 ---
--- Quote from: jcoffin1981 on Sun, 04 July 2021, 23:48:19 ---I have not heard of U4 Boba, but I will look into it.
I am now experimenting with the Durock Light Tactiles.
--- End quote ---
U4 Boba is a recent product of the OUTEMU custom line. U4 is the stem [tactile like T1, but dampened], and Boba is the housing. Boba housings are very tight, with little wobble, and the tactile leafs are quieter. The tactile leaf is Herculean in strength, so it's also used for making Holy Panda derivatives. There's lots of stuff you can put in a Boba housing, but U4 is the #1 silent tactile right now.
Please let us know how the Durock Light Tactiles work out. I have Pewter, but I don't like the factory lube. I'm not sure what kind of lube is best for them, maybe a thin coat of GS1 all over or something. Tactile leaf seemed kind of weak or dead to me, even compared to MX Brown. I prefer the Pewter stem in whatever the Taro Ball housing is made from. Natural weight for the Durock Light Tactile seems to be around 57-60 G.
--- End quote ---
Where is the best place to purchase them? I don't really want to go overseas.
jcoffin1981:
--- Quote from: zslane on Mon, 05 July 2021, 12:43:31 ---I have found the BOX silent browns plenty tactile. I've been typing on them for several months now on my Drop CTRL. Of course, my main is usually a Topre board, so by comparison these BOX silent browns feel sharper in terms of tactility. So I imagine the experience will be quite different depending on what you are used to.
--- End quote ---
It's not that it's not tactile enough, it's just very different. Coming from a Box Brown, the bump is short and sharp. The bump here longer and lacks that distinct almost click. It is a light switch, but it is also stiff at the top. I really want to swap out the springs and try again, going 5-7 gf lighter. That's a lot of work though. This can be frustrating.
hotaro:
--- Quote from: jcoffin1981 on Sat, 03 July 2021, 17:35:55 ---Between de-soldering original switches, lubing new switches, and re-soldering; although I didn't time it , I'm sure it was 7-8 hours total time. The switches are mounted in a Leopold FC660M.
--- End quote ---
How was the desoldering experience with the Leopold? Did you run into any difficulties?
PS: First time posting so please let me know, or remove this if this isn't allowed since it may be off-topic.
HungerMechanic:
--- Quote from: jcoffin1981 on Mon, 05 July 2021, 17:07:16 ---
Where is the best place to purchase them? I don't really want to go overseas.
--- End quote ---
Are you in the USA? There are a number of retailers there. Although there's a 'Boba shortage' in several locations.
The best place to purchase them from is the distributor Gazzew on Reddit. Not sure if he has availability right now, but he sells them directly, and in pieces for modding.
--- Quote from: jcoffin1981 on Mon, 05 July 2021, 17:11:24 ---
It's not that it's not tactile enough, it's just very different. Coming from a Box Brown, the bump is short and sharp. The bump here longer and lacks that distinct almost click. It is a light switch, but it is also stiff at the top. I really want to swap out the springs and try again, going 5-7 gf lighter. That's a lot of work though. This can be frustrating.
--- End quote ---
I struggled with this issue as well. The BOX Silent Browns have stiff resistance at the top but then just becomes mushy.
One solution is called "Cookies and Cream." You take the BOX Silent Brown stem and put it in a BOX Cream housing, using the BOX Cream spring as well.
The reason for doing this is that BOX Creams use a linear leaf instead of tactile. So the tactility is less. And the spring weight is close to MX Brown. So you can get a switch that is closer in some respects more like original BOX Brown.
I have tried this, and the combination works from an operating standpoint. I found that they were lighter or less tactile, less likely to harsh bottom-out, while still being quiet. I didn't build more, it's expensive and I have better silent switch options. But that's seriously something you might want to try if you are 'almost there' with BOX Silent Brown.
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