Say goodbye to rattling costar stabilizers - Band-Aid Mod

[josephchoi]

You may find that lubing alone may not fully eliminate all the rattles on costar stabs.
Or the rattles just gone for awhile, then it comes back after using a period of time.
Here is how I deal with the rattles besides just adding lubes.

First, we must know where the rattles come from.

As shown in the image, the rattles come from the collision between the insert 's hole and the stabs wire, which marked in red lines.
Why are there collision? Because the wire usually doesn't fit in that hole.
There are tiny gaps between the wire and the hole (in top and bottom aspect)
So, to effectively eliminate the rattling, the goal should be minimizing the gaps and make the wire fit in better.

Band-Aid Mod
Yeah, it's Band-Aid Mod, not just for Cherry stabs


cut a little piece of fabric Band-Aid and cut it to a more rounded shape (bad example in the image, which is square-shaped)


Then carefully stick the Band-Aid piece to the stabs insert as shown above.


After that, you may want to apply some lube here. I use Permatex dielectric grease here.
Beware, the amount of lube should depends on how tight the wire fit in the insert hole after adding band-aid.
If your stabs become mushy, try wipe out the lube and reduce the amount, or use a less viscous lube.

Here is the effect:
https://www.bilibili.com/video/av22910824?zw
In the video, Right-shift and Enter are lubed without band-aid mod, while others are lubed with band-aid mod.

[LightningXI]

Neat! I'll try this out on my next costar stab board if I ever get one to boot.

Sent from my mobile using Tapatalk

[tp4tissue]

scotch tape is probably much smoother than bandaid and would have a similar tightening effect.

the stab has to be super clean for the tape to stick though.


Overall.. the looos-ness  is what makes costar uniquely smooth among all the stabilizer types..   So,  certainly this mod will improve rattle,  but that has an inverse relationship to -smoothness-

[LightningXI]

scotch tape is probably much smoother than bandaid and would have a similar tightening effect.

the stab has to be super clean for the tape to stick though.


Overall.. the looos-ness  is what makes costar uniquely smooth among all the stabilizer types..   So,  certainly this mod will improve rattle,  but that has an inverse relationship to -smoothness-

Interesting. Thanks for the little tip!

Sent from my mobile using Tapatalk

[josephchoi]

scotch tape is probably much smoother than bandaid and would have a similar tightening effect.

the stab has to be super clean for the tape to stick though.


Overall.. the looos-ness  is what makes costar uniquely smooth among all the stabilizer types..   So,  certainly this mod will improve rattle,  but that has an inverse relationship to -smoothness-

In my case, I didn’t notice any decrease of smoothness.
The Band-aid didn’t make the wire fit tight with the insert, just make the excessive gap smaller.

Scotch tape maybe a better choice, idk, haven’t tried.
Haven’t tried scotch type yet, but I afraid the adhesiveness of it is not strong enough to keep it in place.
Also, in term of cushioning, I think fabric band-aid is a better choice.
Worth trying though.

[zslane]

Has anyone ever tried applying heatshrink tubing to the stabilizer wire ends? 2mm tubing should shrink down nice and tight on a stabilizer wire.

[tp4tissue]

Has anyone ever tried applying heatshrink tubing to the stabilizer wire ends? 2mm tubing should shrink down nice and tight on a stabilizer wire.

That's a good idea.. but it's def wayyy too thick..

[OfTheWild]

plasti-dip is what i've used.

[CommonCurt]

Some good ideas. I'll be trying some.

[Leslieann]

Has anyone ever tried applying heatshrink tubing to the stabilizer wire ends? 2mm tubing should shrink down nice and tight on a stabilizer wire.

Actually, I put heat shrink on the main expanse to dampen vibrations.

[rich1051414]

My costar stabilizers hardly ever rattle, in fact, it is more common for me to have the opposite problem of them being a bit too stiff. That is fixed by reaming the hole a bit that the stabilizers clip into.

That is ignoring the 'clack' when you release the key, but that is my favorite thing about them, personally

[josephchoi]

My costar stabilizers hardly ever rattle, in fact, it is more common for me to have the opposite problem of them being a bit too stiff. That is fixed by reaming the hole a bit that the stabilizers clip into.

That is ignoring the 'clack' when you release the key, but that is my favorite thing about them, personally

  I am curious, which model of keyboard are you talking about?

[rich1051414]

My costar stabilizers hardly ever rattle, in fact, it is more common for me to have the opposite problem of them being a bit too stiff. That is fixed by reaming the hole a bit that the stabilizers clip into.

That is ignoring the 'clack' when you release the key, but that is my favorite thing about them, personally

  I am curious, which model of keyboard are you talking about?

What do you mean? I mean on my custom made ones. I have various types of costar stab sets, I haven't actually encountered one that rattles before, so I found this strange. I suppose it is just a brand I have missed somehow.

[AMongoose]

Why not try to find a larger diameter wire to use for the stabilizer? Would it interfere with other parts? I only have cherry stabs.

[josephchoi]

What do you mean? I mean on my custom made ones. I have various types of costar stab sets, I haven't actually encountered one that rattles before, so I found this strange. I suppose it is just a brand I have missed somehow.

wow, I thought yours are a branded keyboard so I was curious at which brand is it.
AFAIK, costar stabilizers are infamous for their rattling, they exist even at high quality keyboards like Filco.
In my experience, both my custom made keyboard and Filco MJ2 rattles even after lubed.
Not rattling seriously but they do exist. That's why I tried this Band-Aid Mod.

Also, you mentioned "too stiff" for your costar stabs, it's my first time to hear someone finds costar stabs too stiff.

[josephchoi]

Why not try to find a larger diameter wire to use for the stabilizer? Would it interfere with other parts? I only have cherry stabs.

Sure thing... if they do exist
I think I may have better chance finding stabs insert with smaller hole )

[CommonCurt]

Has anyone ever tried applying heatshrink tubing to the stabilizer wire ends? 2mm tubing should shrink down nice and tight on a stabilizer wire.

Actually, I put heat shrink on the main expanse to dampen vibrations.

What size heat shrink do you use?

[Rumblehotep]

Every Costar stabilizer board should come with a roll of scotch tape.

[atarione]

meh... I don't hear any rattle (or rattle that bugs me) on my Filco..

perhaps I'm not touchy enough for this hobby?

[Leslieann]

Has anyone ever tried applying heatshrink tubing to the stabilizer wire ends? 2mm tubing should shrink down nice and tight on a stabilizer wire.

Actually, I put heat shrink on the main expanse to dampen vibrations.

What size heat shrink do you use?

It was a while back, but I would imagine it was 1/16 or 1/8in, probably the latter.

[CommonCurt]

Has anyone ever tried applying heatshrink tubing to the stabilizer wire ends? 2mm tubing should shrink down nice and tight on a stabilizer wire.

Actually, I put heat shrink on the main expanse to dampen vibrations.

What size heat shrink do you use?

It was a while back, but I would imagine it was 1/16 or 1/8in, probably the latter.

Okay, thanks 

[Starius]

This looks like the same kind of stabilizer used on WASD keyboards.  I'll have to try something like this on mine.

I just wish there was a better way to keep those little plastic bits in the keycap than scotch tape.
Make it a pain if you want to swap keycaps often. 

[KHAANNN]

Just came across this from an unrelated google search

To OP, try bending the wire instead, you can achieve non-rattliness by mechanical means, inserting a band-aid there seems too frictiony

I even 3D-printed custom inserts at one point, but the ultimate solution was through modifying the wire: https://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=72076.0 (I haven't updated this post, in the photo I tried bending the wire downwards, but bending it upwards is the way to go)

Over the years, I've come across 1-2 others who also discovered this on their own, PM'ed one of them on Reddit, he was very secretive, lol