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Spray Lubing switches - A guide
Darthbaggins:
Krytox really isn't that expensive if you shop around and find a good source for it. Also as has been mentioned there are definitely more inexpensive options in the market as well.
Leslieann:
--- Quote from: Darthbaggins on Tue, 29 December 2020, 08:45:40 ---Krytox really isn't that expensive if you shop around and find a good source for it. Also as has been mentioned there are definitely more inexpensive options in the market as well.
--- End quote ---
Per ounce, Krytox makes HP printer ink division jealous.
Darthbaggins:
I guess Krytox needs to make their own Instant Lube program like HP, lol. I normally only get it in small batches, and when I see it for a decent deal from local sellers I try to snag it up.
tex_live_utility:
To be clear for any newcomers: this is about spraying lubricant into fully-assembled switches.
Disassembling your switches and then spraying lubricant onto the sliders is a perfectly valid way to lube your switches. Get a piece of foam and some toothpicks, put one slider on each toothpick (insert the toothpick point into the indentation at the bottom), and apply 1-2 thin even coats of DuPont Dry Film spray or equivalent, making sure to let them dry completely and use a well-ventilated work area.
Note that I haven't done a full build of this, but I did a few test batches and it gave nice results. The only faster/easier method I can think of would be shake lubing (aka "tub lubing"), which I also strongly advocate for.
pmdbt:
I just want to preface by saying I'm not an expert in electronic hardware, but I have been interested in spray lubing for a while now and I have run a series of tests and will continue to do so. My results so far are pretty inconclusive.
Here is a quick break down of how I'm doing the spray lubing:
1. Quick squirt of super lube on the two opposite sides of the diagonal of the stem.
2. Actuate the switch roughly 10 times after both sprays.
3. Flip the lubing station upside down with the switches in them and leave it for a few days. Usually 2-4 days.
4. Remove the switches from the station after a few days and dry/clean the outside of the switch with a paper towel.
The switches I have tried this on:
- Kailh speed copper
- Gateron Milky Browns
- Gateron Black Inks V2
- Gateron Milky Yellows
Overall, I've probably spray lubed around 500 switches so far. The longest has been around for 6 months with zero negative effects so far.
Results:
- The tactility of tactile switches is still there after spray lubing. However, it is decreased, but it's definitely still there and nowhere close to feeling exactly like a linear.
- Some switches did get ruined, meaning if I mount them, the key presses would no longer be detected by the PCB. However, I would say this occurred mainly at the beginning when I first tried to spray lubing. Even then, it would be around 2 switches that go bad per batch of 50 switches.
- DO NOT spray lube switches that are soldered onto the PCB already. This was by far the worst result and per what many people said above, ruined the board and switches.
- The best results were for linear switches. I could spray lube around a batch of 50 switches in around 10 mins or so while watching T.V with my wife. I get around 70-80% of the acoustic and feel the benefit of hand lubing with Krytox, but for significantly less time. With a full-time job, the efficiency of spending 20 active mins vs a few active hours hand lubing seems like a good tradeoff for me. (Yes, you have to leave the switches around for a few days to dry, but those are not active time spent, so it's ok for me).
My personal conclusion so far:
- I will likely continue to experiment with this to gather more data and see if a significant number of batches can continue to function well after a few years. The reason is that many people recommend us to never spray lube because it will damage the switches and make them worse or even break them. However, if you continuously do it for thousands of switches and the vast majority of them work perfectly fine after years, then clearly something interesting is going on. I personally always subscribe to the motto "trust, but verify".
- I would never spray lube a soldered board for modding purposes even if you just want to experiment as I did. It will MOST LIKELY just ruin the board.
- If you have a lot of spare parts and are ok losing them, I would recommend you try it if you're curious. However, if you only have 1 board or 1 set of switches you normally use, do not try it!
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