loose stabilizers-to-keycap fit

[Zobeid Zuma]

Just working on my second build here, and my first to use genuine Cherry stabilizers (or so the vendor assured me).  Just got through mounting them on the PCB, but I'm finding they don't work reliably because the fit of the stabilizers inserts to the keycap is so loose, the stem slips right out instead of pulling it down!

This seems to be a problem of tolerances.  Some of the insert stems are looser than others, and some of the keycap sockets are looser than others.  The WASD keycaps that I've used before have very tight sockets and have a least a little grip on all the inserts.  (And it doesn't take a lot for them to work.)  The new translucent keycaps I got from KBDfans are the loosest-fitting and don't seem to grip on any of the inserts.

What's the best way to tighten them up and get a little bit of grip?  I don't want to permanently glue keycaps onto the stabilizers (although I might resort to that if nothing else works!).  Is there are way to modify the inserts to make them "fatter" or a way to modify the keycap sockets to make them tighter, or is there some kind of shim or sticky (but I hope non-permanent) stuff I can use to make them cling together???

[zslane]

This is a very common problem, especially with keycaps from Signature Plastics. The usual remedy is to cut up little squares from a plastic baggy and let them wrap around the stems as you insert them into the keycaps. One square per stem should do the trick. No glue necessary.

[rich1051414]

Well, I have a trick I use when caps are too loose. A little aluminum foil tape(for duct work) on the bottom of the stem mount, then pop the foil when mounting it. The excess foil will fold up into the mounting hole, and fill any void. Since it is on the bottom of the cap, you can't see it.

Using adhesive can be problematic if you plan on changing keycaps anytime in the future, and making shims is far too tedious.

[tp4tissue]

This is a very common problem, especially with keycaps from Signature Plastics. The usual remedy is to cut up little squares from a plastic baggy and let them wrap around the stems as you insert them into the keycaps. One square per stem should do the trick. No glue necessary.

Ghettofy..

[Zobeid Zuma]

This is a very common problem, especially with keycaps from Signature Plastics. The usual remedy is to cut up little squares from a plastic baggy and let them wrap around the stems as you insert them into the keycaps. One square per stem should do the trick. No glue necessary.

I used little snips of material from bubble packing material, and it worked great.  Thanks!