O-Ring and Dampener Reviews

[Hordak]

Anyone know which kind these Filco o-rings are?

http://www.keyboardco.com/product/o-ring-switch-dampeners-for-filco-keyboards.asp

[lyrill]

I've tried all 5 dampeners mentioned in the review and I agree completely with CPTBadAss.  Red O-rings and grey landing pads are the most comfortable.  Even on MX Red keys where there isn't tactile feedback during actuation the blue rings still felt too large.  However, one thing I recommend is using a heavier dampener (blue O-ring or black landing pad) for the space bar since 1) it tends to be hit harder and 2) hitting the key from the side with your thumbs makes the loss in actuation distance much less noticeable.  For reference, I've tested all 5 dampeners on a QFR MX Red with OEM profile caps from WASD.

FYI, I still prefer the sound and feel of my HHKB Type-S as far as typing is concerned.  I don't know about noise in terms of volume, but the muffled thock of a silenced Topre switch is just less jarring than a dampened MX Red.  I'm not sure if there's a difference between the quiet versions of the HHKB vs the RealForce.

ya u tried all 5 but how about double red?

[lyrill]

cptbadass, that link,

http://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=53174.msg1186392#msg1186392

i don't get it.

did he use wasd stuff? the red and white looks like they are obviously not wasd, so I don't know why he would exclude the obvious best o ring choice and conclude about what to use as far as whatever keycap you have for anyone wanting to get orings

as far as I am concerned, I have abs and pbt keycaps, and I find the wobby to be a bit too much on the pbt, but almost the same as abs anyways. I am using double red and I have been since I bought orings. blues and blacks remain collector items, just like my keyboards that aren't cherry red, but not saying I will never change.

it's interesting cus his conclusiion is suggesting that maybe I should use red on pbt and blue/black on abs, but my experience says the opposite. Yeah I am using double, but I don't feel wobby on abs.

[Txduck]

I'm new to the forum and fairly new to mechanical kbs. I have a new Ducky 9008S3 coming in a couple days and I'm wondering if being backlit will interfere with O-rings.....anybody know if the position of the LED's will present a problem?
I hope it won't be a problem. I ordered the red o-rings from WASD.

[CPTBadAss]

Anyone know which kind these Filco o-rings are?

http://www.keyboardco.com/product/o-ring-switch-dampeners-for-filco-keyboards.asp

I'm not sure what you're asking, could you clarify?

cptbadass, that link,

http://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=53174.msg1186392#msg1186392

i don't get it.

did he use wasd stuff? the red and white looks like they are obviously not wasd, so I don't know why he would exclude the obvious best o ring choice and conclude about what to use as far as whatever keycap you have for anyone wanting to get orings

as far as I am concerned, I have abs and pbt keycaps, and I find the wobby to be a bit too much on the pbt, but almost the same as abs anyways. I am using double red and I have been since I bought orings. blues and blacks remain collector items, just like my keyboards that aren't cherry red, but not saying I will never change.

it's interesting cus his conclusiion is suggesting that maybe I should use red on pbt and blue/black on abs, but my experience says the opposite. Yeah I am using double, but I don't feel wobby on abs.

Why don't you ask him? I'm not the one that made the post. Also he states where he got his o-rings from. And if you're happy with your experience and the o-rings you have, there's no need to change. Trust your own findings since that will work best for you.

I'm new to the forum and fairly new to mechanical kbs. I have a new Ducky 9008S3 coming in a couple days and I'm wondering if being backlit will interfere with O-rings.....anybody know if the position of the LED's will present a problem?
I hope it won't be a problem. I ordered the red o-rings from WASD.

It won't be a problem.

[Txduck]

Thank you very much CPTBadAss, that's a relief. I've been searching for a post that would deal specifically with that and I couldn't find one. I really want to try O-rings, mostly for the cushion.
Thanks again.   

BTW, really great thread/review on the O-rings! 

[CPTBadAss]

You're welcome and thanks for the kind words.

[Txduck]

You're welcome and thanks for the kind words.

Well CPT I installed the red 40A O-rings from WASD and all I can say is What a difference! First, they really quieted the clack from bottoming out. I have mx blues and I like the little click from them, but the clack from bottoming out was kind of obnoxious, and the O-rings got rid of that.
What's equally important to me is the O-rings provide an effective cushion from bottoming out, makes it easier on the fingers.
I'm impressed. I'll be using O-rings from now on.
Thanks again CPT. 

[ideus]

You're welcome and thanks for the kind words.

Well CPT I installed the red 40A O-rings from WASD and all I can say is What a difference! First, they really quieted the clack from bottoming out. I have mx blues and I like the little click from them, but the clack from bottoming out was kind of obnoxious, and the O-rings got rid of that.
What's equally important to me is the O-rings provide a very effective cushion from bottoming out.
I'm impressed. I'll be using O-rings from now on.
Thanks again CPT. 

I have some o-rings like these also, I have tried them but I prefer the un-moded keyboard. I may give them a try this weekend again.

[davkol]

I thought I had posted here... apparently not in actuality though.

First of all, there are plenty of industrial o-rings. Most of them are too hard and don't fit Cherry MX keycaps properly. Don't bother with those.

Second, I tried WASD o-rings with Cherry MX Red and Cherry keycaps, but didn't like shorter travel of their black 50A o-rings, nor the mushy landing of red/blue 40A o-rings (I couldn't tell the difference between these two types either).

Finally, EK's black soft-landing pads do fit ALPS and they make MX Blue and complicated white ALPS tolerable for me, because I hate harsh bottoming out, but can't stop the key stroke right after the sharp force peak of those switches.

BTW dampening Cherry ML is kinda hopeless, due to their short travel (dampeners would have to be very thin).

[jacobolus]

Does anyone know what material is used in EK’s landing pads?

[CPTBadAss]

Does anyone know what material is used in EK’s landing pads?

I think it's some sort of foam, not a rubber. But I couldn't tell you for sure what it is.

[swill]

Swill has posted some numbers on travel distance and keycaps. It's great info and I think might help compliment this review. Shoutouts to swill for that keyboard science .

Hope you don't mind me referencing your post swill ^__^.

Not at all. That info is hard to find on here so it makes sense to link it. I have a few posts in that thread which should help people who are in the dampener market.

[Razor Lotus]

So i ordered a bunch of thick O-rings from Imsto: http://imsto.cn/index.php?route=product/product&path=61&product_id=78

I just got them today and tried them on. I'm somewhat disappointed. They do feel a little hard, not as squishy as the WASD O-rings. There is still that slight sharpness of sound when you bottom out.

But the major downside is the reduction in travel distance. They reduce travel distance by abit too much I think. Some of my keys don't actuate properly after having them.

I did a test by putting about 10 keys with the O-rings on the board and opened up a blank document and pressed each key 10 times with vs without O rings. And without O rings were much more consistent. Having the O rings reduced the consistency of actuation by 2-3 actuations every 10 presses.

I tried different types of presses as well, like hard pressing when I'm gaming, or just lightly pressing when we type some letters that our fingers don't emphasize so much on. Both were rather inconsistent but pressing harder did give abit more consistency when the contact points start to touch abit.

I made sure the O-rings were put properly and I used a guitar pick to press them all the way in. They do stand out a noticable bit higher than the other keys without the O-rings, which is expected considering how thick they are.

I am rather disappointed with this purchase. Or maybe I'm not using them correctly. I'm using a non backlit KBT pure with stock keycaps

Mod Edit: please do not try to sell things outside of the Marketplace section.

[swill]

So i ordered a bunch of thick O-rings from Imsto: http://imsto.cn/index.php?route=product/product&path=61&product_id=78

I just got them today and tried them on. I'm somewhat disappointed. They do feel a little hard, not as squishy as the WASD O-rings. There is still that slight sharpness of sound when you bottom out.

But the major downside is the reduction in travel distance. They reduce travel distance by abit too much I think. Some of my keys don't actuate properly after having them.

I did a test by putting about 10 keys with the O-rings on the board and opened up a blank document and pressed each key 10 times with vs without O rings. And without O rings were much more consistent. Having the O rings reduced the consistency of actuation by 2-3 actuations every 10 presses.

I tried different types of presses as well, like hard pressing when I'm gaming, or just lightly pressing when we type some letters that our fingers don't emphasize so much on. Both were rather inconsistent but pressing harder did give abit more consistency when the contact points start to touch abit.

I made sure the O-rings were put properly and I used a guitar pick to press them all the way in. They do stand out a noticable bit higher than the other keys without the O-rings, which is expected considering how thick they are.

I am rather disappointed with this purchase. Or maybe I'm not using them correctly. I'm using a non backlit KBT pure with stock keycaps

[snip]

If you have a caliper, could you measure the thickness of them for me?

I think his thick o-rings are designed for OEM caps. Are you using oem or cherry profile caps? If you are using cherry profile, this is probably an expected result. I have his small o-rings and they are great for cherry profile caps.

[Razor Lotus]

If you have a caliper, could you measure the thickness of them for me?

I think his thick o-rings are designed for OEM caps. Are you using oem or cherry profile caps? If you are using cherry profile, this is probably an expected result. I have his small o-rings and they are great for cherry profile caps.

http://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=33413.0

they're the big ones used here. At the bottom of the thread there's a picture showing. I think they're about 2.5mm thick as mentioned in the thread.

Is there a way to tell if the KBT pure (Non-pro) comes with the cherry or OEM profile?

Does this happen often?

[CPTBadAss]

they're the big ones used here. At the bottom of the thread there's a picture showing. I think they're about 2.5mm thick as mentioned in the thread.

Is there a way to tell if the KBT pure (Non-pro) comes with the cherry or OEM profile?

Does this happen often?

Not sure if I've ever heard of anyone having your problem. It comes with OEM profile. I have that board.

Don't advertise selling things outside of the Classifieds.

[ideus]

So i ordered a bunch of thick O-rings from Imsto: http://imsto.cn/index.php?route=product/product&path=61&product_id=78

I just got them today and tried them on. I'm somewhat disappointed. They do feel a little hard, not as squishy as the WASD O-rings. There is still that slight sharpness of sound when you bottom out.

But the major downside is the reduction in travel distance. They reduce travel distance by abit too much I think. Some of my keys don't actuate properly after having them.

I did a test by putting about 10 keys with the O-rings on the board and opened up a blank document and pressed each key 10 times with vs without O rings. And without O rings were much more consistent. Having the O rings reduced the consistency of actuation by 2-3 actuations every 10 presses.

I tried different types of presses as well, like hard pressing when I'm gaming, or just lightly pressing when we type some letters that our fingers don't emphasize so much on. Both were rather inconsistent but pressing harder did give abit more consistency when the contact points start to touch abit.

I made sure the O-rings were put properly and I used a guitar pick to press them all the way in. They do stand out a noticable bit higher than the other keys without the O-rings, which is expected considering how thick they are.

I am rather disappointed with this purchase. Or maybe I'm not using them correctly. I'm using a non backlit KBT pure with stock keycaps
[snip]

If you have a caliper, could you measure the thickness of them for me?

I think his thick o-rings are designed for OEM caps. Are you using oem or cherry profile caps? If you are using cherry profile, this is probably an expected result. I have his small o-rings and they are great for cherry profile caps.

I think I read somewhere that these fat o-rings cannot be used with DSA or thick cherry caps. Is that true?

[CPTBadAss]

I think I read somewhere that these fat o-rings cannot be used with DSA or thick cherry caps. Is that true?

I've heard people having issues with the thick cherry caps. I haven't had any issue myself. And I don't know about DSA.

[swill]

Those things are huge. By my calculations you need an o-ring that is <=2.1mm thick to not interfere with the switch functionality with OEM caps. With cherry the o-rings need to be <=1.75mm to not interfere with the switch functionality. I personally use 1.45mm (imsto small) o-rings with thick cherry profile caps and it is pretty much perfect.

Sorry you got o-rings that are not going to work for you.

[Razor Lotus]

Don't advertise selling things outside of the Classifieds.

???????????????????????????????

[O-Ring]

What O-Ring i need for a CM Storm QuickFire XT - CHERRY MX Brown and Corsair Vengeance K70 - Cherry MX Red?

[CPTBadAss]

What O-Ring i need for a CM Storm QuickFire XT - CHERRY MX Brown and Corsair Vengeance K70 - Cherry MX Red?

What are you looking for in your o-rings?

[O-Ring]

I do not know, that you can recommend me the best, since you have more experience.

[CPTBadAss]

There's no "best" one. If there was, all o-ring users would use the same one right?

Again, it depends on what you're looking for. Do you like a soft landing? A hard landing? Do you want a shortened travel distance? Or minimal travel distance reduction? Do you have a budget? Your location can play a factor in what you can get.

I can't make a recommendation until you have an idea as to what you'd like from your o-rings.

[davkol]

What O-Ring i need for a CM Storm QuickFire XT - CHERRY MX Brown and Corsair Vengeance K70 - Cherry MX Red?

I do not know, that you can recommend me the best, since you have more experience.

Hmmm, RTFA?

Apart from this review, swill's measurements are particularly helpful.

[O-Ring]

1. Soft/Hard landing (i don't care, that feels best for you, since you tested the 2)
2. Minimal travel distance reduction (I do not want to feel like a laptop keyboard)
3. Reduce sound

[CPTBadAss]

I cover the landing feelings in the OP. Please reread that. I prefer the 40A .2cm thick o-rings. However, since you don't want any travel reduction, you won't like o-rings so I'd go for the soft-landing pads/dampeners from EliteKeyboards. Again, I cover how the soft landing pads feel in the OP. To further reduce sound, put shelf liner in both keyboards and place the keyboards on something like a mousepad or a towel.

Question: Soft is same to Membrane landing and Hard is same to Mechanical landing?

1. Soft/Hard landing (i don't care, that feels best for you, since you tested the 2)

If you don't care, why ask about it then?

[O-Ring]

I never said don't want any travel reduction. Only that I do not want to feel like a laptop keyboard.

[CPTBadAss]

I stand by my recommendation I posted above. With o-rings installed, the switches feel closer to scissor switches in terms of travel to me. Landing pads have the least amount of travel reduction.

[iLLucionist]

Anyone know which kind these Filco o-rings are?

http://www.keyboardco.com/product/o-ring-switch-dampeners-for-filco-keyboards.asp

I actually just bought a pair on these and put them on my caps this weekend. I am also wondering what the exact specs are but on the site it says "height: 2mm" and 5mm for the rest. So if what reduces the travel, is the height, it would be 0.2cm or "L". But I'm not sure.

These are my first o-rings, so I have no idea how to tell you how stiff they are. It feels like the actuation force increased a little bit, but not much (I have Browns). They dampen the bottoming out a lot and also the mechanical higher pitches sounds a lot. They make my keycaps sound a lot lower than without o-rings.

Overall, I quite like them. But if they are indeed 0.2, I am wondering how 0.4 feels.

[iLLucionist]

Is it able to use both o-rings and pad dampeners? And where can I (in the EU) buy pad dampeners? Would it make a noticeable difference in feel and sound?

[O-Ring]

I like O-Ring

Which of these do you recommend?: 40A-L - 2 mm or 40A-R - 4 mm or 50A - 4 mm or other.

I'm new to the mechanical scene and wanted to get a better idea how the O rings will feel and found this interesting reference on a site:

Duro 20A = Rubber Band
Duro 40A = Pencil Eraser
Duro 60A = Car Tire Tread
Duro 70A* = Running Shoe Sole
Duro 80A = Leather Belt
Duro 100A = Shopping Cart Wheel

Edit: Better yet, here's a chart:

Show Image

Answer:

Red O-Rings
I think these are my favorites. They reduce the travel just a touch so it feels nice and they also soften the impact. Since they’re not as hard, they have a bit more give and when you type the feel like a little cushion. They REALLY made things quieter; probably most quiet out of the four o-rings/dampeners types I tried. If I were recommend something, these would be it.

I prefer the 40A-L .2cm thick O-Rings.
I cover how the soft landing pads feel in the OP. To further reduce sound, put shelf liner in both keyboards and place the keyboards on something like a mousepad or a towel.

[O-Ring]

Last question:
Can i use this 40A-L - 2 mm in both keyboards? Link

[CPTBadAss]

Last question:
Can i use this 40A-L - 2 mm in both keyboards? Link

Yes. And besides this review, there's another thread that might help you.

Is it able to use both o-rings and pad dampeners? And where can I (in the EU) buy pad dampeners? Would it make a noticeable difference in feel and sound?

I think there's enough room to do it. I'm not sure if anyone carries the pad dampeners besides Elitekeyboards. You can also try making them like o2dazone did.

Overall, I quite like them. But if they are indeed 0.2, I am wondering how 0.4 feels.

There's accounts on some earlier pages in this thread about stacking two .2cm thick o-rings. I personally wouldn't like that much travel reduction so I haven't tried it but it's definitely possible.

[O-Ring]

Thank you for your help.

God bless you. Amen 

[mkawa]

wasd also carries an o-ring sampler on their site. might want to check it out! http://www.wasdkeyboards.com/index.php/products/sampler-kit/wasd-sampler-kit.html#ad-image-0

oops, out of stock right now, but should be back in stock soonish; i ordered this pretty recently. i suspect it's just a matter of packing the kits into baggies.

[sordna]

1. Soft/Hard landing (i don't care, that feels best for you, since you tested the 2)
2. Minimal travel distance reduction (I do not want to feel like a laptop keyboard)
3. Reduce sound

My recommendation is the WASD 40A-L

I stand by my recommendation I posted above. With o-rings installed, the switches feel closer to scissor switches in terms of travel to me. Landing pads have the least amount of travel reduction.

I would like to expand on this. Soft landing pads engage earlier than o-rings from what I remember (it's been some time since I tried them). They don't reduce travel so much because they are softer than o-rings and you can squish them completely... but I found that the totally free key travel before any dampening occurs, is actually less with the landing pads.

For me they are too soft (even the firm ones are less than 30A durometer I *think*) and I cannot easily feel when the key bottomed out, which is an important part of tactile feedback you expect from a keyboard.

[jacobolus]

For me [landing pads] are too soft (even the firm ones are less than 30A durometer I *think*) and I cannot easily feel when the key bottomed out, which is an important part of tactile feedback you expect from a keyboard.

I think feeling the bottom out is entirely unnecessary, assuming there’s a sufficient force drop at the tactile/actuation point, and enough post-actuation travel. This may be impossible with Cherry MX switches in general, of which even the “tactile” varieties might better be described as “linear with a little speed bump”, but for real tactile switches (e.g. buckling springs, Alps, space invaders, SMK, etc.), I’d personally prefer to have force keep increasing as the key depresses, but no point at which it hard stops, on a typical keypress.

Maybe that’s just me though.

[sordna]

I’d personally prefer to have force keep increasing as the key depresses, but no point at which it hard stops, on a typical keypress.

That increasing force thing sounds like cherry MY ...
I get your point and we all need to try to float keys and not bottom out, but bottoming out is inevitable and the tactile stop helps us back off. I honestly found myself pushing the keys much harder especially with the black soft landing pads.

What also helps avoid bottoming out is audible feedback, either from clicky switch designs or electronic means (such as the piezo buzzer on the Kinesis Advantage or my similar ergodox mod - see my sig for that).

[Lpwl]

I'm living in Europe and buying those WASD or Max Keyboard O-rings is too expensive for me to be able to conduct some tests ! Shipping cost is around $7 ... roughly half the price of the product, not cool at all

After some research, I was able to buy some o-rings directly from manufacturers in China. It took some time to come to me, but once there, I was glad to have the choice between several different thicknesses and hardness.


Here are the ones I've tried :



Moar info :

• "Slim" O-rings : 5mm (ID) 8mm (OD) 1.5mm (CS)
• "Fat" O-rings : 5mm (ID) 10mm (OD) 2.4mm (CS)
• Stock keycaps (Thin ABS - OEM profile) that came with my TKL Code keyboard.

A few comments :

• 40A "Fat" O-rings combined with Cherry MX Clear switches seem to be the best for me. The travel distance of the keys is now really reduced without hurting the "feeling" produced by the switches !
• I was worried about the LED backlighting but it turns out that there is still enough light reaching the legends of my keys, even with the thicker o-rings.

I will not go much more into detail about my opinion.

There has been a lot of talk about o-rings (which are strictly equivalent to those I bought) and probably much more comprehensive than what I could offer.

CPTBadAss has done a great job by centralizing information on this compendium.



I also made a video yesterday trying to highlight the sound dampening and key travel reduction with some of those O-rings on Cherry MX Black / Red / Blue / Brown / Green switches.



Maybe this can bring some information - feel free to give me your opinion.


EDIT : Fixed some info.

[davkol]

Could you specify what kind of keycaps you used? Profile/height and crossbars matter.

[CPTBadAss]

Those keycaps look like they have cross bars in them so the o-rings sit properly. In the video, it looks like Lpwl is using the QWERKeys V1 tester with those clear OEM caps.

Thanks for sharing Lpwl! The video and pictures are great ^__^

[swill]

I'm living in Europe and buying those WASD or Max Keyboard O-rings is too expensive for me to be able to conduct some tests ! Shipping cost is around $7 ... roughly half the price of the product, not cool at all

After some research, I was able to buy some o-rings directly from manufacturers in China. It took some time to come to me, but once there, I was glad to have the choice between several different thicknesses and hardness.


Here are the ones I've tried:

Show Image

Moar info :

• "Slim" O-rings : 5mm (ID) 8mm (OD) 1.5mm (CS)
• "Fat" O-rings : 5mm (ID) 10mm (OD) 2.4mm (CS)

A few comments :

• 40A "Fat" O-rings combined with Cherry MX Clear switches seem to be the best for me. The travel distance of the keys is now really reduced without hurting the "feeling" produced by the switches !
• I was worried about the LED backlighting but it turns out that there is still enough light reaching the legends of my keys, even with the thicker o-rings.

I will not go much more into detail about my opinion.

There has been a lot of talk about o-rings (which are strictly equivalent to those I bought) and probably much more comprehensive than what I could offer.

CPTBadAss has done a great job by centralizing information on this compendium.



I made a video yesterday comparing the sound dampening and key travel reduction on the following switches : Cherry MX Black / Red / Blue / Brown / Green.

Show Image

Maybe this can bring some information - feel free to give me your opinion.

That is what I found as well. 40A slim on cherry profile is the most comfortable oring I have tried.

These are basically the same as the IMSTO small orings.

I have not done many tests with oem yet.

[swill]

Could you specify what kind of keycaps you used? Profile/height and crossbars matter.

He specified Cherry.

[davkol]

Could you specify what kind of keycaps you used? Profile/height and crossbars matter.

He specified Cherry.

Where? I see no such thing in the post—that's why I asked. There's only the switch tester in a picture/video, but I don't think it's something I'd expect people to type on.

[Lpwl]

Those keycaps look like they have cross bars in them so the o-rings sit properly. In the video, it looks like Lpwl is using the QWERKeys V1 tester with those clear OEM caps.

Thanks for sharing Lpwl! The video and pictures are great ^__^

Nice catch CPTBadAss !

I used this QWERkeys switch tester bought from Massdrop.

Could you specify what kind of keycaps you used? Profile/height and crossbars matter.

About those clear keycaps (seen on my video) :

• OEM profile (I guess ?) - height is around 10mm.
• Standard crossbar.

EDIT : Fixed some info.

[swill]

Could you specify what kind of keycaps you used? Profile/height and crossbars matter.

He specified Cherry.

Where? I see no such thing in the post—that's why I asked. There's only the switch tester in a picture/video, but I don't think it's something I'd expect people to type on.

My bad I read it wrong.

[Lpwl]

The thing is ... I didn't pay enough attention to the keycaps used in my tests (material / profile / thickness ...) and I realize now that I was wrong.

I justed fix it on my previous posts.

Thank you davkol for putting me on the right path !


EDIT : and thank you - swill - for your valuable information regarding this.

[Kblavkalash]

I just received both 40A-L red and 40A-R o-rings, and tried all possible combinations on both of my KBC Poker II with cherry mx red and Filco Majestouch with cherry mx blue switches.

Surprisingly blue switches feel amazing with thicker 40A-R blue o-rings, cause all you can hear is that clicky sound without any bottoming out.

For red switches, I am little bit undecided, but currently I am using both blue and red o-rings combined. Most will say it's overkill, but I really like the feeling, because it's so light, I just barely need to touch key and it activates. So far this combination is my favorite.