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geekhack Community => Keyboards => Topic started by: viley on Wed, 27 June 2018, 16:10:58

Title: Ghetto-Greening a board w/MX Blues - which springs?
Post by: viley on Wed, 27 June 2018, 16:10:58
Got a keyboard with Cherry MX Blue switches just a few days ago (Ducky One 2 Skyline) and while it is quite nice to type on, the switches do feel rather on the light side for me.  Thinking of going the "ghetto green" route for a sturdier/stiffer feel.

Which springs should I get for that? Actuation force for Greens should be 80g, but it's my understanding that springs are typically rated by the weight at which they bottom out, not the actuation point. While this would be similar for linear switches it's not necessarily so for clicky or tactile ones.  Correct me if I'm wrong, of course.  For instance, if I were to go by this page (https://www.aliexpress.com/item/switch-spring-gold-plating-spring-35g-45g-60g-62g-67g-80g-150g-Custom-Cherry-MX-Gold/32816197728.html?isOrigTitle=true) then a 80g spring in a Cherry MX Blue would have a ~100g actuation point.

Is that about right? meaning I'd want something like a 62g or 67g spring to approximate a Green?
Title: Re: Ghetto-Greening a board w/MX Blues - which springs?
Post by: Zuology on Wed, 27 June 2018, 16:39:57
You're going to have to desolder every one of those switches and open them up individually to spring-swap them... very labor intensive. Save a lot of work by just doing full switch-swap.
Title: Re: Ghetto-Greening a board w/MX Blues - which springs?
Post by: viley on Wed, 27 June 2018, 16:50:12
Hmm... saw this video which led me to believe that desoldering wouldn't be necessary, but now that I actually read the comments I suppose that's a bit misleading (the switches are plate-mounted as far as I can tell).

Title: Re: Ghetto-Greening a board w/MX Blues - which springs?
Post by: Leslieann on Wed, 27 June 2018, 17:20:10
That video shows a keyboard without a plate and without backlight, yours has both, which means you need to desolder not only the switch but the LED as well.
Title: Re: Ghetto-Greening a board w/MX Blues - which springs?
Post by: viley on Wed, 27 June 2018, 17:30:09
The Skyline doesn't have a backlight, but yeah, desoldering the switches would be labor intensive enough already. As time=money, I suppose it'd be more economical to find a board with greens. :)
Title: Re: Ghetto-Greening a board w/MX Blues - which springs?
Post by: rxc92 on Wed, 27 June 2018, 19:14:24
Just make sure you actually try some Green switches before you switch them over; I used to think Blues were too light, but immediately disliked how heavy Greens were (double the actuation force). It felt like rusty Blues or something, to tell you the truth, and they were the only switch that I found fatiguing. See if someone has a tester or board, since it's a lot of work for a result you may not like.