Gateron white 35g switches buying question

[ergomech]

I am putting Gateron white/clear 35g switches in my Kinesis Advantage.

Do i need 3pin or 5 pin switches?

Am i right that you can cut 2 pins off the 5pin to make it identical to the stock 3 pin switch?

Buying options on ebay:

5pin: http://www.ebay.com/itm/61-87-104-108-120-PCs-Gateron-RGB-Series-White-5-Pin-Mechanical-Switch-Keyboard-/281958724586?var=580928910063&hash=item41a60cb3ea:m:mcNahNTk91o_XM4jU_8SsfQ

3pin: http://www.ebay.com/itm/61-87-104-108-120-PCs-Gateron-RGB-Series-White-3Pin-Mechanical-Switch-Keyboard-/272160070007?var=570973144170&hash=item3f5e011977:m:mcNahNTk91o_XM4jU_8SsfQ

5-pin http://www.ebay.com/itm/61-87-104-108-PC-Gateron-White-Holder-White-5Pin-PCB-Mechanical-Switch-Keyboard-/272090400243?var=570900430845&hash=item3f59da05f3:m:mecaR7l2knA91cfzemfNlMQ

Also, that last auction is selling a Gateron white 35g switch but it looks different, i.e. has white casing and is more expensive. Does anyone know the difference from the other two which have black casing? If i need 5-pin, do i need this switch with white casing because it has different/necessary/better feature than the other switch with black casing?...both are 35g white Gateron switches i don't know the difference.

I think i need diodes built into the switches, to put them in the kinesis advantage, do these switches for sale at the ebay auction have diodes built into the switch?

[SpAmRaY]

What you've got are plate mount switches which they are calling 3 pin and PCB mount switches which they are calling 5 pin.

The extra pins in this case are the plastic legs that some PCB's will have holes for.

The white body switches as far as I know are the same just that the white body might work better with certain kinds of backlighting.

I am not familiar with the kinesis advantage to know if it supports PCB mounted switches but if it has a plate you can get away using the 3 pin switches.

Those gaterons will not have diodes in them.

Where are you located for shipping? I can send you a couple gateron white switches for the cost of shipping if you want to try one out, assuming you haven't already.

[ergomech]

What you've got are plate mount switches which they are calling 3 pin and PCB mount switches which they are calling 5 pin.

The extra pins in this case are the plastic legs that some PCB's will have holes for.

The white body switches as far as I know are the same just that the white body might work better with certain kinds of backlighting.

I am not familiar with the kinesis advantage to know if it supports PCB mounted switches but if it has a plate you can get away using the 3 pin switches.

Those gaterons will not have diodes in them.

Where are you located for shipping? I can send you a couple gateron white switches for the cost of shipping if you want to try one out, assuming you haven't already.

Thanks for the info. And thanks for the offer to send me some! but I've tried them already 

In this guide: http://www.gilesorr.com/misc/keyboards/kinesiskeys.html it looks like they are plate mounted in the kinesis advantage and then the pcb goes on (which i guess i just how all plate mounted types work: plate then attach to pcb).

In the guide he mentions soldering on diodes because the cherry mx replacement switches he uses dont have diodes in them. So i'm guessing if Gateron don't have diodes i will have to solder on diodes too?

(Sorry im noob to electronics, and am going to learn soon)

[SpAmRaY]

Yes you will need diodes one way or the other.

And looking at those photos it looks like you can use the 5 pin or PCB mount switches as the PCB has the extra holes.