ALPS switches need cleaning?

[REVENGE]

I just found an old AT101 with those cream colored ALPS switches, and they feel like **** - tons of friction when I try to actuate them.  Is this a sign that they need a good cleaning and/or lubrication, or is this just the way these switches are?

[theferenc]

Clean them. It makes a huge difference. It's a lot of work, but totally worth it.

Also, a dell with cream ALPS? Mine has bigfoot blacks. Interesting.

[REVENGE]

Clean them. It makes a huge difference. It's a lot of work, but totally worth it.

Also, a dell with cream ALPS? Mine has bigfoot blacks. Interesting.

http://www7.ocn.ne.jp/~hisao/image/14140.htm
http://curio.egloos.com/343170

I'm pretty sure it's the same board as shown in the former link, not sure if it's the same one as the latter. Tactile, but once again it feels very sticky at the moment. Any recommendations for a cleaning procedure?

[Pylon]

Perhaps it has pink or orange switches. Both of which are rarities.

[chimera15]

I think those might actually be pinks.   It says pink in the first part, but I didn't spend a lot of time translating it.  Tough to tell from that picture. Pinks or oranges make more sense than creams.  

All alps switches can get gritty over time.  Creams usually don't get that really awful feel that pinks, oranges, and blacks do in my experience though.

Probably has something to do with the rubber damper in them, so there's less wear on the plastic.

[theferenc]

I would totally disassemble the keys. Take the caps off, disassemble the switches, and toss the slider, the spring, the tactile leaf, and the key cap in a bowl of hot water with a few denture cleaning tabs.

It takes quite a while, and you should pay attention to the orientation of the sliders. I'm told it makes a difference, but I haven't noticed one on my dell. Make sure you let everything dry COMPLETELY before reassembling. Also, be careful with the leaves, as they have a tendency to stick together when they are wet.

Be patient, pay attention, and make sure you have a strong, but small, magnet handy when you're reassembling, and it should not be too much trouble.

It was the first mechanical keyboard I took apart to clean, and it was pretty easy. If you have questions, the wiki has instructions on how to disassemble and reassemble the switches.

[Daniel Beaver]

Yes, clean it, absolutely. It is a lot of work to clean each switch internally, but you can dramatically improve the feel of the keys. The wiki has a guide for disassembling ALPS switches.

Also, an (extremely small) amount of lubricant on the sides of the plastic sliders helps.

[REVENGE]

Thanks for the advice, the slider is definitely more orange than pink, so it's probably orange if it can't be cream. It seems like quite a pain to clean all the switches, so I might invest that time to clean my Omnikey's white ALPS instead, as I like that board more.