First, pop out them little clips keeping the 'board together:
Pretty easy, just a flathead screwdriver is necessary. Make sure to do the end first, so you can keep it apart as you hit all 10 of the clips. Starting in the middle will get you nowhere.
Here's what you end up with:
Cute little controller, huh?
Interesting, it just smashes down against the membrane contacts, and there's a rubber bumper underneath to be sure it makes tight contact.
Anyways, take out the hex screws from the controller and the metal plate and lift out the metal plate:
Now how do you take the switches apart? They're open on the top, but the sliders don't fall out, so what's next? Well, let's take a look at the back of the metal plate.
And a bit closer:
Aha! So give those little black clips a little smack and they pop right off!
Here's what the switches look like after you get them off:
So!
On to the actual mod!
Back end of the switch:
The metal you see there is the actuator leaf, you should take that out before attempting to remove the spring. You don't HAVE to, but it kind of gets in the way, and if you mess it up, that switch work work properly afterwards.
To remove, just put a precision flathead underneath as shown:
And shimmy it up while rotating the driver:
Now to the not so easy part. Getting the slider out of the switch housing.
Even Sandy55 had trouble with this one. Rough translation seems to imply that he just gave up and destroyed the case:
The right where I gave up the axis because I am hard to take it off very much is a photograph of the backside.
But alas, I had to make this happen and put them back on the 'board, so no switch destroying for me.
In comes plastic toothpics to save the day!
What's happening here is that there are two tabs(on the left and right) that click into place and hold the switch from coming out of the housing. So you have to press those two tabs in toward the center of the slider while pulling it out.
Also, there are two tabs on the top and bottom that seem to be a second means for holding in the slider, but these don't seem to actually get in the way once you get the other two pressed in, they just click out of place and the slider comes out.
Unfortunately this is not easy until you've done about 20 of them, then it starts to speed up.
Basically you just insert the toothpicks from the top of the switch and confirm that they are coming out the other side(above pic is an exaggeration, they should only stick out enough to see them, otherwise you'll have trouble getting the slider to move).
It will look something like this:
Then once you've got them in place you use a blunt object to push the slider from the bottom.
Something like a larger hex driver like this:
Don't use a flathead or phillips, there's a chance you might gouge or break the internals of the switch and make it useless.
But watch out! When then slider gets to the end of the casing, everything will go flying as all the energy from the spring and from the toothpicks will be released!
Then you just remove the spring from the slider:
Teesy little things, but so much force!
So you remove the spring, take the slider and put it back into the housing. The slider goes in only one direction, there is a corner that is larger than the rest, it goes on the corner opposite to that big lump of plastic on the housing:
You will hear a click as the plastic tabs go back into place, then the slider will move freely.
Re-insert the actuator leaf and you're done!
Then to get the switch back on the 'board, just put it in place on the metal plate, then push down on each corner(with a screwdriver or something) that has a tab one at a time until it pops back into the plate.
Rinse, repeat.
Then put the keycaps back on and you're finished!
There, doesn't she look better now? Wait...
I have a few cautions for those of you that may actually attempt this mod.
Take the switches one row at a time, don't do them all at once. They are the only thing keeping the membranes attached to the metal plate, so if you remove them all, the membranes could get out of place, making the 'board useless. I'm sure you could get it back into place, but it's much more hassle than it's worth I think.
Also, be sure not to force the actuator leafs too much, if they bend out of place, you're basically all done.
Alright, so the reason I did this in the first place: switch feel!
Once you get everything finished and back together, it's a wonderful feeling! It really is like typing on air! I would say they are smooth, but you can't even feel them enough to tell smooth vs. rough. Truly a light switch at 20-25cN!
That's not very many RIPs! Even you cherry blue lovers out there will have twice that many nickels on your caps.
Also, give it some time, but you WILL have problems with accidental keypresses. There is no switch currently on the market that even comes close to being this light except those crazy 30g topres, and even those are heavier by 5g. Again, give it some time and you will get used to floating your hands above rather than resting them on the keys.
Also, it's obviously very very easy to bottom out on these, but if you don't and really get used to the switch it's a very unique and pleasurable experience.
I'm gonna take this baby to work and see how she runs for a couple of days, maybe it'll replace my G80 with browns...
Another thought on this is about the longevity of the switch. I'm not sure if putting all the force onto the actuator leaf will cause them to fail prematurely, but we shall see. Just something to think about.
Great feel, I would recommend to anyone with $10 to grab a g81 on ebay and about 4-5 hours to do the mod. Worth it just to say you've used 20g switches!
I'll close with some of the 'boards more interesting features:
Awesome stabilizers on the spacebar, they do a great job!
The modifiers are staggered, rather than centered...interesting!
I don't have a pic of this, but the membrane has contacts(and the metal plate has holes) for all different layouts it appears, as there are two places to put the enter switch(for the vert. enter key) and an extra contact near the left shift for euro layout. Theoretically you could reuse the plate and membrane for a different layout 'board, though I'm not sure why you would want to.
And my failed attempt to create a tool that would lift the slider right out(my GF was pissed):
And this one's for you Itlnstln, I know you were waiting for it, the insides of the case:
Dunno if it's G80 compatible, I've never had a standard layout G80, but there it is.
If anyone wants more pics or information, let me know and I'd be happy to post it!
Thank you and goodnight!
