Restoring ALPS switches

[ironman31]

I just received a keyboard where some of the switches seem to be approaching their death (the click is not nearly as prominent as in a lot of other switches on the board)

To see if I could somehow restore the click, I opened it and a "newer" switch and compared the click leaf. There didn't seem to be any noticeable difference, even when I compared the angle of the leaf from a level surface.

From experience, how would one go about "restoring" the click in a complicated ALPS switch?

[didjamatic]

Personally I wouldn't mess with bending leafs because you will end up with them being inconsistent.  You could try it but even the slightest variation in angle on the tabs can create large variations in switch feel.

I have some pcbs full of vintage blue alps if you're interested in a swap.

[itlnstln]

I would try bending the click leaf toward the casing a little to help restore some of the snap.  I would imagine that over time, the click leaf has bent away from the casing too much.  Here is a diagram of the switch just for reference: http://park16.wakwak.com/~ex4/kb/tech_alps_bigfoot3.htm

[ironman31]

Thanks for the pictures. And didja, do the blue alps have the same feel as the white complicated?

[didjamatic]

Thanks for the pictures. And didja, do the blue alps have the same feel as the white complicated?

It depends on which whites and which blues.  I think there were some blues and whites with the same leafs but different springs.  I'd post a pic but I'm on my phone away from a pc right now.  The leafs on the blues are what I'll call "low shoulder" (the shoulders on the sides are lower than other complicateds even of similar vintage) and the size/angle/depth of the tabs on the leaf are different than others.  I traded a few of the pcbs with blues to danielbeaver and he loved them.

I'll try to post pics later, I did post one pic somewhere on here already.  Ripster had another alps pic in the same thread.

[Daniel Beaver]

It may be worth cleaning the click leaf, as any oils or dust on it can mute the click. You can bring most ALPS switches back from the dead, but it requires a lot of futzing and cleaning.

[theferenc]

I recommend trying to clean them first. Disassemble everything, toss in hot water with denture tabs. Then reassemble.

Takes a decent amount of time, but it can't hurt them (if you're careful), and it might just fix them. The leaves are so very fragile, so bending them is...problematic, at best.

Besides, ALPS are so susceptible to dust, cleaning them up might just make you like them even more.

[itlnstln]

What kind of 'board is this?  It seems like an awful lot of trouble for a somewhat mediocre switch.  You have so many better keyboards in your collection that it kinda has me curious.

[ironman31]

I had received a Focus 2001 from Code Chef. I know the keyboard is of poor quality, but this is just for fun really, to see if it could be done to a somewhat professional degree.

[RoboKrikit]

I dunno.

Metal fatigue is real.  I worked at Boeing for a while and it scared the crap out of me.

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Ever heard the sound of a wing flex test?

[woody]

Move to software, there's so much mental fatigue there.