Changing Plate Mounted Switches on G80 Boards

[sonic_the_hedgehog]

Yo!

Dunno if this should go here or under some kind of modding / construction sub-forum but I'll try here to start (mods feel free to move  )

So I've got a couple of Cherry G80 boards, one with MX Browns (G80-3000LXCEU-2), one with MX Reds (G80-3494LYCUS-2)

They're not particularly awesome but contrary to some people's beliefs, I don't find them to be badly built either. They have a bit of flex in them but most people use a keyboard on a desk, right?

Dunno about you but my desk doesn't flex... therefore... draw your own conclusions lol.

Anyway, I've just preordered the new Ducky for daily use so I'm trying to work out what to do with the other boards.

I think I'll keep the board with browns, but I'm considering modding the board with reds into a board with clears.

These are a good price on eBay, and they have MX Clear switches, and I think they have doubleshots due to the H in the model number G80-8113HUBUS-2.

From what I've been told, my board with MX Reds is one of the few Cherry manufactured boards with full nkro, and I dislike the red switches, which makes it a prime candidate for the basis of a mod.

I've been told that both my MX Red G80-3494LYCUS-2 and the MX Clear G80-8113HUBUS-2 use plate mounting rather than PCB mounting for their switches.

But I don't' really know what this means, apart from the fact that the switches aren't soldered directly to the PCB??

TL;DR? - Can I easily swap the switches from two Cherry-made G80 boards if they're both plate mounted?

Or, if this has already been discussed in length here on gh, can someone point me in the right direction of a good thread? I've had a bit of a look but can't find anything to tell me a straightforward 100% yes or no.

My theory is that out of this I would end up with a normal profile 104-key Cherry G80 wiht MX Clears, full nkro and doubleshot keycaps. Life doesn't get much better, right?

But that's only the theory!! ) Any help/thoughts/advice greatly appreciated!

[jabar]

Plate mounts from every manufacturer = need to desolder switches. Only custom plates of enthusiast origin (see: Phantom, GH60) allow for access of the upper housing for easy switch and spring swapping.

Most G80 keyboards are PCB mounted (which is why some complain of PCB flex, not that I mind); you can easily pop the upper housing with a pair of tweezers or an allen wrench. Both my G80s are PCB mounted.

Look here: http://deskthority.net/wiki/Plate-mounted

Notice that the PCB mounted plate photo has the full switch bodies available to access. Standard plates allow only the top part of the switch for access, but still block the snap portion of the upper body.

[IvanIvanovich]

Both 3000 series and 8000 series G80 are PCB mounted. You can easily open the switches and exchange the internal parts.

You are correct that the 8113HUBUS has doubleshots.

[berserkfan]

Ah, Ivan, I just saw this post.

does the 8113 HUBUS discussed here have cherry clears for certain? I saw the ad, but didn't pay it much attention because the photos showed a keyboard in poor condition. But things change if 8113 HUBUS are always shipped with clears.

The seller for my G80 was unable to tell me if the key switches were clear. (They are NIB). I'll have to open the box and examine myself.

Do you know anybody here who could do taobao proxy? Here in Singapore, we've got professional proxies but their reps are all mixed. It is common for a proxy to make mistakes in ordering. I would rather have somebody who likes keyboards and knows the stuff, and of course paying him a modest fee is no problem. Would ask qtan, but my experience with him is mixed - probably too busy so he's not very responsive or communicative.

Both 3000 series and 8000 series G80 are PCB mounted. You can easily open the switches and exchange the internal parts.

You are correct that the 8113HUBUS has doubleshots.

[SpAmRaY]

Ah, Ivan, I just saw this post.

does the 8113 HUBUS discussed here have cherry clears for certain? I saw the ad, but didn't pay it much attention because the photos showed a keyboard in poor condition. But things change if 8113 HUBUS are always shipped with clears.

The seller for my G80 was unable to tell me if the key switches were clear. (They are NIB). I'll have to open the box and examine myself.

Do you know anybody here who could do taobao proxy? Here in Singapore, we've got professional proxies but their reps are all mixed. It is common for a proxy to make mistakes in ordering. I would rather have somebody who likes keyboards and knows the stuff, and of course paying him a modest fee is no problem. Would ask qtan, but my experience with him is mixed - probably too busy so he's not very responsive or communicative.

Both 3000 series and 8000 series G80 are PCB mounted. You can easily open the switches and exchange the internal parts.

You are correct that the 8113HUBUS has doubleshots.

lysol would know much better than myself but I have previously contacted the seller of that particular auction listed above on ebay and they said the switches were brown.

[berserkfan]

Ray4jc, So you are sure that the auction Cherry Keyboard MX 8100 USB w/ Card Swipe & Mouse Pad G80-8113HUBUS-2   is browns and not clears? I hope Sonic sees your post or he's in for a bad deal!

[sonic_the_hedgehog]

Ray4jc, So you are sure that the auction Cherry Keyboard MX 8100 USB w/ Card Swipe & Mouse Pad G80-8113HUBUS-2   is browns and not clears? I hope Sonic sees your post or he's in for a bad deal!

Don't worry, I'm on it, ****'s just a little out of whack since I'm in Australia (it's currently 9 am Saturday morning lol)

Thanks for all the info guys, I'll go through and respond to these posts when I get a chance, but fortunately I haven't ordered it just yet!!

[SpAmRaY]

Ray4jc, So you are sure that the auction Cherry Keyboard MX 8100 USB w/ Card Swipe & Mouse Pad G80-8113HUBUS-2is browns and not clears? I hope Sonic sees your post or he's in for a bad deal!

Well I had asked that specific seller to remove a key and check and they said they were brown.

[sonic_the_hedgehog]

Plate mounts from every manufacturer = need to desolder switches. Only custom plates of enthusiast origin (see: Phantom, GH60) allow for access of the upper housing for easy switch and spring swapping.

Most G80 keyboards are PCB mounted (which is why some complain of PCB flex, not that I mind); you can easily pop the upper housing with a pair of tweezers or an allen wrench. Both my G80s are PCB mounted.

Look here: http://deskthority.net/wiki/Plate-mounted

Notice that the PCB mounted plate photo has the full switch bodies available to access. Standard plates allow only the top part of the switch for access, but still block the snap portion of the upper body.

Yep, looks like I got my whole idea of plate / PCB mounted the wrong way round lol. Thanks for clearing that up - I'm sure my boards are PCB mounted as well; when I pop the keycaps off you can see the whole switch and it's stuck straight onto the PCB.

Both 3000 series and 8000 series G80 are PCB mounted. You can easily open the switches and exchange the internal parts.

You are correct that the 8113HUBUS has doubleshots.

Thanks for that excellent link - very useful.

Well the fact that it has doubleshots is great, the fact that it might have brown switches is really not great at all...

Ray4jc, So you are sure that the auction Cherry Keyboard MX 8100 USB w/ Card Swipe & Mouse Pad G80-8113HUBUS-2is browns and not clears? I hope Sonic sees your post or he's in for a bad deal!

Well I had asked that specific seller to remove a key and check and they said they were brown.

Yeah, it doesn't surpise me that someone else here on gh would've been onto that sale.

It's probably not worth it to pay $50 + $29 shipping just for set of doubleshots.

According to deskthority's article it looks like they're browns:

G80: MX Switches (obviously)
-8113: Model Number
H: Doubleshot Keycaps
U: USB? (I think? This one's a bit sketchy...)
B: Brown Switches
US: US Layout
-2: Black

BUT IvanIvanovich, wasn't this your original thread that you were selling them in? http://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=35164.0

That model number could either be browns or clears? Unless the seller on eBay takes a key of every one of those boards then we won't really know for sure will we?

Also Ivan, do you have any leftovers by any chance? That might just be good for parts?

[IvanIvanovich]

Most 8000 series have browns, but some have clears. As far as I can tell the model code doesn't tell which, they use same for both and model codes are not consistent with this series. All the ones I had in my buy with this model had browns though so...

[sonic_the_hedgehog]

Most 8000 series have browns, but some have clears. As far as I can tell the model code doesn't tell which, they use same for both and model codes are not consistent with this series. All the ones I had in my buy with this model had browns though so...

Hmm...

well I've emailed the seller on eBay to confirm if all the boards have browns (ray4jc I know you've already contacted them but it says they have 5 boards available currently, maybe one or two out of the 5 have clears? lol I can always hope...  )

So to answer the original question for myself, it shouldn't be too difficult to change all the switches over if I manage to get my hands on a bunch of clear switches.

Given that it seems unlikely those boards on eBay use clears, can anyone else recommend a source or clear switches??

Thanks everyone for your contributions so far 

[SpAmRaY]

Most 8000 series have browns, but some have clears. As far as I can tell the model code doesn't tell which, they use same for both and model codes are not consistent with this series. All the ones I had in my buy with this model had browns though so...

Hmm...

well I've emailed the seller on eBay to confirm if all the boards have browns (ray4jc I know you've already contacted them but it says they have 5 boards available currently, maybe one or two out of the 5 have clears? lol I can always hope...  )

So to answer the original question for myself, it shouldn't be too difficult to change all the switches over if I manage to get my hands on a bunch of clear switches.

Given that it seems unlikely those boards on eBay use clears, can anyone else recommend a source or clear switches??

Thanks everyone for your contributions so far 

If you do find some with clears let us know!!