stabilizers and keycap compatibility

[skuko]

hi guys,

i don't know how to start this off, so i guess i'll start at the beginning. my first board was a QFR with blacks and costar stabs, before i even researched into the whole mechanical keyboards shebang. then i wanted to try another switch type (red) and i bought a CM storm quickfire PRO. little did i know, that this board uses cherry stabilizers and was met with a really negative experience - the spacebar would get literally stuck in the pushed position, if it was pushed down anywhere but the middle. i returned the board of course and got my money back.

this whole experience has made me rather uncomfortable about cherry stabilizers and i've been preferring costar stabs ever since (hint - sig). so far so good.

lately i've been researching keycaps for my TKL filco and found out about this whole materials (ABS/PBT/POM...), legends (etching/DS/ dyesub...) etc. areas. unfortunately, i only did a little research into the various keycap PROFILES (which as it turns out is probably the most important topic, at least the way i see it).

so i got myself a IMSTO thick PBT set and installed it on my filco TKL and did the whole plastic bag stabilizer stem mod to the keys (since the stabilizer stems were a bit loose) and installed the keys. i was very sad to find out that the ANSI enter key is very mushy and borderline sticks in the bottomed out position. after some research i confirmed what i already thought - the stabilizer wire grinds on the inside of the key, the more it is pushed down, due to the thickness of the PBT and/or the much lower cherry keycap profile, as opposed to the much higher OEM profile of the stock filco caps.

now - i have to say i love the feel of the thick PBT and i must say i like the lower cherry profile, but i literally HATE the grinding on the enter key. at the same time, i want to avoid any irreversible modification to the keys, since intend to play around with keycap sets in the future and try to resell them sometime down the road and don't want to lower the resale value.

that leaves me with a question - is my bad experience with cherry stabilizers purely coincidental, or is that issue common? furthermore, from the various keycap profile/material compatibility point of view - do you think that cherry stabilizer boards are more suitable? since i have not owned any cherry mx stab board, i have no idea about this and that plus my bad experience make me very weary about the cherry stab boards (ducky, keycool, etc.)

any advice/input would be appreciated. i know that stabilizers are almost entirely a personal preference thing, i'm looking at them from the keycap profiles/materials compatibility perspective.

thanks

dayum wall of text.....

[terran5992]

I think its coincindental . I never had that problem before

[rowdy]

On rare occasions key caps do stick.

If the Costar inserts are a bit loose (this is a common thing) then you can use a small square of plastic ziplock sandwich bag, place it over the stem underneath the keycap before you push the insert in - holds it like a charm.

I have several boards with Cherry stabilisers (including two Ducky Shines) and they are fine - no sticking keys at all.  And the space bar works perfectly.

It might be that your Enter key is a bit loose and wobbling sideways when it should not.  Try the plastic bag trick, and see if the situation improved.

[skuko]

On rare occasions key caps do stick.

If the Costar inserts are a bit loose (this is a common thing) then you can use a small square of plastic ziplock sandwich bag, place it over the stem underneath the keycap before you push the insert in - holds it like a charm.

I have several boards with Cherry stabilisers (including two Ducky Shines) and they are fine - no sticking keys at all.  And the space bar works perfectly.

It might be that your Enter key is a bit loose and wobbling sideways when it should not.  Try the plastic bag trick, and see if the situation improved.

i already did that, i did the mod on all stabilized keys. shift key stab stems were loose and when firmly pressed at the edge of the key, one could feel how the stab stem comes out a little from the key. this was solved with said mod.

however, the enter key is different. as i push it, i can feel how the stabilizer metal bar grinds on the inside of the key. that is why i'm asking about cherry stabs, they have a different construction, so i guess the stabilizer metal bar cannot grind on the keys, no matter the profile.

so the question remains - if i plan to swap keys frequently with different profiles, should i opt for a cherry stabilized board?

[CPTBadAss]

Sounds like your stabilizer wire isn't seated right. You might want to check that. The wire should be clipped into the base.

It's easier to replace keycaps with Cherry stabilizers. But I also think that Cherry stabilizers feel a little mushy. The solution to my problem? Clip the Cherry stabs. Check out Chapter 4 of this guide for more info.

[skuko]

Sounds like your stabilizer wire isn't seated right. You might want to check that. The wire should be clipped into the base.

It's easier to replace keycaps with Cherry stabilizers. But I also think that Cherry stabilizers feel a little mushy. The solution to my problem? Clip the Cherry stabs. Check out Chapter 4 of this guide for more info.

i will check the stab wire, even though i think there's nothing wrong with it.

my exact same problem is mentioned here, here and here, but i want to avoid the "scooping" of the key.

and cpt, you even asked the same question. i'm fairly sure it's a clearance problem on the thick PBT key vs. the costar stab wire...hence the question about the cherry stabs

[CPTBadAss]

I can't replicate your problem as shown by this post. Can you swap the wires from another stabilizer that doesn't grind into your enter stabilizer and see if it still grinds? If it does, maybe it's a clearance problem and you can sand the wire/keycap down a little. If not, maybe its an issue with the wire.

[skuko]

gotta try to cross check the wires, yeah...it's a brand new filco with red switches though, been using it for only 2-3 weeks.

also, i have another filco at work with stock caps (typing on it atm), will take that home and test the enter key there

i really want to avoid having to scoop the inside of the key with a knife, resale value and all that.

[skuko]

well, i'll be damned...will post pics later, but the bottom line is - swapping the stabilizator wire from right shift to enter and vice versa seems to have done the trick even though they seem completely identical....as said, will post pics later, this is just a quick update

[CPTBadAss]

Hooray, a happy ending for all

[skuko]

pics
stabilizator wires, before the switch - they look completely identical to me


and turned 90 degrees, still before the switch


keycaps, left to right: backspace (not shimmed), enter, right shift (both shimmed) - to display the different angles on the inner walls of the keys


it's kinda weird. after using it for a while, the enter key still feels a tiny bit different than the shift, but i don't feel that distinct scratching of the stab wire onto the inner keycap wall

[CPTBadAss]

Could be a very MINOR difference in the wire or the plate/pcb flex that is helping you out. Regardless, if it works then that's good