JD40 mushy sticking Cherry stab?

[meow a cat]

Hey guys! Just swapped the stabilizer on my JD40 out from Costar to Cherry, and it's not working right.

The spring motion seems to be okay, but it feels mushy and hard to push down, then it only comes back up about half way/two-thirds of the way when I let it go. Anyone have any ideas on how to fix it?

Also, when I pull the spacebar off of the switch and stabs, the stabs seem to come out of their mounting holes a bit. I don't think it's in there that tight, but wiggling it around doesn't seem to change anything, it's still loose.

The stab is a 6.25x gold plated wire, with standard plate mount Cherry plastic pieces.

This has been frustrating me for a couple hours now. I'd like to get it sorted out, as I've come to hate Costar stabs over time.  )

[CPTBadAss]

Did you put the inserts in the correct way? Do you have the right wire? Should be straight in the middle with two bends at the ends. Did you clip your cherry stabs? Have you checked to see if your caps are interfering with your stabs?

[jdcarpe]

This is exactly why I switched from using Cherry stabs to Costar stabs for my JD40 builds.

Cherry plate mount stabs are notoriously finicky. The thing causing the "mushy" feeling, and lack of return, is friction caused by the wire not being exactly the right length of the stab inserts in the plate. You can try to fix the problem by bending the wire slightly inward or outward, to relieve the pressure causing the friction.

As for the stab inserts coming out of the plate when you remove the keycap (space bar), it's a known issue with those "combination" Cherry/Costar stab holes. By adding the cuts for Costar stabs, you eliminate half of the mount points where the Cherry stab should clip onto the plate. Which is why I try to recommend against people using those type of holes in their plates now.

[meow a cat]

Did you put the inserts in the correct way? Do you have the right wire? Should be straight in the middle with two bends at the ends. Did you clip your cherry stabs? Have you checked to see if your caps are interfering with your stabs?

I believe I got them in there right, at least the wire clipped in properly. It's a Cherry stab wire, 7X. Straight with bent ends. Stabs are clipped. My DSA spacebar is pretty warped, which I didn't notice until this. It definitely doesn't help the issue, as it's a bit better with my straight DCS spacebar, but the issue is still there.

This is exactly why I switched from using Cherry stabs to Costar stabs for my JD40 builds.

Cherry plate mount stabs are notoriously finicky. The thing causing the "mushy" feeling, and lack of return, is friction caused by the wire not being exactly the right length of the stab inserts in the plate. You can try to fix the problem by bending the wire slightly inward or outward, to relieve the pressure causing the friction.

As for the stab inserts coming out of the plate when you remove the keycap (space bar), it's a known issue with those "combination" Cherry/Costar stab holes. By adding the cuts for Costar stabs, you eliminate half of the mount points where the Cherry stab should clip onto the plate. Which is why I try to recommend against people using those type of holes in their plates now.

Thanks for the tip JD! I will try de-soldering the switch again, and bending the stab wire a bit. I'm not sure which direction it needs to go though, it's pretty hard to tell.

I won't have a chance to work on it until tonight, but I will report back! If it works, I'm glad I'll know how to fix it, as I have two TKL builds coming up soon that will both be using Cherry stabs.

Thank you JD and CPT for your help! Really appreciate it.

[CPTBadAss]

Let us know how it goes

[meow a cat]

Let us know how it goes

For sure! Thanks again for your help CPT.

Bit of an off-topic question here, but I'm currently soldering at 600F on my FX888D. Do you guys think that's a safe temperature for through-hole PCB work? I'd like to minimize the stress on the board as much as possible when I'm de-soldering. 

[jdcarpe]

Let us know how it goes

For sure! Thanks again for your help CPT.

Bit of an off-topic question here, but I'm currently soldering at 600F on my FX888D. Do you guys think that's a safe temperature for through-hole PCB work? I'd like to minimize the stress on the board as much as possible when I'm de-soldering. 

I normally set my iron to 700F or 750F. I like the solder to melt as fast as possible, so my time on the joint is less.