Realforce 87 slider housing issue - help pls

[zutroy]

Not sure what to title this topic, as I have a somewhat strange issue that I can't seem to find any information or previous topics on.

I recently acquired a Realforce 87 with some interesting quirks. First, I was told that the board was a 45g uniform, and I'm ~80% positive it is (from feel and grey colour of domes), but it is in a Realforce 87UB55 case (can tell from the label on the back of the board). No big deal—I find stock Topre kind of loud and stabilized keys rattly, though, so I decided to open it up and lube the slider housings and add Hyperspheres to the stabilized keys. This is when I noticed that the left control slider housing appears to be ground down to the point where the top-left corner of the housing is completely cut through. Upon further investigation, it looks like it was done (I'm guessing) either to accommodate either the LED on the control key that is used for switching ctrl and caps OR simply to accommodate the shape of the cutout on the plate. I can't figure it out, and the person I got the board from didn't even know that the board appears to be dome swapped since it's 45g (or maybe variable?) in a 55g case, so I doubt they will know anything about this.

None of this really bothers me (the rest of the board is in really good condition and works great—typing on it right now), except that this issue with the ctrl slider housing makes it so that if I press the ctrl key at the wrong angle, the top-left foot of the slider gets caught on something and won't go down. As soon as I release pressure and press from a different angle, the key works. I'd say ~90% of my presses are successful, but those %10 are frustrating.

Has anyone ever seen something like this/has any advice or hacks to fix/has an extra RF slider housing lying around that I can buy  ) ? Here are some photos to give you a better sense of what the housing looks like (should have taken some when I had the board opened up, but I didn't realize this would be an issue until I closed it back up, put all the keycaps back on, etc.).

[dgneo]

This is a mod that's done to allow for placing a different left control, as the stock slider/house is actually different for this switch:



People will swap this if they're trying to put a non-standard keyset on the RF (such as an MX set w/ MX Sliders, or a HiPro keyset, etc.).

[zutroy]

This is a mod that's done to allow for placing a different left control, as the stock slider/house is actually different for this switch:

(Attachment Link)

People will swap this if they're trying to put a non-standard keyset on the RF (such as an MX set w/ MX Sliders, or a HiPro keyset, etc.).

Gotcha—that makes sense. So, the original owner/modder of the board (who probably also swapped the domes) probably swapped the stock left ctrl slider/housing onto another board? I know it's not really possible to tell without me giving better pictures of the slider housing, but do you think the issue with pressing ctrl from the wrong angle is the result of a bad mod or my reassembly of the board after lubing, or is this a known issue with the mod that people just live with?

Thanks for your help.

[Tactile]

The first thing I'd try is lube it. Lots of photos in this thread which might make it more clear what someone was trying to do and why...

https://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=63320.0

[zutroy]

The first thing I'd try is lube it. Lots of photos in this thread which might make it more clear what someone was trying to do and why...

https://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=63320.0

Hm, yeah, this helps explain what the purpose of the mod is. I actually did lube it along with all the other slider housings. The main issue (which I now realize that I failed to mention fully in my original post) is that the housing was sanded down so far that it split apart where the top-right railing should be, which doesn't look like the case with the modded housing in the post that you reference. So the slider on my left ctrl only has one rail to guide it (the only rail I can lube), and this is what prevents the key from being pressed when hit at the wrong angle (slider basically goes out of alignment because it's missing one of the rails to guide it).

I'm thinking of taking the whole thing apart again this weekend and seeing if some electrical tape with a little piece of plastic might suffice as a makeshift railing. If not, I'll just live with it, and I could always swap left ctrl to caps lock position to make things even easier.

Thanks again for the help.

[absyrd]

None of this was disclosed by the seller?

[zutroy]

None of this was disclosed by the seller?

Not to me. I'm at least the second second-hand owner, though, and it sounds like none of it was disclosed to the person I got it from (or perhaps even the person before that person—hard to tell how far back some boards go). It was a trade deal (reddit), so I don't feel too bad about it (if it had been a sale I would definitely ask for at least a partial refund), and I believe the person I got it from would have told me anything if they had known. Like I mentioned above, they were even unaware of the fact that the board was in a 55g case.

It comes with the territory, and I'd rather just figure out a way I can fix this minor issue (the rest of the board is fantastic after lubing) than dwell on the fact that it would have been nice to know this beforehand.

[tp4tissue]

I guess this should fall under Illegal modifications ?  as far as keyboards go. hahahaha

[zutroy]

I guess this should fall under Illegal modifications ?  as far as keyboards go. hahahaha

Haha, perhaps.

I can see why it's useful, and honestly if I had a HiPro set or some really nice mods with mx-topre sliders, the minor inconvenience of a slightly fussy left ctrl would totally be worth it. Also, luckily, I wanted this board mainly for typing on my Mac, so ctrl isn't as important as alt/command for me. As, I mentioned above, I'll probably just end up switching ctrl and caps with the dip switch (I'm used to it anyway from using an HHKB for a while).

Any other fix suggestions (hacky ones certainly welcome) would be appreciated. I may or may not open it up this weekend to see what I can do—still thinking about whether it's worth the trouble  )

[Hyde]

I guess depending on how much you like your Ctrl LED light.

Another approach is to de-solder your LED light (if you never plan to use it anyway) then swap the switch housing and slider with another key you rarely use (Scroll Lock?  Pause/Break?) that way you'll have a normal switch for your Ctrl key.

OR

Not sure if this would work, if you can desolder your LED light, sand off the part that pokes into switch housing then solder it back.

(Again I've never owned a tenkeyless Topre so this is all just guessing)

Good luck !

[zutroy]

I guess depending on how much you like your Ctrl LED light.

Another approach is to de-solder your LED light (if you never plan to use it anyway) then swap the switch housing and slider with another key you rarely use (Scroll Lock?  Pause/Break?) that way you'll have a normal switch for your Ctrl key.

OR

Not sure if this would work, if you can desolder your LED light, sand off the part that pokes into switch housing then solder it back.

(Again I've never owned a tenkeyless Topre so this is all just guessing)

Good luck !

I like solution #1! Even if I did like the ctrl led (which I don't really care about), I can't use the windowed caps lock/ctrl key that normally goes on the left ctrl slider because it's designed to be used with the stock left ctrl housing/slider (the one shown in the photo dgneo posted). Since whoever did this mod probably put that housing/slider on whichever board they took they one I now have from, the windowed keys are useless to me, and so is the led on the left ctrl.

I think I'll keep using the board for a bit as-is to see how much the left ctrl really bothers me, and if I get the motivation to open it back up, I'll try this solution. Thanks! (also hello, fellow Torontonian  )