While pulling caps off a board for cleaning I managed to snap a stem off a cap, leaving it in the ALPS switch and now it's stuck there.
So far I have tried pliers (plastic too soft, tears as you try and pull) tweezers (in too tight / can't get a good purchase), super gluing something onto the stem to put it out with (just didn't work), pushing in a bent hot pin into it (didn't work).
So... Suggestions?

Had this happen with a few Cherry MY boards. Its very tricky to get it out again. From what I heard from some Korean buddies the best way is to heat up a needle, push it deep inside the stem and then try to pull it out after a while.

tried that, it didn't work, its the method I usually use.

If pushing in a bent hot pin into it didn't work, probably it will be the easiest to replace the stem or the whole switch.
You can also try to remove it piece by piece with a thin scalpel if you have a few hours to spare.

hmm sounds like a job for a swann morton #15, I'll give it a go.

How about a small screw? Screw it in and pull it out, like with a corkscrew, only smaller.

That's sounds like a great solution, sadly the only screws I have small enough are not long enough... annoyingly I have lots of #15 blades but can't find a handle

I gave up and went for the 'steal a stem for another board' approach

I've noticed with Alps and Cherry switches that switch vendor-made keycaps are far easier to remove than 3rd party ones. The keycaps on my SGI AT-101 can almost be pulled off using my fingers, whereas the Dell AT101W is an intricate process involving multiple tools.

Ignoring that you've already solved it, and combining what has been suggested, insert the thinnest heated-up drill bit you can find.
Also, I'm unsure but maybe WD-40 could help?

Yep, this is one of my Dell AT102's this has happened to
I'll give the WD40 a go, but I think it may be too smooshed in to get out with normal methods now, i'll put a picture up later

edit: well I will once I find my SD card...

Picture:

If you're in the US I'll mail you a slider or two for the cost of postage.

I'm in the UK

I wonder if a dentist pick would be able to get at that?

Nope, I have one, doesn't work, the plastic is just too soft.

Ugh... I know this feeling...

I fixed this by carefully boring it out using a small screwdriver bit on a dremel, and then extracting bits with an Xacto knife. You need to break up the plastic, since it is wedged in tightly.

RIGHT!
After a lot of frustration and trying virtually every method listed above I got out my modelling tools and tried all of them and eventually found a winner! This tool is perfect for the task:

You can get the point into the corner of the stem, dig in, and then because it is an angled tool easily lever it out! Rage over!

Does the tool have a particular name? I'd like to acquire one for my own tool kit for "just incase" purposes.

Its a wax carving tool, you can get an entire set for about £7 (http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/12PC-CANDLE-WAX-C ... 41583c41e4), In the pic the tool is 6th in from the left. Some of the other tools in the set are also very useful to have such as the dental picks, so getting the whole set isn't bad at all, plus you can re-purpose other ones you won't use as you see fit!

Cheers. I've an Alps board here, so it'll be useful should I ever run into a similar problem.

daedalus wrote:I've noticed with Alps and Cherry switches that switch vendor-made keycaps are far easier to remove than 3rd party ones. The keycaps on my SGI AT-101 can almost be pulled off using my fingers, whereas the Dell AT101W is an intricate process involving multiple tools.

Really? I pull off my at102w's keys with my fingers (until one started bleeding )