PSA: Keep your dyesubs cool

[XMIT]

I store a bunch of my keyboards in a locked steel shipping container. It is great in most ways: dustproof, watertight, rat proof. viewtopic.php?p=372590#p372590 if you want to see a picture of it.

However, there is one gotcha: the heat. In the summer, it can easily be 130-140F or up to 60C on the inside. Plus, there is daily thermal cycling, since evenings are only about 77F/25C here.

For the most part the items in the container can tolerate the heat. After all, much of the world's manufacturing is done in China, and most of these items spend two months on the ocean in these containers. But, I've found a few that can't.

Dye sublimated key caps seem to fare the worst. IBM dyesubs do quite well. Others - Space Invaders keyboards, anything from Signature Plastics, and some other oddities - don't. Legends, once laser crisp, start to become fuzzy. Legends get green or yellow edges and look muddy. It's awful.

Probably the worst offender is a Space Invaders board that looked brand new four years ago. Now, the case is substantially yellowed, and the caps look poor. It's subtle, but if you're a picky collector, you'll notice this.

If you think about it this makes sense. Dye sublimation is a diffusion process, and heat promotes diffusion.

So, keep your dyesubs at room temperature for long life!

[robo]

That's a pretty wild temperature cycle for old plastics. I'd be concerned about other issues, like parts becoming brittle or cracking, synthetic rubber and foam breaking down, etc.

There's a reason that climate controlled storage is a thing.

[XMIT]

I've also found that some switches - modern Cherry MX Brown among them - don't like it if they're not cycled regularly. A WASD v2 with Browns needed about 100 actuations per switch before chatter, bouncing, and missed strokes stopped being an issue.

Really, though, the vast majority of keyboards are holding up great. The Model Ms are as clicky as ever, the Alps boards are doing okay, etc.

I'm in the middle of doing a re-inventory after 2-3 years.