Long-term Storage of Salvaged Switches?

Charlie_Brown_MX · 08 May 2012, 20:11

I’ve salvaged the white ALPS from an Apple Extended II keyboard, and I’m about to do the same with one of the McDonnell Douglases I got from eBay. The desoldering part was easy, if a trifle painful (one of the cats knocked the soldering iron into my fingers not once but twice). Now I’m left with the question of how best to store the switches long-term as spares for my main keyboard. The best I’ve thought of so far is to put them all in a bag, with a sachet of desiccant to absorb any moisture, then store that in a biscuit tin.

Anyone have any better ideas?

Maarten · 08 May 2012, 20:34

ALPS have rubber of some sort in em right?

off · 08 May 2012, 20:38

wrong
unless dampened, like those (from aekII).

Charlie_Brown_MX · 08 May 2012, 20:59

The damped white ALPS in the AEKII have rubber in them, to dampen the sound, but the McDonnell Douglas keyboard had blue ALPS, which have no rubber in them.

Maarten · 08 May 2012, 21:42

If they dont have any rubber then storing dryer=better. So storing em with some moisture absorber in a closed container would not be a bad idea, but just keep in mind that on your desk they also hold out pretty decent and there's no reason why disassembly will make em deteriorate faster or anything (and you probably aren't gonna store em for 20+ years anyways).

I got my cherry switches in a plastic box... ill let you know in 10 years (if i stil have/can find em by then) if that was a smart plan or not

Charlie_Brown_MX · 08 May 2012, 22:38

Maarten wrote:If they dont have any rubber then storing dryer=better. So storing em with some moisture absorber in a closed container would not be a bad idea, but just keep in mind that on your desk they also hold out pretty decent and there's no reason why disassembly will make em deteriorate faster or anything (and you probably aren't gonna store em for 20+ years anyways).

I hadn’t considered the rubber drying out when I thought about it, but that’s a good point. I should probably just store them in a bag without a desiccant sachet. The blues I’ll store with desiccant. I’m hoping to use these keyboards forever, which is why I got the spare parts to repair them with, so who knows — I might store them for 20 years!

Maarten · 08 May 2012, 23:46

To be brutally honest, i dont think its the moisture that keeps the rubber 'soft' over time but it will help prevent the metal parts from corroding ofc. Mostly rubber stuff we work with picks up fats and other stuff during use so as long as you keep using stuff itll last longer than when you store it. However, i do not know if these fats are also 'airborn' and/or whether those moisture sucking things actually do anything to the air that even has the slightest effect on the rubber quality over time. Also keep in mind that there are softmakers in rubber that simply just don't age very well, every rubber or soft plastic will degrade its just a matter of slowing down the process as much as possible. I for one dont keep rubber stuff i intend to use later in controlled environments of any sort moisture-wise, i just give them a little drop of appropriate grease, silicone or similar (depending on rubber type) and i make darn sure they are kept as dark and cool as possible. For something as small as rubber components in switches i dont know if you can lube them (or that you even want to that if even possible) but storing them dark and cool place might not be a bad idea.

Izza · 09 May 2012, 00:03

Maarten wrote:To be brutally honest, i dont think its the moisture that keeps the rubber 'soft' over time but it will help prevent the metal parts from corroding ofc. Mostly rubber stuff we work with picks up fats and other stuff during use so as long as you keep using stuff itll last longer than when you store it. However, i do not know if these fats are also 'airborn' and/or whether those moisture sucking things actually do anything to the air that even has the slightest effect on the rubber quality over time. Also keep in mind that there are softmakers in rubber that simply just don't age very well, every rubber or soft plastic will degrade its just a matter of slowing down the process as much as possible. I for one dont keep rubber stuff i intend to use later in controlled environments of any sort moisture-wise, i just give them a little drop of appropriate grease, silicone or similar (depending on rubber type) and i make darn sure they are kept as dark and cool as possible. For something as small as rubber components in switches i dont know if you can lube them (or that you even want to that if even possible) but storing them dark and cool place might not be a bad idea.

There are so many dirty jokes in this post... so many...