What should green alps feel like?

[kelvinhall05]

Cleaned up my new Zenith Z150 AT and I'm loving it, but the switches feel...off. They feel alright but sound horribly scratchy and aren't as smooth as everyone says they are. Hell, my linearized At101 felt smoother. Thing is, I took apart and sprayed the switch housings with compressed air, and lubed the sliders with some white lithium grease (sorry, all I had on hand). The plate was almost spotless so I assume the switches were pretty clean in the first place. Also, there is a *lot* of pinging. Is this also normal with green Alps?

One more question. Assuming that my switch issues are normal and this is how green Alps feel, and that the keyboard is cleaned to a 8-9/10 state, how much is it worth? Thanks!

[andrewjoy]

They should not feel scratchy or sound scratchy. They feel less ..... floaty than linearised blacks ( as in you can feel the slider unlike lmod blacks that feel like they are in mid air ), they should be buttery smooth.

Check out this fantastic guide to see if you can restore them https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=P ... BSWbSz25vI

[kelvinhall05]

They should not feel scratchy or sound scratchy. They feel less ..... floaty than linearised blacks ( as in you can feel the slider unlike lmod blacks that feel like they are in mid air ), they should be buttery smooth.

Check out this fantastic guide to see if you can restore them https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=P ... BSWbSz25vI

Ugh, ok. I really, really don't want to waste 2-3 more hours opening and cleaning switches; it's tedious and hurts my back. What can I do to ensure they'll be fine? I don't have an ultrasonic cleaner.

[andrewjoy]

Not a huge amount you can do if the switches are worn . If they are dirty you can clean them. Follow the guide on a few switches and see if it improves things .

An ultrasonic is a bit drastic at this point , dust a few switches out first and see how you get on.

[fireworm]

Open a few (like 3) and just rub off the dirt on the slider with your fingers. Get a cotton swab with rubbing alcohol and try to clean the rails. Should be a noticeable difference.

[anmq91]

Cleaned up my new Zenith Z150 AT and I'm loving it, but the switches feel...off. They feel alright but sound horribly scratchy and aren't as smooth as everyone says they are. Hell, my linearized At101 felt smoother. Thing is, I took apart and sprayed the switch housings with compressed air, and lubed the sliders with some white lithium grease (sorry, all I had on hand). The plate was almost spotless so I assume the switches were pretty clean in the first place. Also, there is a *lot* of pinging. Is this also normal with green Alps?

One more question. Assuming that my switch issues are normal and this is how green Alps feel, and that the keyboard is cleaned to a 8-9/10 state, how much is it worth? Thanks!

I have a feeling that the Lithium grease may have made the key feel worse than it was before you started to clean them. Alps are always super sensitive to dust and wet grease attracts lots and lots of it. It may have also caught and suspended the loose sand/grit/dust in your switches and is now making them scratchier than normal. I would try to clean off the grease from the housings and sliders with IPA and clean the switches out the way specified by Chryos (link shared by andrewjoy above). Takes a good deal of work but it's worth it!

[kelvinhall05]

Cleaned up my new Zenith Z150 AT and I'm loving it, but the switches feel...off. They feel alright but sound horribly scratchy and aren't as smooth as everyone says they are. Hell, my linearized At101 felt smoother. Thing is, I took apart and sprayed the switch housings with compressed air, and lubed the sliders with some white lithium grease (sorry, all I had on hand). The plate was almost spotless so I assume the switches were pretty clean in the first place. Also, there is a *lot* of pinging. Is this also normal with green Alps?

One more question. Assuming that my switch issues are normal and this is how green Alps feel, and that the keyboard is cleaned to a 8-9/10 state, how much is it worth? Thanks!

I have a feeling that the Lithium grease may have made the key feel worse than it was before you started to clean them. Alps are always super sensitive to dust and wet grease attracts lots and lots of it. It may have also caught and suspended the loose sand/grit/dust in your switches and is now making them scratchier than normal. I would try to clean off the grease from the housings and sliders with IPA and clean the switches out the way specified by Chryos (link shared by andrewjoy above). Takes a good deal of work but it's worth it!

I thoroughly blew out all the dust and other debris in both the top and bottoms of the housings, so I doubt that's the problem. They also feel better than they did before I cleaned and lubed them, and my "control" of sorts (linearized black Alps that I also lubed) felt noticably smoother with the white lithium applied.

[anmq91]

Oh that's interesting. The general consensus was that dry lubes are better suited to alps switches. Maybe I got it wrong :/ For sure though, they should not be scratchy at all to use. If you have cleaned them out well and nothing is helping, I guess the switches saw too much heavy use, or use when dirty which screwed the top housings rails. You could try to replace a few top housings and see if that makes a difference?

[Chyros]

Oh that's interesting. The general consensus was that dry lubes are better suited to alps switches. Maybe I got it wrong :/ For sure though, they should not be scratchy at all to use. If you have cleaned them out well and nothing is helping, I guess the switches saw too much heavy use, or use when dirty which screwed the top housings rails. You could try to replace a few top housings and see if that makes a difference?

I have tried all major types of lubricant on Alps switches side-by-side in a controlled test experiment and came to the conclusion that simple silicone grease was the clear winner. I also concluded that no lubricant will get major successes, that it's best avoided if not necessary, and that getting a keyboard that's in good condition to begin with is much more important.

[andrewjoy]

Has anyone tried to polish the side of a alps slider ? To get rid of any roughness or scratchiness that results form wear ?

[Chyros]

Has anyone tried to polish the side of a alps slider ? To get rid of any roughness or scratchiness that results form wear ?

It's the rails that are usually at fault; not sure how one would polish them tbh.

[purdobol]

Has anyone tried to polish the side of a alps slider ? To get rid of any roughness or scratchiness that results form wear ?

Polishing sides wont do much. Some people do recommend gently rounding the corners at the bottom of the slider.
Never tried that myself so cannot attest if this helps or not.

[kelvinhall05]

Has anyone tried to polish the side of a alps slider ? To get rid of any roughness or scratchiness that results form wear ?

It's the rails that are usually at fault; not sure how one would polish them tbh.

Is there a lubricant that can "fix" the grity feel that I am 99.99% sure is coming from roughness on either the slider or top housing?

I'd rather not buy replacement housings; I can barely find them at all, much less at a reasonable price.

[bujorc]

Has anyone tried to polish the side of a alps slider ? To get rid of any roughness or scratchiness that results form wear ?

It's the rails that are usually at fault; not sure how one would polish them tbh.

It's not always the rails or the sides of the slider, in my experience is more the base of the slider which stops being smooth, especially because it's nylon (? or something soft, anyway) for 1st gen alps. So, I polished that and I confirm it's becoming smooth again, but doing it properly, not altering much of the geometry there... it's an OCD-kind of activity... 30 mins per switch sometimes?

I wanted to make a video about it but I am currently over the OCD phase... The good thing about polishing there is that it fixes the upper stroke click bug that alps have. Haven't tried it on newer gen though, like White Alps, which have a different plastic - a harder one... that might be more challenging. BTW, some of the white alps from the recent NOS GB are also affected by the upper stroke click bug, so I would propose the polishing as a solution... My assumption is that the later alps didn't enjoy that much care/quality in execution as the first gen. Cheaper/thinner plastic, higher tolerances, different housing design, etc.

[purdobol]

So, I polished that and I confirm it's becoming smooth again, but doing it properly, not altering much of the geometry there... it's an OCD-kind of activity... 30 mins per switch sometimes?

Got to ask what did you use to polish those sliders?
Would assume something like stropping paddle (piece of leather glued to the piece of wood) would work very well.

[bujorc]

A very fine glass nail file at start and continued with one of those rubbery nail files. Care is needed to keep some parts of the base sharp... you'll see what I mean if you study it carefully. If you've straighten everything (90 degree angles), you still get a good click in a smooth blue alps but not exactly that crisp one we're all likely looking for.

Your idea might work better...