deskthority

I received my vintage mx black switches of a NIB WYSE last week.
Today I had a little time to play with those. Overall those felt like a completely different switch.

Old mx black kicks ass. These are way better than my recent blacks.
It feels much more sturdy, and do not wobble nearly as much.

Minskleip wrote:They are virtually frictionless! Even if I purposely press the keys sideways to make contact with the stem and the rest of the switch they're very smooth.

Indeed these are so smooth that I just couldn't believe my fingers.

My recent blacks in the Steelseries are scratchy like in this video posted below. Literally I hear the sliding noise of friction.

What do you think about the stabilizers?

The WYSE stabilizer wires have a black colour as opposed to the metallic colour of the plate mounted Cherry stabilizer in my Steelseries.
Both wires have the same thickness.

The WYSE spacebar stabilizer is PCB mounted, and has similar guide railes like the rest of the plate mounted stabilizers, but these frames have an open design on the left side, thus the stabilizer stem could move more freely.
Unfortunately I don't have a good camera with me to take high def pictures.

Also there are traces of a white substance on the wire where it snaps in the guides. My guess it is white lithium grease, but since it is about 20 years old it is completely dried out, and the solvent is evaporated.
That's why the manufacturers should stick with a chemically inert grease such as silicone grease, or Krytox grease.

The Steelseries uses the same type of plate mounted stabilizer under the spacebar as for the rest of the 2 unit wide keys.
The 2 unit wide SS stabilizers have different molding marks on the guide rails than the WYSE, but both of them have identical dimensions and shape.
The tabs that assist in inserting the plastic part into the plate are thicker and sturdier on the Steelseries.
The molding marks or part numbers on the plastic stems are placed a bit differently, however both stems have the same shape & length.

Other than that there is no significant difference between the two, they are pretty much identical and should feel the same.
I think the smooth feel of the WYSE stabilized keys is more related to the smoother vintage black switches than the stabilizers.
Also generally the Cherry style stabilizers work great with the stiffer black switches.

I can't confirm if any of these were made by Cherry Corp, but Kant who is selling the TypeNow solid confirmed that the TS and Leopold imported the stabilizers from Cherry Corp Germany.
Since the 6GV2 was also made by the same factory, I assume the Steelseries also uses the same plate mounted G99 stabilizers by Cherry Corp.

Have you tried to change the switches under the stabilizer as I proposed?

I have never said I liked MY. I just pointed out that it's less frictiony than recent blacks.
However old MX blacks are smoother, crisper, lighter and less wobbly than MY, so I lost interest.

As I said I will do a more detailed analysis with pics once I receive the titanium springs, stickers and the RO.
I think after modding both variant they will feel the same.

I have not gotten around to desolder the switches on my wyse to try them out yet.
But as far as trying the blacks on my POKER goes, they do feel like they need a lot of lubrication to make it feel like the WYSE.

No guys, this is all just imaginary. Hamlet and ripster said so!

Kidding aside, glad you enjoy the blacks. Stabilizers are a problem on plate mounted boards. I still could not "fix" the ones on my QUME WYSE

Speaking of Ripster I am SURE I used to be in this thread somewhere.

RiGS wrote:Have you tried to change the switches under the stabilizer as I proposed?

I have tried with Blues, Browns, Reds and Clears on the WYSE.
The blues are awful on the right shift, when the key is hit on the side, the clicky sound it makes is totally off.
For the other switches, they do not feel as smooth as the vintage blacks, but they are still acceptable, in fact, it reminds me of the FC200R that I tried, minus the squeaky sound.

above: typical cherry stabilizer.



above: stabilizer found on wyse, notice the four "guards" as circled in red. they might have something to do with the difference in feel between the two.

I suggest to grind down those four guards with a dremmel on the plate mounted stabilizers as this mod would make the key action a lot smoother just like the regular PCB mounted Cherry stabilizers.
Also notice that two of four of those guards are open on the left side on the PCB-plate mounted hybrid WYSE spacebar stabilizer allowing the stem to move freely without sticking.
Sadly it still wouldn't fix the squeking sound and the key wobble on recent poorly assembled Taiwanese and Chinese keyboards with the plate mounted G99, but it's not the fault of the stabilizer, but rather the the lack of QA.
They should learn how to do this from the WYSE guys.
Anyway to fix this issue you have to take apart the whole keyboard and desolder all the switches to separate the mounting plate from the PCB, remove the stabilizer, and gently apply some grease(I recommend using Krytox, or silicone) to the wire where it snaps into the guides.
Do this an all of the stabilizers then mount and solder in those few switches under the bigger keys exclusively and test how it went, so you can continue with the rest of the switches.
I know, it's time consuming and a pain in the ass, but you can grab the opportunity and lube the switches as well.

Also notice on your picture the black wire of the Wyse as opposed to the metallic one on the Cherry, and the thin tabs below the guards that assist in inserting the plastic part into the plate.
Those are a lot thicker and sturdier on the recent iteration of G99 stabilizers. Almost as thick as the guard frames.

is that a corsair keyboard? how does it feel?

Well, it's not mine, but judging by the logo on the upper switch case it should feel scratchy just like the one in the OP video.

Heliar has found out a method to remove the plate mounted stabilizers without needing to remove the metal plate.
Removing the switch on the stabilizer will allow you to remove the stabilizer.

That's genius! That means it is easier to fix that common issue with noise and wobble, so the stabilizer would feel just like the WYSE apart from the well lubed cherry black feel.

Have you found out what is the cause of these squeaky stabilizers on the other plate mounted boards?

I'm sure a thick grease on the wire would solve that, at least it did for me.