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Mounds
61
Jul 27, 2018
After the recent discussions on the 'stemgate' issues with Kailh Box switches, it'd be nice to see more offerings that weren't Kailh...
LevelSteam
Jul 27, 2018
MoundsStemgate?
LevelSteam
Jul 27, 2018
MoundsNevermind. Did some research and figured it out. Unfortunately...
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LevelSteamYep, people are saying that box switch stems are a little larger than standard keycap stems. Causing breaks.
https://www.reddit.com/r/MechanicalKeyboards/comments/924r0a/video_showing_how_loose_my_epbt_9009_keys_are/
LevelSteam
Jul 27, 2018
erickongYup. Definitely appears that way. I popped four different keycaps off my Laser board and while none were cracked, they all had those stress lines on them from the slightly larger stems.
I'm not tinkering with them any more out of fear of breaking anything, but I'm still pretty upset about it.
LevelSteam
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Just measured a few of my gat reds in comparison to my box black. noticeable difference
LevelSteam
Jul 27, 2018
erickongI don't have the calipers to do anything that in depth, but I double checked caps that I had on my Cherry Clears, which are a notoriously tight switch, and none of them had that issue. Nice to have to some conclusive proof that they are in fact wider though.
It's a shame. It seemed like Kailh had really turned things around with the Halo switch collaboration but I guess not. Not to mention there's also the issue of stem twist with the boxes that causes keycaps to sit cockeyed on ones that have the issue.
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Mounds
61
Jul 27, 2018
LevelSteamWhoa! Had no idea that issue too was occurring... It is unfortunate that this gamble on switch innovation has come at the cost of community trust, really. They are nice from afar and I even preordered Novelias / Box Navies, but will be immediately flipping them to someone willing to bear the stemgate burden, unless Kailh resolves the issue before the units ship.
Mounds
61
Jul 27, 2018
erickongThose measurements are fairly lenient also - I think x-axis measurements are more way off??
MoundsI guess I will make an excel sheet with measurements of various switches that I own. I will make a discussion post out of it. I think people will like it
LevelSteam
Jul 27, 2018
MoundsHonestly the twist issue isn't a *huge* deal. Out of all my Box Navys on my KBD75 I think I had to replace six, and it's only because I didn't test fit them with caps before soldering. It's definitely not ideal, but ordering an extra ten or twenty switches solves it for a very marginal price increase and is worth the trade-off imo.
What IS an issue though is that they stretch or crack your keycaps, making them useless either over time (to be determined, but possible if cracked) or with other boards (like in erickong's video).
I'd still recommend the Massdrop/Kailh Halos/Trues since there's definitely not an issue with those, and I personally love them them, but I would stay pretty far away from any Box switch from them until they acknowledge this issue and resolve it.
BlueCrowned
5305
Jul 28, 2018
LevelSteamThis is really worrying. Maybe I should get some different switches before I put Laser on. It would explain why we've been seeing so many artisan keycaps have split stems since the box switches got popular.
BlueCrowned
5305
Jul 28, 2018
erickongPlease do
LevelSteam
Jul 28, 2018
BlueCrownedYeah, I definitely wouldn't recommend putting Laser on box switches until this is proven to be resolved.
KM1337
1881
Jul 29, 2018
MoundsRIP Time to evacuate Laser off of my keyboard and get some normal switches... (box OJ) Checked a few caps and sure as shit there's already stress lines inside the horizontals in the stems.. HEEEEECCCCCCCKKKKKKKKK'N HECK HECK HECK
I'm going to try to shave some of the stemgate off, if I can find the time and tools...
LevelSteam
Jul 29, 2018
KM1337It's going to be a hell of a lot of *extremely* meticulous work attempting to fix those switches. Better option would just be to use non-box switches for the time being.
That said, I've already written off my Laser set, which sucks, but whatever. I'll replace it if it ever re-launches but there's no sense in removing the stretched caps and attempting to use them on a non-box board at this point. I'll also be getting my hands on a set of calipers soon to do my own testing on this. It's mainly out of personal curiosity, but I'll post what I find here regardless.
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