Holee Mod Tutorial - The ULTIMATE Stabilizer Mod!

Hey guys, welcome back, so if you've ever built a keyboard, chances are your

stabilizer

s have sounded like this. *sound check* This is known as a

stabilizer

rattle and is extremely annoying to get rid of. Sometimes, no matter how much lube you put on or how balanced your cables are, you will still hear that annoying tick or rattle that your stabilizers would make. I have experienced this first hand and have literally spent hours trying to get rid of it. of noise from my keyboards, so believe me when I say I know how painful it can be. So today we're going to take a look at the Holee mod - it's an extremely effective DIY mod for gimbals that almost always eliminates noise while maintaining a very smooth sound and feel, if done correctly.

So before you begin, you will need these items. Krytox 205g0, two brushes, a tweezer, a plastic cutter, sharp scissors and most importantly, fabric strips. They need to be a little thick but not too thick to block the entire stabilizer stem. And try to avoid plastic strips that are waterproof, as they are too thin and don't provide any real cushioning for the Holee mod. There are two types of stabilizers. We have board mounted stabilizers and PCB mounted stabilizers. This mod is not exclusive to either, so you can follow it regardless of which stabilizer you have. My favorite stabilizers are ZealPC and Durock v2 stabs;

In my opinion, they are the most consistent and smooth stabilizers I have ever used. I'll put the links for them in the description below. Your stabilizers will have 3 main components. You have the stabilizer cables, the stabilizer housings, and the stabilizer stems. The first thing you need to do is make sure all of these components are dry. If your stabilizers come pre-lubricated, you'll definitely want to remove the factory lubricant before continuing. The method I personally use requires hand soap, an old toothbrush, and a clean, dry toothbrush. I like to submerge the stems and housings of my stabilizers in a container, wash them with soap, and use the toothbrush to clean the inside.

I then use a little water to remove the excess and that usually works great for me. If it's really bad, I like to get a clean, dry brush to remove excess lube. And then I'll get some Q-tips to clean up any lube that's still inside the stabilizer. And to dry them you can let them air dry or shake them in a tissue. Next, depending on the stabilizers, you may need to trim them. Untrimmed stabilizer stems will look like this: They have two extra legs on the bottom which will make the stabilizers feel a little soft, which is not what you want.

Some stabilizers such as the durock v2 or zeal pc stabs do not have these additional legs and therefore do not need to be trimmed. So grab your clippers and cut off the two extra legs. You want to make sure you cut the entire leg so that the bottom of the stabilizer is completely flat. Try to avoid having uneven plastic on the bottom of the stabilizers for a cleaner sound and feel. Once the stabilizers have been trimmed, we can now move on to the Holee mod. The main purpose of the Holee mod is to place a band-aid on the surface of the stabilizer stem to cushion the stabilizer cable and reduce noise.

It should look like this. So take your cloth band-aid and peel off one side. That way you can hold the other end without it sticking to your hands. Then you should cut a small piece of Band-Aid that is about the size of the hole in the stabilizer stem. Try to avoid cutting a piece that is too large, as it will make the stabilizer feel soft and heavy, and try to avoid cutting a piece that is too small, as it can reduce the overall effectiveness of the Holee mod. Once you've cut the band-aid to size, stick it on the clamp and slide it into the stabilizer stem like this.

You should slide the clamp through the side with an angled hole and not through the two-hole end. After that, you should use your fingers to gently remove the band-aid from the clamp and press down on the end of the band-aid on the side where there is an angled hole. Do your best to make sure the Band-Aid is secure and does not protrude from the side of the stem. If it sticks a little on the sides, that's okay, just make sure you cover the entire bottom. Use your tweezers to apply a little force to make sure it sticks to the stem.

Once this is done, move to the other side. You want to cut off some of the Band-Aid, but leave a small amount so you can push the rest into the shorter hole below. This is to ensure that the stem stays in place and does not move even if the cable rubs against it. Push the band-aid into the short hole with tweezers and press down to make it stick. And just to make sure, use your pliers to press around the stabilizer until everything feels firm. Once this is done, just repeat this for the rest of the stabilizer stems.

This can get a little frustrating over time, but once you get the hang of it, it's really easy. Alright, with all the Band-Aid installed, we can now lubricate our stabilizers. I like to use krytox 205g0 because it provides a very smooth sound and feel without being too thick or too thin. I highly recommend using it for your stabilizers and it is what most people use for their stabilizers. I like to start by lubricating the housings of my stabilizers. I put a pretty decent amount of lube on my brush and apply it to all sides of the housing.

You'll always want to apply less at first and add more if you feel like there isn't enough lubricant. The last thing you want to do is apply too much and make the stabilizers feel mushy. After that, I apply a fairly thin layer of lubricant to the stabilizer stems until both faces are evenly coated. After that, I reassembled the stabilizer stem and housing. If you are having trouble knowing which direction to put it back in, the two-hole side of the stem should be aligned with the entrance of the stabilizer housing. You should always check to see if the stem and housings are aligned because if they are not, the stabilizers will not work and you will have to take them apart and turn the stem over.

Next, we have the stabilizer cables. I like to apply a generous amount of lubricant to the cables until you can see the cable underneath the lubricant. You should do your best to make it as smooth as possible and also make sure to lubricate the area where the stabilizer engages the stabilizer housing. You then want to insert the lubricated part of the cable into the stabilizer housing. This can be a little annoying as the cloth strip will slightly block the entrance. Do your best not to force the cable in and gently twist and push it in until the cable slides in.

Once the cable enters the stabilizer stem, push down until it clicks into place. You should hear an audible click once it enters. Repeat this for the other side of the cable. There is no exact amount of lubricant to add to each stabilizer, it's really just trial and error and comes with experience. As you continue to lubricate more stabilizers, you will have a better idea of ​​how much lubricant you need to use with your stabilizers. Once you have all of your stabilizers reassembled, we can now test them. Mount your stabilizers on your PCB or board and start gently pressing on each side.

Try to apply a minimal amount of force and just tap it gently. Ideally, no noise should be heard. The only sounds you should be able to hear are the sounds of the keys moving or a very light tapping noise. After that, try pressing down on the switches as you normally would, going from side to side and pressing the edges. This should give you a good idea of ​​how they will sound and feel when you are actually using them. So if you can still hear the noise, I recommend adding a little lubricant to the back of the stabilizer.

If that doesn't fix the problem, it usually has to do with the Band-Aid or the cable itself. I recommend learning more about wire balancing or double checking that the band-aid completely covers the surface of the stem and is not protruding from either side. Please note that you will feel a little resistance from the Holee mod and it is completely normal as long as it doesn't make it too hard to press down or if it feels like there is a bump. It should feel a little more sturdy. It is also important that you master them so that they are smoother.

It doesn't take long either, I recommend just breaking them in with daily use or spending 5-10 minutes wearing out the stabilizers. Modifying your stabilizers is the most important modification you can make to your keyboard. The quality of your keyboard is equal to the quality of your stabilizers. No matter how expensive your case is, what keys you're using, or how good your switches sound, if your stabilizers aren't modded properly, the quality of your keyboard goes down a lot. So I recommend that you spend a lot of time making sure your stabilizers sound and feel their best, and I hope that the Holee mod can help make the process much easier.

Alright guys, thanks for watching, I hope this

tutorial

can improve your stabilizers a lot, I know it helped me a lot. If you have any more questions, feel free to join my Discord server, discord.gg/hamajineo and follow me on Twitter and Instagram @hamajineo. And as always, happy lubrication.