How to Lube and Tune Stabilizers

Alright, I have two exactly the same keyboards here with me, the same switches, the exact same case. Now tell me, would you prefer your keyboard to sound like this or like that? I think the answer is pretty clear. Hello, hello, I'm Teja and in this video. I'm going to teach you how to lubricate and adjust your

stabilizers

when building a custom mechanical keyboard. This is something that I think is absolutely essential to the process. Did you know? In fact, I'm going to say it. This is the most important modification you can. do with a keyboard, as the quality of its

stabilizers

will make or break your final build.

Now there are many other methods and there is no real way to adjust the stabilizers, but I will show you the method that I personally use. which is pretty standard and predates even me, but with some personal touches, I think the intro to this video showed pretty clearly why you might want to fine-

tune

your stabs, but let's talk briefly about what exactly we're trying to accomplish . too complex, essentially we want to eliminate any kind of unwanted rattling noises generated by the stabilizers, but we want to do it while preserving or perhaps even improving the fluidity of the components movement with that out of the way, this is what you will need You will need your stabilizers, Of course, my current preferred option is Durock screws and stabilizers.

You will need a lubricant. I now use crytox 205 grade 0 for everything as I believe it is the best material, but I will provide alternatives. In each step of the video you will also want a brush. I find smaller, thinner brushes tend to work well. I personally recommend double zero or triple zero size brushes. A syringe and a flush cutter. Now these last two elements are somewhat optional. So I recommend that you watch the video in its entirety before you decide to purchase these last two items, and as always, I'll have links to everything in the description box below.

First, we start by taking apart the stabilizer and attaching one of the plastic ends. the cable and twist it 90 degrees up, you want to do this on both ends and separate all the pieces. Now the next step only applies to older stabilizers, such as older cherry screws or clip-on tips, if you notice that the bottom of the stem of your stabilizer is not flat, you will need to do what is called trimming your stabilizers. More modern stabilizers from brands such as duroc or c3 already accommodate this, so you can skip to the next timestamp in the description box below.

If you notice that your stem is already flat, trimming your stabilizers is a mod where you cut off two of the four tips of a stem that have these protrusions that I like to call fangs and are believed to have been part of the original cherry design. as a means to cushion the impact of the stabilizer against the PCB. Enthusiasts have found that these fangs make the stabilizer feel a little soft when bottoming out and that there is no real threat of your PCB breaking due to the impact of your stabilizers. Take your discharge cutters and remove them. two prongs, this results in a nice flat edge which should improve the bottom feel of your stabilizers, but make sure you remove both prongs cleanly in their entirety as this is something I see a lot of people make a mistake on.

Next, we lubricate the stabilizer housings. My preferred place for this step is crytox 205 grade 0, but any of the thinner lubricants used for normal switch lubrication also work here and I don't really recommend using thicker lubricant, like dielectric grease, here. The only component that makes contact with the stabilizer housings are the stabilizer stems and this plastic on plastic action contributes slightly to the noise. Our main goal here is to apply a thin layer of lubricant to help reduce any potential friction in the up and down movement of the stabilizer stem, as well as to dampen that noise a little bit, I just take a little bit of lubricant, apply equal amounts on the inner walls of the two largest sides and what's left goes on the trailing edge, then spread the lubricant evenly over all of these surfaces, you just want to apply enough lubricant to see a slight shine on the dull tips or a slight cloudiness on the translucent tips.

At this point we can reinstall the stabilizer stem into the housings we just lubricated on the stem. You will notice that there is one side with two holes and an opposite side with one hole that you want to match the side with two holes with the open face of the gimbal housing and then just insert once this is done it's time to lubricate the cables. The main culprit for rattling stabilizers is the metal on plastic action of the cable banging against the In my opinion, the best remedy for this is to fill the spaces inside the stabilizer stem with a semi-thick lubricant so that the cable still has some freedom. to move, but we will experience some resistance so it won't hit the internal plastic as quickly to generate that noise in this step.

I recommend you use crytox 205 grade 0 dielectric grease or super

lube

. Using any loose solvent will prove not to be as efficient at restricting cable movement and Using thicker lubricants may restrict the cable's ability to move too much to the point that it makes your stabilizers feel sluggish now, although I'd love to say measure x grams of

lube

and spread it, I really can't recommend that nor do I think so. will be valid as the amount of lubricant required will vary from one stabilizer to another even within the same brand and may even be affected by components such as the keys you are using for this step.

I deviate purely from the visual and adjust accordingly as needed and as needed. As you adjust more stabilizers, this is something you will naturally start to feel. I just take a spoonful of lube. If you are using crytox 205 grade 0 like me, then you can be quite generous with this step and distribute it evenly in one. At the end of the cable, what I'm mainly looking for is to evenly apply enough of a layer of lubricant that it's visible, but also until you can barely see the actual cable underneath when you lubricate the cable, you also want to lubricate just a little bit. past the angled bend and this will make sense in a moment, at this point you should have lubricated just one end of the cable while holding the center of the cable with one hand, lift one of the assembled stabilizer housings with the other hand so that the stem points downward and the edge with the gap faces the cable.

If you remember not long ago we had the two-hole side of the stem facing out, simply insert the lubricated cable into the top hole from this view and then rotate the stabilizer. casing 90 degrees as you put the cable into place, you should feel it click into position. Remember when I said to lubricate beyond the angled bend in the cable. So you also want a little lubricant in the area where the cable bend is held. At this point we have basically lubricated all the friction points. Now you just need to repeat the process for the other half, as well as the remaining stabilizers.

The only additional thing to keep in mind when repeating the process is to make sure that after you install both stabilizer housings back on the cable, they are facing the same direction once you have lubricated all of your stabilizers it's time to test them, install your stabilizers on your PCB in the appropriate locations and then on your board if you are building with one of your switches and then the keycaps. Now at this point everything related to the stabilized keys should be installed, but we haven't done any soldering that you don't want to solder until you are 100% happy with the condition of your stabilizers.

Also install some extra switches if you feel the board moving too much as you don't want the board to hit the PCB during the next step but in this case it's fine and we'll continue from here we're just going to spam the stabilized keys while we listen two things, one you want to listen for any kind of residual rattle and two you want to feel to know if the stabilizer feels good and if it's not too slow, so let's say after listening. Your stabilizer thinks it could use more lubricant. One way to add more lubricant would be to remove the stabilizer and open it again to apply more lubricant, but that is too tedious and time-consuming.

What I like to do is take this syringe that has a super fine tip to save me the trouble of having to open the stabilizer again. If you pull on the stem of the stabilizer, it exposes that hole in the back and that's where we'll insert the syringe and inject. lubricate as needed, you have to sharpen the needle tip a little there. I generally like to place it anywhere towards the opening or about halfway up the stem and inject lube slowly, since on the other hand you don't want to over lubricate. If your stabilizer feels too slow, it's probably a sign that it has been over-lubricated.

Unfortunately, you will have to uninstall the stabilizer and open it again to clean off some of the excess lubricant once you have found the sweet spot on your stabilizer. not creating rattling noises and at the same time not feeling sluggish, congratulations, you have successfully lubricated and

tune

d your stabilizer. A couple of final pieces of advice before we part ways. I recommend using the keys you will use for your final build when testing the stabilizers which this video didn't cover. more advanced stabilizer tuning topics, but differences like whether you're using abs or pvt keycaps can affect how much lube your stabilizers require, so it's best to tune your stabilizers with the set of keycaps you'll probably end up using and two ifs.

If you have too little or too much lubricant, you are going to play a little with this juggling act, especially if it is your first time trying to adjust the stabilizers, but don't be discouraged, building a keyboard is not about running fast, it is something you want. To take the time, especially when it comes to something as important as stabilizers, keep practicing and you will naturally start to get the hang of it and develop an idea of ​​how much you should apply. Hopefully this guide was clear, let me know in the comment below if this method worked for you or if you have a different method that you use.

I'd love to hear about all the other innovative ways people have come up with, but that's it for this video, I'll catch you. next time and see you later nerds