Switch compatibility<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
It seems to be only compatible with Outemu 3-pin switches<\/strong>. The electrical pins are narrower<\/strong> than usual, which fits the board.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I tried using an Akko 5-pin switch by cutting off the the two extra plastic pins on the sides, but it still didn\u2019t fit well. The electrical pins and the center supporting stem are a little bit too thick. Even after shaving down the electrical pins, the switch does not sit flush with the top plate, so I’d advise to not use any 5-pin switches<\/strong> as it seems the dimensions are slightly off. Some other 3-pin switches may work, but I\u2019m sticking with Outemu 3-pin for now.<\/p>\n\n\n I went with the Outemu Lemon silent tactile 3-pin switches<\/strong> (NOT the V2 which are 5-pin), and they work great. They have a good amount of tactility and are very quiet. The only noise I have now are the rattling stabilizers which I will get to later.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Removing the old switches was a massive PITA. The cheaply-made sockets are inconsistent and some switches are very tightly seated; some pins have also corroded over time making it impossible to pull the switch out from the top<\/strong> with just a switch puller.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I found that the best way to remove all the switches<\/strong> was to unscrew the bottom cover and push the center stem out from the back<\/strong> while slowly prying the top\/bottom of the switch up from the front<\/strong> using a small, flat screwdriver<\/strong>. This took me over an hour and a lot of elbow grease, and also damaged a dozen switches along the way (broken pins, damaged outer casing) – so be prepared to toss the old switches (which are crap anyway).<\/p>\n\n\n\n The switch installation process was straightforward. Since I had the keyboard apart, it was also good to ensure that every switch sat nicely on the board<\/strong>. The same problem with the socket exists during installation – some are tighter than the others, so pushing them while the case is apart ensures the board sits flat with the switches.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I also added two layers of painter\u2019s tape<\/strong> (aka masking tape<\/em><\/strong> – I use a high quality one from 3M so it doesn\u2019t leave sticky residue) over the bottom of the circuit board to add some extra dampening.<\/p>\n\n\n\n After having extremely silent switches, the only noise you notice are rattling from the cheap stabilisers that can\u2019t be replaced. There are only two stabilizers on this keyboard: spacebar and right shift key.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It seems the rattle is primarily from the hinge on the keyboard plate. Adding some dielectric grease<\/strong> can help reduce the noise. I didn’t have any, but would try it if I did.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I know this is a cheap keyboard, but I didn\u2019t want to add it to the landfill so being able to reuse it for the office would be a great. The new pack of 90 switches costs me less than SGD $30 on Aliexpress<\/strong>, and is cheaper than buying another keyboard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n After typing (including this blog post) on the keyboard for a while, I must say I like the Outemu Lemon switches are much better than the original blue clicky ones which I felt were too noisy, wobbly and inconsistent.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I had this keyboard sitting around the house for a while and decided to modify it – specifically, change the switches to a silent one so I can use it in an office environment. tl;dr It\u2019s not as \u201chot-swappable\u201d as… Continue Reading →<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[641,644,643],"class_list":["post-3720","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-tech","tag-keyboard","tag-mechanical-keyboard","tag-outemu"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tzlee.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3720","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tzlee.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tzlee.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tzlee.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tzlee.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3720"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/tzlee.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3720\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3740,"href":"https:\/\/tzlee.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3720\/revisions\/3740"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tzlee.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3720"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tzlee.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3720"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tzlee.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3720"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/tzlee.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/outemu-lemon.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\nRemoving the old switches<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Installing new switches, reassembly<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Extra dampening – painter’s tape<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Stabiliser noise<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Conclusion<\/h2>\n\n\n\n