WEBVTT

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you've had your keyboard for a while now and things are starting to get serious

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you like to take long walks in the park you've enjoyed your fair share of

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candlelit dinners you're both ready it's time for things

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to go a little bit further welcome to the ultimate mechanical keyboard guy

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before making your move you'll need to gather some information about your

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keyboard start by identifying your keyboard stem this is the part of the

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keyboards exposed switch which connects it to its own key cap now usually these

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stems are unique to which switch they are on like Cherry MX toper or Alps but

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luckily there's some exceptions for example the razer blackwidow z' razer

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mechanical switches made by kail will work due to inherited Cherry MX 10

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compatibility and in more extreme cases the one we'll be showing you today you

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have the Nova touch from Coolermaster where they have adopted the stem of a

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toe / switch to work with cherry MX compatible key caps this guy will focus

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on upgrading keyboards with Cherry MX switches or in other situations Cherry

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MX compatible stems because they are by far the most widely available

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replacement key caps once you've identified your keyboard stem things get

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a lot simpler is your keyboard ISO or a NSI layout this is one of the easiest

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things to identify by just looking at your enter key on an ISO layout keyboard

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the in Turkey will be taller and have a little bit of an odd shape on an a NSI

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keyboard your enter key will be flat and just a horizontal bar fairly

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straightforward next you have the size of your keyboard the two most common

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sizes are just a standard full-sized keyboard or an 80% of the size of a

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standard full-sized keyboard which is also known as a 10 keyless keyboard due

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to the fact that it doesn't have the number keypad that you would find on a

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standard full-sized keyboard on the right hand side there are also some fun

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but less common sizes like the 60% sometimes referred to as poker and a

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couple other sizes as well knowing the layout and size of your keyboard will

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help you buy the right amount of key caps and for the final bit of

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information you just need to know if your keyboard is backlit or not

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this won't technically restrict you in any way as you will be able to you put

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any Cherry MX compatible key cap on top of the backlit switch but if you want to

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be able to see the backlighting effect of your keyboard it will limit your

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options now this part is all about you what do you want are you looking to

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replace all of your key caps in this case we actually have quite a few

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options to consider first off you have the type of plastic you have three main

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options there with abs abs is the most common type of

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plastic found in keycaps today and is probably what was on your keyboard to

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start with abs is very adaptable allowing for things like clear lettering

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which lets backlighting shine through just the lettering on your key cap the

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second option is if you want the entire key cap to be transparent that is KBC it

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allows for a unique look and it also allows for the entire key cap to shine

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while the backlight is on and finally if you're looking for something more

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textured and more durable you'd want to check out pbt key caps that's my

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personal favorite it can be a little bit more expensive but some people including

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myself swear by the very subtle but definitely noticeable texture

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differences also pvt key caps are shine

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resistant due to their durability making it much more difficult for the oils in

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your hand to wear them away giving them that glossy appearance that you'll find

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typically on old keyboards a definite

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bonus one thing I left out about these materials is the general feel it's hard

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to quantify but especially if you bottom out your keys when pressing them down

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the material of your key cap can entirely change the feel of typing due

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to how it reacts with the base of your keyboard and its weight compared to your

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stock key caps next you have to decide how you want them printed you've got

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some options for locations you can have the printing on the top of the key you

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can have no printing at all leaving them completely blank or you can even have

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side printing also known sometimes as ninja printing which results in a

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stylish looking blank top with the printing on the front of the key cap

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just in case you need to check them out every now and then but that's not all

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when it comes to printing now you need to pick what type of printing you

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actually want first off we have pad printing it's extremely common due to

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its inexpensive application and ability to print in more than one color but it

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definitely has its drawbacks as well not

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only can you feel where the key cap has already been printed but the printing

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will wear away relatively quickly which makes that feeling even more odd as the

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printing starts to disappear and it loses its shape then we come to laser

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etching or laser engraving which is nice because it doesn't wear out nearly as

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fast as pad for and it will last a very long time under

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standard environments you can still feel the printing but some people don't

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really mind this option as it generally won't change its feel much over time

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next we have dye sublimation which is more expensive than the previous options

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and can only be set in one color which is darker than the rest of the key cap

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as the dye has to be set into the plastic after it is formed but it won't

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really wear out and can be set in multiple colors and doesn't have any

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noticeable textures to it and last but definitely not least we have a double

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shot injection molding this method is definitely the most expensive but the

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quality is beyond question these key caps are comprised of two entirely

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separate pieces which unfortunately limits you to only two colors but also

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makes it so that the lettering will literally never wear out and also

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doesn't have any noticeable texture to it which brings us to the overall shape

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you can choose between cylindrical the most common type flat which is usually

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found on laptop keyboards or spherical which is mainly found on extremely old

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keyboards and stuff like typewriters I hope you chose cylindrical as finding

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flat or spherical key caps will be extremely difficult to say the least if

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you're only looking to replace a very small amount of key caps like say a

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couple F keys or just your Escape key you will have many more options in the

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custom sections of some stores including things like fully 3d printed key caps in

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the form of skulls or pistols or some

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other interesting custom printing to make your keyboard uniquely yours the

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job of a keyboard dampener is to reduce the clack of your keyboard not to click

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the click on a keyboard is the sound the switch makes as it actuates on a clicky

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switch to help tell the difference between linear and clicky switches click

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here to check out why missus fast as possible episode explaining the

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differences between Cherry MX switches the clack on a keyboard actually doesn't

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have anything to do with the switch necessarily and is just to send your

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keyboard makes when you bottom out the key cap hitting it against the base

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board of the keyboard starting with a rings the most common dampeners there

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are a ton of differences aside from just color there's thickness which is pretty

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self-explanatory and durometer or hardness thickness will mainly a

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back to the travel distance with under two millimeters affecting it slightly

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above two millimeters affecting it in a very noticeable way around two

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millimeters is recommended for say clicky switches with above two

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millimeters only really being recommended for linear switches then we

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have the durometer which gets slowly harder starting at forty al onward to

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fifty a - r with 40 a - L feeling quite

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squishy and 50 a - are feeling not as hard as hitting the bottom of your

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keyboard but still quite hard our rings

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are available in two main rubber materials nitrile and APD em don't worry

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about this as they're functionally the same moving on from a rings we've got

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soft landing pads the main source of these soft landing pads is elite

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keyboards com although they can be found elsewhere and these are rather easy to

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make on your own if you can find a good material from elite keyboards they come

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in either a firm grey or a soft black for varying effect and lastly we have

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surprisingly enough dental bands the

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requirements for a Cherry MX o ring is an inner diameter of five millimeters

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and an outer diameter of somewhere around eight millimeters dental bounds

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are inexpensive and available in many different varieties they can be found on

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eBay or honestly just from your local dentist office so you've done your

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research and you know what's the best for both of you you're ready to make

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your move but first you need to acquire supplies in the small niche but awesome

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world of custom mechanical keyboards there is a surprising amount of places

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to buy things from from the widely known WASD keyboards who were kind enough to

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supply us with the key cast we'll be using today to the Wow

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this really looks like this websites gonna scam you out of my money but is

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actually somehow legit vendee o eSports also known as q10

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for a pretty extensive list of vendors of keycaps dampeners and more please

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check the forum link in the description down below once your new key caps

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arrived it's time to get down to business when engaging in the delicate

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process of key cap removal first and foremost you need to be gentle and

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always use the right tools for the job you'll need preferably two key cap

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pullers wire pullers are ideal but if you can find plastic ones those will

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work - or even an improvised paper-based

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wire puller but just don't use your fingers a coin a

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screwdriver or anything of that nature one precaution with removing key caps in

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general is that you need to make sure that you don't pull the entire switch up

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off the keyboard when you do pull it if you have a keyboard that has switches

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going directly into the PCB this could be a problem but if you have a keyboard

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that has switches going into a plate which is in the middle it should be fine

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but I would just check either way that your puller is only grabbing the key cap

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before pulling up PCV mounted switches aren't all that common but it's better

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to be safe than sorry there's nothing too complicated about normal square

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alphanumeric keycaps so just go slow and be patient but some of the bigger ones

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can be a little bit trickier first we'll go over how to remove dummy stabilizers

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as they're probably the most common all you need to do is spread your wire

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puller over the key cap ensuring you are only grabbing the cap or slide your

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plastic puller over the cap which will only grab the cap then proceed to wiggle

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gently if the key cap just won't come off for some weird random reason got

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something like a flathead screwdriver a coin a credit card or your hopes and

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dreams and hold down the switch below the key cap and then continue to wiggle

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a little bit harder and then hopefully the key cap will come off at that point

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for the spacebar the method is essentially the same but you need to

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place a puller on each end of the spacebar and lift up equally now things

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someone help you hold down your keyboard at this point would probably help now if

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you have wire based stabilizers things change a little bit most the keys are

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gonna be the same process as that dummy switch stabilizer keyboard we just dealt

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with but the longer keys like shifts and our spacebar and backspace will all have

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a wire based system which will take some dealing with once you've removed the

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keys neighboring these longer keys you can actually start working on them

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directly as an example we will remove the space bar so position your key

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pullers on each end of the space bar and wiggle very very gently eventually you

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will feel it give way from that switch that's in the very middle but it will

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still be attached to the exposed external wire that is going around the

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outside so if you just push on one side of the key cap it will free from that

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side and then you can easily just pull it off of the other side be very gentle

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in this as well but it should be pretty easy once the key is free you'll notice

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pegs underneath you should remove these with either your fingers or

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but don't shove something like a flathead under that little loop as you

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may risk breaking it if you are having trouble use a flathead to pry it

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directly from its base not from under the loop and then that should actually

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be fine another thing to note is that the other wire base stabilized keys will have a

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shorter wire which will be more stiff so be ready to press a little bit harder on

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the side of the key cap when you're freeing it from the wire so at this

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point all of your key caps have been removed if this is a keyboard you have

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been using for quite a while this will be a great time to do some keyboard

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maintenance so grab some canned air a compressor or a data vac and give your

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keyboard a good air base spray down to get some of the chunkier parts out of

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there for more delicate cleaning you can use a clean cloth and a small amount of

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water or isopropyl 99% alcohol but

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please note that if your key caps are UV coated you should only use the water

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alcohol can eat away UV coating also if

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the casing is starting to yellow you can use Windex which only furthers my theory

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that Windex can pretty much clean anything another thing to note is that

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if you happen to break any small pieces or the entire upgrade of your keyboard

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you can grab replacement inserts wires or even entire switches from WASD

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keyboards and some other places as well which will be linked in the forum

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discussion which you can find linked to under the video down below in the

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description when moving up your keyboard you really only need to lube up specific

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spots along the stabilizer bars or on the inserts and stuff like that and even

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then the amount of leave required is very low the guide I usually use on how

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much Lube to use is pretty much equivalent to the head of a computer

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case screw I have many of them laying around and it's just pretty easy to

00:13:17.560 --> 00:13:23.950
access all I can really stress here is that less is more it's easy to add a

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little bit more Lube later on but it can be very annoying to take it off the lube

00:13:26.110 --> 00:13:32.650
I would recommend is finished line Xtreme fluoro it is 100% teflon grease

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based lube that is widely used by bike knife and gun enthusiasts and apparently

00:13:35.890 --> 00:13:42.010
keyboard enthusiasts as well as it is already widely recommended almost

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everywhere on the internet for switch stabilizer lubricant some enthusiasts

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recommend removing your keyboard every 6 to 12 months but as I don't really

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expect many of you to do that try to at least do it when you're

00:13:51.580 --> 00:13:58.690
swapping your key caps out like now finally we are at installation

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surprisingly enough possibly one of the easiest parts of this entire process for

00:14:01.060 --> 00:14:07.000
this part turn on your PC a fire up a word processor and then proceed to press

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each button on your keyboard to check what it does before putting the

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appropriate key cap on just kidding you

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have a spare keyboard use this video or maybe look up a picture reference online

00:14:15.550 --> 00:14:21.580
to find the proper key cap placement take it slow and you'll be fine

00:14:19.870 --> 00:14:25.600
now if you bought some oring x' or dental bands before you have to install

00:14:23.800 --> 00:14:29.980
your key caps with those first so you'll need to push the ring or band onto the

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cylinder underneath the cap after you've installed all the rings or bands you

00:14:31.720 --> 00:14:37.060
just proceed like normal but this time push a little bit harder once the switch

00:14:35.410 --> 00:14:41.500
is installed to make sure that the dampener Aero ring is pushed all the way

00:14:39.010 --> 00:14:45.279
up into the cap if you bought dampening pads all you need to do is place those

00:14:43.660 --> 00:14:50.080
pads around each switch before installing your key caps like normal if

00:14:47.890 --> 00:14:53.230
you have a common dummy stabilizer based keyboard the process of installing keys

00:14:52.270 --> 00:14:57.940
is quite simple all we have to do is line up the cylinder under the key cap with the

00:14:55.990 --> 00:15:02.170
stems on your switches and push down gently if you have wire based

00:15:00.370 --> 00:15:06.040
stabilizers it's just the reverse of uninstalling them once the keys will be

00:15:04.180 --> 00:15:10.360
the same as the installation process of the dummy stabilizers but whenever you

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have long key caps like space bar you will need to install the pegs that you

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removed from the previous key caps with the long part of the peg facing the back

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of the cap then you need to stand the wire up on the keyboard and hook one of

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the insert pegs on to the wire push in the direction of the hooked in end and

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then hook in the other side once you have each side hooked in you just need

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to push down on the key gently onto the key switch and voila

00:15:33.130 --> 00:15:38.980
you're done alright guys while I give

00:15:37.060 --> 00:15:44.020
you a chance to enjoy some sexy glam footage of our freshly recap CM storm

00:15:41.260 --> 00:15:47.980
Nova touch tkl I'd like to thank CM storm for sponsoring this guide the Nova

00:15:46.300 --> 00:15:52.180
clutch tkl we featured here is pretty unusual in the fact that it features

00:15:49.630 --> 00:15:56.440
premium topper switches but with cherry MX stem compatibility which made it

00:15:54.610 --> 00:15:59.890
pretty fun to play around with all day today thanks to him storm and thanks you

00:15:58.270 --> 00:16:04.960
guys for watching don't forget to subscribe and like this video and

00:16:02.080 --> 00:16:08.800
possibly dislike this video and if it's too hard to express your feelings it

00:16:07.150 --> 00:16:13.450
likes and dislikes like Linus says comment in the video down below and also

00:16:12.040 --> 00:16:18.700
if you guys want more information on where to buy all this kind of stuff check out the link in the description to

00:16:16.810 --> 00:16:22.060
the forum of this video while you're checking out that description check out

00:16:20.080 --> 00:16:25.600
that forum topic and go over the forum and comment there if you don't like the

00:16:23.890 --> 00:16:28.450
ads become a contributor which gets rid of all the ads if you want one of these

00:16:27.280 --> 00:16:32.140
shirts like the one I'm wearing right now check out the link in the

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description of this video as well and don't forget to change your Amazon that

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book link things with the guide on the forum so that we get some kick backs

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when you buy some Amazon stuff thanks for watching let me know how you thought

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my first altima guide went and I'll see you next time