ULTIMATE Mechanical Keyboard Keycap Replacement "How To" Guide
Linus Tech Tips
·Linus Tech Tips
·2015-05-07
·
3,418 words · ~17 min read
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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to find the proper key cap placement take it slow and you'll be fine
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now if you bought some oring x' or dental bands before you have to install
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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
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just proceed like normal but this time push a little bit harder once the switch
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is installed to make sure that the dampener Aero ring is pushed all the way
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up into the cap if you bought dampening pads all you need to do is place those
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pads around each switch before installing your key caps like normal if
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you have a common dummy stabilizer based keyboard the process of installing keys
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is quite simple all we have to do is line up the cylinder under the key cap with the
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stems on your switches and push down gently if you have wire based
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stabilizers it's just the reverse of uninstalling them once the keys will be
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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
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you're done alright guys while I give
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you a chance to enjoy some sexy glam footage of our freshly recap CM storm
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Nova touch tkl I'd like to thank CM storm for sponsoring this guide the Nova
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clutch tkl we featured here is pretty unusual in the fact that it features
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premium topper switches but with cherry MX stem compatibility which made it
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pretty fun to play around with all day today thanks to him storm and thanks you
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guys for watching don't forget to subscribe and like this video and
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possibly dislike this video and if it's too hard to express your feelings it
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likes and dislikes like Linus says comment in the video down below and also
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if you guys want more information on where to buy all this kind of stuff check out the link in the description to
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the forum of this video while you're checking out that description check out
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that forum topic and go over the forum and comment there if you don't like the
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ads become a contributor which gets rid of all the ads if you want one of these
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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