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Fully upgraded my cheap mechanical keyboard. De-soldered & re-soldered all new switches in, replaced all keycaps with oem style fog white blank caps, added some sound dampening, and did a full clean.

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Fully Upgrading My $40 RGB Mechanical Keyboard

Breathed new life into my ol' reliable mechanical keyboard with all new switches, keycaps, and sound-dampening foam.


Summary

  • Replaced the old and crappy Outemu Red linear switches with Gateron Clear linear switches
    • Removed all the old switches, then desoldered all ~150 hot-swap sockets which were too small for the new switches, and then soldered in all the new Gateron Clear linear switches.
  • Replaced old keycaps with OEM profile blank fog-white keycaps. Stayed with OEM profile so they keys would be the same shape as the old ones.
    • Transfered all of the o-rings from the old keycaps to the new blank fog-white transluscent keycaps to make the new switches even quieter
  • Fully cleaned the plate and case, added sound dampening foam to inside the keyboard, and added dampening tape to the loose and wobbly stabalizers to reduce noise.
  • Had to do 6 pcb trace and throughhole repairs due to damage sustained from desoldering and resoldering since to the pcb is super cheap and this was one of my first proper soldering experiences.
  • Took roughly 25 hours and 300 solders. Worth it! Looks and feels infinitely better.
  • Keycaps used: PBT OEM Fog White Keycaps
  • Switches used: Gateron Clear Linear Switch Plate Mount 35g Actuation Force

Image Gallery

New Switches Installed

new switches


New Keycaps Installed

final result


Side-View of New Switches

new switches


The Keyboard's PCB

the pcb


Original (Ugly!) Keycaps

original keyboard


Original Switches

original switches


Close-Up of New Switches

new switches


Side-View of New Keycaps

final result


Project Metadata

Project Status : Archived
Project Progress : Completed
Project Dates : Dec '20 - Jan '21

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Fully upgraded my cheap mechanical keyboard. De-soldered & re-soldered all new switches in, replaced all keycaps with oem style fog white blank caps, added some sound dampening, and did a full clean.

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