Known stem breakers in the wild

Too bad the UHMWPE-stem version isn’t more common / available (I didn’t have any issues with those).

Added

Huano Caramel Latte.

Believe it or not, these cracked about 80% of my GMK Foundation caps. I can only see the crack on a few of them, and they are still fairly tight on other switches, but they’re abnormal. I’m not sure which version I have. I suspect they are the V2 lubed ones.

And the thing that makes me mad is that I’m dumb. I heard them crack, I knew what was happening. But I thought, well, the switches sound good and I like these keycaps so what will be will be.

BUT I OWN A DAMN STEM TRIMMER!

:face_with_symbols_over_mouth:

I could have just trimmed them when I noticed (which was after like the 3rd keycap)

I’ve used these switches before but I had PBT caps on them. Oops. They’re almost perfect, but I hear a noise when tying that Im not 100% on what’s causing it. It’s either a spring rattle here and there or just from a wiggle of the stem (fixable usually by more lube on top housing)

I pulled them all back off and used the stem trimmer. Maybe I saved them from being stretched more? lol

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Damn, sorry to hear man. I have wondered this myself a few times when encountering tighter fighting switches. Thankfully I haven’t had any caps damaged since the OG BOX stem debacle, but now that I have a trimmer & have seen your post I’m airing on the side caution from here on out. In fact I wonder if just hitting all switches with the stem trimmer is really the best practice? That way you’re setting a guaranteed maximum stem size you’ll end up dealing with & don’t have to worry about your caps being stretched at all.

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Do they come with light diffusers? If so, then they are V2 for sure

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No these don’t have the diffusers. It’s the most recent batch you are selling. So does that mean they are v1?

Cool to see you here. I have bought so many switches from you, lol. I always appreciate the reviews on your site as well.

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Yes, we don’t have the V2, and V2s would come with light diffusers. Thank you very much for supporting our business and bringing up the issue here. We will test the current batch of Caramel Latte switches and keep our eyes out for similar reports. Will certainly discuss with Huano and see if they can have this issue fixed.

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I find it really great you guys are keeping an eye out for any issues that might pop up with your products! I too have ordered plenty of switches through you & will continue to do so, wish more vendors were so proactive!

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Buying the Geon Stem Trimmer was the best thing I’ve done for this hobby in a while.


No more stretched out caps. I’ve needed to trim all my Gateron and Cherry switches, and some Gats have thicker stems/legs too that make them tough to stick in PCBs and Mill Max sockets (Gat Beers, Gat Baby Kangaroos–had to trim the thicker pins on Kangaroos to fit in the sockets).
HMXs and Oil Kings don’t need any trimming in my experience.
I pretty much run the trimmer on every batch of switches I use anyway now. I just use the trimmer for my gauge on what’s over-tolerance and needs trimming lol.

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Some photos for documentation. I do like the switches a lot. I lubed the stems with 205g0. These take lube well because of the rail design and the long stem. Even if you go a bit heavy they still have a solid collision on both the top and bottom housing. Definitely a top 10 switch for me.



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Tecsee ice candy with nylon stem are really big. Cracked my F key on gmk Night Runner.
Also the geon stem trimmer does not work well on them, it feels like I am going to pull the stem out of the housing.

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Do you know if it’s the all nylon version or not? I have both types but I’ve never but them in a board. I guess I won’t now…

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It was the nylon version.

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Thanks for the heads up on this! Wild the stem trimmer don’t work, maybe Nylon is to hard & slippy for it to cut? I’ve only used on it POM stems (MX purps & clears TBE) & it worked great on those.

I wonder if nylon is better at compressing than other plastics and it just squeezes into the trimmer instead of getting cut. Surely there’s no way the nylon is stronger than steel.

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That’s a pretty good theory! I was thinking that it’s hardness combined with it being just slippery enough was what’s doing it, but your ideal makes more sense. It has to be compressing to not get cut, otherwise it would just be hard to cut at worst. :thinking:

Maybe the nylon stems are just bigger than cherry spec or have more friction than pom causing it to be a lot harder to use the geon trimmer than pom stems.

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