gateron raw spring/leaf(?) crunch
has anyone else had issues with the gateron raw switches where they produce a crunch/rattle sort of noise even after lubing the housings and the springs? i've tried a number of different things to solve the issue but the crunch always returns after a while and it's really bothersome. i also tried swapping out the springs for geon single-stage 14mms and the problem is still there.
Solution:Jump to solution
Based on what you've tried so far, this is definitely leaf ticking, which occurs when the two leaf components are either too close to one another (one may be slightly bent), impacting the housing or one piece is just loose in the switch housing (exacerbates the issue with hotswap sockets)...but not so bad to cause chatter or multiple actuations. In most switches, the leaf parts can be removed and adjusted, or adjusted in place with some very fine tweezers, but they are fragile so there is some...
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icl its like my only switch that does that, im the type of guy to not care about spring of leaf ping or crunch but gat raws just have so much that even i notice it
glad i'm not the only one π« i want to love these switches and they sound so good in my sonnet apart from the crunch but the crunch is just obnoxious. i can't even make myself ignore it lol it's worse than my alpacas
someone on youtube suggested lubing the top of the spring and the area of the stem where the spring contacts the stem? i haven't had time to try that yet but supposedly it totally fixed it for them
didn't work
anyone have any suggestions for things i can try? please i am desperate π
Solution
Based on what you've tried so far, this is definitely leaf ticking, which occurs when the two leaf components are either too close to one another (one may be slightly bent), impacting the housing or one piece is just loose in the switch housing (exacerbates the issue with hotswap sockets)...but not so bad to cause chatter or multiple actuations. In most switches, the leaf parts can be removed and adjusted, or adjusted in place with some very fine tweezers, but they are fragile so there is some risk messing with those. Unfortunately the easiest fix is when ordering one switch type, to get extras to account for this possibility if you're sensitive to it. Disclosure I've not tried Gat RAWs yet but If you have any extras from your batch, test them out...about how many out of those you use are noisy? Worst case, and I've done this myself, is put the noisy ones in lesser used keys. It is correct in some cases what you tried where lubing the stem/leaf contact point will correct it, but sometimes it's more of a mechanical issue like those mentioned above due to batch variance. One lubing related method, which maybe you already have tried, to rule out the housing impact is using 105g0 (like what you'd use on your springs) against the taller leaf where it's close to the back housing. You just have to be careful not to get any type of lube between the two leaf components though. When closing an opened switch (like post lubing/filming/spring swap) it's best to press the stem down as far as possible while pressing the top housing down to ensure the stem doesn't get stuck on the leaf and slightly bend it. Or just double-checking the two pins are straight before inserting into a hotswap board to ensure they don't get bent and potentially push a leaf component around inside. I've done both these by accident before which is why I bring it up, but it's not always from the user and mostly from the factory in my experience. Hope that helps a little bit!
thank you for the detailed response!!
i suspect it's a factory issue, since a lot of the switches had this issue even when i got them. unfortunately, it's very extensive and almost every single gateron raw switch i have has this issue, which makes simply putting the problematic switches in lesser used keys not really an option. i can try putting more lube on various parts of the leaf as well i guess, but i think last time i tried this the problem just returned after a month, which was really strange. i have been pressing down the stem when closing the top housings (after breaking a few u4ts by not doing this a long time ago), but i suspect this was not the issue anyway unfortunately.
in that case i suppose i might just need to get new switches, then? :( pretty disappointing since this would be the second set of switches i've had to discard (had to stop using some bsun strawberry wines before after they started having strange actuation issues)
i'm not looking forward to having to lube even more switches and i'm especially not looking forward to having to spend yet more money on switches :(
Yeah that's what I think too, and it's unfortunate but something that can happen π¦ Bummer that it's like all the switches too, I've personally only had that happen once. You could check with the original seller about replacements/refund if they are defective but otherwise you can always try to sell them on mechmarket, eat a bit of the cost and go with something else. Outside of the most reviewed switches, it's hard to guage these types of issues ahead of time. Personally what I'd do is get a set of Gat Pro G 3.0 since they are well regarded and inexpensive, then swap in the long stem and spring from the RAWs since the housings are the same materials. I think the 3.0s have revised leaf and pins too.
i think the raws were supposed to have the revised leaf and pins too lol
i may try to lube the leaves again just to see if that does anything but yeah, i'm not too hopeful at this point
i don't think divinikey will refund me at this point since it's been a few months and i've also opened up most of the switches and modded them anyway
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