You probably know that Cherry MY is really bad, and is probably the worst commonly available
switch types to exist.
If you don’t, you should look up less boring videos reviewing them, because today, we’re
going to see if we can make them usable.
These usually come inside Cherry G81 keyboards which are plentiful on Ebay.
By themselves, these boards are really not worth buying, but sometimes, they come with
high quality double shot or dye sub keycaps.
So you’ve purchased a G81-1800HAU, and you’ve put the keycaps on a usable keyboard, but
I always feel bad about just throwing away perfectly functional internals.
You could often sell the case on r/mechmarket for maybe 20 bucks, but there’s really no
demand at all for the keyboard assembly itself.
So to improve this, let’s first examine the three flaws of the MY switch.
The first and most obvious is the spring weight.
I think these are supposed to match Cherry MX Blacks and as such are significantly heavier
than typical switches.
I find then fatiguing to type on for more than 5 minutes.
The second is the problematic roughness and often binding on off center key presses.
Even for 1u keys, the issue is noticeable and really gives the board an unrefined feel.
The last issue is more of a preference thing.
Because of the construction of the switch, the bottom out is mushy.
This isn’t inherently bad but when combined with the heavy spring weight, it’s really
hard to have a clear understanding of when the switch bottoms out.
With the mod, we won’t be able to address this last issue, but we can significantly
improve on the first two.
This mod is nothing new.
The post I saw on Geekhack is actually a decade old, and it outlines the instructions to remove
the coil spring.
In addition to this, I will lightly lube the switch.
Before we get to modding, you’ll have to remove the switches.
I recommend doing one area at a time since you really don’t want to misalign the membrane
sheets and impact the functionality of the keyboard.
To remove the switch, start from the bottom of the assembly.
The switches are mounted onto this plate with clips with pegs through them.
The concept is similar to Intel Stock Coolers and GMK Keycap tray fasteners.
Pushing the pegs in will loosen the clips, and you should be able to just pop them out.
I did one row at a time.
Let’s now start on disassembling the switch.
First remove the leaf spring from the bottom.
I use my tweezers like so.
Make sure to not damage this as it’s essential for the switch’s function.
With that out, we can move on to removing the stem.
These are held in by two clips that prevent them from shooting out of the housing.
I use a pair of sharp tweezers to push the clips in, then shimmy it under the retainers
in the housing.
Here’s a little diagram.
Push the slider out with a blunt object like a hex screw driver.
Make sure to point it on a surface or you may lose the stem after it launches.
With the switch disassembled, the mod is to simply leave out this coil spring when putting
it back together.
Before we do that, I’m gonna lightly lube the four corners of the housing in hopes of
reducing off center binding.
I’m using a very light application of Tribosys 3204.
To reassemble, snap the stem back in where it came from.
It might look symmetrical on an axis, but it only goes in one way.
When that’s in, simply put the leaf spring back in.
When you finish a batch, put them back into the board like you did before.
This time, you’re going to push the pins from the top.
I did this over a couple days so I’m not really sure how long it takes, but I’d guess
that I could do the entire keyboard within an hour.
So is it worth it?
Are we able to save this god awful switch?
Kinda.
The lube is definitely effective in reducing off center binding and scratchiness significantly.
That’s the biggest thing that makes stock MY unusable for me, so that’s a big improvement.
Before the mod, the switch is too heavy for normal use, but after it, it becomes too light
for normal use.
If I had to choose between the two, I’d definitely go for the lighter version, but
this is seriously featherweight.
Gateron Clears are often known for their almost unusable weight, with people complaining that
just resting their fingers on the keys will actuate it.
I don’t have any on hand, but if my memory serves correctly, these seem to be even lighter.
I type with floating hands and don’t really rest my fingers on the keys, but even then,
I would occasionally actuate the spacebar just brushing up against it.
I think I tend to prefer light switches.
For reference, I find stock Topre to be too tactile, and prefer Cherry and Gateron Browns
as well as Yellows.
So if you type with more energy, this might be a little much.
With scratchiness and weight addressed in one way or another, we still have the last
problem of bottom out mushiness.
When people talk about mushy keys, usually they mention using soft o rings.
This is a common enough mod that I think a lot of you would have tried it, and the mush
on the MY is a little different from that.
The remaining leaf spring seems to increase force at a greater rate as you reach the bottom.
I believe this is what you call a progressive spring.
So you will probably slow down towards the end of the keystroke where you’re met with
making contact with the membrane sheets.
These are several sheets of plastic film where the actuation happens and they absorb a lot
of the bottom out impact.
If you really slam on the keys, you’ll hear a familiar clack, but in a typical typing
scenario, it’s about as quiet as Cherry MX Silents.
With the coil spring removed this is much more evident but not all is lost.
You may be assuming that because this is a membrane keyboard, you need to bottom out
fully in order to actuate.
However, due to the design of the leaf spring, it looks like there’s quite a bit of leftover
travel after actuation.
This means that you can lean into the progressive nature of the spring and try to type without
bottoming out, and what you’ll end up with is a silent linear switch.
While this certainly helps, it doesn’t fully redeem it.
Cheap keyboards tend to be tactile rubber domes, so linear switches might be interesting,
but it’s not very well suited for longer periods of use.
This is really something you’d do because you feel too bad about throwing it out, and
you don’t necessarily want to spend 65 dollars on a TKC1800 pcb.
Maybe you’d stick it in your closet because there’s a certain vintage charm or something,
but this isn’t going to be your daily driver.
Before the mod, if I was presented with a choice between Cherry MY and membrane rubber
domes, I would have easily chosen the latter.
After it, I think I would still choose rubber domes, but maybe not as readily.
Cherry MY even after all our efforts remains just one of the most despicable switches in
existence
This is kind of like your mom’s friend’s young son.
After you get him to wipe his nose and wash his hands, you could stand to play with him
for a little bit, but it gets exhausting quickly.
But you’re a nice person so you aren’t going to shut yourself in your room, but it
will put you in a grumpy mood for the rest of the day.