Modding Kailh Choc Switches - O-Rings, Tape Modding, and Lubing Guide

For those who would like to "silence" their chocs, this video goes over explaining how silencing chocs works, how to mod the chocs, and a sound comparison at the end. Following is a list of supplies featured in the video:
Standard O-Rings: www.amazon.com/dp/B01N75JL0F/...
Light 1/8" Orthodontic Elastics: www.amazon.com/dp/B00OV1LXG4/...
Curved Tweezers: www.amazon.com/dp/B082FKLMFN/...
Krytox GPL 2050g0 Lube: boardsource.xyz/store/5f5c94f...
Thanks to Germ at g Heavy Industries for the info, very useful stuff! Here is a link to her site: www.gboards.ca/
0:00 Introduction
0:25 Overview of Technique
0:38 O-Rings
2:10 Tape Modding Explanation
3:20 Disassembly Tutorial
4:22 Tape Modding Tutorial
8:06 Which Lube Should I Use?
9:25 Lubing Tutorial
11:40 Reassembly
12:48 Finishing the Modding Process
14:00 Recommendations for Modding a Whole Board
14:27 Sound Test Explanation
15:50 Sound Test
18:32 Travel Distance Comparison
19:50 Conclusion

[@smores56]

Some extra info I didn't mention in the video: If you're looking for a lighter lube like I mentioned was appropriatefor light switches, people recommend GPL103. Also, if your switches are already soldered into a board, so long as you remove the switch plate if you have one, you can use tweezers like the ones I used to open the tabs and do the full modding process without having to de-solder your switches.

[@philipphaselwarter2287]

Great video! Could you share more info on how to tape mod with already soldered switches?

[@AX-fx7ng]

Can one convert tactile to linear? By removing or clipping something.

[@smores56]

@@AX-fx7ng Which switches do you have? Browns or sunsets? I have sunsets on me, but I don't think I have any browns at the moment. By looking at the stem on the sunsets, it looks like you'd be able to whittle down the white piece of plastic that rubs against the stem, a.k.a. the bit that sticks out of the copper inside of the switch. However, there's a chance that this would make the switch wobble more up/down, though I expect it wouldn't be an issue. Let me know if that works for you, though I am just guessing here.

[@AX-fx7ng]

@@smores56 Got some browns over red. Let’s see if my wish for tactile Is over turned by linears.

[@smores56]

@@AX-fx7ng honestly, the sunsets are really good, I don't use choc linears personally anymore. I'd recommend picking some up if you can afford them

[@BenVallack]

Awesome video, many thanks! Will go down this route with my Gergoplex.

[@smores56]

Your videos on the Planck and Moonlander helped me get into all of this, thanks for the content!

[@maxillariadendrobulum4079]

Sam, thanks to you now I get tape modding. This video was super helpful and I really appreciate your thorough and clear explanation / demonstration. 💜

[@chestercopperpot3793]

Taped, ringed and lubed sounds amazing...thanks for putting this together.

[@stoicfloor]

Thank you so much! I spent a day following exactly what you did! The result is fantastic that I can use my chocofi at work now! You just made my day. Thank you again!

[@kastatd]

Not gonna lie I was quite skeptical on how well the tape mode works, but today I tried it on few of my switches and it's a night and day difference. Thanks for the amazing video!

[@byungyoonchoi3744]

Thank you for this extensive guide video! I was able to build my silent Technik thanks to this guide

[@josephluck4341]

As a bit of advice (after having watched this awesome video and successfully tape modded my new board) - Don't bend the tabs on the switch too much, they're easy to break and if you bend them too much they won't go back in to their correct position. Just a light wiggle till you hear it click - Cut a long piece of tape (like 20cm long) and slice it in to slim strips, then cut along the tape again to make the long strips lots of smaller strips (like 5cm strips). This will dramatically shorten the amount of time it takes to cut tape - Apply the tape using flat head tweezers. This way you can tighten the tape at the housing using the tweezers which is much closer than fingers alone - When you've taped all your housings, use a hair dryer on a light heat setting and lightly warm the tape around the housing. This will help the tape adhere to the plastic. Don't heat the housing too much though as the plastic is soft and can melt quite easily

[@basic867]

Thanks for great advice. Is there some particular tape you reccomend for ths procedure?

[@josephluck4341]

@@basic867 mm not really - probably something fairly sticky, definitely not double sided. Scotch tape or regular packing tape probably works well

[@basic867]

@@josephluck4341 Thanks. Do you know how long this tape mod lasts?

[@denesban]

Shit... This was so convincing that now I have to do this, too :/ Fucking rabbit hole, man...

[@cubisthenos6299]

wow that quiets them down way more than I was expecting. I might have to do this if I ever build a keeb for office work

[@user-nd7rg5er5g]

Thanks for this video! It helped a lot! :D

[@tandlose]

A tip is to out a piece of paper with the configurations beside the board singer it's Hard to remember what everything was after a couple of minutes

[@zsh7862]

the tape mod litteraly makes me want to jump of a bridge, thank you for your expertise now i atleast know how i should do it.

[@babybloc]

It really does look painful. (Or fun if you like that sort of project.)

[@Mindtroverted]

Holy moly, this is quite a coincidence. I literally made a decision a week ago to finally take the plunge and make a keyboard myself and I ordered the Microdox Bud kit. I was surfing KZbin to find the best mods for my Kailh switches and I found this video on the actual keyboard that I am planning on building! Questions: Have you tried any of the other sound-changing mods like the tape mod on the back of the PCB or the foam mod between the pcb and top plate? I'm going for minimal noise, low frenquency (thoccy) clicks.

[@sidewinderwcc]

Do you install the small o rings the same way as the traditional o rings or is there a different method? Thanks for the detailed video, it helped a lot

[@benlu]

So amazing! But I was looking for just lube or lube + o rings but realised that combination wasn't shown, would love to see if possible

[@AdamHillikerLikesRobots]

Perfect timing, thank you! Just got my silvers for a kyria build, would love to try these techniques. As for feedback, all I can think is it might be good to cut to closer (macro?) shots of some of the detail work, your autofocus was pretty finicky! Seriously though this is a great resource thanks again.

[@smores56]

Yeah, re-recorded a couple times and this was the best one... looking forward to buying a real camera soon!

[@AdamHillikerLikesRobots]

FYI I used your technique to do my switches the other weekend - took me about 6 hours to do 60 switches. The result is fantastic though holy cow. Thanks again for making this video!

[@AndrePong]

This is great! The difference is really well demonstrated and I now get why people swear by it. Had a question about clicky switches though. Would it the improvements be negligible or would it still be worth the time and effort? I didn't quite hear a diff between your two robins so wasn't sure if those were both unmodded or one was.

[@luisfontinelles5834]

can i put cherry spring on these choc swiches?

[@enterusername7746]

Quantum computing, artificial intelligence, space telescopes … and we still have to cut and wrap Scotch tape around every damn switch.

[@h3h3umm]

Is it normal for Choc Switches to have a "Rattle Noise"? I just got a new board and the Choc Dark Yellows are making an unpleasant noise

[@gleitonfranco1260]

I'm using red choc switches (45g). Does 205g0 do the work?

[@iwantpig]

Thanks for the video, there is barely any choc switch videos out here. Im well versed with MX style switch modding and lubing, but am trying some chocV1s in a little macropad. I might build a lily58 wireless w/ chocs. Linear reds feel nice enough stock, but these sunset tactiles feel they need some lube, i got browns too but they are barely tactile, would not recommend. thanks again

[@FrOsTyBeArKiD]

The part I cared about the most was how to install the orthodontist elastics, but that wasn't shown. It looks muchhh smaller than the O-Rings so I'm afraid it will break the stems if I stretch it across both stems like the O-Rings.

[@axelrod4840]

what are the sizes of the rings?

[@fuzzynine]

What is the diameter of the o-rings you are using?

[@The1stMusicbaby7]

anyone know someone that will make custom choc low profile custom/themed/pudding keycaps? ive been looking forever to customize my g815 keyboard and all i get is unlabeled keys or the basic logitech keys

[@eldelacajita]

Great video! At the beginning you say that these techniques won't work on tactile switches. Do you mean they won't work on tactile chocs, or were you referring to tactile MX?

[@umop3plsdn]

man i taped and lubed purps love the silence and downpress feel but they feel almost stuck for a second on the come up which is annoying af

[@groxx]

Has anyone tried this with Teflon tape, and no lube, since Teflon tape is kinda already "lubricated"?

[@MyLuchitox]

what is the keyboard ??

[@romanr6888]

What is the name of that keyboard?

[@savagemessiah.]

I was looking for a way to reduce the travel of my choc switches and got pointed at this video but putting the orings there doesn't reduce travel distance at all it just makes the keycap sit higher up. It's like jumping into a hole and then jumping into the same hole wearing a top hat and claiming that the hole is shallower because the top of your hat is higher lol.

[@Xeptance]

Thanks for the video, I picked up a few useful tips from it :) I just ordered my first choc board which comes with white chocs (unsoldered). I've heard that they have a very satisfying tactile feel, but I've never been a fan of the sound of clicky switches. I know the focus of the video was linears, but I wondered if you had any thoughts on silencing clicky chocs? I'm assuming that it's possible to mute some of the click sound as the sound (as far as I can tell) comes from the click bar striking the lower housing, while the tactile event comes from the contact with the stem. Have you got any thoughts about how effective it would be to put some tape or thin strip of bandaid on the spot that the click bar strikes the lower housing? I have a few other ideas including lubing the click bar (although i imagine it would be a temporary fix on something that flicks as violently as the click bar), heatshrink on the clickbar (might make it sluggish), really thin silicon sheet on the contact point etc. If all my attempts fail, I guess I can always remove the click bar entirely and use them as linear switches.

[@smores56]

Yeah, I wish that the tactile options were better. Apparently the choc v2 browns are a pretty good tactile switch, but there's not much that works well for the v1's. I've not done much research into modding clickies, as it's a less-explored area. What you suggest could work, but I'll do some testing as to what is viable, and I can probably show some results in a few days.

The place where you put the o-ring, seems to make the keycap float ~1mm over the switch stem instead of shortening the stem travel distance. Can you confirm that?

[@samiRetro777]

Which O-ring gauge do you suggest for kailh choc LP ? will it shorten the total travel distance anyway ?!

[@admanrs1]

Agreed. They key caps just stick up higher and the travel is the same.

[@MicCheckOneTwo12]

Are you using the nice!nanos on these? How tricky was it to setup your layers with ZMK if that’s the case? I’ve used QMK and I just ordered this board so sure there’s going to be a bit of a learning curve when I make it wireless.

[@smores56]

Sorry for the late response! ZMK is better than QMK IMO, especially for layering and combos. It doesn't have mouse control yet, but it is otherwise mostly at feature parity with QMK. You can email me at [e-mail] if you need help setting up ZMK.

[@georgedoubleyou4098]

Focusing is hard. Otherwise nice video, thanks! But I am wondering: my red choc has a little stabilizer wire inside. Yours didnt. Is that dependent of the switch color? They make putting the switch back together much harder.

[@MakerJake]

Sam probably removed his. when I did my choc build I removed all of mine.

[@smores56]

Yes, in some of the linear switches (I can't remember which), there is a "vestigial" clickbar that you can simply remove, as it doesn't affect the behavior of the switch.

[@georgedoubleyou4098]

@@smores56 Thanks for the clarification. I just tried it and the difference is not big, but if you press the switch at the corner and not the middle, there is a difference. With the stabilizer it is…surprise…more stable and easier to press, because the stem doesnt twist like it otherwise slightly does.

[@wtb6803]

Firmware?

[@folgee7368]

Hey sam do you have any recomendations for a good place to buy keycaps for the choc?

[@smores56]

Your best bet in the states is mkultra.click, and maybe boardsource.xyz if MKUltra is out of stock. I can suggest other stuff if you're not in the US.

[@rhysabul1401]

You can buy MBK choc caps from cuddlykeyboards.co.uk if you live in the UK or in Europe

[@gilg2749]

@sam mohr would switch films work on Kalih choc v2v

[@smores56]

I'm sorry, but I have no experience with choc v2's (not many boards actually support them, as they have a slightly different footprint to the v1's). Filming them would probably not work based on what I can see, but I have no first-hand experience, sorry.

[@axelrod4840]

1.5mm rings?

[@thepenguinman6389]

What is that keyboard that your using? Where can I get it?

[@smores56]

It's a microdox, you can get a kit from Boardsource.xyz. they can even build it for you for a surcharge!

[@basic867]

Thanks for the informative content. How long does the tape mod last?

[@smores56]

I've seen this work for others for a pretty long time if you do it as shown. At least a couple years.

[@basic867]

​@@smores56 I did it and it's great. Thank you! Btw, are the thumb keys on microdox comfortable? and What do you use the oled for? The placements of oled seem kinda useless, but I'm still interested in the board.

[@leighbottecchia6558]

What about v2 kailh low profile switches? They have a completely different design

[@smores56]

I don't own any boards that support v2's besides the depicted microdox, which already is set up for v1's. I'll make a video if I ever get something that uses choc v2's.

[@samiRetro777]

What lube model for 35g choc pro and 25g ?

[@ac27934]

As mentioned in the pinned comment at the top, people recommend GPL103 for those lighter switches.

[@alexh8754]

Black&white = Unmodded Orange = Tape Red = Tape&Orings Yellow = Orings Purple = Tape&Orings&Lube Black = Tape&Orthodontix&Lube

[@kobibr9362]

Well they are still unusable in my office but I would use them at home. I recently viewed a video where another youtuber said that some new kailh silent switches had 2 holes at the bottom and that made them make less noise. He even modded switches by putting 2 holes at the same position and it did make a huge difference even without the lube. I have never had a choc in my hands but still wonder if that would be worth trying on chocs.

[@kurushimee]

Only O-rings were useful with my Red switches. Lubing and taping wasn't worth it, didn't change the feel at all and sound difference was minimal

[@Betrval]

You got 69 sub Nice

[@theUnrealArchon]

Click click click

[@smores56]

Thanks for the constructive feedback! Always looking for ways to improve.

[@DankRedditMemes]

1:06 DO NOT DO THIS. At least with 40A rings, this WILL cause stress damage to the plastic, if not completely break it off.

[@jgbelmont]

Nice keycaps. Switches sound awful imho