[IC] Alps/Matias Kailh Hotswap Sockets

Marketplace Interest checks
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Alps (and Matias) switches can benefit from some non MillMax type hotswap sockets.

I’ve been talking with Kailh about them making such sockets and the MOQ and price they’ve given me for the first order that would make the sockets happen is 100K MOQ at a price between $0.045 and $0.055 per socket.

I am unsure how will proxies work or if there will be any.

When I have any more information about that, or details, such as a color and a lifecycle of the sockets, or if any of the details change, I’ll update the post.

The idea is that in the future, hopefully the sockets would be available for purchase from various stores or even from Kailh themselves. However, for the time being the goal is to make the first purchase as I can’t afford to do it alone.

At the quoted prices, here are some examples of how many people we’d need at what quantity, etc:

  • 10 People: 10K Sockets, $450 per person

  • 100 People: 1000 Sockets, $45 per person

Interest check form (please only sign if you intend on buying): https://forms.gle/Xma3ytN5fE9bWU3r6

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The problem for me would be that most of my Alps switches have slightly bent pins with solder on them. I’m thinking I would rather solder them into a board than have to clean and straighten each pin to use in a hotswap build.

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Thanks for bringing that up!
That’s a great point that I hadn’t considered earlier. Another community member brought that to my attention earlier. I’m waiting for measurements from him about how thick the pins of unsoldered Alps are (if you can provide me with some measurements (how thick the legs are and if you have any unsoldered Matias switches how thick their legs are) as well that would be awesome) and I’d bring that up with Kailh to see what’s the tolerance for switch leg thickness.

Ideally, besides fixing bend pins, you shouldn’t have to clean any solder left on the pins (unless it’s a ball of solder of course).