Thanks a ton!
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Weird. My order placed on Dec. 1st was scheduled to arrive on 18th at the earliests but got this status update on USPS tracking page:
Your item has been processed through a facility in AUCKLAND, NEW ZEALAND on December 19, 2019 at 1:09 pm
It was originally shipped from Brisbane, Australia to Sydney then stuck in opaque “in transit” status until now. If the nonsense status is real, I’ve no idea why it would be forwarded to NZ instead of flying or shipping directly to US. Just nuts.
UPDATE: USPS status just changed to Pre-Shipment so it appears to be in NZ for real even though OZ → NZ → US shipping route makes no sense to me.
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Massdrop has done similar stuff shipping to me. I live in PA, their shipping warehouse is in NJ. I watched a package from them go from NJ, to TN, to OH, then finally back to PA or something really unusual like that. Although DHL was the carrier for that madness, I did eventually get the package.
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Well, I think this will be the last time I order anything from ‘down under’. Spending $15 to send a tiny package on a month long odyssey is not my cup of tea.
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Yeah I’m the same way, I only order something intl. when that is the only possible way of getting it. I actually held off on these stems because of that, although I think some NA vendors have them now.
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Got the stems and here are some preliminary findings:
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Stems felt smooth, about as smooth as Tealios. If they’re better, difference is beyond my level of sensitivity. Stem did improve Black Ink to level with Tealios but I don’t think the difference is significant enough. Where these stems shine will be cheaper switches with attractive feature but lacking only in smoothness. They improved my bad batch of retooled blacks to the level of Black Inks.
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UHMWPE stems don’t take to lube well. They are just as smooth lubed or unlubed. Thick lube, like 205g0, does make the switch more snug but only very slight hint of butteriness can be felt. This sucks because I like buttery feel. Tealios really shines with lube so this stem falls behind in feel if you’re into lube feel like me. Maybe they can add micro-pores.
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Sound is lower pitched and somewhat dampened. It sounded best in aluminum case and worst in polycarb. I don’t think sound is their best feature.
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I did hear the swishing sound @Walkerstop mentioned in his video. Sound close to how scratchy switches sound yet distinct and not as irritating…so far. I need to use a full board of these stems for awhile, at least until hairs on back of my neck stands up and scream.
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Like most switch stems, UHMWPE stem bottoms out on sliders, not on the pole end of the stem. This means they’re not ideal for Cream switch because its signature clack sound is made by the Cream stem’s longer than usual tip. Cream, Halo, and Kailh Burgundy Pro stems share this characteristic.
That’s all for now.
UPDATE: Swishing seems affected by housing. Same stem swishes more in Cream than Ink.
UPDATE2: Cream sticking problem is fixed by UHMWPE stem. While good news, the stem also nerfs Cream’s delicious bottom out sound so know what you like.
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After using a full board of retooled blacks with the stem for a 5 hours or so, I currently cannot recommend the stem. It’s the swishing sound that started to bug me while in use. With the sound, switches feel scratchy or at least not as cleanly smooth as Tealios and Ink.
What’s confusing is that switch feels very smooth when carefully pressed individually. It’s only under normal use they seem scratchy. Maybe the swishing sound is playing a trick in my mind. Not sure.
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This reminds me of what V1 Zilents did. Pressed individually + slowly they felt smooth & didn’t make any noises, when typing at speed though those switches made this scratching like noise that drove me crazy (just a noise though, they still felt smooth typing at speed?). Never did figure out why they made the noise & lube did not stop it so I gave up on them. If I had to guess the rubber silencing pads were causing friction when sliding up & down the housing, although that is not applicable with the UHMWPE stems.
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All roads lead to Gateron linears, huh?
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I tested out a UHMWPE stem in a cream last night - while the scratchiness is way lower in the UHMWPE I might stick with the stock cream stem. The tolerances are different and the cream stem has considerably less wobble inside the cream housing which is much more of an issue to me than the sound. I’m using these in a boardwalk build so the least wobble I can have on those unstabilized 1.5u mod keys on the sides, the better.
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Good info. I probably missed that bit because all of my Creams are filmed.
Were the retooled blacks filmed as well? I was thinking of trying them in filmed Cherry housings with 3204 or 205g0 but not gonna get around to it until I get a second board.
Yes. Filmed but unlubed.
I’ve just finished testing all the lubes I have and found that 206g00 feels the best for me. 3203 semi-recommended by the maker didn’t feel that good to me. Beware that I favor snug buttery feel over loose snappy feel in linears. 206g00 on UHMWPE stem feels pretty close to how 205g0 feels on POM stems although not as good as 205g0 on Tealios stem with whatever magic mix of POM they’re using.
So, on the last day of 2019, I’m lubing retooled black+UHMWPE stems with 206g00.
UPDATE: Added extra 0 to 206g0. 206g00 I used is from NovelKeys.
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UHMWPE stems lubed with 206g00 turned out to be tad sluggish in use. And left shift key started to make scraping noise when a corner is pressed. I’m not sure if the stem is the problem though. Never had this happen before.
I keep going back and forth between wanting to use these over my stock cream stems in the cream housing hahaha. Ended up filming my switch and the wobble is quite a bit reduced to where I think it would be acceptable to use. The sound of the switch is quite a bit reduced to stock cream stem so I may give it a shot in my upcoming build. So far I have only tried 204g0 and its a noticeable difference to the feel. Haven’t tried 205g0 but I might give it a try too. I know some people like the sound of creams but for linears my only experience is gat reds, then roselios, then sakurios and I actually really love the latter two. Stock creams might end up being too loud for my taste. I’ll prep 3 of each UHMWPE and stock cream and try it out in my hotswap board, then make my decision as to what I use.
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Yeah. I think Cream, Ink, and Tealios are at their best as is. AFAIK Holy Panda was the last great stem swap success. UHMWPE so far has been disappointing.
This is the information I needed. Glad I didn’t pull the trigger on these when I had the chance.
Has anyone tried these in a gateron housing like aliaz? Was thinking about doing a white or clear stem in an aliaz housing for a build with rgb emphasis.
I have Aliaz housings so will give it a try soon, perhaps over the weekend.
Tonight, I tried 206g00 lubed stems in BSUN housings and result is better than bad batch of retooled black housings. Swishing was still there but switch felt smoother, cleaner, and no longer sluggish. Stab issue also went away. I found the hybrid boring though. Maybe it’ll grow on me. We’ll see.
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Meh. If you found it boring, it’s probably boring. Let me know about aliaz if you try it. Thanks!
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