“Ergo Clear clone manufactured by JWK, but they are not using T1 or Koala molds. This is not just a
recolored Koala or T1 mold.” - @TaehaTypes
Here’s a quick sound test, and should be available mid-late December at Keybonbon’s new storefront.
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Hmmm color me intrigued. Always curious about what kind of iterations are being made to improve the experience.
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Same here. I’m also digging the names, Panda, Koala, Dolphins, Penguins … it’s a zoo. Love it. Also, these might be pretty decent contenders for POM Naevy’s.
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I think this would be a RARA clone. That was a switch manufactured by JWK but designed by someone else.
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Penguins came up for sale earlier and I have some on the way.
Now, TKC is advertising its Dragonfruit switches, being sold today at 3 p.m. EDT:
I am not sure how different the two are. Maybe it’s just colour.
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I received some penguins the other day, have yet to try them out but hopefully soon!
I have a long list of switch “to dos” like Ink Kangaroos and Deskey Domes, and Polia switches, but I’ll get to these soon enough.
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Is there any way to tell if these switches (dragon fruit) have any pre-travel? It’s too bad they don’t post the force curve graph with these switches so it would be easy to tell.
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I caught a portion of the TKC Twitch stream about these, which I think might still be viewable - anyway they mentioned on there that while the bump is less big / round / heavy than the Kiwis, it’s still intended to be up-top on the key-travel.
Edit - here’s a YouTube archive of it: - YouTube
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Sweet. Thanks.
Just got my Penguin switches. Many of the switches in my batch get stuck at the bottom out, or at least a lot have slow return. I’ll try to experiment with heavier springs, as the ones I have are 63g I think.
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That hitch on the return goes away after you lube them.
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I’ve been reading comments elsewhere on these.
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The switches comes unlubed, but they’re supposed to be lubed. They’re meant for customizers who lube their own switches.
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63.5 G is the bare minimum weight for a 1U switch to function. They give you 78 G springs for the larger keys.
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67 G has been used as a default weight in similar switches.
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Apparently, MX Clear stems work well in the Penguin housings with the 63.5 G springs. 63.5 G was originally developed partially for Ergo Clears, so that makes sense. This might be a good Ergo Clear variant.
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v1 TX films seem to improve the stock switch.
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Great details! I have been thinking about picking some of these up. I was hoping to not have to film these though.
Question for you that maybe you (or others have found elsewhere). Zealios V1s were supposed to be “ergo-clear” like. Outemu Sky stems were supposed to be “ergo-clear” like. Outemu’s have sharp tactility, but ZealV1s is more rounded. I don’t have any original Cherry Clears on me, but I would suspect that their bump is more sharp.
So are penguins more sharp or round bump?
Cheers!
I haven’t received mine yet, but I read that once filmed, the Penguins feel like a Clear stem [Ergo Clear, I guess].
So Penguins should be closest to MX Clear in design, rather than Zealios.
As for the other switches:
-I don’t think Zealio V1 was ever a perfect analogue to the Ergo Clear. People report that real Ergo Clears had more tactility, but Zealio V1 was smoother. That’s my experience from trying them at meet-ups. Zeal V1 was really its own switch.
-OUTEMU Sky were like Clear stems in the early variants. Then they moved to 2.2 or Tao or somewhere around there, it deviated from Ergo Clear and became its own variant.
-OUTEMU Silent Sky are not really like Clears, the bump is top-mounted and the travel is shorter. But the general tactile level is comparable to the Clear stem.
I think that the MX Clear stem probably has a larger ‘bump’ than Zealio V1, a greater overall force required. But Zealio V1 may have been sharper, although smaller. It’s kind of subjective, and depends on springs and lubing.
Missing from this discussion are the Everglide Jade stems, which seem inspired by Zealio V1. My recollection of the unlubed switches is that the weight is low, the bump is not large in terms of weight, but it is fairly sharp. Lubing rounds out the bump.
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Thanks for the info @HungerMechanic. This helps.
I recently did a project to salvage some old ZealV1s. I have really been likely the bump. I filmed them, but there is still a lot of wobble. I think this is mostly due to old tech.
I have been looking for a modern day equivalent recently, but it has been hard to parse all this info with the new mid-tactile switches coming out. Everglide Green Jades look interesting, but I wanted a different housing. That is why this penguins seemed so appealing. My gut is telling me that they are likely similar but Penguins are not equal to ZealV1s.
I have the Outemu Skys V2.2 and they are very sharp, I was not aware they deviated. Thanks for this tidbit!
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Yes, I wish I had more information. I don’t have access to the older OUTEMU Skies, but comments on threads indicate that people thought that they were closer to MX Clears before the late-model changes.
And I have experience with the Silent Skies, as I am building them right now.
For an Everglide Jade alternative, I wonder how close the forthcoming RARA V2 will be.
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Hmm, there isn’t much stem wobble. FWIW, I didn’t film mine, and on the product page for these, Kinetic says that they tested these extensively with films and without films—and there isn’t much difference. That’s just two data points, but hopefully they help you paint a picture along with @HungerMechanic’s roundup.
And here is another quick impression of these that lines up with my experience.
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The website says that you don’t need to film them.
However, someone who felt underwhelmed by the Penguin stems found them to more closely resemble MX Clear stems once filmed.
So it’s not necessarily about wobble, which is usually the issue under discussion, but instead that filming may improve the operation / characteristics of the stock stem.
This is only one data point, I’m sure we’ll know more in a few days. I wasn’t planning to film mine. Maybe just put MX Clear stems in, or raise the spring weight on the stock switch.
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Thanks, all! I’ll lube them over the weekend.
What I like about them is the sound, as they don’t have that plasticky rattle typical in T1s/Kiwis. But yeah, as stock, I’m not as impressed. Will report back!
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Hi all.
I’ve modded the switches and have spent a few minutes doing typing test. The return catch have disappeared after modding (lube 204g0 just on tactile legs), with the tactility becoming rounder and closer to Ergo Clears–awesome if you’re a fan of medium-sized bump.
Issues:
First, 2-3 switches out of the 67 I modded (I usually keep 3 stock switches for future reference) still have the return catch.
Second, spring swapping to 78g (6 come with the order) causes considerably decreased tactility. I also don’t like that spring weight for pinky finger keys (backspace for example).
Third, I noticed that the switches with flat or low-profile caps. There’s a bit of resistance for SA Row 1 caps, where the cap slope causes an angled press.
Finally, I’m a fan of the sound profile and the colourway!
All these issues may be just my inconsistent lubing, but would love to hear other people’s experience. I truly support expanding ErgoClear-range of tactility, so I think Penguins are in the right direction.
Cheers!
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