Hello there.
I was wondering if it’s safe to lube or even film your optical switches and if it’s worth doing it.
I’ve heard from people that optical switches are not moddable but some other told me to do it (with precautions). Sooo… can they be modded or not?
thanks in advance
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Hello,
I can give you my personal experience with Gateron opticals.
I personally own old KS15 and later KS22 designs.
On KS15 you can definitely lube them (they are dry by default) spring swap them and film them.
Although IMO filming is not needed at all as the switches stay tight even after disassembling them several times.
On KS22, the pole has a wider diameter and no standard MX spring will fit. The plus side is they are light factory lubed (I think you could still add grease to the stem or housing if wanted). No need of film also.
KS22 must have a PCB designed for it as the openings are wider than on KS15 (but can accept KS15 switches).
KS22 have much less stem wobble also.
In general for opticals you don’t lube for smoothness but for sound: those are contactless and incredibly smooth out of the box.
I also have Kailh opticals and it is a similar case than the KS15, the springs are Kailh standard though so if you want after market ones the only choice looks to be Sprit.
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Okay, thanks.
Does it matter which kind the optical switches are?
I have for example a Apex 9mini which has “Optipoint” optical switches. Or is it just a fancy word?
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Those switches are totallly different than Gaterons so not 100% sure.
The spring looks totally custom so no way to find an after market version.
I see there are tactile and clicky versions.
In the case of tactile I’d recommend lubing them if not already done because the leaf will make the stem contact the rear of the housing just like on normal MX mechanical switch (to me it defeat the purpose of having a contactless optical switch).
Yes, I have the tactile ones.
What is the leaf that you mean?
(I’m new to the whole modding thing so I don’t know that many specific words, I’m sorry xD)
what about filming them? I don’t think that they need some but I could be wrong
This is also a answer from the official Steelseries site if the Apex 9 mini is lubeable/moddable :
“Yes! OptiPoint switches are hot-swappable and completely modifiable. The Apex 9 Mini is even built on the standard 60% layout, making it compatible with other after-market tray mount cases.”
This is a little metal part that stays in contact with the stem, allowing to give the tactile feedback.
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okay then.
Thanks for help 
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