I’m extremely new to custom keyboards and I need some help. I just built my first board and I’m using an AKKO 3098B Plus with NK Creme tactile switches with the default cherry profile keycaps.
I absolutely love the switches and have no complaints with the feel. However I bought a separate set of keycaps from Womier with shine-through. I was not aware the switches were going to block out 90% of the RGB light from the board. Is there another alternative to these switches that do better with RGB lighting, or could I just swap the tops of the switches for the tops of the V3 creme yellow pros the board came with? Any help or clarification would be greatly appreciated.
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NK Creme tactiles are an all POM switch.
I don’t think there are any translucent POM switches out there, it just isn’t the best plastic for that. If you want something similar, you are probably going to want to look for a switch with a similar spring weight.
However, by going to an RGB switch, you are getting a different plastic which will alter the feel.
Best of luck in your search! Not trying to be a downer in anyway, but just wanted to set expectations.
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It would help if you could say which keycaps you bought, but frustration with inadequate shine-through is a persistent issue for people new to keyboards. Cherry MX switches were originally made to accommodate a small led to indicate lock status. It was only later that certain companies had the idea to put an LED on every key as a decorative or backlight function, and later still that those became “surface mount” LEDs underneath the switch instead of being threaded through it.
One of the knock-on effects of the original use-case is that Cherry designed their keycaps to expect the LED on the bottom/front (aka “south facing”), and switches that follow the exact shape of original Cherry MX switches will interfere with some of the keycaps, if they were molded based on Cherry’s original shape (the Cherry “profile”). The Asian companies who started adding LEDs were using something commonly called “OEM” profile keycaps, which are a little taller, so they would flip the switches to be “north facing” and still have room. That also allowed the LED to shine right into the spot where the keycap’s legend would be, making shine-through work reasonably well.
In the hobbyist space, the company that took over making Cherry keycaps (GMK) became the most prominent high-end manufacturer of custom keycaps, so “south facing” became the preferred placement on keyboards. This means that if the shine-through legends are on the top, the LED is on the other side, blocked not only by the top housing, but the stem. There is really no great way around it, and with the mechanical keyboard community bifurcated between “gaming-first” and “customization first” camps, most “nicer” boards ended up south-facing, and the LEDs are not a priority, though they are usually still there. This has continued even as the gaming community has embraced more “custom keeb” features and configurations. Your Akko is one of those modern boards meant to appeal to both gamers and budget-conscious keyboard enthusiasts, so south-facing it is.
Switching the housing tops could help, though off the top of my head I do not know if those two are fully compatible (there are last two main styles of housing, “Cherry” and “Kailh”), plus the materials issue as djmantis mentions. You might also still have the stem in the way, so you could find that after a lot of work the results are still underwhelming. There are a few “front-facing” shine-through sets where the top is blank and the legends are on the front surface of the keycaps, but that is a distinct look and not everyone likes it. You can also occasionally find shine-through caps with legends on the south-facing part of the keytop, but those are very rare. There are also mostly-clear caps that could work better.
Perhaps as the gaming boards get more and more custom features we’ll start seeing shine-through that works better with south-facing switches, but for now the people who care the most about switching out caps are the ones most likely to tolerate poor shine-through because ethe caps they find most appealing don’t support it anyway.
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Thank you for the in depth reply. While I’m not the biggest RGB fan I do like having shine-through keycaps on the boards I do use simply because my eyesight is getting worse and worse every year. The keycaps I purchased are cheapos from Womier. I purchased the Womier Gradient series shine-throughs double shot in the top-printed Violet Shade.
With the stock switches (Akko V3 Creme Yellow Pro) the RGB comes through perfectly fine. They do however have a translucent cap on them. I tried swapping a cap from the yellow pro onto the creme tactiles and it seems there are some sleight clearance issues with the caps themselves unfortunately. I have ordered a switch tester pack that includes the TTC Bluish White silent tactile switches along with a dozen others.
Hopefully I will find an appropriate switch within those that keeps the strong actuation force, silent tactile, with a clear housing. A buddy of mine also gave me several links to brands that make custom springs as well as links to the most common switch lubes, as well as slot in LED diffusers for switches. Again, thank you for all the detailed information. It will definitely come in handy down the road.
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I have ordered a tester kit for some TTC switches. Specifically I am looking toward the Buish White silent tactiles. They’re roughly 20 Gf under the creme tactile switches, however a buddy of mine sent me a link to a company that makes custom springs, as well as he turned me on to LED diffusers to slot into the south side of the switches. Thank you for the information though.
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Thank you for reading my wall of text, lol, and glad you’re closing in on a solution. Stick around! It’s fun here.
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