Heyo - was poking around for a topical place to put a link and didn’t find one, so I figured I’d get this thread started. I’m sure there’s plenty of discussion on this topic already here and there on the site, but I thought it might make sense to have a place to collect / link info about various mods for improving tray-mount keyboards.
The doodad I wanted to point out today is this:
This looks to be a simple-to-use option for basic vibration dampening between the case and the rest of the keeb, insulating the standoff from the PCB (or plate) that it’s screwed to.
It won’t provide any flex like the “burger mod” (adding silicone o-rings on either side of the piece screwed to the standoffs), but it should cut down on some harshness - and won’t require longer screws or more patience to install - so if burger-ing is too soft and bouncy, too high-maintenance, or just too much of a pain with your stock screws, well - these look to be a pretty cheap and easy option.
Now these got my curiosity: wondering how a hybrid between burger and silicone would look like?
I’m thinking using these for the standoffs and “crowning” the screws with the orings would be very similar to burger mounting without the need for longer screws
These standoff covers are interesting. I’ll be sure to throw them on my next KBDfans order.
In the spring, I poured a custom silicone case dampener for my aluminum GK64x and it improved the sound and feel of the board dramatically. I had been looking at various foam options but this silicone pour was cheaper ($13 in material) and seemed to be the route that a lot of higher end customs were using (RAMA and ai03 in particular). It also seemed like it could be an easier option than foam because of all the nooks in the GK64x case I had. I followed this YouTube tutorial which was incredibly helpful.
The most important thing is to make sure that the board is 100% level (with how the PCB fits in the case) because you’ll run into a ton of issues otherwise. I used painters tape to cover any holes in the case and then poured the silicone almost up to the top of the case mounting points. Like foam, you want the silicone dampener to compress a bit when you install your PCB. Here’s my case right after I poured and the silicone was still liquid:
I let it cure about 18 hours just to be safe. After that, I started with a little tab of painters tape by the USB port and just very, very slowly peeled the (now solid) silicone out of the case. This is what it looks like once it’s cured (note that the silicone is flipped upside down in the photo):
This thread has my attention. I like tray mount and have done most mods. I definitely want to try those silicone covers. My hope is that a US vendor has them up for purchase as I’ve had difficulty purchasing from KBDFans directly.
So the plate is still connected to the case via tray-mount metal screws but silicon cover softens the bottoming by pushing against the PCB like how placing a finger on a sheet of metal changes sound? Hmm.
I looked at these with fresh eyes and I’m wondering. How does the cover work for the standoffs that are at the extreme ends (left, right) of cases like the tofu60, A60 and 5 degree (this isn’t listed on the site, but still)?
These standoffs are attached to the side of the case so the sleeves wouldn’t be able to completely cover them, correct?
That’s an interesting observation. I’m guessing it’s also why they come in a pack of 6 - it seems like these are meant for the inner-top standoffs and the middle one (3x, two boards) in total. Leaving the ones on the edge requiring some modding if they’re attached to the main case body.
