Keychron K3 is Keychron's hottest Low-profile mechanical keyboard in recent times with many valuable strengths from appearance to features. The typing experience on K3 with Low-profile key structure is quite good if you do not have any strict requirements compared to traditional mechanical keyboards. However, if you want to improve the typing experience on your Keychron K3, SiliconZ will guide you to lube switches and stab on this keyboard.
The version I used to lube the switch and stab this time is the Keychron K3 Red switch Gateron version.
Tools to prepare for lube switch, stab
– 2 brushes, 1 short brush to paint slider and housing surfaces that need lube, 1 long brush to lube springs and hidden areas.
– Lube oil (Krytox 105, you can use other types of oil or grease of equivalent quality).
– Dust blower for cleaning dust.
– Use tweezers to clamp and open the housing (you can use a separate housing opening tool if available).
Basic disassembly
First we need to use Puller to remove the switch from the keyboard
Remove the housing, remove everything at once and put the slider, spring, top housing, bottom housing in each separate zip bag. Removing the top housing of the switch is relatively easy, just pop it off with your hand and you're done.
Be careful not to remove the black plastic piece below the slider, poking this plastic piece will affect the operation of the switch.
I will take each part of a switch out of the zip bag, lube and put it back together and then do the next one. The order is spring, top housing / bottom housing and finally slider.
How to lube in detail
Spring Lube
When lubricating the spring, we should not dip the entire spring into the oil bottle. Doing so will cause the oil to stick to most of the spring's crevices. However, if we do not use a brush to drain the oil, there will be a phenomenon of too much oil sticking and condensing on the spring. When reassembling it into the housing, press and test to see if there is a phenomenon of oil bubbles at the bottom. If the oil is liquid, it will sound very strange, like a slightly sticky water bubble.
The simplest way to lube the springs is to remove all the springs from each switch and use the bag lube method (put all the springs in a zip bag, add a sufficient amount of oil and shake it so that the oil spreads to each switch). This method helps you save the most time.
Lube top housing
– Use a small brush to paint the 4 concave sides as shown, paint the 4 vertical corners connecting the 4 corners inside the housing.
Lube bot housing (bottom cover)
– Use a small brush to paint the 2 slider holes, use a long brush to paint the slider core and lightly paint the outer core area, avoid painting to the bottom.
After lube the bottom cover, you can put the spring in (remember to check the spring), and finally lube the slider.
Lube slider (stem)
– Use a small brush to paint the convex sides of the slider and the walls of the sliding joint.
– Use a small brush to paint the front and back sides of the slider according to the picture. You can paint over the entire surface if it gets dirty, but avoid using too much oil.
– Use a small brush to paint the slider's column and use a long brush to paint the bottom of the slider's column in a swirl.
Check the spring and put it in the housing, then the slider. Wait for the top cover to be attached and press it, you can hear the sound of oil condensation from here, the oil can condense at the bottom of the housing pillar, use a brush to rub it evenly, if it is smooth and soft then it is ok. Then attach the housing and press it, change the rhythm to check the spring sound, if there is a creaking sound, pop the housing back and use tweezers to clamp the spring and rotate it a few times still vertically in the housing, place the slider and attach everything back, check until you are satisfied and you are done.
Lube Stab
To lube stab on Keychron K3 you must first remove the chassis.
Then disconnect the battery plug from the board.
We have the keyboard plate with the stabilizers on top, to remove the stabs you just need to press down on the back to create a force on the groove, then you can easily remove the stabs from the plate.
Hold the wire with one hand and the stab housing with the other. Hold the wire with one hand and rotate it 90 degrees, keeping the housing in place. Gently pull the wire out of the housing. Be careful not to let the stab slider fall off.
Use a brush to apply a small amount of oil or grease and lightly brush it inside the housing. Then remove any excess grease from the brush and begin to apply the grease evenly. Continue the same until all the other stab housings are finished.
Lube wire.
You lube just enough so that the rod is still faintly visible. If you can’t see the rod, you’ve over lubed. If the rod is still clearly visible, you’ve not lubricated enough. This will help fill in the gaps between the rod and the inside of the stab slider. So, lube from thin to thick to find the sweet spot for each of your stabs, plates, and keycaps.
After lubricating the iron bar, we need to add a sufficient amount of glue and prepare to install it inside the stab slider.
Reassemble the Stabilizer components
- Place the slider inside the housing, making sure to point the side with the 2 holes of the slider towards the side with the iron bar of the housing.
- Insert the iron bar inside the stab slider and make sure everything is in place.
- Place the bar down on the housing mount and rotate it gently to lock it into place. You're done.
Note: both sides of the stab must be facing up, if one side is facing up and the other side is facing down, you just need to remove one end and turn it the other way.
Put the stab back in its original position, attach the switch, plate and keycap to test. If the sound and typing feel are to your liking, then everything is done! If things are a little off, you can redo step 2 on the stabs you are not satisfied with.
That's it, we need to carefully check all the components to see if they are satisfactory and reassemble the aluminum frame and reconnect the battery to the circuit board, and finally reattach the switches inside the frame.
SiliconZ has guided you on how to lube switches and stab for the Keychron K3 Low-profile mechanical keyboard. Through this article, you can easily lube switches for the K3 yourself. If you have a simpler way, please share it with SiliconZ!
