Korean Replacement Domes for Topre Keyboards

[XMIT]

The 55g domes arrived a while ago. I'm moving my EC108 over to them. Along the way, I lubricated all the sliders (barrels and guideways) with a combination of Finish Line Extreme Fluoro, Krytox 106, and Super Lube 51014. The build is not done yet but it's together enough that I can test out the domes.

The 55g domes make a world of difference. The board is way more Topre like now. The lubrication gets rid of the scratchiness on the sliders. You can still feel it a little bit with the 35g domes on an off center key press if you look for it. With the 55g domes somehow the dome character takes over. I can barely feel the scratchiness.

The EC108 has an aluminum plate which I think contributes to the odd feel, weight, and sound of the board. It's solid, but lighter, than a steel-plated board. I prefer the steel plate myself.

Considering the domes are $20 shipped, I think it's a great upgrade if you're willing to make the time. Topre mods are always time consuming!

[XMIT]

...and it's back together now.

Even lubed, something is just "off" about the board. The sliders are still a tiny bit scratchy. I'm wishing I had polished them when the board was apart. Maybe I'll try that next time I tear into it.

Even so, the move to 55g domes was totally worth it. I can actually use this board now.

[cookie]

I got the 35g sheet yesterday but not enough time to place it in my HHKB.

[002]

Curious to see the results of transplanting into HHKB / Realforce. Keep us updated, cookie

[phinix]

Sounds good. I'm thinking to get 55g for one of my Novatouch keyboards.

Is there anyone who has 55g Topre domes and would like to swap with my 45g domes?

[phinix]

The 55g domes arrived a while ago. I'm moving my EC108 over to them. Along the way, I lubricated all the sliders (barrels and guideways) with a combination of Finish Line Extreme Fluoro, Krytox 106, and Super Lube 51014. The build is not done yet but it's together enough that I can test out the domes.

The 55g domes make a world of difference. The board is way more Topre like now. The lubrication gets rid of the scratchiness on the sliders. You can still feel it a little bit with the 35g domes on an off center key press if you look for it. With the 55g domes somehow the dome character takes over. I can barely feel the scratchiness.

The EC108 has an aluminum plate which I think contributes to the odd feel, weight, and sound of the board. It's solid, but lighter, than a steel-plated board. I prefer the steel plate myself.

Considering the domes are $20 shipped, I think it's a great upgrade if you're willing to make the time. Topre mods are always time consuming!

How's those 55g working for you, after few weeks of use?

[Menuhin]

After having read XMIT's review, I bought the 55g dome sheet for my 75% PLUM 84 35g Topre-clone.
It is a 108 full-size keyboard dome sheet, so I have to cut it into a few pieces to fit in.

The result is definitely better - some heavier and more distinct tactility for my 75% PLUM Topre-clone, but still not as heavy and distinct as the tactile typing experience on my (45g stock) HHKB Pro 2. This is probably the best possible mod for this Topre-clone keyboard available as of today.

[XMIT]

How's those 55g working for you, after few weeks of use?

I used them for like five minutes and went back to one of my Hall effect boards. At the moment I'm back to Topre to get some ideas from it for my future boards.

Menuhin's review just now matches my experience exactly.

[Wingpad]

I will go back to the stock domes in a heartbeat.

This is what I ended up doing, I put my HHKB Pro 2 back together with the stock domes and ended up selling it (I still have an HHKB BT, though. Fear not, I haven't left Topre completely yet).

That being said, I'm really surprised Menuhin and XMIT liked these replacement domes. Perhaps it's because they were putting them into a Topre-clone rather than the real deal? My guess is these domes are more comparable to their stock domes so the differences are more subtle. On the other hand, the differences between these domes and Topre domes are as clear as night and day, in my opinion.

[phinix]

I will go back to the stock domes in a heartbeat.

This is what I ended up doing, I put my HHKB Pro 2 back together with the stock domes and ended up selling it (I still have an HHKB BT, though. Fear not, I haven't left Topre completely yet).

That being said, I'm really surprised Menuhin and XMIT liked these replacement domes. Perhaps it's because they were putting them into a Topre-clone rather than the real deal? My guess is these domes are more comparable to their stock domes so the differences are more subtle. On the other hand, the differences between these domes and Topre domes are as clear as night and day, in my opinion.

Well, in this case it sounds like I have no other option, then just buy 55g Topre keyboard and swap Novatouch with these...

Or find someone who cannot work on his 55g and wants to swap to 45g.

[EazyC]

So my 55g rubber domes came in - they're the same shape as the topre domes and fit right in. You have to cut the sheet to make it fit into an HHKB but you can make it happen fairly easily. That being said, these replacements domes are a great way to make a $250 board feel like a $5 rubber dome. It's really quite disappointing. They feel just as smooth as normal Topre switches but you can feel that the domes are made of a lesser material and that they're "thinner" (which makes the board a lot louder).

I'm a little late to this thread, but I just wanted to ask, have you or anyone else tried to stack the domes on top of each other? So 2 domes per switch (ideally a 55g and a 35g instead of a massively heavy 55g x2)? That seems like an extremely weird request to ask for, but the pictures make the aftermarket domes look extremely cheap and very thin compared to topre brand domes, so you gotta wonder if the simple stacking of rubber domes to give them a much more sturdier, thicker, and robust feeling might bring back the thocky quality of the feeling back.

[XMIT]

How's those 55g working for you, after few weeks of use?

I used them for like five minutes and went back to one of my Hall effect boards. At the moment I'm back to Topre to get some ideas from it for my future boards.

Menuhin's review just now matches my experience exactly.

I decided to pull my 55g Noppoo EC108 board down from the shelf and start using it.

There is still a bit of friction in the sliders, more than I would like or expect from an authentic Topre board. Lubrication doesn't seem to have helped all that much here. Perhaps they will wear in a bit with some use.

I'm typing on the board now and, surprisingly, I'm really quite happy with it. So again, this mod is highly recommended!

I don't know anything about stacking domes, sorry.

[robotsokk]

Forgive my bumping an older thread, but has anyone tried either the 55g or 65g variety in a NovaTouch since the more recent posts in this thread? My main concern would be replacing the high-quality domes that come with the NT with these, which seem to have mixed reviews.

If there were an option for a heavier NT, I'd buy another in a heartbeat (can CM Bram grant wishes? )

[phinix]

I haven't. I ended up using Topre 55g domes.

[cookie]

The domes are catching dust but from what I can tell, they are not that great. I still need to try them out on an actual board.

[robotsokk]

Thanks for the replies. Yeah... if I ever follow through with a dome swap, I'd probably use a donor Topre board for 55g. I'll just add that to the back of my backlog I've already dropped on a Norbauer case for my NT, so that'll be its major upgrade for the year.

[cookie]

I've just put the domes in my HHKB and they sort of okay, not comparable to real topre domes. I've put the 35g version so they appear to be quite light but it's okay for me now. What really bothers me thouht are the topre-mx sliders i got from the sophmore group buy. just mounted some old cherry caps on it and i must say that these sliders are crap.

they looked very promising and neat but in reality they rattle as hell which makes the whole board feel like a cheap rubberdome to me (together with the replacement domes).

i am very sure that the sliders and domes will be kicked out soon. i've just assambled my fixed hhkb pro1 together and thought i will give it a try. ohh and as i can see, my left shift is not working, i hope that this isn't some serious damage.

anyway, if you suddenly destroyed the domes of your topre board, they are an mediocre replacement but certainly no upgrade.

cheers