Another scourge from China: "fake" Cherry MX keyswitches

Hi fans -

now, with Apple-1 owners starting to build clones of Datanetics keyboards in larger numbers, I think it's worth my RQLT to show you what I found out maybe two years ago when I built an OSI Superboard II clone. This one needed Cherry MX keyswitches, and being a cheapskate, I looked on Ebay and found a seller from .... China, offering bags of 10 for just a few dollars.  So I ordered one bag to test the waters. They turned out to be fake, of course, and so I ordered the whole set from Digikey, one of the official Cherry distributors. One genuine "Cherry" brand keyswitch there did cost about twice the money than the Chinese fakes, but they are worth it, as they have the genuine and famous "Cherry Gold Crosspoint" contacts. These last forever.

Now here is a comparision how to spot the fakes. I did not snap a photo of the still assembled switches are they really look almost the same. However, there is one clue: the fakes don't have the "Cherry" brand name on them, with the two cherries logo, but some small text I read as "kaiche", whatever that means. Closer inspection for details also reveal that the "snap together" systems of the keyswitch housings are different. The following photos of disassembled genuine "Cherry" switches and the "Fakes" shows the differences:

PDRM3504.JPG

The difference in the two black housing components is obious, as the "snap together" systems are different. Cherry uses four skinny  hooks which are more difficult to make by injection molding. The fakes use two broad tabs with rectangular holes what snap onto wedge shaped protrusions on the lower body part. The coil springs (front) also look different. Sorry for the poor looks of the left hand side coil spring . . .  it's actually the spring from the "fake" keyswitch and vice versa. It jumped away from me and when I grabbed it from the floor with my fingers, I badly bent it. Chinese made coil springs that bend permanently / lose shape when merely being touched !  No good "spring steel" being used, but probably a dubious material called "Chinesium". The genuine "Cherry" spring is on the right hand "fake" side. With fingers alone, you can't bend it permanently. Also note how its has several tight windings at the beginning and the end. This is a good spring ! Sorry for the mishap which caused it to end up on the wrong side of the photo.

Here is another point of view from the same items:

PDRM3505.JPG

Again, the coil springs have been mixed up, as mentioned before: the nice one on the right hand side was in the genuine "Cherry" keyswitch and the crappy one on the left hand side was in the "fake" MX keyswitch. It was a mixup when both springs started rolling and ending up on the floor, before the photo was taken. None of the other parts in the photo have been mixed up, though.

The worst part of the fakes is the crappy materials and design of the contact springs. The famous "Cherry Gold Crosspoint" contacts are not there. They did not even try. Instead, they just stamped a dimple into the contact material which forms a protrusion on the contact side. Here is the proof:

PDRM3507.JPG

 

The red arrow show how they made the "contact" on the other side of this component. Also note the specks on the contact spring in the background - it already starts to corrode.

The corresponding part on the genuine "Cherry" brand keyswitches is smooth and polished shiny and looks like it has been gold plated to protect it against corrosion.

How Cherry attaches the small  triangular crosspoint switch bars on the other side I don't know, maybe some miniature  spot welding process or even electron beam welding. The attachment of these tiny components must be very precise and very robust such that they don't fall off. This, obviously, is a manufacturing process only Cherry (based in Germany despite the company originated in the USA) masters. The Chinese copycats might have tried, but must have failed. Hence, their crappy non-solution for the contact elements. How many cycles their inferior keyswitches last before they develop contact problems I can't tell. I suspect not for long. While the famous Cherry cross point contacts last practically forever. Your fingertips will be worn to the bone before these Cherry contacts fail from wear and tear. 

Are these Chinese fakes worth their money ? Probably not. You can buy them for about $0.40 a piece in larger quantities. At the same quantity, genuine "Cherry" ones cost $0.70 at both Mouser and Digikey. So you can save at most $16 per keyboard if you take the crappy and dubious contacts. If you can't afford the genuine Cherry keyswitches, the Chinese also make MX knockoffs which fit into the same footprint, one brand is "Gateron", and they can be bought from China for around $0.20 ... $0.25 a piece. I never had one of those, so I can't compare, but I would not be surprised that they have the same crappy contact construction as the "fake" Cherry ones which are topic of this thread. Maybe the same factory who makes these fakes also makes the "Gateron". 

As always: Caveat Emptor ! Buyer beware !   - - - if you think you can get the same quality at 1/3 of the price, think again. I decided to use genuine "Cherry" keyswitches only. But for people on a budget the much cheaper "Gateron" keyswitches might do, especially if the keyboard is not used for a lot of typing. Keep in mind, however, that poor corrosion protection will deteriorate key switches over time even if they are not being used, and I saw signs of corrosion on the "fake" keyswitch I disassembled. In any case, avoid these "fakes" which pretend to be Cherry products but ain't. The premium of $0.20 per such a pretender keyswitch over the cheapest but honest "Gateron" brand ones just to have the "Cherry" looks without the "guts" is a total waste of money. And when the keyboard is assembled, has key caps, and is mounted in an enclosure, you can't see any difference anyways. oh, and the outfits who sell the "fake" Cherry keywitches (pretending that they are the real deal) also sell the "Gateron" ones. This is where it really gets weird.

- Uncle Bernie