Gateron (Box) China Joys - not what I was hoping for...

Submitted by JensengTea t3_11bdewn in MechanicalKeyboards

Hey there! I'm a bit of a keyboard noob and this is my first post in this subreddit, so please forgive me if I say anything dumb!

Bit of a long post, so TLDR: Anyone else tried the Gat CJ's? Thoughts?

I just bought 10 Gat Box CJ switches to try out. Almost every review I've seen has said they're really smooth even without lubing (though, I think they may have been reviewing the non-box CJ's). I feel like I'm not having that experience, though. They're clackier than I was expecting, but other than that, there is also a very loud rattle that I'm assuming is coming from stem wobble. Also, the topping out sound is really loud compared to some other switches I've tried.

I tried lubing just the spring, stem, and bottom housing first; it made the switch a bit smoother but there wasn't much difference in sound. The rattle was still there, so I lubed the top housing at any place the stem might make contact with it hoping any stem wobble sounds would be muted. It worked, but now it sounds a little over-lubed.

I kind of like the sound the over-lubed switch makes - it's deeper than the lubed Gat Pro Blacks I'm currently using. It's definitely too squishy feeling, though. But, stock honestly sounds horrible to me. Am I doing something wrong or have other people had a similar experience with the CJ's?

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My board: HS Epomaker TH80 w/ lubed Gateron Pro Blacks, stock stabs, tape modded, polyurethane and filter foam + foam mounting tape in the case

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thatonepuzzlepiece t1_j9xd94g wrote

Interesting, I didn't even know Box CJ's were a thing before this. Every good thing I've heard about CJs were talking about the regular version, but it seems like you might have had a faulty batch. Try talking to the vendor that you bought them from, or maybe even emailing Gateron directly

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JensengTea OP t1_j9xzhqt wrote

Yeah, I think it was a faulty batch. I only tested 3 of them, so I figured they were all rattly. But I just retested all of them and it seems that 5/10 were worse than the others. 1 or 2 were decent. What a bummer. I wonder if they're fakes? Got em from Amazon.

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inorebez t1_j9xedzt wrote

I dont have the most experience with other switches, but u have box cj’s and really like them. Not rattly, a little bit of clack, but sound pretty muted in my foam-packed board. Also feel really smooth w/o lube.

Im either really inexperienced or you somehow got 10 duds (or maybe it’s just the board).

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JensengTea OP t1_j9xzky9 wrote

Seems like it was just 5 or so that were really bad. The others are still not great, though. I'm really bummed :/

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KCutajar93 t1_j9xuwnt wrote

I have regular CJs and they were pretty smooth stock and after lubing and filming them, they are like typing on clouds. No experience with the Box Variants but I can't imagine there would be such a drop in quality.

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JensengTea OP t1_j9xzoaz wrote

Yeah, I'm starting to think I got fakes or a bad batch. They're just so bad compared to everything I've seen and heard about them... it's hard to believe.

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MayAsWellStopLurking t1_j9zcxex wrote

Amazon isn’t immune to fakes, and unlike AliExpresss I don’t think gateron has an official storefront there.

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JensengTea OP t1_ja27vc0 wrote

Rough :/ I did end up contacting the vendor and they said they will send me a replacement for free. If those end up sounding the same, I don't know if I should try buying from a different source or just give up and try spring swapping my current switches.

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