Extreme difficulty inserting Kailh Low Profile Choc Switches into plate and PCB.
Hello, I am having an extremely difficult time trying to insert the Kailh Low Profile Choc Switches into the plate and PCB. Coincidentally, this is the part of the build guide lacking a video.
The switches require an incredibly large amount of force to insert, and as I understand it the goal is to have them pushed in so that the white clips lock on the other side.
It took over an hour to get them inserted into one plate (recommended to do the plate then the PCB on the guide), after which I tried putting it into the PCB. I was not successful.
I tried Joe Scotto's video where he suggests only putting in a few to line up with the PCB, but getting the switches in with that becomes nigh impossible and all the other switches constantly get unseated when doing so.
I have tried a variety of techniques but for the life of me cannot figure out how to do this successfully. I am at a loss.
37 Replies
Inserting Kailh Low Profile Choc switches can indeed be a bit challenging due to their design. Here are some tips to help you with the process:
1. Orientation: Ensure that the switches are oriented correctly. The pins on the back should be facing downwards when inserting into the plate.
2. Pre-insertion: Before inserting the switches into the PCB, try inserting them into the plate first. Make sure they are fully seated in the plate, with the clips locking in place. If they are not locking, they may not be aligned properly.
3. Alignment: When inserting the switches into the PCB, ensure that the pins are straight and aligned with the holes in the PCB. Misalignment can cause resistance and make it difficult to push them in.
4. Use a Flat Surface: Place the plate on a flat, stable surface. This will give you better leverage when pushing the switches in.
5. Apply Even Pressure: When pushing the switches into the PCB, apply even pressure on both sides of the switch. You can use your thumbs to push down firmly while stabilizing the plate with your fingers.
6. Wiggle Technique: If the switch is particularly stubborn, try gently wiggling it while applying pressure. This can help the pins find their way into the holes.
7. Check for Obstructions: Ensure there are no obstructions in the PCB holes that could be preventing the pins from going through.
8. Consider Lubrication: If the switches are still difficult to insert, a small amount of dielectric grease on the pins may help reduce friction.
If you've tried all these techniques and are still having trouble, it may be worth checking if the switches are compatible with your specific plate and PCB setup. Sometimes, slight variations in manufacturing can lead to fit issues. Good luck!
Could it be a top/bottom thing? The force needed to get a Choc v1 switch into a FR4 plate with Choc-sized holes should be no more than 2x to 4x the force of typing on fairly heavy keys. Which key switches are you using?
I can imagine it possible but extremely difficult to push the switch's top through the hole "from below" as it were
I am using these.
I don't see any noticeable difference between the sides of the plates as they fit interchangeably betwen the cases.
Indeed. The plate is essentially reversible, but which side of the switch you put in matters
Just to make sure, it is a Choc plate not an MX plate, right? 🙂
Yes, it appears to be.
What I have been doing is orienting the pins to the bottom, then resting the switch on the "top" of the plate. I then rotate the plate and switch and apply a downward force to get the white clips to emerge through and lock in.
Trying to insert them directly from the front required even more force and often led to the locks bending outward incorrectly.
Sounds good. So like the black part of the switch, with the pins, goes into the hole, then you press on the clear part, where the stem is, and the plate from opposite directions?
I, too, found that the clips would bend out without very careful alignment and direction of force
That is what I tried originally. I could not get the switch to go in that way.
If you can get a couple of fingers behind the plate and press on the clear part of the housing with both thumbnails, that is the most reliable method I have found
Angle seems to matter a fair bit, and is tough to line up visually with such flat switches
To clarify, this is my current method.
It is flipped over from 1 -> 2.
Gotcha. FR4 has a lot of flexibility, so the closer you can get to the switch itself with the force, the better
I will try this now.
But that direction looks correct, and using a tabletop to keep the switch even ought to be good for keeping the switch itself steady
Gotcha. FR4 has a lot of flexibility, so the closer you can get to the switch itself with the force, the betterI had noticed that - I ended up using a thin sharpie to concentrate the force on the four corners of the switch without hitting the others.
I wonder how much tolerance there is in the manufacture of Typeractive's plates. I think they are laser cut, so I would expect them to be very consistent
When doing so, is the switch inserted at an angle (hooking one side of the clips in) then pushed down? Or do you try to push it in with it being level?
Once a few other switches are solidly clicked into the plate, they lend a little rigidity to the structure
As level as possible. The barbs on the clips should be angled enough to squeeze themselves in when you press evenly
I am having various levels of success with this approach (~75%); it is difficult to do so without touching the pins of the inserted switches already, and some switches seem much harder to do it with for unknown reasons; falling back to my diagrammed method works in those cases.
But this is a significant improvement, as the flip-the-board approach is time consuming, and the plate is now complete with switches.
Do you have any recommendations on how to connect the plated switches into the PCB? The approaches suggested by the build guide and Joe Scotto did not work.
Getting the switches into the sockets starts out tricky, but gets easier as more and more of the switches are partially inserted. What worked for me is to lay the whole thing lightly over the PCB so that the pins are just resting on their respective sockets, then gently push a corner one in until the socket starts to grip the pins, then move onto its neighbor and do the same thing, repeating until all of them are partially in
If we call the first pass 20% you might need 3 to 5 passes to do the whole thing, rippling them in 20% to 50% at a time
Don't worry if a few pop out; you can reseat them individually later, and their neighbors should keep the plate held up enough for them to click in
Should there be a little space between the plate and PCB, or should it be flush against it?
If you need to reseat one on the edge or corner, it can be helpful to put a bit of cardboard or a credit card between the plate and the PCB, to lever things back into place
Should be about 1.5mm space between plate and PCB if I recall correctly
Actually, maybe less. The plate is 1.6mm thick (sorry, Typeractive plates are 1.2mm; I must have been thinking of other PCBs)
Anyhow, the space under a Choc v1's "collar" is 2.2mm, so with a 1.2mm plate, there should be about 1mm of air space
Here on my Corne, the plate has slipped down a little (maybe when I swapped in the pink switch for the thumb key)
There are various levels of plastc-bit protrusion on the PCB side - I'm guessing that they should be fully protruding?
It appears one of the bottom "metal pieces" on the PCB has now come detached.
I have pushed the metal bit back in place, but what appears to be copper wires are now visible.
Is this something that can be fixed?
Regarding the plastic bits, yes, those should protrude past the back of the PCB. Choc v1 switches are "5 pin" switches: two conductive metal pins and three plastic pins for seating and alignment.
That metal piece looks like maybe one of the traces lifted from the PCB. It is fixable, but surprising for that to happen. If the wire-like bit is still connected to the pad where the Kailh hot-swap socket is soldered on, you could just tape it down with a little piece of electrical tape.
If the trace is broken, fixing it would require some soldering and probably an extra piece of fine-gauge wire: basically you would make a bodge wire to connect the end of the hot-swap socket to the nearest stable portion of the trace. Getting solderable access to a stable portion of trace would take some careful scraping with a craft knife or razor to scrape away the black solder mask and expose the copper underneath
Did the whole hotswap socket lift away from the board?
Yes.
If I pushed it back in, it pushed the switch back out.
I ended up having to shove them both together.
The trace (wire part) appears to be broken as it is no longer connected to the metal bit.
I do not have any experience with soldering; what classifies as a stable portion of the trace?
Would it be possible to just place a bit of sodder connecting the trace back to the metal bit?
Maybe. (disclaimer: I have never tried repairing a trace like this, and I am pretty new to soldering myself)
The key is to make sure that there is electrical continuity where there should be, and no shorts where there shouldn't be, and that the whole thing stays that way during normal use 🙂
If the hotswap socket lifted, you probably should immobilize it somehow. Electrical tape might do the trick, or tiny spots of superglue. Normally it is the solder holding it in place, but if it lifted, chances are it brought the solder pads with it.
If you can get the lifted traces to touch the contacts of the socket where they are supposed to and reconnect them with solder, that should be good enough. Probably a good idea to cover them with electrical tape to prevent shorts, if there is any chance they would flop and touch other conductors.
So long as it touches one of these metal bits (designated A and B), it would be sufficient to restore connectivity?
Yep! If I am reading it right, A is the contact on the socket and B is the lifted pad from the PCB. They have a nice, clean solder joint between them, but the adhesion between the pad and the rest of the PCB gave up and gave out.
Gotcha.
If the copper part near B were really busted, you could scrape back the black covering near where it disappears into the board and use that as a mini pad for a flywire bodge.
I hope it doesn't come to that, but first I will do the left board get that one hopefully okay, then solder this right board.
By the way, I am deeply appreciative of all of your help so far. It has been extremely helpful.
I wasn't able to solder the right board.
No matter how much solder I put, the trace does not seem to want to reconnect.
I've reached out to support to see what can be done about replacing this single board since the other board seems to work fine.
Hope it goes well!
Thank you.
Replacement board just arrived, managed to get the switches in!
Now I just have to figure out the keycaps.
Done! Thanks for all your help.