Help - NK65 PCB

[da_koala]

I believe one of my hotswap sockets popped off the pad. I’ve done some research and it looks like I would have to bridge the connection to another component, I’m just not sure which one. Would anybody be able to help assist?

Pictures for reference: https://imgur.com/a/Ao4BpBy

[suicidal_orange]

The diode for that switch is D18 which looks to still be attached to the left pad.  It's a black PCB so I'm not sure but looks like the bottom of the diodes connect across the row?  If so the right pad would need to be bridged to the right pad of a switch in the row above or below.  Which switch?  You'll have to work it out by shorting their right side pads to D15 until it types whatever the switch attached to D15 should type - that's the one to solder.

You should wedge something between that socket and the case or glue the socket down otherwise the other side is likely to come off too.

[da_koala]

The diode for that switch is D18 which looks to still be attached to the left pad.  It's a black PCB so I'm not sure but looks like the bottom of the diodes connect across the row?  If so the right pad would need to be bridged to the right pad of a switch in the row above or below.  Which switch?  You'll have to work it out by shorting their right side pads to D15 until it types whatever the switch attached to D15 should type - that's the one to solder.

You should wedge something between that socket and the case or glue the socket down otherwise the other side is likely to come off too.

Thank you so much for your reply. I hate to bother you some more, but could you clarify how to short the right pads of the other switches? Do I solder a wire to the right pad of the lifted pad and hold the other end of the wire to another switch to test if it types the right letter?

I’m also a complete beginner - is this fix not worth my time (I’m willing to learn and try though!) and instead I should buy a replacement PCB?

Again, thank you so much for your time. I truly appreciate it!

[suicidal_orange]

A new PCB for one lifted pad?   Definitely not, soldering is fun and this will be much quicker than waiting for a delivery.

All you need to do is plug it in then touch a wire to a green and orange which bypasses the switch (much easier than trying to hold a wire while supporting the PCB and pressing a switch from below!) and it should type something.  Try the next green until it types the right thing, then solder between that green and pink.  If the switch still doesn't work you will also need to solder a wire between blue and orange to reconnect the diode, but that side looks to be fine.

[da_koala]

Thank you so much for the explanation and visual! I will definitely give this a go since I’ve been wanting to learn how to solder anyway. Your instructions have given me hope that this PCB is not a lost cause haha. Again, I appreciate you taking your time to respond!

[Leslieann]

This is why they recommend disassembly when installing switches, so you can press your finger against the hot swap during insertion.

While kind of a hassle, the real hassle is who in the hell decided that the one place they should use torq screws was the screws you will need to work with most often. Torq are good but few have a set of them.

[da_koala]

The sad part is that I did take the case apart to install the switches, per their installation video. so much for beginner’s luck, right? Haha. The bright side is at least this is the only socket that came off and it’s finally forcing me to actually learn to solder after months of putting it off.

 I do believe mine came with Phillips screws instead of torq, so I’m not sure if that’s a new feature.

[azimkajai]

Hey I'm new to the KB community. I was building my NK65 EE and had the same issue, but it's the left pad that got detached instead. Am I able to just connect the left pad side (MX36) to the diode (D36)?

[suicidal_orange]

Hey I'm new to the KB community. I was building my NK65 EE and had the same issue, but it's the left pad that got detached instead. Am I able to just connect the left pad side (MX36) to the diode (D36)?

Welcome to geekhack, sorry to hear you broke your new board.

This looks to be the most helpfully designed PCB I've ever seen as all the switch/diode pairs in the pic use the same number and are laid out in exactly the same way so I'm 99% sure it will work, but if MX/D36 is on a big key with multiple positions it may not be exactly the same.  You can see the trace on MX/D22 highlighted by light on the pic in this thread (left of the red box), if your key looks the same (or if you can see a trace going a different route between the switch and diode) it will work.

If in any doubt use the testing above - if orange to pink types the correct thing on your switch/diode soldering blue to orange will make your board good as new (as long as you keep the case on!)