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geekhack Projects => Making Stuff Together! => Topic started by: Paranoid on Sun, 10 November 2013, 03:30:27

Title: Cherry G80-3700 Red Mod (Plate, Switches, LED, Cable, Caps, ..)
Post by: Paranoid on Sun, 10 November 2013, 03:30:27
Hi guys,

Thought I'd share the mod of my G80-3700 :)
It's mostly lots of pictures so I don't have to type up too much. Be sure to click on the "more" button for more pictures!

1. Taking this lovely numpad apart and desoldering all of the switches.
(http://i.imgur.com/9ucUZrK.jpg)
More
(http://i.imgur.com/HwBE19Q.jpg)


2. Sanding the Stainless Steel plate. Thanks to The_Beast for his continued hard work for the community.
(http://i.imgur.com/ijPhmvp.jpg)

3. Putting the new switches into the plate. A combination of the bottom of the old switches and the rest of the new switches since they weren't PCB mounted.
(http://i.imgur.com/rUyEfo3.jpg)
More
(http://i.imgur.com/nuqgRcm.jpg)


4. Placing the plate on the PCB.
(http://i.imgur.com/jq2cffb.jpg)

5. Fitting the female headers for the solderless switching of LEDS.
(http://i.imgur.com/0av6MFS.jpg)

6. Soldering the switches. Don't be a lazy idiot like me and forget about the U-shaped thingies inside of the pcb-mounted switch because obviously the numpad won't work otherwise.
(http://i.imgur.com/xAYMON6.jpg)

7. Stickering and lubing (Victorinox Multi-Tool oil and a mixture of Krytox GPL-205 and GPL-103).
(http://i.imgur.com/r7kHuct.jpg)
More
(http://i.imgur.com/TUOv6Eq.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/C1Rx5zP.jpg)


8. Cutting the case to fit with the SS plate.
(http://i.imgur.com/BoZAdj9.jpg)

9. Assembly without cable
(http://i.imgur.com/mGgAs0B.jpg)
More
(http://i.imgur.com/Y41l2uj.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/ZQ6AC7U.jpg)


10. Making the custom cable. Including design and 3D print of the fixture for the case.
(http://i.imgur.com/PjS3MwN.jpg)
More
(http://i.imgur.com/gBu9B2K.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/rGJ9z56.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/WRFxZIq.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/ut9pfsu.jpg)


11. Full assembly
(http://i.imgur.com/Uq5Evk5.jpg)
More
(http://i.imgur.com/uiQ2CRJ.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/cCOa89z.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/bM3C7ed.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/h7wUKEa.jpg)


12. Placing the red LED
(http://i.imgur.com/oKQZixo.jpg)
More
(http://i.imgur.com/n2qwrTr.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/GAqnTgS.jpg)


And that's it! The red themed Cherry G80-3700 :)
Hope you enjoyed it! Thanks!
Title: Re: Cherry G80-3700 Red Mod (Plate, Switches, LED, Cable, Caps, ..)
Post by: phetto on Sun, 10 November 2013, 03:37:01
Nice job, looks very clean. Great quality on the pics which is always a plus.
Title: Re: Cherry G80-3700 Red Mod (Plate, Switches, LED, Cable, Caps, ..)
Post by: Pacifist on Sun, 10 November 2013, 14:50:34
Where do you get those solderless LED heads? And if you have a plate with slots open to remove tops with plate mounted boards, can you open the top?
Title: Re: Cherry G80-3700 Red Mod (Plate, Switches, LED, Cable, Caps, ..)
Post by: metalliqaz on Sun, 10 November 2013, 15:01:19
very nice
Title: Re: Cherry G80-3700 Red Mod (Plate, Switches, LED, Cable, Caps, ..)
Post by: Dubsgalore on Sun, 10 November 2013, 15:22:01
awesome job, love the photos  :D
Title: Re: Cherry G80-3700 Red Mod (Plate, Switches, LED, Cable, Caps, ..)
Post by: Paranoid on Sun, 10 November 2013, 15:59:18
Thanks guys :)

Pacifist, maybe it's not clear on the pics but that is a plate where you can use tools to open the switches. It came from the_Beast. So yes, you can still open the switch up since the pins are inserted in the bottom half of the switch.

For the LED pins I'll just copy what I said over at DT:

About the LED pins, I originally had the inspiration from an article on KBDMania. I only found the article again after I already did the mod  :thumb:
http://www.kbdmania.net/xe/index.php?mid=best_article&document_srl=6246034&6246034_cpage=1

This guy tried different approaches to use these female headers. I also tried different things but figured I didn't want to do the effort of chamfering all of them precisely so I just cut them open completely and used only the pins. I did this for a whole keyboard as well, took me quite some time.

You can find em very cheap on Ebay:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/3Pcs-Single-Row-40Pin-2-54mm-Round-Female-Pin-Header-/140910386490?ssPageName=ADME:L:OC:BE:3160

But be advised, you have to be mentally prepared to do this for a whole keyboard   :cool:

You can see how I did it for a Ducky Shine II TKL here:
http://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=50784.0
Title: Re: Cherry G80-3700 Red Mod (Plate, Switches, LED, Cable, Caps, ..)
Post by: Photekq on Sun, 10 November 2013, 16:11:23
Nice job, and love the LED pins :D
Title: Re: Cherry G80-3700 Red Mod (Plate, Switches, LED, Cable, Caps, ..)
Post by: Photoelectric on Sun, 10 November 2013, 19:19:44
Thank you for the write ups and the information!  Do those housings come in 3 sets of 40 housings?
Just making sure I understand the listing, and you can confirm.  Then each kit is good for 60 LEDs, right?  2 kits per TKL or full size keyboard.
Title: Re: Cherry G80-3700 Red Mod (Plate, Switches, LED, Cable, Caps, ..)
Post by: Paranoid on Tue, 03 December 2013, 02:19:20
Wow, never got a email about your question Photoelectric! The listing is good for 60 LEDs. 3x40 pins. 2 kits would be recommended in case you break some. They're dirt cheap anyways ^^
Title: Re: Cherry G80-3700 Red Mod (Plate, Switches, LED, Cable, Caps, ..)
Post by: Photoelectric on Tue, 03 December 2013, 10:07:19
Quote from: Paranoid on Tue, 03 December 2013, 02:19:20
Wow, never got a email about your question Photoelectric! The listing is good for 60 LEDs. 3x40 pins. 2 kits would be recommended in case you break some. They're dirt cheap anyways ^^

Thanks, already ordered a bunch and they arrived yesterday :)  In your other mod thread, there's an eBay link to them.  Thanks again for posting these mods!