Issues with Zealios V2 in KBD Bella

[Nil-Tsung]

Hi everyone,

I'm currently doing my first build and I'm having issues fitting my Zealios V2 switches into the plate/pcb. When trying to push them into the sockets there is a lot of resistance and even with strong force I can't fully push them in :-/ I also had issues removing the ones that I tried, with one switch being completely stuck.

I'm not sure if this has to do with the hot swap pcb or the plate. I also have Holy Pandas here and the housing of those fits in like a charm.

Do you guys know if there are any compatility issues with Zealios V2?

Thanks!

[Nil-Tsung]

I guess I figured it out. Now that I have completed the build, it seems that all keycaps are slightly out of place at the same angle. I guess the cut out on the plate are slightly off angle compared to the sockets on the pcb and somehow the Zealios had more issues with this than the HPs.

Since this is my first build and to be 100% sure. This is not how its supposed to be right? This isn't within tolerance levels or so...?

[suicidal_orange]

You're right, the switches all look like they have been twisted with the top right corner higher.  I have no idea how they could manage to cut a plate that badly (if you move a lazer or milling tool across it will go in a straight line and the tops will be level with each other if not the edge of the plate but it's too wide for that.

Maybe the plate isn't very tight around the switches and the sockets are soldered at an angle?

[Nil-Tsung]

Yes, that possible too. Unfortunately I'm not able to check that right now. I would need to remove the switches and dissassemble plate and pcb however I'm missing a proper switch puller to do that (ordered one from Amazon yesterday).

What I noticed is that the enter key as well as the left shift and the key next to left shift are perfectly centered. My theory is that the ISO keys were cut out first and the rest of the plate was finished on another machine or so...

Anyway, does anyone here has seen sth. like this before? I guess I should not accept it? Does anyone have experience with return policy / warranty claims in regards to KBDfans?

[Nil-Tsung]

Disassembled everything- someone able to see if its the cutouts on the plate which are misaligned or if its the sockets on the pcb? 

[suicidal_orange]

Looking at the pics and drawing a square around a hole it looks like the corners aren't round so there's extra plate at the top of the right edge and the left side of the top edge which would cause the twisting seen earlier.



If you have a ruler you could lay it on the top of the sockets and it should touch all the way along all of them.  You can also put a few switches in the plate spaced out a bit with no PCB and same again - it should touch all the way along (I don't think it will)

[Nil-Tsung]

Good idea with the ruler. As expected there is a small gap between the ruler and the upper left corner of the switches.



What I've also noticed is that when I place the ruler on the switch for left shift and the switch next to left shift (the ones that are correctly aligned), the space between the ruler and the cutouts is getting less from cutout to cutout.



So I guess its confirmed that the plate is the issue here. I just hope KBDFans has a spare one in stock. But even then, I hope that the whole batch of ISO plates wasn't messed up during production.

[suicidal_orange]

It's a universal plate (a dedicated one would not have the L shape around enter) so potentially it's the whole batch.  Hopefully not!

[Nil-Tsung]

Ok well thats good news. Just checked some YouTube videos in which the keys are normally aligned. Tf happened to my plate then is the question... 

[Nil-Tsung]

Hi everyone, really hoping for some feedback here since this is starting to drive me crazy... KDBfans send me another plate, however it is excactly the same All switches besides ISO keys are twisted, however I believe very slightly less than before, not sure though...



Which makes me wondering - if this is a universal plate all of them most likely would have been produced in one batch wouldn't they? What I don't understand is that theres plenty of pictures from KBDfans Bella Keyboard in the web were the switches are perfectly normal so how come I have the same issue twice??

I've also put the switches into the pcb only to make sure its not the hot swap sockets that are soldered off angle, but the keys were algined normally. Then I put the sitches in the plate only and they were twisted, so its 100% confirmed its the plate..

Question to you guys. Before sending me the new plate, KBDfans suggested that I take a file to finish the plate myself... Do you think this is worth a try? I can't imagine that I'm able to make the cutouts in such precision as a machine does. If I try it, were would I need to work in the cutouts? What kind of tooling would I actually need for that?

Alternatively I could just ask for a refund. I feel like already too many hours went into that sh... board.