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geekhack Community => Keyboards => Topic started by: Toxic on Wed, 27 April 2011, 18:50:11

Title: Disassemble Cherry MX switches
Post by: Toxic on Wed, 27 April 2011, 18:50:11
I got LEO-FC200RT-KB tenkeyless with Cherry MX Blues from EK, and asked acquaintance of mine to deliver it to me (Ukraine), and he got it damaged during transportation. This is my fault, not EK's so there will no be refund or exchange.

It seems that bottom-right key (right arrow) has clicking part broken, the key itself works fine but there's no click - only a sound of something broken being in the way inside. I'd like to open the switch and investigate the matter and possibly just exchange switch with other one that is used rarely (like Caps Lock). KB has a metal plate, so according to FAQ I should solder them out to disassemble, right? Has anyone clear instructions on how to do that without damaging the switch? I don't have spare switches and doubt I will have ones in future.

TIA
and sorry for my English - not a native speaker.
Title: Disassemble Cherry MX switches
Post by: Human on Wed, 27 April 2011, 22:23:42
Quote from: Toxic;338329
I got LEO-FC200RT-KB tenkeyless with Cherry MX Blues from EK, and asked acquaintance of mine to deliver it to me (Ukraine), and he got it damaged during transportation. This is my fault, not EK's so there will no be refund or exchange.

It seems that bottom-right key (right arrow) has clicking part broken, the key itself works fine but there's no click - only a sound of something broken being in the way inside. I'd like to open the switch and investigate the matter and possibly just exchange switch with other one that is used rarely (like Caps Lock). KB has a metal plate, so according to FAQ I should solder them out to disassemble, right? Has anyone clear instructions on how to do that without damaging the switch? I don't have spare switches and doubt I will have ones in future.

TIA
and sorry for my English - not a native speaker.

 
Just go buy some spare switch or any donor board with Cherry Blue.
Title: Disassemble Cherry MX switches
Post by: Robbly on Wed, 27 April 2011, 23:34:39
To desolder, buy some desoldering braid and practice on some junk piece of circuit board. It's very easy.

After you get the two contacts desoldered, you have to push the plastic nub on the bottom of the switch (hard!) to pop it off the circuit board.

The switch itself has 4 little tabs (2 on each side) that hold the two parts together. I use one of these to pry them open:

[ATTACH=CONFIG]17715[/ATTACH]
Title: Disassemble Cherry MX switches
Post by: Toxic on Thu, 28 April 2011, 01:58:18
Quote from: Human;338467
Just go buy some spare switch or any donor board with Cherry Blue.

If only I had that possibility I wouldn't even start a thread. Unfortunately, I don't have one.

ripster, metal contact works fine, it's just click/tactile problem.

Robbly, thanks for the tips. I have some soldering skills. I just want to open the switch gracefully without breaking it.
Title: Disassemble Cherry MX switches
Post by: Toxic on Sun, 01 May 2011, 19:23:07
I found the problem. There was something wrong with metal contact shape inside that switch. After 15 minutes of experimenting with bending I've managed to restore sufficient tactile and sound response, and also swapped that switch with Win key switch, just for sure.

BTW, if someone is curious, the keyboard construction is solid and reliable, doesn't look cheap in any way, soldering quality is good. While USB-connected, provides 18KRO, more than enough.
Title: Disassemble Cherry MX switches
Post by: Human on Sun, 01 May 2011, 23:20:05
Quote from: Toxic;340046
I found the problem. There was something wrong with metal contact shape inside that switch. After 15 minutes of experimenting with bending I've managed to restore sufficient tactile and sound response, and also swapped that switch with Win key switch, just for sure.

BTW, if someone is curious, the keyboard construction is solid and reliable, doesn't look cheap in any way, soldering quality is good. While USB-connected, provides 18KRO, more than enough.

 
Wao, this is the first time i heard tha Leopold is having 18KRO under USB. Any picture?
Title: Disassemble Cherry MX switches
Post by: Toxic on Mon, 02 May 2011, 11:18:08
(http://i20.fastpic.ru/big/2011/0502/d3/ab6cb7e01c033b6b8db3a700dd7a82d3.png) (http://fastpic.ru/)
Title: Disassemble Cherry MX switches
Post by: BucklingSpring on Mon, 02 May 2011, 11:32:50
Quote from: Toxic;340046
I found the problem. There was something wrong with metal contact shape inside that switch. After 15 minutes of experimenting with bending I've managed to restore sufficient tactile and sound response, and also swapped that switch with Win key switch, just for sure.


Good job and congratulations. Glad for you it turned out that way.
Title: Disassemble Cherry MX switches
Post by: False_Dmitry_II on Mon, 02 May 2011, 12:20:51
To let OP know, when KRO is measured it's literally any combination of keys that are used. Alot of boards can activate more than their, say 2KRO, but things like ASX and whatnot fail.

Also, had you not mentioned it, your English is fine and would have gone unnoticed.
Title: Disassemble Cherry MX switches
Post by: canon.tk on Mon, 02 May 2011, 12:47:49
Tested my Leopold at work and I'm getting around 20 in aquakeytest (USB).
Title: Disassemble Cherry MX switches
Post by: Toxic on Mon, 02 May 2011, 13:12:35
ripster, it's USB, as I mentioned it earlier.

False_Dmitry_II, it doesn't depend on which keys you press. I did tests with many random combinations and it's almost always 18KRO (also had 19 or so few times).
Title: Disassemble Cherry MX switches
Post by: Toxic on Mon, 02 May 2011, 14:06:37
I can now play Mortal Kombat with my friends on a single keyboard. That's improvement against my old 2KRO rubber dome Cherry :)
Title: Disassemble Cherry MX switches
Post by: Toxic on Mon, 02 May 2011, 14:16:53
Yeah, but it has to be at least 2 keyboards per player, because there should be at least 4KRO per player while playing MK :)