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geekhack Projects => Making Stuff Together! => Topic started by: daviswalkers on Fri, 30 January 2015, 23:43:02

Title: [SOLVED]Help with adding LED's to my Poker II
Post by: daviswalkers on Fri, 30 January 2015, 23:43:02
Alright so me being the optimist I am decided I was going to get into keyboard modding, and my first matter of business was trying to add LED's to my Poker II, I had seen a guide on reddit that made it seem quite simple (http://www.reddit.com/r/MechanicalKeyboards/comments/1unz48/poker_ii_led_mod_guide/)

However I'm already stuck on like step 2 or something, I'm trying to remove the solder previously on the board (honestly why do they even do that why not just leave the holes exposed? Is there a legitimate reason?) and I can get all the surface solder removed no problem but cant seem to get any of the solder out of the hole. The guide says to use a solder sucker, however I remember reading some soldering guide on here saying that solder suckers, well, suck, and having a father who I knew has done a fair amount of soldering asked him for what he would suggest, to which he instantly replied, a soldering wick. So that's what I'm trying to use, thats the only thing I can think of that would be causing a problem, maybe he didn't know the intricacy of a PCB and has only worked on larger projects.
Here are some pictures of what I'm using (my other concern is the size of the soldering tip)
(http://i.imgur.com/0GBkqi1.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/gKcqKF1.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/1674oti.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/qGtM49h.jpg)

Also if you look at the second two images you'll see a slight discoloration on the PCB where I was heating up the solder, is this something that could damage the PCB or should I not be extremely worried?
Title: Re: Help with adding LED's to my Poker II
Post by: slickmamba on Sat, 31 January 2015, 00:03:10
solder suckers work fine for me.  for tricky holes, try adding more solder, and be sure the entire thing is reflowed
Title: Re: Help with adding LED's to my Poker II
Post by: daviswalkers on Sat, 31 January 2015, 00:05:40
Quote from: slickmamba on Sat, 31 January 2015, 00:03:10
solder suckers work fine for me.  for tricky holes, try adding more solder, and be sure the entire thing is reflowed

Thanks I forgot to mention I did try adding more solder, maybe I'll have to give a sucker a shot!
Title: Re: Help with adding LED's to my Poker II
Post by: Cottonsox on Sat, 31 January 2015, 00:21:12
I have had more success with a solder sucker then wick when it comes to my poker pcb.

I was very new to soldering  also and thoughy i had dmged my board also, they are pretty resilient  as long as you don't  lift a pad. Even then can be fixed.

Gl!
Title: Re: Help with adding LED's to my Poker II
Post by: jdcarpe on Sat, 31 January 2015, 00:29:45
I wouldn't waste too much time trying to get all the solder out of a double sided through hole with a braid. Even with a good quality solder sucker, such as the Edsyn Soldapullt, you may not get all the solder out. With a desoldering tool such as a Hakko 808, maybe.

Insert the leads of the LED into their location in the switch, as far as they will go. Then alternate heating both pads with your soldering iron, while pushing the LED into the holes. When the LED is properly seated, trim the leads and give it a good bead of solder as with any joint.

Also, try not to leave the iron tip on the solder pads too long. It doesn't look like you have a temperature controlled iron, so it's probably way too hot for what you're doing. You could end up burning the solder pads off the holes.

Hope this helps!
Title: Re: Help with adding LED's to my Poker II
Post by: daviswalkers on Sat, 31 January 2015, 03:43:26
Quote from: Cottonsox on Sat, 31 January 2015, 00:21:12
I have had more success with a solder sucker then wick when it comes to my poker pcb.

I was very new to soldering  also and thoughy i had dmged my board also, they are pretty resilient  as long as you don't  lift a pad. Even then can be fixed.

Gl!
Hmmm and how would one, fix said problem... No reason of course... :-[


Quote from: jdcarpe on Sat, 31 January 2015, 00:29:45
I wouldn't waste too much time trying to get all the solder out of a double sided through hole with a braid. Even with a good quality solder sucker, such as the Edsyn Soldapullt, you may not get all the solder out. With a desoldering tool such as a Hakko 808, maybe.

Insert the leads of the LED into their location in the switch, as far as they will go. Then alternate heating both pads with your soldering iron, while pushing the LED into the holes. When the LED is properly seated, trim the leads and give it a good bead of solder as with any joint.

Also, try not to leave the iron tip on the solder pads too long. It doesn't look like you have a temperature controlled iron, so it's probably way too hot for what you're doing. You could end up burning the solder pads off the holes.

Hope this helps!
So I thought of this right after I finished and was curious why this wasn't the standard glad to know I wasn't completely crazy for thinking I could do something like that!


So I watched a few youtube videos and decided to go for it, I have a new keyboard on the way so worst case scenerio I destroy the thing and have one less board to not use for no reason.
And I'm quite happy with the result, I sadly removed a soldering pad but I ended up just making a pattern of missing leds so it wasn't obvious there was just one missing and honestly you cant even tell (as long as I continue to use thick PBT non led trans (or whatever the keys that have a window for the backlight are called)
(http://i.imgur.com/i37PJyl.jpg?1)
(http://i.imgur.com/cCVyM3Q.jpg?1)
(http://i.imgur.com/w0dvzsQ.jpg?1)
(http://i.imgur.com/mK7CAUN.jpg)
It's in a Blue Tex Aluminum case, I also have an Acrylic one on the way from Massdrop and was going to try to buy some led strips to put in the case to make it glow from within but wasn't sure how I would achieve that.

Also as someone who used to be a goldsmith I'm quite used to welding Jewelery and repairing gold/silver/platinum but haven't worked with any of the metals used for this, I didn't think about this until just as I was typing this, should I be concerned if I inhaled a decent amount of fumes?
Title: Re: Help with adding LED's to my Poker II
Post by: Lain1911 on Sat, 31 January 2015, 10:39:52
Quote from: daviswalkers on Sat, 31 January 2015, 03:43:26
Quote from: Cottonsox on Sat, 31 January 2015, 00:21:12
I have had more success with a solder sucker then wick when it comes to my poker pcb.

I was very new to soldering  also and thoughy i had dmged my board also, they are pretty resilient  as long as you don't  lift a pad. Even then can be fixed.

Gl!
Hmmm and how would one, fix said problem... No reason of course... :-[


Quote from: jdcarpe on Sat, 31 January 2015, 00:29:45
I wouldn't waste too much time trying to get all the solder out of a double sided through hole with a braid. Even with a good quality solder sucker, such as the Edsyn Soldapullt, you may not get all the solder out. With a desoldering tool such as a Hakko 808, maybe.

Insert the leads of the LED into their location in the switch, as far as they will go. Then alternate heating both pads with your soldering iron, while pushing the LED into the holes. When the LED is properly seated, trim the leads and give it a good bead of solder as with any joint.

Also, try not to leave the iron tip on the solder pads too long. It doesn't look like you have a temperature controlled iron, so it's probably way too hot for what you're doing. You could end up burning the solder pads off the holes.

Hope this helps!
So I thought of this right after I finished and was curious why this wasn't the standard glad to know I wasn't completely crazy for thinking I could do something like that!


So I watched a few youtube videos and decided to go for it, I have a new keyboard on the way so worst case scenerio I destroy the thing and have one less board to not use for no reason.
And I'm quite happy with the result, I sadly removed a soldering pad but I ended up just making a pattern of missing leds so it wasn't obvious there was just one missing and honestly you cant even tell (as long as I continue to use thick PBT non led trans (or whatever the keys that have a window for the backlight are called)
Show Image
(http://i.imgur.com/i37PJyl.jpg?1)

Show Image
(http://i.imgur.com/cCVyM3Q.jpg?1)

Show Image
(http://i.imgur.com/w0dvzsQ.jpg?1)

Show Image
(http://i.imgur.com/mK7CAUN.jpg)

It's in a Blue Tex Aluminum case, I also have an Acrylic one on the way from Massdrop and was going to try to buy some led strips to put in the case to make it glow from within but wasn't sure how I would achieve that.

Also as someone who used to be a goldsmith I'm quite used to welding Jewelery and repairing gold/silver/platinum but haven't worked with any of the metals used for this, I didn't think about this until just as I was typing this, should I be concerned if I inhaled a decent amount of fumes?

Looks good :thumb:
Title: Re: Help with adding LED's to my Poker II
Post by: daviswalkers on Sat, 31 January 2015, 14:19:26
Quote from: Cottonsox on Sat, 31 January 2015, 00:21:12
Looks good :thumb:

Thanks :D