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geekhack Projects => Making Stuff Together! => Topic started by: Connly33 on Mon, 11 January 2016, 00:25:57

Title: My first 60% board, buildlog
Post by: Connly33 on Mon, 11 January 2016, 00:25:57
I have finally got all of the parts and finished my first DIY mech keyboard. One of the main reasons I finally joined the forum's. I know a lot of other's have done their own build's, and go to the point of making there own cases/ plates and even handwriting there board's.
But i thought i would make a post about my first DIY board and some of the newb issues i have ran into. But now i know better for my next build's.

For part's I went for a GH60 "satan" PCB , i was originally going to go for a sprit 60% but i couldn't find any last minute.
An orange anodized plate i wont on a live stream from LeandreN
with Cherry MX Clear switches, an aluminum casted case that i got on the mech market subreddit for $40 from a Pok3r. ( being casted it led to my main newb mistake) and PCB mount Cherry stabilizers.

[attach=1][attach=2][attach=3][attach=4]

First i clipped and lubed all of the stabilizers with a dry teflon based lube following a couple guides on the forum. I used a teflon based lube mainly because that is what i had.
[attach=5]
Then I lined up the bottom row and did a test fit with all of the modifier keys to make sure i was using all of the slots in the PCB for a standard layout.  This is what i had anticipated as being one of the tricky part's but it was fairly simple.
[attach=6]
After that i made sure all of the switches were flush with the PCB and soldered them in place, which was fairly easy and only took me about 10 or so minutes, i have done a fair amount of soldering, this is just my first time on a keyboard.
[attach=7]
After that i plugged the board into my PC and went to Keyboardtester.com to make sure every switch worked before placeing the board into the Pok3r case and screwing it in, one screw hole gave me a bit of trouble and took awhile to line up with the pok3r case screw standoffs.
[attach=8]
Then i placed all of the keycaps ( a thick PBT set from Geekkeys) onto the switches, though a few days before i put a bit of teflon lube in each of the keycap mounting holes as Cherry clear switches have a MUCH tighter hold onto the keycaps.
[attach=9][attach=10]

But when i went to plug it in afterwards is when i ran into issues. At first it seemed to work fine, but after a few seconds my motherboard shut the USB port off and gave a power surge notification, meaning it exceeded the 3 amp rating of my front panel USB header. I then unplugged the keyboard immediately and noticed a strong electronic burning smell, and was convinced that i fried the controller by not insulating the PCB from the non anodized aluminum case. I then looked into it and found that the Pok3r is supposed to have a plastic insulating sheet under the PCB. So at that point i mentally wrote the PCB off as dead. I then pulled it apart to find out what had happened, and despite the clear MX stems being coated in teflon, these particular keycaps made for a VERY tight fit. I ended up pulling two key switch tops off, broke my keycap puller and pulled the stabilizer bars from the stabilizers which i then had to put back in place with tweezers from underneath the plate, to get to the screws, but luckily the plate allows the switch tops to be removed.

Long story short, i got the board out to find that the aluminum case had shorted a positive pad on an SMD cap/resistor to the ground connector on the USB port and burned the trace, so all i had to do was bridge a wire from the USB connector to the pad that had been shorted
[attach=11]
After fixing that I used a couple layers of thick packing tape on the bottom of the PCB to insulate it from the case, cutting out the screw holes and reset button which has worked great as of now

I probably made that a bit too long but i am very happy with the keyboard despite the issues i had, and building it was a fun learning experience. I'm already planning my next build, maybe a 40%.


Title: Re: My first 60% board, buildlog
Post by: neverused on Mon, 11 January 2016, 01:25:31
Nice job for your first time, it's always a good feeling when you troubleshoot successfully.

(https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20160111/55230d2885edb92328ad0e1e7b7cc77e.jpg)
Title: Re: My first 60% board, buildlog
Post by: Moistgun on Mon, 11 January 2016, 09:39:37
Excellent! Nice work.

I was getting nervous reading this  :))
I have the same PCB coming and didn't know where the problem you had was going to come from.

If this happened to me I wouldn't have known what to do.  Good thing I bought a plastic case   :-X
Title: Re: My first 60% board, buildlog
Post by: merlin64 on Mon, 11 January 2016, 11:32:16
I get really paranoid about that kind of thing. I ended up putting drawer liner in between my pcb and metal case. 4 bucks for a whole roll at Fred Meyer
Title: Re: My first 60% board, buildlog
Post by: Steezus on Mon, 11 January 2016, 11:41:40
The Pok3r case comes with plastic cover inside to stop the PCB from shorting out or having any problems, did you not receive that when you bought it from the other user on Reddit?

Nice build though, the first build is always so exciting. :thumb:
Title: Re: My first 60% board, buildlog
Post by: lunas on Mon, 11 January 2016, 12:30:52
Quote from: Steezus on Mon, 11 January 2016, 11:41:40

The Pok3r case comes with plastic cover inside to stop the PCB from shorting out or having any problems, did you not receive that when you bought it from the other user on Reddit?

Nice build though, the first build is always so exciting. :thumb:

I bought a late edition Pok3r from Amazon (non-backlit) and the case has no plastic cover inside; nothing between the PCB and the case. My understanding is all the later Pok3r's did away with the plastic cover.  The case itself also looks different and does not have the high ridges running side to side.

[attach=1]
Ignore the rubber liner. I'm experimenting with sound dampening. The pic shows the PCB only touches the case at the screw mounts and the small supports around the edge of the case.

Great build log. These are always my favorite reading. I'm planning my first in the next few months. Thanks for posting!
Title: Re: My first 60% board, buildlog
Post by: Connly33 on Mon, 11 January 2016, 16:10:25
Quote from: Steezus on Mon, 11 January 2016, 11:41:40
The Pok3r case comes with plastic cover inside to stop the PCB from shorting out or having any problems, did you not receive that when you bought it from the other user on Reddit?

Nice build though, the first build is always so exciting. :thumb:
No i didn't receive the cover with it. And by looking at the case i didn't think it would have an issue with the what looked like powder coating, but now i know lol The high ridges press right up against a few components.

Thank you, deffinitly was exciting.
Quote from: neverused on Mon, 11 January 2016, 01:25:31
Nice job for your first time, it's always a good feeling when you troubleshoot successfully.
Show Image
(https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20160111/55230d2885edb92328ad0e1e7b7cc77e.jpg)

Thank you, it deffinitly does fee good being able to troubleshoot, especially if you dont have to end up redoing everything!
Quote from: Moistgun on Mon, 11 January 2016, 09:39:37
Excellent! Nice work.

I was getting nervous reading this  :))
I have the same PCB coming and didn't know where the problem you had was going to come from.

If this happened to me I wouldn't have known what to do.  Good thing I bought a plastic case   :-X
You deffinitly shouldn't have any issues with a plastic case :p
Quote from: merlin64 on Mon, 11 January 2016, 11:32:16
I get really paranoid about that kind of thing. I ended up putting drawer liner in between my pcb and metal case. 4 bucks for a whole roll at Fred Meyer
That's not bad for the price, and i see quite a few others using drawer liner for sound dampening.

Quote from: lunas on Mon, 11 January 2016, 12:30:52

I bought a late edition Pok3r from Amazon (non-backlit) and the case has no plastic cover inside; nothing between the PCB and the case. My understanding is all the later Pok3r's did away with the plastic cover.  The case itself also looks different and does not have the high ridges running side to side.

(Attachment Link)
Ignore the rubber liner. I'm experimenting with sound dampening. The pic shows the PCB only touches the case at the screw mounts and the small supports around the edge of the case.

Great build log. These are always my favorite reading. I'm planning my first in the next few months. Thanks for posting!

The ridges were my issue, they pressed right up against that surface mount component, and with the screw holes grounding the case.... that didn't go well. Probably a good thing that they got rid of the ridges.

But how well does that rubber work for sound dampening ?

And thank you, i really enjoy reading all of the buildlogs as well.
Title: Re: My first 60% board, buildlog
Post by: lunas on Mon, 11 January 2016, 22:19:31
The rubber did make difference although I think just putting it on a mousepad was the majority of the difference. The aluminum case is already pretty solid, so I don't think the dampening did as much as it might for a plastic case.


I just posted a few sound tests with the dampening and mouse pad here (https://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=78578.msg2003865#msg2003865). I think the sorbothane was overkill, but a case liner of some sort does reduce the reverb from the case.
Title: Re: My first 60% board, buildlog
Post by: Connly33 on Wed, 20 January 2016, 21:06:29
Quote from: lunas on Mon, 11 January 2016, 22:19:31
The rubber did make difference although I think just putting it on a mousepad was the majority of the difference. The aluminum case is already pretty solid, so I don't think the dampening did as much as it might for a plastic case.


I just posted a few sound tests with the dampening and mouse pad here (https://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=78578.msg2003865#msg2003865). I think the sorbothane was overkill, but a case liner of some sort does reduce the reverb from the case.

I have a nice thick mousepad coming soon, so ill see what that does for the sound of my board and the desk under it.