Author Topic: Are you a Soldering Wizard? (Read 8864 times)

MMB · « **on:** Sun, 20 May 2012, 01:30:16 »

Are you a Soldering Wizard?

I am looking for a soldering wizard to do a plate mounted Cherry Black to Cherry Brown swap. The keyboard is backlit, and needs to stay that way. So I definitely need a pro. Hit me with a PM with your previous work and price

Input Nirvana · « **Reply #1 on:** Sun, 20 May 2012, 01:38:10 »

You can do it, it just takes a longer if you're not dialed in.
Unless you don't have the equipment.
I'd do it for free if I had the time

MMB · « **Reply #2 on:** Sun, 20 May 2012, 01:57:27 »

Quote from: input nirvana;596261

You can do it, it just takes a longer if you're not dialed in.
Unless you don't have the equipment.
I'd do it for free if I had the time

Yeah, I just don't want to practice on a brand new board

Input Nirvana · « **Reply #3 on:** Sun, 20 May 2012, 02:03:34 »

You can practice on a piece of junk, like a dead circuit board. Then start on your board.

Don't make it more complicated, Cherry switches are very easy for soldering. You can do this.

MMB · « **Reply #4 on:** Sun, 20 May 2012, 02:18:38 »

Or maybe I won't need it. Going to try it once... heh.

I believe this is Litster. If so, thanks Litster!

[video=youtube;HLQzFEdBTvQ]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HLQzFEdBTvQ[/video]

DanGWanG · « **Reply #5 on:** Sun, 20 May 2012, 02:23:40 »

You won't be able to do that with an LED keyboard =/ Also, from the video notes: "You can't do this with regular plate-mounted commercially available mechanical keyboards from WASD, Filco, Leopold, Rosewill, Ducky. This is only possible with the custom designed Phantom keyboard as seen on geekhack.org and deskthority.net"

MMB · « **Reply #6 on:** Sun, 20 May 2012, 02:28:09 »

hahah dang, I fail at reading.

So yeah, I still don't think I want to even attempt soldering on my own board.

kaiserreich · « **Reply #7 on:** Sun, 20 May 2012, 02:42:05 »

Quote from: input nirvana;596261

You can do it, it just takes a longer if you're not dialed in.
Unless you don't have the equipment.
I'd do it for free if I had the time

Removing the LED is a total pain in the bottom.
I tried that on my Poker, and I managed to kill the solder pads for 3 LEDs. Luckily I managed to blue wire the connections and get back the LED functions.

TheProfosist · « **Reply #8 on:** Sun, 20 May 2012, 02:55:20 »

I csn do the soldering the hard part i forsee is keeping the leds in order maybe do the board one switch at a time?

MMB · « **Reply #9 on:** Sun, 20 May 2012, 02:59:59 »

Quote from: TheProfosist;596284

I csn do the soldering the hard part i forsee is keeping the leds in order maybe do the board one switch at a time?

So is the difficult part removing the LED's? Is that just a de-soldering issue?

TheProfosist · « **Reply #10 on:** Sun, 20 May 2012, 03:01:59 »

Quote from: MagicMeatball;596287

So is the difficult part removing the LED's? Is that just a de-soldering issue?

Removing the leds and putting the back the same was yoy took them out not an issume with desoldering or soldering.

hamza_tm · « **Reply #11 on:** Sun, 20 May 2012, 05:18:16 »

If you have a board full of leds is it not possible to swap two switches without having to desolder an led? Thinking of a BWU.

mkawa · « **Reply #12 on:** Sun, 20 May 2012, 08:59:35 »

pm keebler64

DanGWanG · « **Reply #13 on:** Sun, 20 May 2012, 10:39:22 »

Quote from: TheProfosist;596284

I csn do the soldering the hard part i forsee is keeping the leds in order maybe do the board one switch at a time?

How about my keycaps first?

MMB · « **Reply #14 on:** Sun, 20 May 2012, 12:11:42 »

Quote from: mkawa;596334

pm keebler64

Thanks dude, I will pm him.

Tranquilite · « **Reply #15 on:** Sun, 20 May 2012, 17:09:28 »

Keeping track of the LED position isn't that hard as you can also determine polarity by looking at at the LED's filament. So as long as the board has all or most of the LED's in the same arrangement, then you can put them all back in the right way without much issue.

Incidentally enough, I myself have done a cherry black->brown mod of a backlit plate mount keyboard (a data 911 board), and let me tell you, it was a lot of work.

I'd probably be willing to do this for you if the price was right... which is to say you'd probably be better off getting someone else to do it. Backlit keyboards are more trouble than they are worth.

Actually, I'm not even using that data911 board any more, and would be happy to sell it. If you can deal with the odd layout, the touchpad, and complete lack of height adjustment, then send me a PM and we can work something out.

captain · « **Reply #16 on:** Sun, 20 May 2012, 17:55:08 »

Note that different color LEDs require different voltages, and if you just swap LEDs without properly re-engineering you will likely ruin something. This should not be a problem if you are just reusing the same old LEDs with the new switches.

Also, I'm not a "wiz", so I don't want to give a definitive answer, but you might want to look into solder composition and pick the most appropriate one for you needs. A lot of solder sold at retail now is "lead free", which IMHO is not as good as the old stuff for applications, like keyboards, that get banged around and could benefit from the flex-tolerance of lead based solders. Of course, you should never use lead based solders around children; lead causes brain damage in developing brains much more than it does in adults--but still, be careful!

__red__ · « **Reply #17 on:** Wed, 23 May 2012, 07:00:55 »

They're right, it's not difficult but it is really really time consuming.

I'd recommend using solder braid a opposed to a solder sucker for this type of work.

The leds will give you some grief as the capillary action will be stronger with those through plated holes.

A temperature controlled iron is not optional for this work. You'll need it especially since you will be working with more than one kind of solder.

One more thing, don't expect to use the same leds that are extracted. They're cheap enough that it's not a big deal - just didn't want you to be surprised.

Since you're swapping them, you have an opportunity to change their color :-)

The_Ed · « **Reply #18 on:** Sat, 16 June 2012, 18:18:42 »

I could do it, but it would be very expensive as it is extremely time consuming. placebo guy will vouch for my soldering service. I modded his filco in 2 days. If the filco hadn't been RoHS (lead-free) it would've only taken 1.

Leaded solder, desoldering braid, and a digital temperature controlled soldering iron are a must for keyboards and pretty much anything else.

MMB · « **Reply #19 on:** Sat, 16 June 2012, 18:24:12 »

I have honed my skills and equipment greatly since this post. I am now a wizard. Thanks for the offer

TheProfosist · « **Reply #20 on:** Sun, 04 November 2012, 02:02:16 »

Quote from: MMB on Sat, 16 June 2012, 18:24:12

I have honed my skills and equipment greatly since this post. I am now a wizard. Thanks for the offer

great to hear mmb, i on the otherhand am not a wizard and cant afford the equipment to better handle more complex situations.

Sifo · « **Reply #21 on:** Sun, 04 November 2012, 02:11:00 »

Quote from: MMB on Sun, 20 May 2012, 02:28:09

I still don't think I want to even attempt soldering on my own board.

LOL. This thread killed me and motivated me to do great things. How times have changed, MM's a pro now

MMB · « **Reply #22 on:** Sun, 04 November 2012, 02:54:59 »

Damn bro. This is a super necro bump LOL

I was motivated to learn on my own after not finding anyone to help me

mistakemistake · « **Reply #23 on:** Sun, 04 November 2012, 02:57:41 »

I was so confused until I saw the OP date..

TheProfosist · « **Reply #24 on:** Sun, 04 November 2012, 02:59:40 »

Quote from: MMB on Sun, 04 November 2012, 02:54:59

Damn bro. This is a super necro bump LOL

I was motivated to learn on my own after not finding anyone to help me

yea i tried but couldnt go back much further

I would have but yea ... Times can get real busy real fast with college calsses involved

TheProfosist · « **Reply #25 on:** Sun, 04 November 2012, 03:00:26 »

Quote from: mistakemistake on Sun, 04 November 2012, 02:57:41

I was so confused until I saw the OP date..

sorry my bad everyone for the super necro bump as MMB said.

News:

Author Topic: Are you a Soldering Wizard? (Read 8864 times)