A few key switches failed... Help

[fatchoi]

Hi Guys,

I've just replace a grey switch for the space bar of my Poker one...
And used a new acrylic case.

Now my number one, tab, and esc are all not working. (other keys are all fine)
I'm now worried about breaking my board's pcb, but when I press FN+Q (poker fn key), the LED key at Esc can be toggled. So I suspect it's not the pcb broken.

Is there anyone who could give some advice please?

Thanks

[phoenix1234]

Hi Guys,

I've just replace a grey switch for the space bar of my Poker one...
And used a new acrylic case.

Now my number one, tab, and esc are all not working. (other keys are all fine)
I'm now worried about breaking my board's pcb, but when I press FN+Q (poker fn key), the LED key at Esc can be toggled. So I suspect it's not the pcb broken.

Is there anyone who could give some advice please?

Thanks

Can you please take a close-up picture of your PCB?

[rowdy]

Could be a faulty trace on the PCB that has been exacerbated by your replacing a switch.

A close-up in-focus picture of the traces around the switch you replaced might reveal if there is a PCB fault.

Just because the LED works does not necessarily mean that there is not a fault with the row/column traces.

[fatchoi]

Hi Guys,

I've just replace a grey switch for the space bar of my Poker one...
And used a new acrylic case.

Now my number one, tab, and esc are all not working. (other keys are all fine)
I'm now worried about breaking my board's pcb, but when I press FN+Q (poker fn key), the LED key at Esc can be toggled. So I suspect it's not the pcb broken.

Is there anyone who could give some advice please?

Thanks

Can you please take a close-up picture of your PCB?

Could be a faulty trace on the PCB that has been exacerbated by your replacing a switch.

A close-up in-focus picture of the traces around the switch you replaced might reveal if there is a PCB fault.

Just because the LED works does not necessarily mean that there is not a fault with the row/column traces.

Thank you both for your reply. Here comes the pic. Hope you guys could help, as poker is the board I love most and where I start soldering   

Front (at different angle):




Back:

[phoenix1234]

I'm not sure why your PCB is a bit messy 
Would you please check which kind of solder that you used for soldering.
Is it a good quality solder? Besides, please clean the residue.
Secondly, please verify the soldering joins. I'm not sure if the solder joins are in good condition.
Thirdly, please verify the traces as well as the eyelets (front and back) if all of them are inline as rowdy suggested.

[fatchoi]

I'm not sure why your PCB is a bit messy 
Would you please check which kind of solder that you used for soldering.
Is it a good quality solder? Besides, please clean the residue.
Secondly, please verify the soldering joins. I'm not sure if the solder joins are in good condition.
Thirdly, please verify the traces as well as the eyelets (front and back) if all of them are inline as rowdy suggested.

Thanks for your reply... I'm just a beginner so I messed up my pcb a bit.
Can you please suggest how could I clean the residue? (I will also google a bit)...
The solder joints for number one and tab are the factory solder. I will try resolder them.

It seems when I lift my pcb corner a little bit, those there keys are working again...

[phoenix1234]

I'm not sure why your PCB is a bit messy 
Would you please check which kind of solder that you used for soldering.
Is it a good quality solder? Besides, please clean the residue.
Secondly, please verify the soldering joins. I'm not sure if the solder joins are in good condition.
Thirdly, please verify the traces as well as the eyelets (front and back) if all of them are inline as rowdy suggested.

Thanks for your reply... I'm just a beginner so I messed up my pcb a bit.
Can you please suggest how could I clean the residue? (I will also google a bit)...
The solder joints for number one and tab are the factory solder. I will try resolder them.

It seems when I lift my pcb corner a little bit, those there keys are working again...

Basically, if you want to clean the residue, you can use 99.9% isopropyl alchohol and a clean toothbrush.

As you said, when you lift my pcb corner a little bit, those there keys are working again, do they work permanently or just temporarily?
If they just work temporarily, you should check the traces and joins in front and back (after cleaning the flux residue)
Besides, if you really want to have better joins, please use good soldering wire, something like Kester 44. Last but not least, when you do the soldering work, please let the flux flow to cover all over the legs of the switch, it will help better joins.

[fatchoi]

I'm not sure why your PCB is a bit messy 
Would you please check which kind of solder that you used for soldering.
Is it a good quality solder? Besides, please clean the residue.
Secondly, please verify the soldering joins. I'm not sure if the solder joins are in good condition.
Thirdly, please verify the traces as well as the eyelets (front and back) if all of them are inline as rowdy suggested.

Thanks for your reply... I'm just a beginner so I messed up my pcb a bit.
Can you please suggest how could I clean the residue? (I will also google a bit)...
The solder joints for number one and tab are the factory solder. I will try resolder them.

It seems when I lift my pcb corner a little bit, those there keys are working again...

Basically, if you want to clean the residue, you can use 99.9% isopropyl alchohol and a clean toothbrush.

As you said, when you lift my pcb corner a little bit, those there keys are working again, do they work permanently or just temporarily?
If they just work temporarily, you should check the traces and joins in front and back (after cleaning the flux residue)
Besides, if you really want to have better joins, please use good soldering wire, something like Kester 44. Last but not least, when you do the soldering work, please let the flux flow to cover all over the legs of the switch, it will help better joins.

Thank you once gain for your help
The keys occasionally worked for a few seconds when I lift the corner a bit. Now it doesn't work well.
The trace means the line on the PCB? They look fine to me.

I've bought some better Japanese solder wires, with lead (Pb). Seems those without lead is not as good.
And thanks for your advice once more, I will solder it better next time, as my skills have improved much, and I have a better sense.

[joneslee85]

Hey,

I've bumped into similar issue with swapping switches on my Poker II.

This is how I troubleshoot:

* check through-hole conductor by using multimeter /w beep noise when detecting short circuit, place one tip on the metal part of hole's top and bottom layer, my Poker II PCB is very poorly manufactured, there 2 switches that I have to manually use a wire and solder it in linking top and bottom hole part.

* do the same step but this time one tip on the diode and other on one leg of the soldered switches. If there is no beep from the multimeter, carefully link those two with a wire

* make sure the diodes are not affected by checking it with multimeter


PM me if you need assistance

[fatchoi]

Hey,

I've bumped into similar issue with swapping switches on my Poker II.

This is how I troubleshoot:

* check through-hole conductor by using multimeter /w beep noise when detecting short circuit, place one tip on the metal part of hole's top and bottom layer, my Poker II PCB is very poorly manufactured, there 2 switches that I have to manually use a wire and solder it in linking top and bottom hole part.

* do the same step but this time one tip on the diode and other on one leg of the soldered switches. If there is no beep from the multimeter, carefully link those two with a wire

* make sure the diodes are not affected by checking it with multimeter


PM me if you need assistance

Thank you. Let me try again during this weekend.