Some years ago after Kailh's switch hot-swap sockets first had been introduced, there were many forum threads about them breaking from swapping switches too often or carelessly. They were only surface-soldered to the back of the keyboard PCB, and they tended to take the soldering pad on the PCB with them.
For that reason, I have avoided hot-swap keyboards and not given them much thought.
Through the years, however, Kailh has apparently made revisions of their sockets, and there have been a few copies from other makers.
They seem to be very common these days; practically compulsory in new enthusiast keyboards these days.
But AFAIK, hot-swap sockets are still only surface-mounted on the back of PCBs.
Is there something I have missed?
Has the durability issue been improved ? Are there well-known methods for reducing the risk of sockets lifting pads and breaking PCBs?
Specifically, I am curious about:
• Are there specific types of PCBs that are better suited for sockets?
• Is there some way to support sockets from behind to reduce the risk of breakage?
• How does flex-cuts affect durability? Does it make it better or worse?
• Are there socket brands that are better than others?
