SIP sockets for faster removal of LEDs

[damorgue]

Here is another one of my guides to something which I thought was quite obvious but which I receive a lot of questions about. Using SIP sockets in Cherry MX switches which allows you to exchange the LEDs much faster without desoldering.


End result:




Required parts:
Cherry MX switch, the MX lock is unsuitable unfortunately. I might make another guide for how to install LEDs to make the LED legs centered though.
LED, 2x3x4mm is suitable. If you get a round 3mm one, get one without the flange and preferably with a flat top)
SIP sockets, they usually come in arrays with a certain pitch where you snap off the number you need.




SIP socket:
It is basically a socket which allows you to push in pins from another component into the top holes with no soldering required. The SIP socket itself is of course soldered in place.




SIP socket installed:
You will need to install it inside the switch with its legs where the LED's legs would otherwise have been. The fitting is very tight so you need to be careful when you cut them into pairs to ensure that they will fit and allow the switch housing to be fully closed.




Closed Switch:




And when you push a LED into the socket you will end up with something like this:

Replacing the LED once this is done is possible when the switch is installed in a plate and soldered to a PCB. Remember to also solder SIP sockets to the location of the resistors, or put some switches there, to allow you to quickly change the resistance to match the LEDs. Anyway, I hope this helps someone.

[SpAmRaY]

Where to get these magical SIP sockets?

[jdcarpe]

damorgue, this is brilliant.

[AKIMbO]

damorgue, this is brilliant.

Qft. Excellent!

[damorgue]

Where to get these magical SIP sockets?

Your local electronics store, or Ebay. I think I got mine from Ebay and they are like a few cents each at the most, shipping inclided, at least when you buy a few.

Edit: I am unsure how many changes the SIP sockets are rated for. That might be of interest to some of the crazier people around here who switch things around frequently but I don't think any of us are close to that rating anyway to be honest.

[swill]

This is an awesome idea. I will most likely do this with my upcoming build(s).

[SpAmRaY]

So this is what I'd want right?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/5-x-40-Pin-DIP-SIP-IC-Sockets-Adaptor-Solder-Type-USA-SELLER-Free-Shipping-/22118604294

[damorgue]

I didn't mention one thing about the sockets for the resistors. These sockets are a bit tall and once you push a resistor in, it might protrude too far from the PCB and might not fit in the case. I simply bent the legs of the SIP socket and press the resistor in sideways. The socket are roughly the same height as a small resistor when they are flush against the PCB.

[damorgue]

So this is what I'd want right?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/5-x-40-Pin-DIP-SIP-IC-Sockets-Adaptor-Solder-Type-USA-SELLER-Free-Shipping-/22118604294

That link is weird for me. Get SIP, not DIP. I think DIP are 'dual' and have two rows and you don't want that.

Edit: It appears a few sellers use both DIP and SIP interchangeably but make sure that you get a single row of sockets, something like this. That link is for 200 of them which should be enough for 100 LEDs.

[MJ45]

Very neat idea "Paranoid" has a thread with similar mod Ducky Shine II TKL mod (Plate, switch, solderless LED, caps, ...

[SpAmRaY]

So this is what I'd want right?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/5-x-40-Pin-DIP-SIP-IC-Sockets-Adaptor-Solder-Type-USA-SELLER-Free-Shipping-/22118604294

That link is weird for me. Get SIP, not DIP. I think DIP are 'dual' and have two rows and you don't want that.

Edit: It appears a few sellers use both DIP and SIP interchangeably but make sure that you get a single row of sockets, something like this. That link is for 200 of them which should be enough for 100 LEDs.

Yeah that was the link I had just cut off the last number oops

http://www.ebay.com/itm/5-x-40-Pin-DIP-SIP-IC-Sockets-Adaptor-Solder-Type-USA-SELLER-Free-Shipping-/221186042943

[swill]

Pretty sure these are the right things.  I just bought a whole bunch. 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/3PCS-Strip-Tin-PCB-Female-IC-Breakable-40pin-Single-Row-Round-Header-Socket/200924888625?_trksid=p2047675.m2109&_trkparms=aid%3D555003%26algo%3DPW.CAT%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D18775%26meid%3D3130015099116947005%26pid%3D100010%26prg%3D8532%26rk%3D3%26rkt%3D15%26sd%3D140910386490%26

[Photoelectric]

Got a bunch of these in the mail today, thanks to Paranoid's suggestion.  Plan to do the same

http://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=33130.msg1142265#msg1142265

[Paranoid]

Nice damorgue I tried a different approach by cutting it all up and only using the metal pins. I found that using the plastic doesn't allow me to close the switch fully, which is annoying when you want to switch keycaps. You risk pulling the top half of the switch off if you have a plate where you can open the switches. But I'm guessing the way you did it takes a lot less time positioning wise, but probably more cutting wise to make everything fit nicely.

For detailed steps on my approach you can see it here. Look for the MORE button where the pins are placed for more detailed pictures:
http://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=50784.msg1112489#msg1112489

And where I got the initial idea and where I bought them under this "more" button:

More

About the LED pins, I originally had the inspiration from an article on KBDMania. I only found the article again after I already did the mod 
http://www.kbdmania.net/xe/index.php?mid=best_article&document_srl=6246034&6246034_cpage=1

This guy tried different approaches to use these female headers. I also tried different things but figured I didn't want to do the effort of chamfering all of them precisely so I just cut them open completely and used only the pins. I did this for a whole keyboard as well, took me quite some time.

You can find em very cheap on Ebay:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/3Pcs-Single-Row-40Pin-2-54mm-Round-Female-Pin-Header-/140910386490?ssPageName=ADME:L:OC:BE:3160

But be advised, you have to be mentally prepared to do this for a whole keyboard   

You can see how I did it for a Ducky Shine II TKL here:
http://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=50784.0

And on the 3700 here:
http://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=50768.0

If you don't like me putting this here or consider it threadcapping of some sorts, just let me know and I'll get rid of it Just wanted to share this to give everyone options

[SpAmRaY]

MOAR keyboard science! Now I have to do this mod!

[RabRhee]

Many thanks for this Damorgue, I ran into these sockets a while ago and meant to chase them up for just this purpose, saved me a search

[Cottonsox]

Just wanted to get some feedback from someone with more knowledhe then i, are these going to work

http://www.ebay.com/itm/3Pcs-Single-Row-40Pin-2-54mm-Round-Female-Pin-Header/140910386490?_trksid=p2052191.m2067&_trkparms=aid%3D555003%26algo%3DPW.CAT%26ao%3D2%26asc%3D23%26meid%3D3295674393841359663%26pid%3D100028%26prg%3D1009%26rk%3D4%26rkt%3D15%26sd%3D221186042943%26

or thes

http://www.ebay.com/itm/10pcs-1x40-Pin-Single-Row-2-54mm-Round-Female-Header/400340721249?_trksid=p2052191.m2066&_trkparms=aid%3D333005%26algo%3DRIC.FIT%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D22%26meid%3D3295674389009521454%26pid%3D100027%26prg%3D1009%26rk%3D3%26rkt%3D15%26sd%3D221186042943%26

The ones linked above will not ship to australia, so trying to find another option.

[Paranoid]

Yup, the top ones will definitely work since these are the ones I ordered ^^ the bottom ones will work just as fine

[Cottonsox]

Thanks heaps! !!

[Moosecraft]

Great work Gonna try this when I build my next board

[SpAmRaY]

Just got some of these in as well!!

[damorgue]

I don't know for sure, but there might be some tiny variance between different manufacturers in dimensions which usually don't matter for the applications where they are normally used. If they are a fraction of a mm wider it won't matter in most cases but in our case it might make it very tight. If it requires too much force to push in, I would clip it a little so that you don't damage the switch housing.

[CPTBadAss]

Whoa, what a fun idea. We can swap LEDs to match keycap sets!

[swill]

Whoa, what a fun idea. We can swap LEDs to match keycap sets!

Building backlit keyboards for sale would also be much easier.  The customer can pick whatever color leds they want (assuming the resistors are correct).  I am going to put resistors for white/blue/green/etc on my boards and just not use red leds (cause they all seem to be different from what i can tell).  This is an awesome idea though.  I have ~400 in the mail to me. 

[CPTBadAss]

swill you miss my point. I swap caps on my keyboards probably every month or two. When I swap caps, I can swap out LEDs too. So like magneta for Miami or red for Klaxon and blue for Raindrop .

[swill]

swill you miss my point. I swap caps on my keyboards probably every month or two. When I swap caps, I can swap out LEDs too. So like magneta for Miami or red for Klaxon and blue for Raindrop .

Yes for sure.    It is a pretty cool feature...

[elton5354]

Thanks for sharing.  Bought a bunch

[Pacifist]

how much did you shave down the sockets? can you give more pics?

[damorgue]

They have to be clipped down the middle between them when you separate them. When you clip the row into pairs, if there is more plastic on one side, you have to remove the excess.

I also found the LEDs to be easier to install if I clipped one side of the upper end a little, as seen here. If someone finds slightly versions with slightly smaller plastic casings then please post them. I wonder if it might be easier to just break off the plastic altogether since all it does is keeping them at a fixed distance. If one puts a led in before soldering, the distance between them is also ensured so the plastic isn't very necessary in our case.

[SpAmRaY]

how much did you shave down the sockets? can you give more pics?

Also see paranoids post above he used these also

http://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=51792.msg1142798#msg1142798

[mousesony]

I'm confused about how you setup the resistors. I wish there was a picture.

[elton5354]

Can someone post a picture of the underside of a switch and the underside of a PCB with these installed?

[Photoelectric]

They should look the same as normal LEDs on the under-side of the swtich housing and the PCB.  I have these housings.  It's just 2 pins that get inserted into the LED holes--only they terminate in empty housings instead of the LED.

[damorgue]

I'm confused about how you setup the resistors. I wish there was a picture.

If you just solder these on the PCB and then push the resistor into them, it will add a few mm which might cause conflicts with various cases. The ones in the switches will not conflict with cases of course, but the resistor ones might. I bent the legs of the socket to make the socket lie sideways, flat onto the PCB. The resistor is then pushed into the socket along the PCB. The only reason to do that is to make it less tall.

Edit: If you often switch between two colours often, then soldering two different resistors with a switch might be easier.

[mousesony]

Ok thanks. Thats what I was imagining.

[swill]

Edit: If you often switch between two colours often, then soldering two different resistors with a switch might be easier.

I can't get a visual on this.  How would you solder two different resistors with a switch on the back of the board?  I am guessing you would be doing that for every mx switch?

[Mine]

http://tieba.baidu.com/p/2343689023?pn=1
this...

[damorgue]

Edit: If you often switch between two colours often, then soldering two different resistors with a switch might be easier.

I can't get a visual on this.  How would you solder two different resistors with a switch on the back of the board?  I am guessing you would be doing that for every mx switch?

I have never done this for a full board. It would be quite cumbersome if you have individual resistors for every LED on the board. In my case of only LEDs on the lock keys, I simply put two resistors in parallel with a switch (by swtich, I do NOT mean MX switch but a toggling one which you can select which LED to use), eg: epic paint btw I realise now that when I wrote switch earlier that might have been interpreted as the MX switch which really hasn't much to do with the LED circuit.

[SpAmRaY]

Seems like a lot of work....but thanks for the info

[mousesony]

What are the dangers of mismatching leds and resistors? I'm not really sure how resistors work, but I just got my sockets in the mail and I tested out all the leds I have on my leopold keypads num lock. My white, blue and green leds seemed to be exceedingly bright while the red, yellow and orange ones seemed to be on the normal/ dim side. I'm planning to use about 100 of these white leds on a kmac... I don't know what resistors the keyboard is going to come pre-soldered with but I'm assuming the white leds will be bright on that as well. I'm hoping that the only risk is that the leds could burn out fast.

[swill]

I got 360 SIP sockets last night (christmas eve), so I figured I would test them out.  I tried just cutting them into two unit pieces to start with.  The housing is a little too big, so the switch top does not go back on easily so you need to remove some of the plastic on the SIP socket.  I tried doing that, but it was just too finicky for me.  I was going to drive myself nuts trying to 'shave' the tiny parts.

Instead, I decided to remove the housing completely.  I started doing this with a knife, but it was taking too long, so I tried a pair of end cutters.  Those worked awesome.  I was able to do 360 sockets in less than an hour.  I even made a little video for you guys.  Sorry about the potato focus.   

Note: When removing the whole housing, you will need to put an LED in the sockets when you solder them on the PCB so the pins line up correctly...

Trick: Only clip half the housing.  This stops the plastic piece to go flying and will usually loosen the socket so it easily comes out...

Hope this helps others...

[justnits]

i was wondering if the led will be jiggly or loose enough to fall off if you overturn the keyboard after doing this mod.

[swill]

i was wondering if the led will be jiggly or loose enough to fall off if you overturn the keyboard after doing this mod.

The LED is very much in there.  You pretty much have to use a pair of pliers to get the led out (cause you can't get a hold of it and it is tight), so I would not be worried about that at all.

[justnits]

i was wondering if the led will be jiggly or loose enough to fall off if you overturn the keyboard after doing this mod.

The LED is very much in there.  You pretty much have to use a pair of pliers to get the led out (cause you can't get a hold of it and it is tight), so I would not be worried about that at all.

awesome possum!
thanks swill

[damorgue]

I just tried an entire keyboard for a friend and can confirm that it is easier to clip them completely. There is no hassle with getting an exact cut and less concentration is needed.

[Pacifist]

I just tried an entire keyboard for a friend and can confirm that it is easier to clip them completely. There is no hassle with getting an exact cut and less concentration is needed.

Show Image

tips on keeping them in correctly while soldering?

[damorgue]

I just tried an entire keyboard for a friend and can confirm that it is easier to clip them completely. There is no hassle with getting an exact cut and less concentration is needed.

Show Image

tips on keeping them in correctly while soldering?

It has already been mentioned, but  simply put a LED in, or anything with the correct pitch really. Using the LED which you will be using later on is convenient as you ensure that it will work.

[Pacifist]

I just tried an entire keyboard for a friend and can confirm that it is easier to clip them completely. There is no hassle with getting an exact cut and less concentration is needed.

Show Image

tips on keeping them in correctly while soldering?

It has already been mentioned, but  simply put a LED in, or anything with the correct pitch really. Using the LED which you will be using later on is convenient as you ensure that it will work.

thanks. thats genious

[swill]

Just for a reference for people.  Here is a switch with SIP sockets which have had the entire housing removed and an LED in place so it is ready to solder...



Edit: I did not check if the LED was in the correct orientation, it was just to illustrate the previous point...

[Pacifist]

Just for a reference for people.  Here is a switch with SIP sockets which have had the entire housing removed and an LED in place so it is ready to solder...

(Attachment Link) (Attachment Link)

Edit: I did not check if the LED was in the correct orientation, it was just to illustrate the previous point...

what board is that? looks sexy