How hard is it to swap out plate mounted cherry mx switches?

[illitirit]

After quite some time searching google, I have learned that plate mounted cherry mx switches are much harder to switch out.  But how much harder? 

Instead of buying a new board with the switches I want, I have opted to try to switch one of my current boards (kul es-87 / mx greens) switches with either mx clears or mx tactile greys.


Youtube was not very helpful to me in finding out info about this.  All i could find was PCB mounted tutorials.

I understand soldering and de-soldering is involved, is this the only way?

[strict]

If you're comfortable with a soldering iron and have a solder sucker (eg. Soldapullt) it shouldn't be too hard. For plate mount, desoldering is a definite requirement. There are two copper legs on the Cherry switches that need desoldered and then you just push in the tabs that hold the switch into the plate to lift it up out.

[illitirit]

If you're comfortable with a soldering iron and have a solder sucker (eg. Soldapullt) it shouldn't be too hard. For plate mount, desoldering is a definite requirement. There are two copper legs on the Cherry switches that need desoldered and then you just push in the tabs that hold the switch into the plate to lift it up out.

I am very comfortable with a soldering iron. 


I have watched people change PCB mounted switches by just taking the top portion off of the switches and replacing the stem / spring.  How come this method is not possible for plate mount?  Is it because the switch is too recessed to pop it open?

[strict]

I am very comfortable with a soldering iron. 


I have watched people change PCB mounted switches by just taking the top portion off of the switches and replacing the stem / spring.  How come this method is not possible for plate mount?  Is it because the switch is too recessed to pop it open?

It is possible with a plate mount to still be able to freely swap springs and tops, it just has to be cut with extra clearance on the side so that the legs of the switch top cover have enough clearance to come up off the bottom housing. Most OEM plates not only hold the switches into the place but they also hold the legs of the switch top against the bottom half of the switch housing to keep everything together more snug. You can see this extra clearance in the Phantom plate design.

If you're comfortable with a soldering iron it should be no problem at all, provided you have the solder sucker. Things like solder wick dont work nearly as well for this purpose.

Im not sure if the KUL PCB's use through holes for the copper switch legs (like Filco) or if it uses surface-mount (like CoolerMaster). Hopefully its through hole because they are much more tolerant of desoldering than surface-mount, a lot of people end up lifting some of the traces on surface mount.

[mouse.the.lucky.dog]

I think if are going to replace every switch on a board, you are better off getting a keyboard pdb like the Phantom and starting from scratch rather then desoldering then resoldering everything.

[illitirit]

I think if are going to replace every switch on a board, you are better off getting a keyboard pdb like the Phantom and starting from scratch rather then desoldering then resoldering everything.

I would aboslutely love to get a phantom but I really dont want to spend extra.  I think a 100 pack of clears costs maybe 60$ so the cost is much more worthwhile to me than buying a phantom, which I dont even know what they retail for, but I would only imagine 200-300 USD?

[Dihedral]

I think if are going to replace every switch on a board, you are better off getting a keyboard pdb like the Phantom and starting from scratch rather then desoldering then resoldering everything.

I would aboslutely love to get a phantom but I really dont want to spend extra.  I think a 100 pack of clears costs maybe 60$ so the cost is much more worthwhile to me than buying a phantom, which I dont even know what they retail for, but I would only imagine 200-300 USD?

You will probably be able to pick one up from the classifieds for less than that.

[tp4tissue]

ALL of them.. HARD..

just 1.. not so bad..

[falkentyne]

I am very comfortable with a soldering iron. 


I have watched people change PCB mounted switches by just taking the top portion off of the switches and replacing the stem / spring.  How come this method is not possible for plate mount?  Is it because the switch is too recessed to pop it open?

It is possible with a plate mount to still be able to freely swap springs and tops, it just has to be cut with extra clearance on the side so that the legs of the switch top cover have enough clearance to come up off the bottom housing. Most OEM plates not only hold the switches into the place but they also hold the legs of the switch top against the bottom half of the switch housing to keep everything together more snug. You can see this extra clearance in the Phantom plate design.

If you're comfortable with a soldering iron it should be no problem at all, provided you have the solder sucker. Things like solder wick dont work nearly as well for this purpose.

Im not sure if the KUL PCB's use through holes for the copper switch legs (like Filco) or if it uses surface-mount (like CoolerMaster). Hopefully its through hole because they are much more tolerant of desoldering than surface-mount, a lot of people end up lifting some of the traces on surface mount.

So it's not possible with a ducky shine 4/fire to remove the switches to swap springs, without soldering ?

[jdcarpe]

I am very comfortable with a soldering iron. 


I have watched people change PCB mounted switches by just taking the top portion off of the switches and replacing the stem / spring.  How come this method is not possible for plate mount?  Is it because the switch is too recessed to pop it open?

It is possible with a plate mount to still be able to freely swap springs and tops, it just has to be cut with extra clearance on the side so that the legs of the switch top cover have enough clearance to come up off the bottom housing. Most OEM plates not only hold the switches into the place but they also hold the legs of the switch top against the bottom half of the switch housing to keep everything together more snug. You can see this extra clearance in the Phantom plate design.

If you're comfortable with a soldering iron it should be no problem at all, provided you have the solder sucker. Things like solder wick dont work nearly as well for this purpose.

Im not sure if the KUL PCB's use through holes for the copper switch legs (like Filco) or if it uses surface-mount (like CoolerMaster). Hopefully its through hole because they are much more tolerant of desoldering than surface-mount, a lot of people end up lifting some of the traces on surface mount.

So it's not possible with a ducky shine 4/fire to remove the switches to swap springs, without soldering ?

That's correct. Plus, even if the plate weren't there, with a backlit keyboard you have to desolder the LEDs before you can open the switch. So, for a plate mounted, backlit keyboard, you need to desolder 4 pins per switch to remove them.

[jamster]

After quite some time searching google, I have learned that plate mounted cherry mx switches are much harder to switch out.  But how much harder? 

Instead of buying a new board with the switches I want, I have opted to try to switch one of my current boards (kul es-87 / mx greens) switches with either mx clears or mx tactile greys.


Youtube was not very helpful to me in finding out info about this.  All i could find was PCB mounted tutorials.

I understand soldering and de-soldering is involved, is this the only way?

I did a KUL mod. I'm okay with soldering, but I was some kind of complete muppet when it came to desoldering.

Someone did show me a super fast method for removing the switches though:

1. Place the PCB/backplate combo in a vice, so that the board is vertical
2. From the PCV side, one guy uses two irons to melt both connections on the switch. At the same time, the other guy uses needle nose pliers to pull the switch out from the backplate side. We removed about 90% of the switches in about 5 minutes.
3. This leaves a bare PCB will all the holes full of solder. Remove as per usual with a solder sucker.

The upside is that it is super fast. The downside is you need 2 irons and 2 people.

[Evo_Spec]

I did this with my K95 because I got a dirt cheap batch of blues and wanted blues for daily use and reds for gaming.
Now it wasn't hard it anything to do but let me tell you that it was still a total ***** to do.
Like others have said, with a back-lit keyboard you have 4 joints to desolder and with out a desoldering gun you'll definitely make some mistakes and need to add solder and retry again to add more joints total that you have to desolder.
If that's worth the $60 for you then go for it but I'd advise against it unless you get really cheap switches because for $60 you could just buy a whole new board for a little more and not have a batch of switches with no use which will just leave you wanting to build another board XD