Finished my first ergodox I have some questiosn after the fact.

[Criterus]

I just finished my first ergodox and I have a couple questions about what I did post build.

My first attempt I used surface mount diodes and they were impossible to see let alone solder even with my glasses and a set of cheaters on I could barely make out the line. Do most users use these or just go with a standard diode that pulls through the board. The only issue I had on the second round with standard diodes was that they sat a little high on the board and took some massaging to get the plexiglass board that sadwhiches between the PCB and switches to mount tight.





on the first attempt I soldered the mini usb to the board like the directions show where a mini usb is plugged into the teensy board and wired down to the mini usb plug. Both times I managed to solder all of the contacts together on mini usb plug. The second time I just plugged my usb directly to the teensy board and ran the wire out of the case. The only thing I can think is that my soldering tip was too big and I just need a smaller tighter tip to make these connections. Fortunately the second ergodox worked plugged in directly to the teensy.

Do all ergodox cases have a piece that solders in between the PCB and the switches? I purchased mine off mechanicalkeyboards.com. I found that the contacts just barely make it to the board and I felt like I was feeding a lot of solder into the board to make sure the switch contacts got solder. It looks like the switches would solder directly down to the board, but I was afraid that maybe there was some logic behind this system that I wasn't seeing. The only real issue I had with this was I have one switch that doesn't work and I'm not sure if it's a diode or the switch itself and with the plastic sandwiched in-between the board and switches it makes it more difficult to access the components.

Finally I purchased a set of blank flat keycaps as placeholders, but I'm looking for something in the SA or DCS range. They can be blank or be a different legend all together, but I'm having trouble finding a ergodox keycap set with any kind of profile.

I built the keypad to play warcraft with and I have it mapped to keys other than the standard legend. I just want something with a little bit of profile difference so that I can keep my hands centered on the board.

[Oobly]

You've just got enough time to order Carbon SA. It's fully sculptured SA profile with a well planned ErgoDox kit: https://www.massdrop.com/buy/carbon

[AKmalamute]

> Do all ergodox cases have a piece that solders in between the PCB and the switches?

That's the general description of a switch plate, and no. But the litster version does, although it's supposed to be very thick acrylic (thus the encouragement to use SMT parts) I had mine cut in stainless steel by a local shop with a giant laser just for such projects. Works perfectly.

 I've heard the falbatech PVC case just barely lets the switches reach the PCB too. Next time you could try mounting the diodes upside down ... so long as they backflow is blocked correctly, I think there would be a bit more room (or less? Now I don't remember...) for diodes down there, meaning the plate layer could lay closer to the PCB.

[Criterus]

That's the general description of a switch plate, and no. But the litster version does, although it's supposed to be very thick acrylic (thus the encouragement to use SMT parts) I had mine cut in stainless steel by a local shop with a giant laser just for such projects. Works perfectly.

I used PCB mount switches which probably accounts for the switches being on the short side. I looked up the difference, but I didn't know which one I needed. I probably got lucky that the contacts were as close as they were now that I think about it.

I've heard the falbatech PVC case just barely lets the switches reach the PCB too. Next time you could try mounting the diodes upside down ... so long as they backflow is blocked correctly, I think there would be a bit more room (or less? Now I don't remember...) for diodes down there, meaning the plate layer could lay closer to the PCB.

mounting then upside down would have made a huge difference. I didn't realize there was going to be clearance issues until after I had all of them soldered down I think that is the way I'll probably go if I do another one.

[Charger]

I used PCB mount switches which probably accounts for the switches being on the short side. I looked up the difference, but I didn't know which one I needed. I probably got lucky that the contacts were as close as they were now that I think about it.

only difference between pcb and plate mount switches is that the pcb mount have alignment pins on the bottom

[Criterus]

I used PCB mount switches which probably accounts for the switches being on the short side. I looked up the difference, but I didn't know which one I needed. I probably got lucky that the contacts were as close as they were now that I think about it.

only difference between pcb and plate mount switches is that the pcb mount have alignment pins on the bottom

In that case the mount plate must have just been on the thicker side.