Soldering/electrical issues with WhiteFox

[neilflodin]

Hi GeekHack, newbie here.

I ordered the White Fox keyboard kit with True Fox layout which came in the mail last Friday. I'm 99% certain I soldered every LED and switch correctly, but currently I am having some issues with a few switches and lights.

3 of the switches don't seem to want to work outright, and a considerable amount of LEDs are not turning on as well. (Photo w/ descriptions) I tested the non-working switches with my multimeter, and they aren't broken, and I am 100% certain every LED is aligned with the same polarity (longer lead on same side for every light). Here's a photo of the keyboard in the dark, showing the lighting issue.

I read on matt3o's WhiteFox build tutorial that "broken traces" can cause the whole row of LEDs to not light up, but I'm not sure why the other singular LED lights are not turning on. The only clue I have towards why the 3 switches are not working is that, on every other switch, connecting the two spots on the PCB near them as shown in this photo causes the computer to register a keypress, whereas on the 3 nonworking switches no keypress is registered. Photos of soldered nonworking switches here.

I have updated my firmware several times with the default TrueFox (my layout) firmware, available here. Beyond that, I have no clue why the switches and LEDs don't want to work... Does anybody more experienced in the art of mechanical keyboards have any advice as to how to proceed in fixing these issues?

Thank you for any and all help,

Neil the newbie

[Parak]

With the switches, you do most likely have broken traces somewhere. With the LEDs, it could be either broken traces (more likely) or reversed polarity (less likely).

Do you have a multimeter for continuity testing? Also, which soldering iron, solder, cutters, and flux did you use?

[suicidal_orange]

Did you have to take some LEDs out to turn them round? Looks like you've damaged the pads on some of them as the solder is making balls on top rather than being drawn into the holes (LED42 in the broken switch pics)

[QuincyJones]

Slightly on-topic. I don't understand the point of led's in keys; using a computer in the dark is bad for you, will eventually cause you sight problems perhaps even eye drift where one eye moves out of sync with the other, and you should be able to type without having them lit up like cheap chinese-produced christmas tree lights. Actually I take that last part back, China makes some good sh*t.

[merlin64]

I'm in your area, I can help you look at traces if you want. Shoot me a PM.

[Trench]

I'm having similar-ish issues. Pure Fox layout with purple Zealios and LEDs. Used a Hakko soldering station set at 650 degrees F with 63/37 solder. I built the keyboard Wednesday morning, and everything seemed to be working fine. All the keys registered and all the LEDs worked.

When I started working this morning, I discover that the 4 and y keys aren't registering. LEDs for those keys are still lit. I swapped a new switch into the 4 key and still no joy. Y key spontaneously began working again. I figure I'll fart with it later in the day, but as the day goes on, I lose the y key again, the right shift stops working altogether, and the L key won't register when the right shift is pressed. All the LEDs still light up.

I flashed the board successfully two or three times last night and a couple of times today.

So, what gives? Bad soldering, broken trace(s), defective product? Some combination of the first two? Suggestions?

[Parak]

<snip> Suggestions?

Could you post a high res picture of the back of the pcb to start with?

[hkf]

Step 1 of any pcb soldering issue: clean the damn thing with the highest % of IPA you can find

[Trench]

Step 1 of any pcb soldering issue: clean the damn thing with the highest % of IPA you can find

OK. I'll clean it up and get pictures tomorrow. Thanks for the help.