For someone with 0 soldering exp, how difficult would swapping my switches be?

[ziwzih]

How difficult a time do you see me having trying to swap my kailh switches for mx clears or zealios (still haven't decided)? I can usually catch on to things like this pretty easily, but soldering switches seems to be rather intimidating.

Thanks!

[Tactile]

Working on your favorite keyboard, or even just a keyboard you like, is not the way to learn to solder. Learn/practice on something else like a keyboard you don't mind losing if you destroy a trace on the PCB.

Soldering isn't difficult, especially with good tools, but it's still a skill which must be learned and it just doesn't make sense to risk a prized keyboard while you're learning. There are many posts here from folks who have damaged a keyboard with their first soldering attempt and looking for advice on how to fix it.

And you are talking about learning two things - soldering and desoldering. These are different skills with different difficulty levels. In general, desoldering is more difficult than soldering and is really something you want to learn by practicing on a junker keyboard.

[tp4tissue]

Um.....    if you're willing to pay for the solder sucker (soldapultt 3)..   and watch at least 30 minutes of soldering videos..

I think you'll be ok.. 

The key is minimal heating,   heat is what damages the boards..  you want to minimize the time in which the iron is in contact with the keyboard.

[Puddsy]

It's pretty easy. I did it no problem. If you're really worried, buy a practice board and a few gaterons.

[fohat.digs]

https://mightyohm.com/files/soldercomic/FullSolderComic_EN.pdf

[xondat]

Desoldering sucks but if you can get past that then you should be fine. Just don't use too much temperature, and don't leave your iron on something for too long and you'll be fine.

[chyros]

Soldering is easy as piss, I never understood what the fuss is about. Honestly you'll be fine, and you really don't need expensive tools for it either.

[klennkellon]

Did it fine with a cheap Vastar sucker and iron. Just don't let your iron go above 350 or let it stay on the joint too long.

[happylacquer]

Yeah it's desoldering that sucks really hard. Not soldering, unless your iron is a piece of junk. Crappy irons can kill stuff.

[ziwzih]

Solid advice folks! I read a bunch of people talking about how if you are going to go through the trouble of desoldering all of your switches then you might as well pop in the hot swap pins. Thoughts on this? My concern is that the board I'm looking at desoldering is a pretty cheap one (although well built) so does this result in some key/switch wobble?

[tp4tissue]

Solid advice folks! I read a bunch of people talking about how if you are going to go through the trouble of desoldering all of your switches then you might as well pop in the hot swap pins. Thoughts on this? My concern is that the board I'm looking at desoldering is a pretty cheap one (although well built) so does this result in some key/switch wobble?

NO.. don't do this. waste of time.

ALSO,   if your time is worth anything, don't even diy,  just buy a new keyboard with the switch of your choice.

Either bring ur old keyboard to the office, or just give it away.

[Touch_It]

I did it with 0 soldering experience,a crappy solder sucker and a 10$ walmart soldering iron, and it sucked.  With proper tools ( assuming the leads on the switches aren't bent, I think it should be very doable.

[Sneaky Potato]

I did it with 0 soldering experience,a crappy solder sucker and a 10$ walmart soldering iron, and it sucked.  With proper tools ( assuming the leads on the switches aren't bent, I think it should be very doable.

This was me as well. I read a lot of people saying how easy it was, and I'm usually pretty quick to pick up on stuff like this, so I thought I would give it a shot. I ordered a Solder Sucker from Amazon, and a $15 Home Depot soldering iron. It was a huge pain in the ass and I ended up ruining the PCB. I accidentally pulled out a few of the metal contacts, and scratched the PCB a couple of times trying to get the switches out. Thankfully it was just a practice PCB, but I would have been kicking myself if it were an actual keyboard.

As mentioned, if you have the right tools I think it would be much easier. But my issue was getting the solder OUT, as there would be just enough in there to keep the switch stuck to the contact, regardless of how many times I put solder back into the hole and sucked it out again. Very frustrating.

I'm sure if I had more practice, I would get better. But I see this question a lot and I usually advise people against playing around with switch transfer on your daily keyboard until you've had a little practice. I'm sure people will jump on me for saying that, but I just personally feel like desoldering is not a beginner's skill and probably shouldn't be attempted on your daily board unless you know what you're doing.

SOLDERING, on the other hand, is very easy and is actually pretty fun.

[Touch_It]

I did it with 0 soldering experience,a crappy solder sucker and a 10$ walmart soldering iron, and it sucked.  With proper tools ( assuming the leads on the switches aren't bent, I think it should be very doable.

This was me as well. I read a lot of people saying how easy it was, and I'm usually pretty quick to pick up on stuff like this, so I thought I would give it a shot. I ordered a Solder Sucker from Amazon, and a $15 Home Depot soldering iron. It was a huge pain in the ass and I ended up ruining the PCB. I accidentally pulled out a few of the metal contacts, and scratched the PCB a couple of times trying to get the switches out. Thankfully it was just a practice PCB, but I would have been kicking myself if it were an actual keyboard.

As mentioned, if you have the right tools I think it would be much easier. But my issue was getting the solder OUT, as there would be just enough in there to keep the switch stuck to the contact, regardless of how many times I put solder back into the hole and sucked it out again. Very frustrating.

I'm sure if I had more practice, I would get better. But I see this question a lot and I usually advise people against playing around with switch transfer on your daily keyboard until you've had a little practice. I'm sure people will jump on me for saying that, but I just personally feel like desoldering is not a beginner's skill and probably shouldn't be attempted on your daily board unless you know what you're doing.

SOLDERING, on the other hand, is very easy and is actually pretty fun.

Totally agree with you. 

[falkentyne]

How difficult a time do you see me having trying to swap my kailh switches for mx clears or zealios (still haven't decided)? I can usually catch on to things like this pretty easily, but soldering switches seems to be rather intimidating.

Thanks!

Wow I missed this thread so I was unable to help anyone

Anyway:

You need a spare board to work on first.
you also need a DESOLDERING GUN.

Soldering switches on is very easy. (Soldering SMD RGB LED's however isn't, due to the very small size).  Desoldering is the hard part.

Buy one of these.  Don't cry about the price.  You will thank me later.  And you will thank yourself.

https://www.amazon.com/Aoyue-Contained-Desoldering-Internal-Carrying/dp/B00PGFAJWS

Here's a nice little guide to help get you started a bit, using a regular gamer keyboard (NOT my post):


http://www.overclock.net/t/1611332/blackwidow-x-chroma-stealth-diy

[arsenic]

Soldering is easy as piss, I never understood what the fuss is about. Honestly you'll be fine, and you really don't need expensive tools for it either.

This maybe the most accurate statement about soldering I've encountered- sure, watching videos and having good equipment is helpful, but if you can use a screwdriver, you can probably solder just fine. My first time soldering was building a 60% board with really crappy tools, and it worked out just fine. Basically, just be attentive and make sure you don't let your iron get gross. A solder sucker is helpful, but I've found braided copper wire has been just as helpful when it comes to such small areas.

[Dyaems]

IMO its the desoldering that is the hard part, because majority of the time you will have to re-apply solder to desolder and the switch still can't be removed because of that tiny solder stucked somewhere inside the pcb hole and you may have to reapply solder and desolder it again until all of the keys are removed.

after all of those re-applying solder to desolder a switch, pretty sure by the time you already removed all of the switches, you know how to solder.

---

not sure of the correct term, but there is this thing called desoldering iron and I sometimes use it if my time is limited when replacing switches.

[fatpolomanjr]

I built an atreus 62 from just the pcb and case, and easily soldered all the smd diodes, controller and switches. First time soldering no issues. There was an infrequent bit of key chattering among some of the keys no matter how many times I replaced the switches, so desoldered every switch trying to remove the controller. But I just couldn't get the thing off the pcb no matter how hard I tried. Desoldering is so much harder to learn even with a $30 solder pump. (The trick was to place the pump directly on the pin before hitting the button. You'll also get exposed to WAY more fumes desoldering, so be extra careful with ventilation, washing hands, eye-ware, etc.)

Point is: soldering is a piece of cake, and is probably the only way you'll get zealios or mod-m switches on your board. Even as a first timer. Just don't try to desolder unless you are willing to buy a new pcb if **** hits the fan.

It turns out my controller was totally fine, as even the presoldered pcb I later bought and installed had the same chattering issue. The solution was to up the debounce setting from 5 to 6. Would have saved me $110 if I didn't assume my soldering was bad.

[chyros]

IMO its the desoldering that is the hard part, because majority of the time you will have to re-apply solder to desolder and the switch still can't be removed because of that tiny solder stucked somewhere inside the pcb hole and you may have to reapply solder and desolder it again until all of the keys are removed.

Never have this problem. Really though, if it's just a tiny bit of solder, you can just pinch it loose.

[Dyaems]

IMO its the desoldering that is the hard part, because majority of the time you will have to re-apply solder to desolder and the switch still can't be removed because of that tiny solder stucked somewhere inside the pcb hole and you may have to reapply solder and desolder it again until all of the keys are removed.

Never have this problem. Really though, if it's just a tiny bit of solder, you can just pinch it loose.

that does not work sometimes so i have to reapply again. moving the pin while being heated is another workaround as well

[tp4tissue]

How difficult a time do you see me having trying to swap my kailh switches for mx clears or zealios (still haven't decided)? I can usually catch on to things like this pretty easily, but soldering switches seems to be rather intimidating.

Thanks!

Wow I missed this thread so I was unable to help anyone

Anyway:

You need a spare board to work on first.
you also need a DESOLDERING GUN.

Soldering switches on is very easy. (Soldering SMD RGB LED's however isn't, due to the very small size).  Desoldering is the hard part.

Buy one of these.  Don't cry about the price.  You will thank me later.  And you will thank yourself.

https://www.amazon.com/Aoyue-Contained-Desoldering-Internal-Carrying/dp/B00PGFAJWS

Here's a nice little guide to help get you started a bit, using a regular gamer keyboard (NOT my post):


http://www.overclock.net/t/1611332/blackwidow-x-chroma-stealth-diy

That Aoyue  brand tends to break on people. hahahahaha.. but it's fine for light loads..

[zpcomstock17]

Easiest soldering job, even soldering wires together is harder. You can't even solder the switches wrong, the way the pins are laid out makes it impossible to make a mistake inserting them into the PCB.
For the best you should test soldering diodes onto a scrap PCB and then desoldering them off.
Even if you don't practice beforehand, nothing crazy bad should happen, just be quick and careful with the iron.