Help! Gateron silents don't fit over LED lights?

[AugustCanaille]

I feel so ****ing stupid. I just desoldered a RK61 and was about to solder in Gateron Silent Reds.....but the switches don't fit over the LED lights? Jesus christ.....is this normal? Is this how Gateron silents work? I mean, is there any silent switches that have that notch like most switches to fit over LED lights or is it just this stupid piece of crap Royal Kludge? I'm new to this soldering game, so please refrain from calling me fxcking idiot (I know I am one), and can anyone give me some tips??? Is there a way to mod the switches or.....damn, you know, I don't even need LED lighting....can I just take those out?

PLEASE HELP!!!

[Kevadu]

Most LEDs go over the switches, so you would have to remove the LED to change switches.  The major exceptions would be some (not not all...) Kailh box switches where the switch goes over the LED or boards with SMD LEDs where the LED is just part of the PCB and shines light up.

What confuses me about your story is how you desoldered the switches without removing the LEDs in the first place...what kind of switches did you have in there?  Most switches do not have a notch that fits over the LED...

You certainly should be able to remove the LEDs though.  They're not required for the board to work.

[Photoelectric]

I think the OP has SMD RGB LEDs that sit on top of the PCB.  That would be consistent with Gateron switches not fitting properly.  If that’s the case, you can use Kailh BOX switches.  They have large openings in the housing on the underside to allow for RGB LEDs.  Novelkeys.xyz has a good selection, including a big sampler pack.  You might also be able to fit Cherry “RGB” series of switches, which also have a hole underneath and transparent housings—just need to test that the hole is large enough for your LED size.  If the original switches were already Cherry RGB, that’d be a good sign.

[AugustCanaille]

Most LEDs go over the switches, so you would have to remove the LED to change switches.  The major exceptions would be some (not not all...) Kailh box switches where the switch goes over the LED or boards with SMD LEDs where the LED is just part of the PCB and shines light up.

What confuses me about your story is how you desoldered the switches without removing the LEDs in the first place...what kind of switches did you have in there?  Most switches do not have a notch that fits over the LED...

You certainly should be able to remove the LEDs though.  They're not required for the board to work.

Thanks for your help. Seriously, I really appreciate it. I included some photos to show you. I had Jixian blues in the RK61 and desoldered them, hoping to solder in Gateron Silent reds. As you can see, the LEDs sit on top of the PCB and prevent me from putting them in. The whole point of this was to put in silent switches. I do have Kailh BOX Jades and some other Kailh switches (because I love them) but I was trying to make a silent board.

So, this is now my question: Can i just remove those LED lights sitting there? Would it **** up the PCB? And how do I go about doing that? (Someone else told me to change the housing from my Gaterons to housings that are compatible but that seems like a major process, and doesn't that affect the silencing of the Gaterons? I'd rather just yank out those LEDs, if possible.)

Any tips would be greatly appreciated and thank you guys for not calling me a total retard, which I now am.

[tp4tissue]

Hahahahahaha..

Um... You can probably file the switch so it fits over the led..

But that's alot of labor..

And you gotta vaccum each switch you file to make sure plastic shavings don't get caught in the contacts/ slider.


Check if the switch bottoms are swappable.. between the original and your intended.

[AugustCanaille]

Hahahahahaha..

Um... You can probably file the switch so it fits over the led..

But that's alot of labor..

And you gotta vaccum each switch you file to make sure plastic shavings don't get caught in the contacts/ slider.


Check if the switch bottoms are swappable.. between the original and your intended.

It doesn't matter now. I ripped out the LED's (they weren't de-solderable) and now the entire thing doesn't work.

I'm fxcked.

[SpAmRaY]

Mods can we please get a facepalm emoji?

:facepalm:

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

[tp4tissue]

Mods can we please get a facepalm emoji?

:facepalm:

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

What is the world coming to...

[JianYang]

Melt a hole in the new switches with a soldering iron to accommodate the LEDs.
Removing the LEDs should also work, but removing SMD components can easily take a pad with it.

[AugustCanaille]

Melt a hole in the new switches with a soldering iron to accommodate the LEDs.
Removing the LEDs should also work, but removing SMD components can easily take a pad with it.

Dang, I wish I had read this before I took out the LEDs. Now the PCB is shot.

Any good suggestions on a new 60% PCB?

[kakan]

Just wow.

[Findecanor]

Check if the switch bottoms are swappable.. between the original and your intended.

Yes, many Cherry MX clones have more or less interchangeable parts.

The first thing I would have tried is the Gateron Silent's slider inside the original switch housing: top and bottom.
I have verified that Gateron Silent sliders do at least fit inside genuine Cherry MX.

Dang, I wish I had read this before I took out the LEDs. Now the PCB is shot.

I find unlikely that it would be simply the absence of LEDs that would have broken the keyboard.
I think that you could have damaged the board somewhere else by lifting a pad you shouldn't have or that you have added a short between traces that should not have been there. Thankfully, those types of flaws are often repairable. If I were you I would look over the PCB again and look for such things.