KBparadise V60 Alps board switch mod experience
Posted: 18 Feb 2016, 20:35
I spent some of the morning converting a KBparadise V60MTS to have Orange Alps switches. This has made an almost unusable board into my favorite mini board.
I was expecting quick switch mod but instead it was a giant pain in the rear. Some of the confounding factors:
1. The stabilizer clips for the stabilized keys, apart from the space bar, are these tiny clips that pull out easily.
2. There are four screws that hold the case together. Two of them are located underneath the rubber feet on the front edge of the board. Ugh.
3. Every single switch through hole mount is also a via with a pad on the top and the bottom of the board. Who does this!? I had a hell of a time desoldering these because even when the solder sucker appeared to remove all of the solder, the pin was still soldered just a tiny bit to the top pad, just under the key switch and on the other side of the PCB.
4. One pin on every switch is wired to ground - and specifically, to the ground plane. This pulls heat away from the pin really quickly and exacerbates problem #3.
5. Because of #3 and #4, the only way I could get switches off was to pull them off one at a time while heating the legs with a soldering iron. But, I still maanged to rip one pad off because...
6. My desoldering station has an "auto shutdown" feature. Even if you are using it continuously, after about 10 minutes or so it cuts heat to the element if it hasn't been docked in a little while (specifically, I think, if the controller doesn't think that the tip of the iron has been grounded in a little while). So, I ripped a pad while pulling without enough heat.
7. The Alps boards in Apple Standard Keyboards have really thin traces. I destroyed a couple of pads being really careful.
8. Many of the Alps Orange switches in the Apple Standard Keyboard donor were bent. Removing bent switches is always a giant pain even with a nice desoldering station.
9. I broke one of the legs of one of the Alps Orange switches because it was bent and I wiggled it too much. You can bend the legs back straight, but don't flex them much more than that.
Next up will be some photos and putting some of the Apple key caps on this little board. I've done enough for today. I want to print little side stickers to give me legends for all the V60's special features on the Fn layer.
That aside, this is a neat little board. Alps Orange is definitely lighter - way ligher - than Matias Quiet Click. I like them more than I like Alps Salmon. That's a shame because I have more Alps Salmon donors at this point. Whoops.
In the near future I'm planning to convert a V80MTS to either Blue Alps or Orange Alps. I haven't decided which yet!
I was expecting quick switch mod but instead it was a giant pain in the rear. Some of the confounding factors:
1. The stabilizer clips for the stabilized keys, apart from the space bar, are these tiny clips that pull out easily.
2. There are four screws that hold the case together. Two of them are located underneath the rubber feet on the front edge of the board. Ugh.
3. Every single switch through hole mount is also a via with a pad on the top and the bottom of the board. Who does this!? I had a hell of a time desoldering these because even when the solder sucker appeared to remove all of the solder, the pin was still soldered just a tiny bit to the top pad, just under the key switch and on the other side of the PCB.
4. One pin on every switch is wired to ground - and specifically, to the ground plane. This pulls heat away from the pin really quickly and exacerbates problem #3.
5. Because of #3 and #4, the only way I could get switches off was to pull them off one at a time while heating the legs with a soldering iron. But, I still maanged to rip one pad off because...
6. My desoldering station has an "auto shutdown" feature. Even if you are using it continuously, after about 10 minutes or so it cuts heat to the element if it hasn't been docked in a little while (specifically, I think, if the controller doesn't think that the tip of the iron has been grounded in a little while). So, I ripped a pad while pulling without enough heat.
7. The Alps boards in Apple Standard Keyboards have really thin traces. I destroyed a couple of pads being really careful.
8. Many of the Alps Orange switches in the Apple Standard Keyboard donor were bent. Removing bent switches is always a giant pain even with a nice desoldering station.
9. I broke one of the legs of one of the Alps Orange switches because it was bent and I wiggled it too much. You can bend the legs back straight, but don't flex them much more than that.
Next up will be some photos and putting some of the Apple key caps on this little board. I've done enough for today. I want to print little side stickers to give me legends for all the V60's special features on the Fn layer.
That aside, this is a neat little board. Alps Orange is definitely lighter - way ligher - than Matias Quiet Click. I like them more than I like Alps Salmon. That's a shame because I have more Alps Salmon donors at this point. Whoops.
In the near future I'm planning to convert a V80MTS to either Blue Alps or Orange Alps. I haven't decided which yet!
Also the V60MTS works perfectly in a TEX alu case and improves the typing feel a ton, even the older revision V60MTS can be installed into a TEX case with a really small screw driver and some patience.
