deskthority

Hey guys,

I am currently participating in a groupbuy to buy a

1x Ducky G2Pro TKL MX red PBT black engraved German QWERTZ

from teraset.
I plan to mod this keyboard as much as I can.

Now the hard part is: I never modded a keyboard or touched a soldering iron. So I have some questions.

I hope that the LEDs will not shine through the PBT-Keycaps, so that I can add a nice colorful underglow to the whole keyboard by adding LEDs to every switch. Is that doable with this keyboard or is there something special I need to learn about the PCB?
I found a thread on geekhack (http://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=49851.0), where someone talks about the different LED-Groups, resistors and bridging them. For now, I do not understand a word of what he says.


When I open up the keyboard and desolder every switch I would like to lube and sticker every switch to get a nice solid and smooth feeling.
I tried to get as much information on this topic as I could, but I am still not sure which lubricant to buy for the reds and where (I live in germany). Same for the stickers. Hopefully you can suggest me something. Also I saw people that lube nearly everything in the switch, but I also saw people that just lube essential parts.


I would really love to do that project and document it, but at first I will need to do some learning and I hope you guys can help me with that.

Monkay wrote: I hope that the LEDs will not shine through the PBT-Keycaps, so that I can add a nice colorful underglow to the whole keyboard by adding LEDs to every switch. Is that doable with this keyboard or is there something special I need to learn about the PCB?
I found a thread on geekhack (http://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=49851.0), where someone talks about the different LED-Groups, resistors and bridging them. For now, I do not understand a word of what he says.


When I open up the keyboard and desolder every switch I would like to lube and sticker every switch to get a nice solid and smooth feeling.
I tried to get as much information on this topic as I could, but I am still not sure which lubricant to buy for the reds and where (I live in germany). Same for the stickers. Hopefully you can suggest me something. Also I saw people that lube nearly everything in the switch, but I also saw people that just lube essential parts.


I would really love to do that project and document it, but at first I will need to do some learning and I hope you guys can help me with that.

I'm going to go with: Cannot be done with reasonable effort, since I'm not sure you realized that, yet.

Good thread on modding a Ducky here. You won't be able to add LEDs unless the PCB supports them, I'm not sure if Ducky re-use PCBs across versions but if they do it might be possible.

So, what you're after is this?
Trouble is, those are thick double shot ABS caps. This is how the same board (Ducky Shine 3) appears when using thick PBT:



(The yellow caps are thick PBT, the white caps are thick PBT, the cursor keys are the same double shots as before, and the WASD on Home/End block are thin lasered backlight compatible ABS caps. Lots of variety!)

So you could wind up a lot of leaking glow. As those yellow caps are not thin. Here is one on the top row, next one of those thick double shots:



As for the LED mod, looks like it's doable. Quite a lot of work though, and maybe not the best if you don't know exactly what you're doing. Very easy to break LEDs with incorrect current/resistance.

Thanks for the replies so far. The reason is that me and my girlfriend have some free time after the finals and would like to do a keyboard modding project.
So if I got that right: I will have to open the board and take a look at the PCB to see if I can add LEDs? I would like to add a nice purple backglow.
Also: I already have the same board with Mx-Blues and thin white PBT-keycaps. The LEDs under "WASD" shine-through. But a friend has the board with black PBT-keycaps and they do not shine through these. Thats what I hoped for.
I also am aware that it is a lot of work, but I would really like to try it if it is doable. There always is a first time. Or do you guys think it would be better to sell the keyboard and buy another TKL which can be modded more easy?

Well, you're going in for the switch mods anyway, right? Another TKL might have backlights already, but switch opening is always a fair old bit of fiddly work. Anyone know a good PCB mount TKL? Or where to get a Ducky compatible plate with switch opening slots?

Kudos to the lady for wanting to help out. She's rare!

Muirium wrote: Kudos to the lady for wanting to help out. She's rare!

Thanks. (:

For some backstory: I bought a nice modded FC660M here from akuji. It has clears and reds (both stickered and lubed) and the reds just feel awesome. I want to achieve the same thing and while I already have to openup everything an desolder/resolder everything, I would like to add some LEDs. It looked pretty simple on youtube...

The problem is that you have to desolder all the switches (without breaking anything) because they are sandwiched between the PCB and the plate. Then you have to open all the switches (without breaking anything) to add your mods. Then you have to add LEDs to the PCB (without breaking anything) which may or may not work depending on the PCB and controller (which has to supply the necessary power).

Basically you would be much better off with a custom kit. For example the Ergodox has the diodes on the backside of the PCB. That way I was able to replace a broken one in a minute. When they are on the same side as the switches you have to remove all the switches so you can get the plate out of the way. And if you use a plate as Muirium suggested which has switch opening slots you can fix problems with your switch mods - again - without having to desolder them.

Ok. I think I start to understand it: Doing what I want to do is pretty hard and I dont even know if it can be done with my PCB.

Now the thing is the money. I get the Ducky for just 99€ and I thought that LEDs+Stickers+Lube would cost me about 40€. This is something I split with my girlfriend because the keyboard is added to our collection. All in all it is affordable for us as student.
The Ergodox is not an option, because I dont really like the layout. I love the normal TKL ones. And I do not know any more custom kits. Except the KMAC, but these are far too expensive. I did not want to spent much more than 150€ actually.

Well, yeah money is an issue because I think a phantom kit if you can get a hold of one is somewhat north of 200 €.

Going with a PCB mounted board might make your life a lot easier. You could potentially even leave out the plate when modding a Ducky. No idea how that would feel, though.

If you want to do the switch mod anyway you can just go for it. Just don't be disappointed if you cannot add the LEDs and (if you're motivated) filing little notches in the plate so you can open the switches in-place might work, too.

Muirium wrote:So, what you're after is this?

How expensive is that Shine?

Well I ordered the Ducky some days ago anyway. And there is no option to chicken out of the gb (which I do not want to do anyway). SO I guess I wait for it to arrive and will open the keyboard and take some pictures. Maybe with the photos you guys can tell me what to do.