5. Hot Swapping Keyswitches (Version 2021-11-29)

Each piece of your keyboard contains a PCB. The PCB on each side will be slightly different. Please read the entire page before you hot swap your keyboard.

5.1 Necessary tools and components

• Keyswitches: 5-legged MX Cherry keyswitches strongly recommended

• 3mm Allen Key

• Keyswitch puller

• Keycap puller (Included)

5.2 Remove keycaps

Remove all the keycaps with the keycap puller that came with your keyboard. It should not take much force for the keycap to come off.

5.3 Open the base plate

See section 7.1 in Troubleshooting on how to open the base plate.

Section 7.1 is different for Version 2021-11-29 compared with previous versions. Please make sure you are looking at the correct version.

5.4 Remove a single keyswitch

In general, you should hot swap a single keyswitch at a time. This is because the PCB is stretched taut and is stabilized by the keyswitches. Removing one keyswitch at a time will minimize movement of the PCB and avoid needless hassle later on.

Pull out the keyswitch gently, it should not take a lot of force. If the keyswitch is not coming out, try orienting it from a different angle.

When removing keyswitches, make sure to use a keyswitch puller. Do not use pliers. It will damage the components.

5.5 Insert the new keyswitch

This section is a bit of a longer read. But after doing it once, it's much faster to do subsequent times. The video at the bottom of this section is not comprehensive. You should still read this section to prevent damaging the keyboard.

The base plate of the keyboard should already be open. Put one finger on the Kailh socket from the inside of the keyboard. In a subsequent step, you will put pressure on the socket while you insert the new keyswitch.

Align the keyswitch pins with the copper slots on the Kailh sockets, which are shown in Figure 5.1. It may help to wiggle the keyswitch back and forth while keeping the keyswitch pins near the slots. If you feel a bit of resistance while wiggling, the pins are likely aligned.

Figure 5.1. Kailh socket copper slots

While putting a gentle amount of pressure on the Kailh socket, push the keyswitch into the slots.

The primary purpose of putting pressure on the Kailh socket is to allow the keyswitch pins to squeeze into the slots. Otherwise, the pins will push the PCB away from it. The secondary purpose is to prevent the socket from breaking of the PCB in case of excessive force.

It should not take a lot of force to insert the keyswitch into the keyboard. Generally, it should only require the force of one finger. If the keyswitch is not going into the socket, try to realign it then try again. Each keyswitch sockets for this keyboard is at a different angle, so it may take a few times before insert it.

If the keyswitch is still not going in despite trying a few times, try applying less pressure to the Kailh socket.

After inserting the keyswitch, the PCB will sit a few milimeters above the surface of the keyboard. This is expected. In fact, applying too much pressure on the Kailh socket can prevent the keyswitch from fully locking onto the keyboard. This is because the keyswitch cannot fully insert into the keyboard unless the PCB sits slightly above the surface of the keyboard. To visualize why this is, see Figure 5.2 below.

Figure 5.2. Applying excessive pressure to the socket can prevent keyswitch from fully inserting

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2_pCkKHsXeQwww.youtube.com

Video 5.1 Dactyl manuform hot swap demo

5.6 Close the base plate

See section 7.2 in Troubleshooting on how to close the base plate.