Mill-Maxing a Ducky One 2 TKL Keyboard
2024-Sep-04, Wednesday 12:30 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
chebeI guess this is a disassembly, modification, repair, upgrade type project? Basically, I got a keyboard during lockdown. It's my first 'proper' programmable mechanical keyboard. But the switches I actually wanted were permanently out of stock so I settled for Cherry Blacks. Which are fine? But since getting other keyboards I realised how not enjoyable this is for me to use. That's the thing about owning a soldering iron though, you can change things.
The keyboard in question is a Ducky One 2 TKL, but the ISO version. I want to replace the switches, but this isn't a hot-swap model, and I want to add sound dampening foam. And give it a bit of a clean. The first step is to open it up.
Step 1; take a keyboard that does not spark joy. Remove the keycaps. Use a phillips head screwdriver to remove the two screws on the back.
Step 2; use a loyalty-style hard plastic card you don't care about, and use it and a flat head screwdriver) to lever up the top case on the left-hand side of the frame. Is has two clips holding it in place.
Step 3; use the card to run around the top and bottom case seam of the frame. There are four clips on the top, and four on the bottom. When they are lose you can pry the right-hand side off and the top case comes off. (See this on a similar model here.)
Step 4; removing the top case reveals two small phillips head screws. Undo those and the back case should come lose.
Step 5; separate the plate+pcb from the back case, slowly, because they are still connected by the USB port cable. Unclip this cable, and set the case aside. (And wtaf, how is there so much dust in here? Where did it get in?! Remove dust, thoroughly.)
Step 6; This is the back of the PCB. I like how all the switches are labelled. This is not a hot-swap model, so all the switches are soldered to the PCB, and they are holding the plate in place. Now you need to desolder each and every switch leg. I am terrible at using a desoldering pump, so I got a combination (de)soldering iron and pump. It's amazing, highly recommend.
Step 7; Okay, the switches are out, now what? The plan is to put a
Mill-Max Socket into every switch leg hole you just made empty. I'm using 7305s, and no, this is not an easy task. A TKL (ten-key-less keyboard) like this requires 176 sockets. They are tiny, and very easy to flood with solder. I ended up using 196 sockets. Only 20 ruined, on my first go mill-maxing. I'm quite pleased.
However, I had five keys that were not working (Esc, F1, F2, F3, and K45 (aka |\)). I tried reflowing, resoldering, adding more solder, but none of it was working. I got out some bits of metal and started poking at things. I realised that the solder joints were good, there was continuity between the malfunctioning switches. The LEDs were lighting up, I could trigger them by shorting some of the sockets to other places on the board. I took my new macro lens to the board and eventually found that, with all the de- and re-soldering I'd damaged one of the delicate traces on the PCB right next to a socket.
Step 8; I added a bodge wire from that socket to the next key, and tested everything. Now the key presses were registering, just as the completely wrong keys. I broke that bodge wire, and looked at the PCB more carefully. I couldn't follow the trace to its end point, it gets lost in a confluence of traces near the Print Screen key. I got more metal out and started shorting the switches while plugged into the computer. Turns out I need the bodge wire to connect to the, um, Print Screen key itself to get the correct key presses detected. So I did that on the bottom of the PCB.
Step 9; With the circuit working correctly again it's time to reassemble the keyboard. Between the back case and the PCB I put case foam, with cut-outs for the various connectors and screw posts. There is very little room in this case for foam, so I also trimmed it so it doesn't go all the way down under the spacebar row.
Step 10; Then I placed more foam to sit between the PCB and plate (with cut-outs for the screws and LEDs under Print Screen section).
Step 11; Put the plate in place, replace screws, and pop in switches of your choice (here Kailh Pro Purples). Test everything. Then test it again.
Step 12; When happy, replace the top case frame, and add keycaps of your choice. Enjoy improved typing experience. And next time you want to try different switches you won't need the soldering iron.
(This isn't perfect. The case is so full that the bottom case seam (under the space bar) bulges open. And I broke some of those clips holding the top case frame on. Removing it isn't something you want to do often. But it really does feel better. More solid to type on, less hollow sounding. It feels noticeably heavier. And the switches are much more to my taste. Actually enjoying using this keyboard again.)
The keyboard in question is a Ducky One 2 TKL, but the ISO version. I want to replace the switches, but this isn't a hot-swap model, and I want to add sound dampening foam. And give it a bit of a clean. The first step is to open it up.
Step 1; take a keyboard that does not spark joy. Remove the keycaps. Use a phillips head screwdriver to remove the two screws on the back.
Undo screws in the bottom of the case
Photo by chebe
Step 2; use a loyalty-style hard plastic card you don't care about, and use it and a flat head screwdriver) to lever up the top case on the left-hand side of the frame. Is has two clips holding it in place.
Pry off the left-edge of the top case frame
Photo by chebe
Step 3; use the card to run around the top and bottom case seam of the frame. There are four clips on the top, and four on the bottom. When they are lose you can pry the right-hand side off and the top case comes off. (See this on a similar model here.)
Separate the top and bottom edges of the top case frame
Photo by chebe
Step 4; removing the top case reveals two small phillips head screws. Undo those and the back case should come lose.
Undo remaining case screws
Photo by chebe
Step 5; separate the plate+pcb from the back case, slowly, because they are still connected by the USB port cable. Unclip this cable, and set the case aside. (And wtaf, how is there so much dust in here? Where did it get in?! Remove dust, thoroughly.)
Disconnect USB cable
Photo by chebe
Step 6; This is the back of the PCB. I like how all the switches are labelled. This is not a hot-swap model, so all the switches are soldered to the PCB, and they are holding the plate in place. Now you need to desolder each and every switch leg. I am terrible at using a desoldering pump, so I got a combination (de)soldering iron and pump. It's amazing, highly recommend.
Bottom of the PCB
Photo by chebe
Step 7; Okay, the switches are out, now what? The plan is to put a
Mill-Max Socket into every switch leg hole you just made empty. I'm using 7305s, and no, this is not an easy task. A TKL (ten-key-less keyboard) like this requires 176 sockets. They are tiny, and very easy to flood with solder. I ended up using 196 sockets. Only 20 ruined, on my first go mill-maxing. I'm quite pleased.
However, I had five keys that were not working (Esc, F1, F2, F3, and K45 (aka |\)). I tried reflowing, resoldering, adding more solder, but none of it was working. I got out some bits of metal and started poking at things. I realised that the solder joints were good, there was continuity between the malfunctioning switches. The LEDs were lighting up, I could trigger them by shorting some of the sockets to other places on the board. I took my new macro lens to the board and eventually found that, with all the de- and re-soldering I'd damaged one of the delicate traces on the PCB right next to a socket.
Macro shot of the elusive broken trace
Photo by chebe
Step 8; I added a bodge wire from that socket to the next key, and tested everything. Now the key presses were registering, just as the completely wrong keys. I broke that bodge wire, and looked at the PCB more carefully. I couldn't follow the trace to its end point, it gets lost in a confluence of traces near the Print Screen key. I got more metal out and started shorting the switches while plugged into the computer. Turns out I need the bodge wire to connect to the, um, Print Screen key itself to get the correct key presses detected. So I did that on the bottom of the PCB.
Bodge wire to by-pass the broken trace
Photo by chebe
Step 9; With the circuit working correctly again it's time to reassemble the keyboard. Between the back case and the PCB I put case foam, with cut-outs for the various connectors and screw posts. There is very little room in this case for foam, so I also trimmed it so it doesn't go all the way down under the spacebar row.
Lower case + case foam + top of PCB
Photo by chebe
Step 10; Then I placed more foam to sit between the PCB and plate (with cut-outs for the screws and LEDs under Print Screen section).
Lower case + case foam + top of PCB + plate foam
Photo by chebe
Step 11; Put the plate in place, replace screws, and pop in switches of your choice (here Kailh Pro Purples). Test everything. Then test it again.
Lower case + case foam + top of PCB + plate foam + plate + switches
Photo by chebe
Step 12; When happy, replace the top case frame, and add keycaps of your choice. Enjoy improved typing experience. And next time you want to try different switches you won't need the soldering iron.
(This isn't perfect. The case is so full that the bottom case seam (under the space bar) bulges open. And I broke some of those clips holding the top case frame on. Removing it isn't something you want to do often. But it really does feel better. More solid to type on, less hollow sounding. It feels noticeably heavier. And the switches are much more to my taste. Actually enjoying using this keyboard again.)
Reassembled upgraded keyboard
Photo by chebe
