It’s the most dreaded situation which any keyboard enthusiast could ever find themselves in, you go to plug in your key switches from Kord, into your Keyboard PCB and What!, they don’t fit!
You’re told to never apply force onto the key switches and PCB due to their delicate nature, but you can't help yourself. you keep trying to apply more and more pressure with each trial and alas, nothing.
If you’re lucky your key switches will still be intact. But why is this happening and what can I do to have my key switches fit into my mechanical keyboard PCB? Well don’t worry all questions will be answered on this edition of the Kord Konnoisseur’s
Why Your Switches Don’t Fit
The issue likely has to do with your mechanical keyboard switches, being incompatible with your mechanical keyboard PCB’s slots for the pins.
Each mechanical keyboard, switch and PCB will usually be standardized to have 2 metal pins, these metal pins complete the circuit and act as the switch and another large pin in the middle of the mechanical keyboard switch act as support.
Additionally, some mechanical keyboard switches like the Cherry MX brand will have 5 pins, the same 2 metal pins, 1 large plastic pin in the middle for support, and an additional 2 pins on the opposite side of the plastic pins, for support of course.
What Do Pins Have To Do With My Keyboard?
Settle down, we'll get there. The pins on your mechanical keyboard, specifically the PCB, (printed circuit board) will definitely have a slot for the 2 metal pins to connect, this is how the current flows and how your key switches are registered.
As for the one large plastic pin in the middle, the PCB should have a slot for that too as this is the main piece of mechanical engineering that will keep your key switches from wobbling.
For the 2 other plastic pins which are on the opposite side of the metal pins, some PCB manufacturers may opt to subtract the slots required for these two pins from the PCB itself resulting in our problem.
How Can I Fix This?
You could choose to opt for 3 pin mechanical keyboard switches if your PCB is only compatible with 3 pin switches, however, if you do have the 5 pin switches you could additionally choose to remove the opposite plastic pins.
Be VERY careful NOT to remove the metal pins, because if these metal pins are removed the key switch will become dysfunctional as the current cannot flow anymore.
Cutting the plastic pins of a 5 pin switch can be done through the use of pliers, or cutters, after which you can then additionally sand down the stubs that are left to allow for a nicer and more clean fit into your PCB.
