How to repair your keyboard with a switch bridge
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 28 ก.ย. 2024
- If you have a switch that isn't responding after building your custom keyboard, this trick will help you get it functioning.
Some of the common causes of a switch not working are a lifted pad, a broken trace, or sometimes everything looks normal and it just isn't working. Don't worry, this will restore full functionality.
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![How to fix any soldered PCB mechanical keyboard with broken LED & Switches [Keychron K6]](/img/n.gif)
Thank you, I actually managed to fix my keyboard this way and I'm very happy about it! Definitely worth subscribing, thank you again.
What wire did you use to fix your board?
@@syn3706 i found just some old copper wire and cut it to fit
@@luxinvacui I see thanks man
@@syn3706 hey np glad to help
It's almost been 3 years since you posted this, but I still feel like I should thank you. Anyhow, thank you for making this, it saved my pcb!
Seems like this video is getting more popular as times passes...
Words cannot express how happy I am that I found your video
Was able to fix my keyboard within 10 minutes
Great Video
You absolute legend. Im 12 years old and I soldered a board for my second time. 4 switches didnt work. this video helped soo much. now it works perfect. something I learned though is that if you bridge the top pins on the switches, one switch will actuate both switches at once. so technicallyyou can have a keyboard that actuates every switch with one switch if you wanted to. Once again, thank you ☺️
What did u do to fix both keys actuating at once. I'm having the same problem.
can you resolve the problem? @@joshdo6158
This happened to my spacebar just now. RK61 keyboard. Im glad your video is the first to show up. Short and concise tutorial. You saved me alot sir.
5 years and still helping people in need, thank you
Easily my most coffee'd video. Thanks for the positive feedback.
First time desoldering my MKB. Busted out my spacebar's through hole and this has helped to give me the answer I needed. Thank you!
Thank you!! Just saved my keyboard.. I had a switch (#2 key) that was double pressing on me and while desoldering I ruined one of the pads.
Using some wire from a mouse cable did the trick! Bridged that connection back to my #1 switch and it's working again!
Very grateful - Subscribed
now you need a new mouse😂
@@bertagabor9111 I paracord (new cable) and used an old mouse cable. Didn't need to replace the mouse
@@dillacorn_linux tried to be funny a little, sorry
@@bertagabor9111 I have too many mice! I'm on r/mousereview 👍
I love you. I can't believe this is the only capable video explaining bridges on the internet.
pete you're an absolute legend. saved me $70 on a new pcb
This is easily my most coffee'd video.
What a life saver. I remember watching this video last year and being confused by this but when I did some research on handwire boards and how they work it made more sense.
Anyway have to do this to a board that has a broken switch socket.
Thanks for this video! Referred to this because I lifted a pad when desoldering, and I'm more of a visual person.
Much love, and happy New Year!
You too! Congrats on the fix
Bro you just saved my keyboard, built my first keyboard and 4 switches weren't working, trying to find a solution I stumbled upon your video. Thanks again mate🤙🏾
two weeks writting with my mouse, i love you thaak you, i just got mine back and running perfectly, still a lonnnnng bridge from the arrow key to the q, but worked
Thought my, thankfully cheap, project board was a loss. Now it’s saved thanks to you! Thanks a lot mate!!!
Thank you! Using this i was able to diagnose how my switches stopped being registered and made a bridge to fix it.
Awesome help having the multiple camera angles and showing your thought process.
bro you saved my keyboard half the keys were broken great video.
:) Thanks for the comment.
My right key in the corner stoped working (xd60). I tried your method but I can only make a constant click of the key not on demand. What else can I try ? I tried connecting it to all other keys
You ever find a fix for this?
tysm I just started customizing my rk61 but tow of the pads has been damaged and using your technique works
Thanks a lot for the vid, you saved my keyboard after a shoddy de-soldering job from myself XD
oh my god! you literally saved me from my failure!
my "S" button is died due lifespan end, and i tried to desolder/solder a new switch but i failed, i popped off the whole pad and trace from my pcb
i was planning to buy new keyboard soon as possible but you saved me, you saved my money too!
you are literally god for me
thank you so much, you helped me so much and this video was exactly what i was searching for
hello, I liked your tutorial, but I need help, the thing is that I already did everything and the keys are working, but there is a small problem, which is that some keys, like the Windows key, are now others, for example, when i use the Windows key instead of activating Windows menu it write the letter v, if you know something pls help me
Then you've incorrectly bridged a column.
Great video! Very informative and concise. You just saved me so much money with this technique, I can't thank you enough! You're the man!
Thank You, I had a keyboard which i thought was unrepairable but I found your video and after watching I managed to fix it, Amazing. Thank you again.
Hey I’ve been searching for so long but can’t find the answers we’re do you solder the pub circuit board
My G isn’t working on my kbd19x pcb. Any ideas? Looks like both the solder points are shot.
Does F1 key still work after this reparation?
I cant thank you enough, i will try this tomorrow. Spilled water on my keyboard and 1 key stopped working, I replaced the switch but it didnt fix it, so it must be a PCB problem.
Exactly the same for me except it was wine.... haha this sorted it out perfectly!
hi thanks for this video. Can I ask if it's still necessary to solder if the board is hotswap? Am I able to bridge using a wire without soldering?
Hi,the faulty key on me is the spacebar,one of the pads broke,bit when I connect it to its diode or..bridge it,it keeps actuating itself
Then you're making the wrong bridge.
Thank you very very much. Your video gave me the baseline of fixing my keyboard. Then a post in reddit. My keyboard's "K" key had pcb issue with both pins. In my case, shorting Pin 1 of "H" key with Pin 2 of "N" key types "K". I'm going to solder tomorrow. :)
nice one.
Hey nice tutorial. I currently trying to repair a lifted pad on a right shift. The lower pad to specific. Any tips on how to fix this? Thanks a lot.
After you do this fix how do you get the key to actually respond as it's intended key. For ex. I bridged my gui key and alt key, because my gui key was not working. How do I now get the gui key to actually respond with the gui function instead of the alt function
A different bridge
Bro I bridged a pad to a diode that was not working, it was the letter "C" I noticed that after this it was fixed but now I am not able to press the letter C and B at the same time. Any way on fixing this back to normal?
Keep experimenting. There's nothing on the board you can't recreate with wires and solder.
Thank you!! FYI for anyone who is looking for electrical wire like me now, you want 28 AWG.
i've tried to do it for 5 keys that doenst work bc a water splash and i cant make it work, making a bridge from the damaged key (R) to the T and pushing the R mark a T, if a switch to the other pin it becomes crazy and push a lot of keys randomly. I'm doing something wrong?
Hello, I have a couple of switches not working because I ripped off some pads. I tried following this tutorial but it only worked for 2 switches, the other ones give wrong input when I try this. Any idea of what Im doing wrong?
What happens if the key still doesn't respond (particularly the left Windows key) ? I tried bridging it to different keys but it still won't do anything. Any tips?
Might be that the switch has failed.
how do i bridge 2 left legs of switches that were right next to it? I just lifted 2 switches that were next to each other
When I put the wire on the key and try to find out which one makes it fire it jsut spams it and when I solder it in it won’t work
Then it was the wrong bridge. Try a different one before you solder.
hey can you help me? my optical keyboard was damaged, it was the laser that was damaged, do you know the name of this part and where to buy it?
Hello!
I really enjoyed your video, but I'm trying to bridge a connection on my keyboard and it's not working. It's strange because my keyboard (Logitech GPRO) sends LED light to the switch, but the switch doesn't send the signal. Do you know what could be the issue? This problem started when I changed the switch by desoldering it and soldering the new one.
Regards.
LEDs and switches are on different circuits.
Could you tell me what material this cable should be made of? Thank you!
Awg14
Would you need to worry about the board shorting with a fix like this?
The key i needed to work worked, but the other keys like alt keys both (L,R) is now nit working ang the windows key turned into alt key help pls
@@rianbelgica5990 you've made the wrong bridge if keys stopped working
I burnt two parts of the pcb like the two pins on the switch socket. What can I do? Because I found the bridge for one key but it keeps spamming the same key. When I’m done with the bridge
Thats the wrong bridge then
is there any fix if both terminals of a key are pooched?
what am I supposed to do or how am I supposed to wire the cables if my caps lock, S and A do not have the circular thing/the pads connecting the pins on both holes/connections? my keyboard is an rk919
How would I fix a whole row? my keyboards last row is not working, the switches are fine but smth with pcb board
typically it's one bridge needed at the start or end of the row that does the whole row.
Ive soldered my spacebar key to my B key and all its doing is just firing spacebar and do you know how to fix this because ive been struggling to understand why its doing this. If you have any suggestions please lmk bc ive been trying to fix my keyboard for months.
You've connected the wrong pins. Try different ones.
@@skiwithpete thank you I appreciate it
So the damage was done to the PCB or the switch?
This repairs damage to the PCB
i have a question, is the broken part of switch is soldered before putting a bridge??
The switch itself is not broken... The pcb is.
@@skiwithpete what if the both pcb is burnt, like the two sockets for the switch, how am I gonna do?
@@kevinkubinkebin8249 the keyboard is setup like a grid. Try to arrange both pins so that the switch comes to work again
Hey my w switch is not working i forcefully removed it and it striped some material in the both pins is will this trick work if both of the pin are broken? if so how?
yes and how: because keyboard is a matrix. One will go vertical the other horizontal.
is a 24awg necessary? i have a 22awg and idk if it will work with the keyboard
nah, that's more than enough.
Hey I hope you'll answer this, what if i burned all the 2 pads. Because I'm desoldering my rk61 and my E key doesn't work. So I try solder and desoldering multiple times, and the pads are burned. The leaves are not into the pcb, so it's so hard to desolder. I have a few switch with the same problem, but I didn't burn the other pad. Any way to get the switch and the solder out? Because it's stuck and it's my one and only board. Hope you answer!
You'll need multiple bridges. It will be more complex to figure out, but should still work.
Where should I bridge, diodes or switch? And do you know any ways to suck stuck solder?
What about if i fucked both of the pins on escape key, do i need to bridge both pins to the next keys, like collom and row just, like next keys
Hey I know it is been a while. just wanna know after doing this switch bridge. can I press that two key which is connected at the same time?
hey man i don't know if you still reply but when i do this my keyboard instead of typing the normal key it types the key to which the switch thats broken is bridged for example i want to fix my d key so i bridge it to s
but now it only types s
what can i do?
Try a different bridge
@@skiwithpete i did it with the switch on the top column and it worked, weird,
thank you
Hey, Pete. Wanted to say thank you for this video. It solved my problem with a broken CTRL key. However, I my one key still doesn't work. When I try and bridge the key like the CTRL I get the letter q. If I move down a column I get a, then z. Is there something I'm doing wrong?
You're triggering something else in the matrix of the board. Try bridging to a different switch. Or try the other pin. Best, p
Brother, when i bridge the pin, its picking up the key which i have bridged from. And that key doesn't work. What should I do?
change the pins you're bridging.
@@skiwithpete nope i have changed the pins didn't work
@@SHANNU_26 I don't know what to tell you. It's a grid. You need to replicate the grid with wires. If you are getting a different letter firing, then you have incorrectly made the grid.
@@skiwithpete ohhhhh yeahhh...so could you tell me now what to do?
@@SHANNU_26 try different combinations until it works
Hi,can i ask how do u stop the spamming of the key when bridge,because my y spammed and only if i un bridge it work and when i tr to press y after bridging it wont response an idea how to fix this
Try a different bridge
i did fix my y with bridge but my b is also broken and when i try bridge it dosent work i tried different pins and it didnit work and i cant tell which pins is the lfted one but the right pins seem the one.any idea how i should fix it?
i watched other youtube videos, it says that i will have to connect it to the diode but i not sure how do i find it on my keybored.My keybored is a rk61
Are there any marks for rows and columns, to find them easier for bridging??
Sadly no, you've just got to look at the PCB and try to find the Trace that connects them
Should i have do the same process if i messed up with the traces or pad?
Worth trying
@@skiwithpete sir Does it work on non hot swappable keyboards ?
@@vihaan6549 it should work on both hot-swap and non-hot-swap
@@skiwithpete it doesn't work i think i messed up with the traces. Even after continuing the same procedure it doesn't work and guess what other keys also stopped working. Can you send me your E mail id so that i can show some pictures of it how i messed up with two keys B&M and after that other keys also stopped functioning?
Please guide me
Does anyone here knows how to bridge a leaven k550 pcb , I follow the video method but mine does not respond
Hi Pete. I tired to do this method to fix one of my keyboards but it didn't work and it just kept glitching out causing the key not to work at all. I solder both pins onto the PCB then bridge the switch with the wire to the adjacent switch to activate the key that I messed up. Is that where I went wrong? Because the demonstration you showed is that you don't fully solder the switch to the PCB but solder only the wire to the pin then bridge it to the adjacent switch to make it work.
It doesn't matter that the pin has solder on it, since the switch isn't working, it's like one of the pins isn't connected anyway. My guess is, you connected incorrectly. PCBs for keyboards work in rows and columns. If you connected the row pin to a column switch, I would expect glitching. But, everything is ok. Just undo it, and try some other combinations.
I think I know what I did wrong now looking at your video for the 7th time to mimic what you did right.Thank you for putting up a video like this up.
Question. How do you make it so that it doesnt keep spamming the same key?
Change the connections to different pins.
@@skiwithpete ok i will try that and if it doesn't work?
@@nissi9686 keyboards are grids. Eventually you'll find the right things to connect to
@@skiwithpete Even if one of the pcb holes is damaged? Because in my case, the top pcb hole works fine, but the bottom one is damaged
Yeah it still keeps spamming the number 4 key
What is the blue wire called ? So I can buy it
Look for awg24 or awg26. Stranded.
@@skiwithpete Ok, thank uuu!
So the letter M on my keyboard doesn't work and I tried this bridging thing. I found out that the letter M fire if you make a bridge between M and < keys. However, the M key just continuously fires off while the bridge is connected even when you're not pressing anything. In fact, pressing the M key does absolutely nothing even when the bridge is connected. Any idea why?
so you're likely passing the positive line on the M, through to the negative line of the
@@skiwithpete dude, you're a lifesaver. I moved the connection to the positive line of N and now it works. Thank you. 😃
hi! i was able to fix a burnt solder pad by doing this, unfortunately other keys are acting up and pressing 2 different keys simultaneously when pressed. other keys were working fine right before i used a jumper cable
Then you have made a bad bridge... Keep trying until you get it to function correctly.
@@skiwithpete hi! I have just figured it out. I was using shift as a bridge and that was causing the bad bridge. anyway it's all good now! thank you so much for the guide!
Hi Pete.
I have a satan GH60 that I messed up.
When I first got it some time ago, I had it installed and configured that I have all 64 keys.
Until maybe 6 months back when i tried to make the left shift key into one of the larger shift keys, when removing a switch I accidentally pried off a little thing from the PCB it was some sort of a small rectangular diode thing or whatever it was which made the left shift key not register anymore.
Would doing this fix that?
Also, do I need a specific wire to do this?
Thanks
Hi, you may have taken off one of the diodes. That will need to be replaced. You can get those pretty easily from ebay. But if the pad for the diode has been removed, you might be in for more repair than you'd like...
the bridge work but some time my keyboard key is glitching, amy suggestion?
You didn't make the right bridge
@@skiwithpete alright thanks for the reply
can the exposed wire catch fire 🔥?
Dunno. Can 5v start a fire?
This is a great video! I have to do this fix on one of my boards aswell. I accidentally burnt one of the rings (what are these called?) on the left arrow key. The two keys left of it and the two keys to the right of it also stopped working (one of these keys is the FN key... sigh). Do you reckon a bridge would fix these keys aswell? This was the first time experimenting with desoldering and soldering (had a blast). Would love to know if someone could help me out!
Apologies good sir. I saw in a different comment someone with the same problem. It’s one switch that can kill a column. English is not my first language, so I’m not sure how to explain what I mean.
If I understand correctly: bridge my broken left arrow key to my working up arrow key, I might be able to fix the whole column of keys?
Kind regards!
So I'm having the same problem but with multiple keys: shift, x , c ,v ,b , n, m I was wondering if I can fix the problem with that method?
yes, I would think that bringing one of those back to life will likely bring the whole row back. I would start with testing the SHIFT or the M key to see if you can get it up.
sorry, did this ever work for you? having the same problem .
@@BrussyDestroyed welp fixed it for an while but opening it at least 2-3 times per 1-2 months to rebail the solder was pain in the ass.
I just got an new keyboard also printed out new pcb for that keyboard kek.
My e key ended up not working after desoldering other switches and when connecting the bottom pin of the e slot with the top pin of the d slot, it ended up firing the e. However, after soldeirng, it didn't work. Any ideas?
Switch might be dead... Or the bridge was something else.
Sooo, first of all, thanks for the video. After wtching and ondering a couple of times I finally managed to bridge one of my pouched switches. Thing is, I got three more to go. Dumb question, can I use the same shortcut/bypass for all four, or will I need for each one it's own shortcut/bypass?
If it works, it works. There's no right or wrong answer to where to bridge to. If they all bridge to the same place, and it works, go with it.
@@skiwithpete I will try. Thanks mate! Cheers
I destroyed my metal ring where the two solder points go for the switch. Will this method work to resolve that? If both metal rings are destryoed for the trace would I just Jump both points to another switch?
yep, you got it.
@@skiwithpete can you explain this?
@@mekillufoo2723 keyboards work like a grid. So if both pins are toast, you just need to recreate that grid. Now, you might need a diode in there... But it should still work.
You saved my keyboard, thank you so much.
can u help me
Nifty trick. After spending hours making my keyboard hot-swappable, I ended up with two keys not working. I got them sorted out with this method, but now I have 5 _other_ keys that no longer work. Anyone know why that might be?
Legend. Saved me after i f.ked the PCB, thank You very much.
What wire did you use??? I'm in urgent need
awg24 would be more than enough, get this: amzn.to/3w2iANV
@@skiwithpete I have some bigger solid core laying around will that work
so does it work with all keys like this since i am having a little problem with my left CTRL sometimes it does not work,so can i bridge with left ALT or left SHIFT?thanks
Depends which of the two pins isn't working, as to whether you bridge to the row or column. Test it out like I do in the film before making the bridge permanent.
@@skiwithpete can confirm that this method didn't work on XG-K2 keyboard,tried many bridges even with right ctrl but it didn't work.thanks anyway
@@adpawn That's really odd. Basically a keyboard works on a grid system, so there's the chance that the CTRL is on a different line than the shift or Alt key. Try bridging to the Z or X keys...
@@skiwithpete well strange thing happened lol.while trying to fix i somehow destroyed port and it didn't work anymore so i tried your way and viola it started to work.THANK YOU very much,now my left ctrl is working like new.subbed
Exactly what I needed... The letter "P" on my keyboard stopped working and I don't think it's the switch... :P tks for The video...
Thank you so much you saved my space switch.
You saved my keyboard, thank you!!!
hey man, what type of wire is used here?
I think it's like awg28... Anything around that would be fine...
Yeah this did not help me, unless I am just being blatantly dumb. I have tried all different combinations of jump positions and it just uses the key that its connected to or just enters the input infinitely
Did you ever figure this out?
@@GreenHDTexture nope, not at all. Pretty much assumed the board as a loss
it worked on my rexus mechanical keyboard where the tab is broken, thank you :>.
Rexus apa bro ??
Lagi rusak juga ni rexus gw wkwkwkw
@@rasyachrmy Rexus MX5.
Hey, my "double - u" key is broken, I vvas vvondering if I could use a blue svvitch vvhen the surrounding svvitches are brovvn (sorry for the horrible grammar, trying to make 2 v's look like a "double - u")
Also vvondering vvhere i could buy nevv svvitches
yep, all color switches will work
1upkeyboards.com
@@skiwithpete Alright, thank you man
My mech keyboard problem is when i pressed A key it also register capslock key. So it will be like this "aAAaAaAaAAa" same thing happen with W key and tab key " w w w w w"
That's called "keychatter" - that can be caused by a number of things, but check that your USB cable is delivering enough power to the board (not through an unpowered hub for example)... if it's not that, it could be bad soldering or dead / dying switches.
Thank you !
I thought I ruined my keyboard... Thank you so much may god bless your soul thank you
What a lifesaver!!
Absolute lifesaver!!
thankyou for saving my keyboard
Thank you for taking the time to thank me! A little hit of joy in my day.
Thanks
Thank you! I saved my Corsair k70!
anyone here got both lifted pads in same switch? how to fix it?
One is a row one is a column. You should still be able to get it going.
Thank you man, this really work
hi ketut may i know what kind of wire used for bridging?
@@kiosulaimanterneo530 Silicone Rubber Cable Copper Wire
Thank you so much
@@misterskalaton may i know what size of wire you used for this?
@@kiosulaimanterneo530 the cable diameter is same, like on the video but length is depend on your bridging
Obrigado amigo, do Brasil
@@alexsartorio de nada