About Split Keyboards - Build Guide

JST jacks

The JST jack allows you to connect and disconnect your wireless keyboard's battery without soldering.

This step is optional.

You should perform this step if you are building a wireless keyboard, are using the wireless expansion bundle and if your kit supports the JST jack. If not, you can go to the next step using the button below.

If you skip this step, you can still add the parts of this step later by following the instructions on this page.

Power switches

A power switch cuts off battery power when using a wireless controller.

Reset buttons

Using a reset button, you can reboot your keyboard and flash new firmware to it.

Not all kits have enough space to fit the JST jack. Look for the white outline near the pads that’ll say + and - on the top side of the PCB. If there’s no rectangular white outline, then the jack won’t fit. If that is the case, you can solder the battery leads directly to the PCB - we will cover this on the Batteries page.

The top side of a JST jack.

Locate the outline for the JST jack. It will be labelled "BAT" and it is usually placed near the microcontroller on the top side of the board.

Make sure you solder it on the correct side of the board! Installing it on the wrong side may reverse the battery's polarity, leading to your board catching fire!

The battery footprint. The white rectangular outline shows it's compatible with the JST jack. If there's no rectangle, then you should skip this section and manually connect the battery in a later step.

Insert the jack. Its legs will probably hold it in place when you flip the board over.

Can't get the jack to stay in? You can use a piece of tape to fix it in place. The kind of tape doesn't matter, as it won't get hot during soldering.

A JST jack placed on the top side of the keyboard, on top of the white outline.

Solder both legs, and repeat the process for the other half

A soldered JST jack, looking from the bottom side of the keyboard. You won't need to clip the leads off.

Power switches

A power switch cuts off battery power when using a wireless controller.

Reset buttons

Using a reset button, you can reboot your keyboard and flash new firmware to it.

Questions? Help us improve!

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