Troubleshoot why certain keys don't repond

[Thatbraziliann]

So I attempted a fix, bridging the ground traces together, with solder on top of copper tape on top of newly exposed traces, to no avail. Picture attached. Any insight?

Did you check and see if the bottom of the tape is conductive as well? I had the same problem when I used the tape and got rid of it all together. I cant remember who told me to check but someone earlier on in the thread I think @ketchaleon.

But yeah man The problem was that second post so I attached it to the first and then checked with my multimeter from there to ground on teensy then I did the Dpad area. If its not working I would try to do it without the tape thats probably what is causing it to have a bad connection.. or just order a PCB board.. I ended up ordering one from @helder in the buy, sell trade forum just to make it cleaner and not have to worry about anything not working :/

I know its rough after all the time you put into soldering into traces and everything.

[petran1420]

The bottom of the tape was conductive too. I put my multimeter on continuity and got a beep when I put probes on the underside of the tape. So I checked the continuity of all the dpad buttons- with multimeter on continuity I have one probe on each highlighted pad in the picture below, and the other probe touching the corresponding GPIO position ( I know it should be 0-3, but I accidentally started with 1, so its 1-4 ) on the Teensy. I get a beep for each one.

But, I haven't tested the ground connection for each button. To do that would I use one probe to touch the other pad next to each highlighted one in the picture below, and then the other probe on the GND position on the teensy? And expect to get a beep?

or just order a PCB board..

Yeah I just ordered on from kitsch-bent, and I'll probably end up using it, but I want to troubleshoot in the meantime and get better! If I end up using the kitsch-bent board without having fixed this 'custom' one it'll bother me haha, feel like I 'cheated' or copped out. I want to learn!

[Popcorn]

Moved to Project Help forum

[petran1420]

I was able to get all the get it working! It was a problem with the ground connections just like @Thatbraziliann- some of the staples bridging the ground connections weren't functioning. Through a lot of my own janky bridging and multimeter use I got all the ground traces connected. It looks ugly (as you can see), and I'm not even going to end up using it since I got a custom pcb board from kitsch-bent coming in, but I'm proud of learning the skills needed to troubleshoot and fix.

[Kilren]

I might be digging up this post when it looks like it's generally resolved, but a good pro tip for me is to make sure I prime all of my wires before I try soldering. I kept taking too long trying to warm up the board, and burning it from time to time, trying to get too many things to happen at once. It also makes the end result look cleaner and less globby.

Prime the wires, saves you time and hands.

[petran1420]

Prime the wires, saves you time and hands.

By prime the wires do you mean tinning the tips?

[crispy_tofu]

Prime the wires, saves you time and hands.

By prime the wires do you mean tinning the tips?

Yes, that's what they mean.

[petran1420]

Good! Glad i'm getting the lingo

I did tin the tips in my soldering attempts, but it was still quite difficult. I think either I had the solder temp incorrect or I didn't expose enough copper on the pcb for the wire to stick to. Either way it was a learning experience!

[crispy_tofu]

What soldering iron do you have? Normal 60/40 leaded solder melts at about 185 degrees Celsius, so try setting the iron to about 225-250 degrees. This ensures that it's cold enough to not be very difficult (and burn the board), yet have enough thermal mass to stop getting cold and not melt the solder.

[Kilren]

Good! Glad i'm getting the lingo

I did tin the tips in my soldering attempts, but it was still quite difficult. I think either I had the solder temp incorrect or I didn't expose enough copper on the pcb for the wire to stick to. Either way it was a learning experience!

Ha, just make up words as you talk about it. Lingo-shmingo.

When you solder, you definitely need to be in the right temp range, and use the correct grasp, buy the best soldering iron and wire you can afford (quality vs actual use time), etc. But it all really just comes down to experience and practice. Pretty little solders are accomplished by machines or a lot of patience and experience.