Included in the kit:

-Case Bottom Plate PCB Switch Plate Acrylic Cover

-Hardware 10x M3 x 5mm screws 10x M3 x 10mm screws 4x Rubber Bumpons

-Parts Raspberry Pi Pico Microcontroller 48x Diodes 0.91″ OLED Display EC11 Rotary Encoder Rotary Encoder Knob 50x SK6812-E RGB LEDs 2u Clip-in Stabilizer 48x Your choice of mechanical switches

Tools required: M3 driver or allen key Soldering Iron and Solder Wire cutter Fine Tip Tweezer

Recommended but not required: Flux/Flux Pen

Assembly Guide

-Test and flash your Pi Pico (5min) Download the latest version of the VIA firmware “1upkeyboards_pi40_via.uf2” from https://www.caniusevia.com/docs/download_firmware. Plug in the Pi Pico to your PC. The Pico device will mount as a storage drive and a window will pop up. If a window does not pop up check your Devices and Drives and look for the RPI-RP2 drive. Drag and drop the downloaded UF2 file onto the drive. The device will disconnect and reconnect as the Pi40. You are done installing the firmware.

-Soldering the Pi Pico (5-10min) Place the pi40 PCB face up on a flat surface (no logo visible). Using your soldering iron apply a small amount of solder to one of the corner pads of the Pico footprint on the pi40 PCB. Now with the Pico in one hand and soldering iron in the other, heat the solder and slide the Pico into place. Once the Pico is properly aligned, remove your iron from the solder and now your Pico should be locked into place. Solder the rest of the contacts by holding your iron against the pad leaving a small gap between the tip of the iron and castellation and flow your solder into the gap and dragging your the tip of your iron away.

-Soldering the Diodes (30-45min) Bend the legs on the diode so it fits into the holes on the PCB. Insert the diode into its position making sure to orient it properly. The solid black end on the diode should face the thick white marking on the PCB. Once the diode is inserted, bend the legs outwards on the other side of the PCB so the diode stays in place. Repeat this for all 48 diodes. Once all your diodes are set you can solder from either the front or backside. Once all the diodes are soldered in place, clip off the excess legs on the back using a flush wire cutter. NOTE: Diodes can be soldered from either the front or the back.

-Soldering the LEDs (60-90min) This is arguably the most difficult and time-consuming part of this build so remember to take your time! Flip the PCB so the backside is up (logo visible). It is recommended that you solder in rows starting with the top row first. Apply a small amount of solder to the LED pad that has a white arrow. Using tweezers hold the LED with the illuminating side facing down towards the PCB. Align the leg with the angled corner with the white arrow marking on the PCB. With one hand heat up the solder on the pad and slowly slide the LED into place with the other hand until it is sitting in place. Remove heat and then solder the remaining legs. If you are having issues getting the solder to flow properly on the legs, using flux on the LED pads will make it easier.

If you have a V1.1 PCB you will need to choose between the GRID or MIT spacebar layouts. Only solder the corresponding LEDs for your desired layout. Only solder the single center spacebar LED for MIT or the 2 LEDs that correspond with the grid layout.

Once your row is fully soldered plug in the PCB to your computer. At this time the LEDs should light up in the default mode. The LEDs are wired in series so if not all your LEDs light up this means the last LED that is lit up and the first LED that is off should be reflowed or have more solder added to establish a proper connection. You may also encounter flickering LEDs. This means the connection is unstable and should also be reflowed. Once your row is fully working then you should move on to soldering the next row. Remember to test after soldering each row for easier troubleshooting.

-Soldering the OLED (5min) Insert the OLED pins into their spot from the top. Flip the PCB and solder from the back. Make sure the OLED headers are sitting flat against the PCB so there is enough clearance for the acrylic cover. You may need set the OLED in place before fully soldering. To do this add a small amount of solder to the tip of your iron and while holding the LED in place with one hand. Use the solder on the tip of the iron on one of the LED pins to set everything into place. Then finish soldering the 4 pins. Use flush wire cutter to trim the legs on the OLED

-Soldering the switches (30min) If you are using the Pi40 Acrylic case, you will want to use the switch plate and support layer at this stage. With the PCB facing up (logo no visible) install your 2u stabilizer. The switch plate has a long edge with rounded corners and one without rounded corners. The edge with rounded corners should match up the bottom edge of the PCB. Insert your switches into the plate and then press the plate and switches into the PCB until everything is fully seated, making sure no switch pins are bent. Flip the PCB over and solder your switches.

-Soldering the Rotary Encoder (5min) Insert the rotary encoder onto the top of the PCB. You may need to adjust the side pins that hold the encoder in place. Flip the PCB over and solder the 5 pins for the encoder. If you are using a non-button encoder then you will only have 3 pins.

-Testing the keyboard (5min) At this point, your keyboard is now fully soldered. It is recommended to use a key tester to check that the switches, encoder, and OLED are installed and functioning properly.

-Assembling the included case (5min) If you are using the full acrylic case, follow the Level60 case instructions. Install the acrylic cover by using 4 standoffs and 8 screws. The acrylic cover has one edge with rounded corners and a hole for the rotary encoder. Make sure the rounded corners line up with the rounded corners on the PCB. Hand-tighten the standoffs on the acrylic cover to prevent cracking. Then screw the cover into place from the back of the PCB.

Screw in the 6 remaining standoffs onto the bottom plate the center positions, 2 on each side and 2 near the center. The PCB has thru holes for the standoffs. With the bottom plate standoffs facing up, place the PCB through and then tighten the standoffs to the switch plate with the remaining 6 screws. Place the 4 bumpons on each corner of the bottom plate and you are done!

PRODUCT LINK: https://1upkeyboards.com/shop/keyboard-kits/diy-40-kits/pi40-keyboard-kit