Disassembly

Given we have hot-swappable switches, what better way to begin the disassembly page than by taking one of the switches apart? The Gateron Yellow is a relatively new switch, and Gateron has made improvements to the switch mold to where they claim a higher rated lifetime and smoother travel for this linear switch. It's hard to tell from even this macro photo, and it would really take an optical microscope to discern any physical changes, but expect nothing other than a smoother contact surface where applicable for stem travel on the housing. The metal leaf contact seems to be the same, and thus actuation is no different from other linear mechanical switches, wherein the stem pushes the two metal leaf contacts together as it travels down. This completion of the electric circuit is a signal deciphered by the USB microcontroller on the keyboard PCB and passed on to your display as a keystroke.


As far as plastic case keyboards go, disassembly of the NINJA87BT is among the easiest. Plastic interlocking tabs still hold this two-piece case together, but with enough gaps between them to allow a thin, flat object to pry them apart. At this point, the top piece can be lifted off, which confirms the ABS plastic composition, and the plate/PCB piece may be lifted up to where the internal USB cable can be unplugged from the Type-C port on the daughter PCB screwed to the bottom case panel. There is also a sound-absorbing foam sheet between the PCB and bottom panel, which is nice to see since it will help reduce reverberations from an otherwise hollow case despite the foam sheet being thinner and lower in density than I like.



The PCB is black and solder quality is quite good for the few components that are soldered here, including the Kailh hot-swap switch sockets. With the company logo prominently featured on it, this is also clearly a Monstargear keyboard PCB, not a recycled one. The contacts for the batteries can be seen better here, as well as the slider switch for the wireless connection. Powering the wired connectivity is a HFD48KP500 USB microcontroller. There isn't any useful information about it online, but I have seen it used in another keyboard we checked out last year. The wireless operation is taken care of by a Cypress CYW20730 Bluetooth 5.1 transceiver. As is the norm, all the components are soldered onto a multi-layer PCB.

Before we move on, be advised that disassembly may void the warranty and that TechPowerUp is not liable for any damages incurred if you decide to go ahead and do so anyway.