Page 3 - A Closer Look - Disassembly and Internals
The disassembly of the Epomaker RT82 was straightforward. I started the process by removing the keycaps using the keycap puller that came in the box. This process was repetitive but without mishap, and all 80 keys were soon removed, leaving the switches and plate exposed.
Taking the opportunity to disassemble one of the switches, we can get a better understanding of the internal structure. As mentioned before, these pre-lubed switches use a 5-pin design, with a travel distance of 3.6±0.4mm, with a trigger force of 45±5gf. The switches use a standard Cherry stem.
After removing the eighty keycaps, the switches were next. Again, using the included keycap puller, the switches came out with no incident, leaving the keyboard prepped for the next stage of disassembly.
The next step was to take apart the frame of the keyboard. I removed 8 screws from the back and used a flat-end screwdriver to undo two latches on the interior left and right sides, releasing the two halves. This exposed the battery and thick silicone mat in the bottom half. The battery was disconnected first and without difficulty. The small daughterboard connected to the USC Type-C socket and responsible for switching between different connection types is in the top left of the frame. This board must be disconnected before further access to the internals. The last connector is attached to the contacts that power the mini display and must be disconnected as well. To undo these connectors, I used a standard pair of household tweezers, but if you have longer fingernails those would realistically work as well.
After everything was disconnected, the next step was to carefully undo the foam sandwich still resting in the top half of the case. There are two layers of foam, one on each side of the PCB. The first and thicker of the two is on the bottom, and must be removed carefully after undoing six more screws, as it is secured with an adhesive layer. On the other side of the PCB is a very thin layer of denser foam, which itself is underneath another thicker layer of foam. On top of this very tasty sound dampening sandwich, we find the PC plate, with the stabilizers still attached. After removing the plate, we find the six silicone gaskets used to isolate the plate from the case. These slide off with no difficulty. At the end of the disassembly, we find one last screw securing the mini-display contacts to the top of the keyboard case. It is important to note that not all screws are identical, so organization is key here. However, one thing I appreciated was that all the screws could be removed using a single screwdriver, making disassembly much less tedious.
The internal layout of the RT82 makes disassembly very simple. After disconnecting three JST (Japan Solderless Terminal) connections, and undoing a few screws, the rest of the process just feels like peeling back the layers of an onion. If it is done with care and intentionality, I don’t see any particularly risky parts of the process. Looking at the internals of a device always gives me a greater appreciation of the complexity that we take for granted. In this case, I gained a greater appreciation of the multi-layered sound dampening, sturdy stabilizers, and the hot-swappable sockets.
After the keyboard was reassembled, everything worked as it had before.
Page Index
1. Introduction, Packaging, Specifications
2. A Closer Look - Hardware and Software
3. A Closer Look - Disassembly and Internals
4. Conclusion
