KVM - Modding HDMI switch

Projects / KVM Switch  Original post date:07/15/2017

I have been putting off doing this, but I guess I got to do it at some point. The connector is for breaking out the HDMI Mux address line and the push button. I have previously reverse engineered the HDMI switch here.

I eyeballed the connectors and mark it off where on the case I am going to cut with a pencil. It is the only edge that is cleared of components or traces.

I cut a hole on the side. One side of the edge is tapered for sliding in the connector.

This is how it would fit.

I made a loop with a pin from a scrap connector.

I trimmed off the loop with a diagonal cutter, file off the excessive solder and pin so that it is flush.

The edge of the PCB is trimmed off with a shear. PCB is covered with a piece of Kapton tape as a precaution as pin 2 is pretty close to the top side.

I removed the soldermask from the ground plane.

The pin and the loop is soldered to the ground plane for mechanical support.

I use a piece of Kapton tape to cover up the two capacitors as a precaution.

I use a piece of ribbon cable to connect pin 2-4 of the chip to the connector. I "superglued" the protoboard to the PCB for additional support. The ribbon cable is glued to the main PCB with a bit of hot glue.

This is what the slot looks like with everything in place.

With the cable, it looks like this.