So I recently got myself a new Razer BlackWidow Chroma V2. Prior to this I had my Razer BlackWidow Chroma, the original one. I have had it for about 4 years and it is still in great working condition. I wanted to do some customizations to it that, although I can't see why they couldn't be done, I am not entirely sure how to do on my own.
So there are a few cosmetic customizations that wouldn't be too difficult for me to do with some time and effort. I wanted to add an RGB led underglow. I also wanted to replace the underside plastic with a clear plastic or a white translucent acrylic to help disperse the ubderglow light.
The reason I'm posting here today is because I would really like to modify the keyboard to be a tenless keyboard (remove the number pad) but more specifically allow for a modular design where I could "snap" the number pad back on if I needed it (like a modular keyboard, an example is the Asus ROG Claymore keyboard).
The other customization I want to add is replacing the braided hard wired USBs with a removable USB C connector.
Essentially the idea is to maintain the Razer Synapse support for lighting control, and to create a more portable keyboard that could still function as a full size keyboard if need be. The other side of this project is to do some customizations to the case to both support the modular function and a RGB underglow.
I would love to add the underglow to the number pad as well, and obviously I realize that the underglow will not be controlled by Razer Synapse (unless I use the goliathus mouse mat light pipe and coil it on the bottom of the Keyboard, but I'm not sure how will that will work).
So a couple things I noticed that could complicate this process, and the reason I'm coming here for assistance, is mainly the layout of the PCB. Attached are a few pictures of the PCB.
The first problem is the white metal shield, I think this is soldered on in some spots but I can't actually tell. I know there are plastic mounts that clip to the metal shield from the PCB, but the shield doesn't budge and these plastic mounts wouldn't be holding the shield in place as much as it is.
The second problem is where the cable comes in/out of the PCB. It's at the top right corner, right above the number pad. This means in order to properly cut down the size to a ten keyless, then add modularity as a feature to the keyboard, I would need to take this one PCB and split it into three, there would be one with the LEDs, audio & USB pass through, and cable connector (that will become a USB C port instead of hard wired), one for the main keyboard, and one for the number pad.
Any thoughts on this would be great. Some of you may be wondering "why bother modifying a keyboard this heavily?" And while this is a good point, as I just bought a new one, I would like to see if A) I can actually accomplish this and B) have a more portable Razer keyboard for on the go. Also of course C) is to have a custom Razer keyboard, to me that's pretty cool.
Anyways, again, any help would be greatly appreciated.
Picture Key: (based off last three digits of the picture name)
738 is a picture of the top of the keyboard PCB with the white aluminium shield
749 is a picture up close of the top right of the PCB.
808 is a picture of the ports for pass through.
839 is a picture of the bottom of the PCB
332 is a picture of the connectors.
Quick Note:
I would be completely fine with 4 detachable cables if 1 USB C can't replace the four connectors (which I realize is unlikely if not impossible).
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