Trying out Mill Max 0305 Sockets

I received a lot in queries about compatibility of 0305 sockets on P20 and p40 keyboards. I could not directly say yes since i have not tried it myself but there are users who mentioned that they did used these sockets on their Px boards.

So... I had a lot of free time lately and was able to get my hands on one of these from a local seller. Price is P560 for a pack of 100 pieces. More than enough for two full grid P20s.

Initial thoughts. These are quite long and will definitely create issues with the pro micro under the Px boards.

Seating a pro micro shows that the sockets will indeed touch some of its components - USB port, LED and some other that I could not see. Leaving these sockets unmodified will definitely cause issues, kill the pro micro/controller and, probably burn the house down :(

The top side indeed add space making the switches seat taller as well. I do not have PCB mount stabilizers with me but I also wanted to see how it will affect those. I think that'll be done some other time.

Inspecting the inside of the sockets shows that the pieces that make contact with the switch pins are smaller and shorter than barrel/wall that protects it. I thought that cutting the barrel/wall will not affect its purpose. I went on and had the wall cut.

Sockets that will be placed on the top most row should also be cut.

Once these sockets are cut, there is now space between the pro micro and switches. I would still recommend insulating this portion for additional protection.

So there it is. Mill Max sockets seems to be a nice alternative for these boards but modifications are still necessary. I'll play around with reverse installation and post an update as well. That'll be some other time though :)

Update 20210415: Here's some photos showing how the switch pins should be cut. This only involved 1 switch - that touching the pro micro.

Before: