Printer-friendly version
Author:
So, I poured coffee into my keyboard, a Blue Tooth one, that seems OK. Well, the keyboard still works, so I thought I'd tear it down and give it a bit of a flush out, since I have done it before numerous times on other ones.
My question? Is there a certain spray solvent to use?
Gwen
Comments
A can of compressed air that
A can of compressed air that you can get from Walmart or a big electronic retailer should work if there isn't anything that causes the keys to stick. It will also take care of any particles of food or dust that got inside as well. Isopropyl alcohol works as well, add a little to a cotton swab or q-tip and it'll clean pretty well. Worst case you might have to remove the keys and clean them individually, but it's either spend the time doing that than going out and buying a new keyboard.
I'm told STFU more times in a day than most people get told in a lifetime
electronic contact cleaner
electronic contact cleaner spray or car mass air flow sensor spay ---auto parts place will have that one!
its works well and cleans everything!
but might be expensive? I have not needed to buy any for years---job gives it to me!
Proud member of the Whateley Academy Drow clan/collective
distilled water
Since I wash many electronic projects with distilled water, I usually try to flush my accidents with it. Unfortunately, keyboards are hard to disassemble. So, drying usually involves rice and a bread bag.
I've always used tap water
I've always used tap water, but I take the keyboard apart, separating the plastic membranes and wash them individually. Keep the water away from little circuit board and be careful putting the little ribbon cable back in its position and you shouldn't have any problems. Takes about 45 minutes to get it all done and dry.
I have done this several times for my boss - him and his coffee - and a couple of times due to accidents of students, Mountain Dew is reallllllllllllly sticky.
Good luck
Jeri Elaine
Homonyms, synonyms, heterographs, contractions, slang, colloquialisms, clichés, spoonerisms, and plain old misspellings are the bane of writers, but the art and magic of the story is in the telling not in the spelling.
Sticking keys
It looks like I'll have to tear it down because some of the keys are sticking.
Gwen
I tended to use alcohol
we had large plotters at my office for years and they always said to use isoprobyle alcohol 80% purity or better, Wal-Mart (sorry Hell-Mart) has 90%. it works great for cleaning residue and gunk from electronics also once you wipe away the mess and use it again when it evaporates it tends to not leave behind residue its self that will cause shorts or attract more dirt.
Was always fun taking them part and cleaning them especially when an ink line to the print hear from the ink resouvor would explode and get ink on everything. I hated cleaning the control boards.
"Cortana is watching you!"
90% alcohol
Be very careful with 90% isopropyl alcohol. Be sure to use in a well ventilated area, since the fumes are really strong. Also, it is a very good solvent. I was once using it to clean some crud off of a laptop case only to find it was dissolving the ink off of the asset tag. For most uses, the 70% is just fine.
In my many years in the industry, I've depended on
water for cleaning keyboard spills. If your coffee has cream and/or sugar, you need to flush it out. Very hard to get it really clean and stop sticks. Unless you're committed to the old one, I'd suggest a new keyboard.
Ahhh.... Key board cleaning....
Being a blue tooth you might not want to do this but....using A carwash brush, and Windex, I used to thoroughly use hot water and scrub/
rinse out keyboards in the sink. Turn oven on 120 degrees f. And bake it overnight.
Sticky stuff
I've had some success using cleaning putty on keyboards. It's like a thicker version of the green slime kids play with, and you jam it into the tight spots and pull it out in a stretchy booger-like thing stuck to all the keyboard crud.
This is why i always get
This is why i always get sealed keyboards designed to be torn apart cleaned and put back together most modern ones are like this. Wash the keys themselves in soapy water and let dry then use an alcohol based cleaner and paper towel on the bottom part making sure to be very careful around any openings that may exsist to the board area.
I have done this several times to the same keyboard.
Don't forget to remove batteries!
Best solvent in the known part of the Universe? H2O. Water. No other solvent can compare measured by the number of substances it can dissolve ;-)
PS: I hate wireless mice and keyboards... My beloved mouse... Yes, its teeth are blueish in colour, but I still love him... But delays when using with my work laptop are so bad... Had to get tailed old geezer from IT dept's reject pile to be able to work...
:-)