11-12-2010, 09:16 AM
Hi,
I've given so many keyboards a tea bath that it was a running joke for a while. One of my coworkers even made a label that he put on my keyboard saying "This is *NOT* your mouth". However, I've never lost a keyboard to liquids (yet). It's not like there are any high voltage components that are going to short out. It's just that the moisture gets into the 'works' and never dries out unless you disassemble the keyboard and dry it manually. Typically the problem is in the three layers of membrane that are the actual capacitive switches. Just take everything apart, paying attention to where everything is. If you've spilled anything but clear water, rinse everything in normal tap water. Then dry off with paper or cloth towels, blast with a duster, dry what's just come out, and stick everything in a warm (120F, 50C) spot (I've used a flat box with small holes in the lid, a heating pad, and a wire rack to hold the bits away from the pad). About a day should do it. Reassemble, using a LOT of the duster (tiny specs of grit between the membranes can screw everything up for one to four nearby keys). I've, on two occasions, had to repeat the process because I wasn't careful enough about cleanliness, but it's always worked in the end.
Or, if they're still around, you can always get a KeyTronix keyboard -- for probably about $1000US. Individual gold plated reed switches in a nitrogen filled glass envelope, activated by cobalt magnets in the keys. Bronze steel springs, dual molded keys, blah, blah, blah. They mostly supply medical equipment manufacturers and, I'd guess, the government. Since I don't expect to live to see the next millennium, I'd consider it an overkill, but some of you yong'uns might want to check it out. Like a Rolls, it might be cheap in the long run.
To bed, perchance to sleep -- or at least to pet the cats.
--Pete
(11-12-2010, 03:42 AM)DeeBye Wrote: . . . but it failed me when she spilled a full cup of coffee on it.
(11-12-2010, 03:47 AM)Mirajj Wrote: The cat knocked the water directly into the keyboard. Ruined it pretty quick. It eventually dried out so that most of the keys worked, but nothing in the numberpad did, and any number keys on top of the QWERTY space you pressed resulted in several random numbers.
(11-12-2010, 04:04 AM)DeeBye Wrote: A very expensive keyboard needs a "No drink within 2 feet" rule, which I wasn't prepared to enforce.
I've given so many keyboards a tea bath that it was a running joke for a while. One of my coworkers even made a label that he put on my keyboard saying "This is *NOT* your mouth". However, I've never lost a keyboard to liquids (yet). It's not like there are any high voltage components that are going to short out. It's just that the moisture gets into the 'works' and never dries out unless you disassemble the keyboard and dry it manually. Typically the problem is in the three layers of membrane that are the actual capacitive switches. Just take everything apart, paying attention to where everything is. If you've spilled anything but clear water, rinse everything in normal tap water. Then dry off with paper or cloth towels, blast with a duster, dry what's just come out, and stick everything in a warm (120F, 50C) spot (I've used a flat box with small holes in the lid, a heating pad, and a wire rack to hold the bits away from the pad). About a day should do it. Reassemble, using a LOT of the duster (tiny specs of grit between the membranes can screw everything up for one to four nearby keys). I've, on two occasions, had to repeat the process because I wasn't careful enough about cleanliness, but it's always worked in the end.
Or, if they're still around, you can always get a KeyTronix keyboard -- for probably about $1000US. Individual gold plated reed switches in a nitrogen filled glass envelope, activated by cobalt magnets in the keys. Bronze steel springs, dual molded keys, blah, blah, blah. They mostly supply medical equipment manufacturers and, I'd guess, the government. Since I don't expect to live to see the next millennium, I'd consider it an overkill, but some of you yong'uns might want to check it out. Like a Rolls, it might be cheap in the long run.
To bed, perchance to sleep -- or at least to pet the cats.
--Pete
How big was the aquarium in Noah's ark?