I tipped a 7UP over my keyboard. Ugh!

T

themacko

Barking at the moon.
I normally don't drink soda, so this really ticks me off when the one time I do decide to have a soft drink I knock the whole glass over onto my keyboard. Now the upper-left keys stick.

Is there a way for me to easily clean this thing out or should I just get a new one?
 
Which mac did you have? Can you (plug off and) open the keyboard? let it try .. then try to clean (damp cloth? maybe with really mild soap) around the stuck keys. I'd sure try cleaning before getting a new one.
 
I accept NO resposibility for damage done by trying the following method.

I heard a rumor long ago, when I was still using 286/386 machines, that keyboard could be completely submerged in water without any damage, short of corrosion by leaving it wet and not drying them properly. The switches in most keyboards are simple touch-switches, which are not harmed by water unless they are activated while they are submerged, meaning you'd still have to have the keyboard plugged into the computer while you submerged it.

I tried this with an old IBM PC/AT keyboard -- keys were sticking like mad, so I tried it -- and it worked! Gave it a good, thorough washing in a tub of regular tap water, and dried it out with a hairdryer set to simply blow air with no heat (I felt the heat could damage something, which is ironic, since I just got my keyboard completely wet). Keyboard functioned normally and perfectly after that.

I don't recommend trying it, but it worked for me. I don't know how the USB ports would factor into this since they're simple electronic devices that should not get wet.

The only time I ever had trouble with some foreign liquid damaging my keyboard was when my parrot decided to relieve himself on my spacebar, and I think his poop has some sort of chemical in it that's extremely corrosive... no amount of cleaning the contacts under the spacebar would make it work again.

You can, of course, simply pop they keys off and get in there with a slightly damp Q-tip and scrub away for hours. It's tedious, but safe and effective.
 
Now that the damage is done,(hindsight is 20/20) you should have lifted the keyboard so all the spilled drink falls out. Then you wouldn't have such a problem.

The older keyboards can be taken apart and cleaned. I have done that. You could try using Kensington or ReadRight cleaners. They have a solvent that does not hurt the inside of the keyboard and they come individually prepackaged swabs.

I tried cleaning the white usb keyboard (apple pro) and somehow made dirty keys clean, but keys that refused to work. I will - when time permits - take it apart and try to fix it. But in the mean time, I had to buy a replacement. :(
 
On some keyboards, you can pop off the individual keys and then clean up all the sticky spots by hand. Not all keyboards will work like this, though, especially laptop keyboards. And I, too, take no responsibility if you damage your keyboard in this way.
 
I basically took my keyboard apart once to try and clean it (not just taking the keys out, mind you). It was a black one made by Apple.

I somehow managed to get it back togeather again, and when I did, around half of the keys didn't work, although that fixed itself after a day or two for some reason.
 
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