oops i did it again...spilled pop

KuhnElectronics · Post by **KuhnElectronics** » Mon Oct 16, 2006 4:02 pm

well i was drinking a can of pepsi, and poured the whole can into my keyboard....worst of all...it was my laptop...

no pop got into the actual CPU....everything else was dry...

i cleaned it up as much as possible...but i lost my shift, A, control, alt, and my spacebar sometimes...

someone told me to take the keyboard out, and soak it in distilled water and let it dry for a day or so...

but is this safe?

Post by **wavetar** » Mon Oct 16, 2006 4:18 pm

Some people swear by the distilled water & oven method. See this thread:

http://batboard.batlabs.com/viewtopic.php?t=55433

I think in your particular case, the problem is going to be getting the water to displace the dried, sticky pop from wherever it happens to be lurking.

kb0nly · Post by **kb0nly** » Mon Oct 16, 2006 5:58 pm

Oh man.. you wouldn't believe how many times i have dealt with this!

Pop is THE WORST, but i have dealt with Coffee, Orange Juice, Milk, you name it.

The problem with laptop keyboards is they are layers sealed by a metal plate on one side and plastic on the other, its a tight sandwhich and hard to get something rinsed out of. The best advice i can offer is this, first dissasemble only the affected keys, the key tops will come off the cross arms, and see if you can spot the buildup. One some keyboards the rubber contact/spring assembly can be removed after removing the key top. If your lucky you have one like that, a q-tip and a bit of rubbing alcohol and you can clean each affected key. If you have a sealed keyboard where the rubber piece is not removable from each key position then your in for a battle.

You can try soaking it in distilled water for a day, then agitate it back and forth in the water a bit and let it sit upside down for a while, and then repeat the process and leave it sitting right side up. Finally put it in the oven, i prefer to put it upside down on a couple paper towels to protect it from the metal rack, and put your oven on the lowest setting, i set mine to 120 (warming setting) and just leave it for 6-8 hours. It gets just as hot if you leave it in your car on a summer day so it won't hurt it, and at this point what do you have to lose?

n7maq · Post by **n7maq** » Mon Oct 16, 2006 6:19 pm

Don’t rule out a replacement keyboard if the wash and dry does not work. We put a brand new one into a Gateway for $23.00. That was the price new from Gateway for that keyboard a few years ago. I have also replaced one in my Thinkpad for around the same cost, it was a good used keyboard from a reputable dealer on eBay.

Jim

kb0nly · Post by **kb0nly** » Mon Oct 16, 2006 6:46 pm

Yep when all else fails, google search the heck out of it for the cheapest price.

I have had some that were hard to find in stock, and other times a quick cleaning worked anyway.

Since you didn't list a model number i can't suggest a replacement source.

MotoMax300 · Post by **MotoMax300** » Mon Oct 16, 2006 7:52 pm

keyboards for laptops are cheap right now, seriously, replace it, youll have to soon anyways.

kb0nly · Post by **kb0nly** » Mon Oct 16, 2006 8:34 pm

As long as its not a toughbook, those keyboards are fricken spendy.. But then the more expensive sealed ones hardly die due to a spill.