Q: I spilled on my keyboard. My daughter told me to run it through a cycle in my dishwasher. What do you think? It doesn't work now . Nothing to lose, right?

I think that would for sure kill it, if it isn't completely gone already.

What exactly was spilled on it?

Compressed Air would be safest, but may not help with something sticky.

I've never tried it, & I think if it was powered when spill happened it's dead, but the only thing I can picture as a possibility is rubbing alcohol & compressed air.

Hmmm, if you try the alcohol ,remember it's flammable.

I would NOT run it through the dishwasher. However, since it's not working now, you may be able to clean it out. If it's wireless, take out the batteries and re-seal the battery compartment. You may be able to fix it by running it under a gentle stream of warm water to try and completely clean the gunk out. Then put it upside down on a towel and don't touch it for at least 2 days.

As you point out, you don't have much to lose.

Apple made a variety of keyboards, some user-serviceable and some not. If you tell us which keyboard, we can better recommend actions that might help restore it without destroying it.

All Apple boards have a model number somewhere on them. Reading the model number may require a magnifying glass but it wiil be there, usually on the bottom. It will be a four-digit number preceded by a letter. Through May 2003, the model numbers started with "M"; after that they started with "A."

I spilled beer on a keyboard. Afterwards a number of keys failed to work. I took it to Apple and they checked it out. They said the repair would cost more then buying a new one. I bought the new one.

Well, than one at least comes apart. You might be able to revive it.

I found this link in a similar Apple discussion question from 2010:

http://192.197.62.35/staff/bgracey/prokeyboardrepair.html

I just checked and the site is still up. The same pages are also available here:

http://technology.niagarac.on.ca/people/bgracey/prokeyboardrepair.html

Same author, and both have decent illustrations.

There are M7803s on eBay for around US$12 if something goes awry during the cleaning process. If you find you need a new board, however, I would consider the A1048:

It superseded the M7803 and is, IMHO, the best of the "pre-aluminum" boards. The USB ports are on the back next to the cable and I find this more convenient and less cluttering. Nice key feel, too. My wife had a late-model eMac that shipped with this board and, when we upgraded her to an Intel iMac, she refused to give up the old board because it worked for her much better that the newer "flat-key" versions.