Intermittently Sticky Keyboard After Sugary Drink Spill.

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Level 7

22,260 points

Intermittently Sticky Keyboard After Sugary Drink Spill.

A few months ago I spilt a sugary fruit drink over my (full size) aluminium keyboard.

I immediately "cleaned" it with a very damp cloth, hoping not only to remove the deposits but also dilute them.

After drying, the keyboard seemed OK except some of the keys had a "sticky" movement and also made a slight "crunchy" sound.

To my relief, after a few days the keys started feeling normal and everything was as good as new.

Then a few weeks later, the stickiness suddenly returned but once again disappeared after a day or two.

Yesterday, the problem returned and I suspect it must be something to do with atmospheric conditions or temperature.

Is it possible to remove the keys to clean underneath?

I have actually heard of the old plastic types of keyboards being washed successfully by putting in a dishwasher but I am not that desperate and don't own such a device!

24" 2.8 GHz (Penryn) 4GB RAM iMac, Mac OS X (10.6.2), Iomega 1TB USB 2.0 HD + LaCie Quadra 500GB HD

Posted on Dec 20, 2009 3:48 AM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

jamesholden

Level 3

710 points

Dec 20, 2009 9:22 AM in response to Ian R. Brown

There's probably a way of dismantling the keyboard from the underside.

If you use purified water you can actually 'wash' electronic components as there are no minerals in it to short circuit anything once it's dried.

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Answer 2

den.thed

Level 10

82,282 points

Dec 20, 2009 9:56 AM in response to Ian R. Brown

Hi Ian

Unlike the earlier keyboards, those modern new fanged keyboards are a sealed unit.

[cleaning the apple aluminum keyboard|http://www.google.com/custom?q=cleaning+the%20apple%20aluminum%20keybo ard&sa=Search&client=pub-6263300333013957&forid=1&ie=ISO-8859-1&oe=ISO-8859-1&co f=GALT:%23008000;GL:1;DIV:%23336699;VLC:663399;AH:center;BGC:FFFFFF;LBGC:336699; ALC:0000FF;LC:0000FF;T:000000;GFNT:0000FF;GIMP:0000FF;FORID:1;&hl=en]

Dennis

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Answer 3

rkaufmann87

Level 10

143,778 points

Dec 20, 2009 10:24 AM in response to Ian R. Brown

Good timing to ask!

Recently Macworld published an article on cleaning keyboards, here is the link.

http://www.macworld.com/article/145131/clean_keyboard.html

Regards,

Roger

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Answer 4

Ian R. Brown Author

Level 7

22,260 points

Dec 20, 2009 12:34 PM in response to rkaufmann87

Thanks everyone for your suggestions.

I had googled before posting the question but got nowhere near the same number of hits as you provided.

Weirdly, the keyboard is now almost back to normal . . . . even though I have done nothing!

Psychokinesis ?

Anyway I will hang on a bit longer until things get really desperate before I try any of the suggested cures.

Still, it's mystifying as to why it works perfectly for weeks and then suddenly has a few days of stickiness.

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Answer 5

Ian R. Brown Author

Level 7

22,260 points

Jan 5, 2010 12:52 PM in response to Ian R. Brown

I plucked up the courage and washed the keyboard with warm water from a shower for 1 - 2 minutes, left it for 5 minutes to allow the water to soften the residue and then repeated the showering.

It was then shaken dry and placed 10cm above a hot radiator for 5 hours, and left for another 12 hours whilst the radiator was just slightly warm.

Results appear to be excellent. Every key works really slickly. Just hope it stays like that for the next few years!

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Answer 6

Feb 11, 2010 12:26 PM in response to Ian R. Brown

I have had the same problem with the wireless aluminum keyboard that came with my Imac 27". In my case the drink was coffee with milk and sugar but it only affected 5 or 6 keys.

The solution was: to remove the keycap of each of the sticky keys and then clean it very well with a special product for cleaning computers that I have bought on an Apple premium reseller which is a foam that comes in a spray.
( http://www.am-denmark.com/sort/engelsk/cleaning/80129/80129.html )
It is made in Denmark but if could find it here in Portugal you should find it everywhere, and I strongly recommend it for cleaning any mac and mirror display (sorry for the pub...).

First, and very carefully, I have removed the bigger parts of coffee with the tip of a cutter and then I used a toothbrush with the cleaning foam followed by a cotton swab with a bit of alcohol. Gently but firmly scrubbed the "hole" where the keys fit several times until all the dark sticky stains were gone. And it worked! No more sticky keys.
I hope it helps.

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