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Level 1

5 points

Cleaning my iMac's bluetooth keyboard

So yesterday my keyboard decided to take a bath in some OJ. I cleaned it up with a damp cloth as best I could and then turned it upside down on a cloth until just a few moments ago. I played with the keys a bit and they feel... Crunchy. Basically, it's gotta be rather sticky inside.

I need a way to clean this thing.

At this point, I'm considering just running warm water over it for a while and then dropping it in a bag of rice for a few days. I can't think of another way to guarantee I clean the inside out.

Luckily, I have a wired keyboard from before I got my iMac so there's nothing stoping me from using it.

What do you guys think? Stupid idea? Better idea?

iMac11,3, Mac OS X (10.6.5)

Posted on Dec 14, 2010 12:10 PM

Best reply

rkaufmann87

Level 10

140,784 points

Posted on Dec 14, 2010 12:30 PM

If OJ got inside it I'd give it a good funeral and kiss it goodbye. Don't run water over it but you can wipe the outside and then let is sit in a bag of rice for several days and hope. The problem is that OJ has a lot of sugar in it, sugar is a death knell to electronics. That being said if you do need to replace it I saw that OWC (www.macsales.com) has some on sale right now and you can also try shopping at Ebay if you enjoy that experience.

Best of luck,

Roger

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22 replies

rkaufmann87

Level 10

140,784 points

Dec 14, 2010 9:23 PM in response to baltwo

http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Apple/MB110LLANBB/

That one indicates it's used too.

baltwo

Level 9

62,362 points

Dec 14, 2010 9:41 PM in response to rkaufmann87

Sorry. I must have not been seeing things, since I missed that caveat.

See http://www.google.com/products/catalog?q=AppleKeyboard+with+NumericKeypad&hl=en&client=safari&cid=5438286719592567009&os=sellers#scoring=p for best prices.

rkaufmann87

Level 10

140,784 points

Dec 14, 2010 10:09 PM in response to baltwo

Good link!

Doug_S Author

Level 1

5 points

Dec 15, 2010 10:50 AM in response to Doug_S

So I just unwrapped my keyboard, made sure not to make a mess with the rice, and dropped in the batteries. Nothing. I then reversed them. Green light. Connection. Victory!

I have to say, it seems a bit more noisy now since the keys make a sort of crinkle noise but for all intensive purposes they work just fine. The action feels good and I just tested all my keys and as far as I can tell they all work just fine.

I figured the excess noise is just because of some residual OJ under the keys or something. My guess is it'll go away with use or I'll become accustomed to it over time. Maybe if I'd bathed it immediately it would have been perfectly fine. Next time, right?

I think the reason I got lucky on this one is because the actual circuitry that runs the system is up in the cylinder where the batteries are and even when I washed it I kept that area elevated. My guess is it didn't get hit.

Thanks to everyone for the help!