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can my keyboard recover from getting wet?

My kid spilled milk on the macbook.

Now, the keyboard's characters on the screen do not correspond with what I am typing.

For example--I will type God Bless America using the keyboard:

©ø∂ ∫¬´ßß åµ´®ˆçå

Can this be fixed?

Thank you!

mac book, Mac OS X (10.6)

Posted on Feb 23, 2011 3:24 PM

Reply
8 replies

Apr 23, 2011 7:17 AM in response to rdfoley

I think I can help you as I have some experience in wet electronic items such as a $600 phone (not an Apple product) and keyboards, including the Apple wireless keyboard. The worst thing to happen to any device is of course, to get wet while it is running. However I found there may be a cure - though it is not guaranteed, but here it is. In all cases, if the unit got wet with juice, coffee, water, etc, AND IT NO LONGER WORKS disconnect it from power, wipe it clean with a moist cloth (not dripping wet) and buy for $3- a large bottle of 91% Isopropyl alcohol from the pharmacy. Do not buy the cheap 70% kind as it contains 30% water. Thoroughly flood or clean the broken unit until it is sparkling clean, then leave it to dry for at least 3 days in a hot place such as your garage (if you live in Florida) or the attic, or in a closet. The alcohol will clean and flush all dirty parts inside and when it evaporates it will not damage your electronic board. I tried this on regular PC and Apple keyboards, an expensive phone one of my daughters friends left in his shorts pocket when he dived into our pool, and my $69- Apple wireless keyboard with which I am typing this now. .. Believe me, I too thought I was out 70 bucks when this happened to me. The worst part is actually waiting for the unit to dry. It will NOT completely dry in a few hours or in a day as I have seen from my latest wet wireless keyboard experience. I have also tried leaving the keyboard on top of the dashboard of the car left in the Florida sun for a day. So the key element here is soft, constant dry heat. A hair drier will NOT work, so don't bother as it did NOT work for me. Alcohol, heat, time and patience. Best of luck!

Mar 2, 2015 2:40 PM in response to rdfoley

Do not keep using it. Unplug it and remove the battery if possible.You do need to take it to the apple store as to completely clean it ,it must be disassembled .If any milk got past the keyboard if could ruin the entire macbook.If you plan to take it apart yourself be aware there are over a 100 screws to take off and some of them only go in one place only. You can look up take apart on line for your macbook for a guide. but it is not for the faint of heart.

Mar 2, 2015 3:04 PM in response to petermac87

... sooo...why are you running around following me then, if the thread is so old?🙂


I'm sorry if I have re-opened old threads but since they are not closed I didn't see a reason why not.

I'm surely misinformed and saying nonsense, but I can assure you of something: if you have an urgent problem you will google questions and will read answers no matter how old they are. Never happened to you?


This was my solution, and I wanted to share it, cause it fixed my problem, that's it. I think that people will be able to make up their own mind, depending on how wet their computer was and on their common sense.

can my keyboard recover from getting wet?

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