a I do aythig aout this?

[Hawks]

Hmmm... Suddenly my keys are working again...

 

I accidentally spilled half a glass of Mountain Dew on my keyboard about an hour ago, (promptly dumped the keyboard upside down and shook it) and it continued working fine until just now; the bottom row of keys stopped working, and now they work again... Is there any way to make sure they continue to work and/or blame the nonworkingness on something else? The computer is about 10 years old now, and the keyboard is the one that came with the computer.

 

qwertyuiopasdfghjkl;'zxcvbnm,./

 

It was just the x, c, v, b, n, and m keys. And the spacebar worked fine.

[JoeDaStudd]

Wash it in warn water (unplug it first) then let it dry out.

Its safe to put it in a dishwasher, but I personally wouldn't.

This is a desktop right?

Worst comes to worst buy a cheap keyboard.

[Hawks]

So if I let it dry all the way it should still work? We've got another keyboard ut for soe reason y dad won't put it o this oputer. there it goes again...

[JoeDaStudd]

I would wash it first, any fizzy drink will leave a sticky residue which is harder to get off when its dried on.

[Sbrideau]

Just let it underwater long enough for the sugar and other things comming from the drink disolve. Then wait at least a full night for it to dry. That's what I'd do if I ever droppe something on my keyboard.

[Tim]

Just let it underwater long enough for the sugar and other things comming from the drink disolve. Then wait at least a full night for it to dry. That's what I'd do if I ever droppe something on my keyboard.

That works?!? I'm doing that with my old keyboard.

[Hawks]

It was diet pop... And this morning it didn't work still, so I switched it out with this other random keyboard we've had sitting around.

[Sbrideau]

Just let it underwater long enough for the sugar and other things comming from the drink disolve. Then wait at least a full night for it to dry. That's what I'd do if I ever droppe something on my keyboard.

That works?!? I'm doing that with my old keyboard.

I went and checked back, and it is preferable to do it with distilled water and waiting around 24 hours at the least for it to get dry. And yes, it does work. Something similar happened to me in the past, wasn't a keyboard but still an electronic and was working after doing what I just said.

[dsavi]

Distilled water does not have any ions -> does not conduct electricity. That's what I learned in chemistry, I hope I translated it right.

[Laura]

I've used rubbing alcohol before. 70% isopropyl will done fine (a dollar for half a litre at a gas station or marketplace) and it will not damage circuitry. Alcohol dries quickly in relation to water and is a great cleaning product that does not contain any ionic compounds unlike tap water.

[Lemeja]

Take an iron, put the steam on full blast and hold the keyboard upside down over the iron but don't actually touch it. Works wonders.

[MageUK]

You can put a cheap keyboard through a dishwasher if you put it on lowest heat - and you can put a dishwasher tablet in too if necessary.

 

You need to wait around a week or so for it to try, turning it every day can help.

 

Do NOT do this if you have an expensive keyboard.

[Will H]

Distilled water does not have any ions -> does not conduct electricity. That's what I learned in chemistry, I hope I translated it right.

 

Actually, even completely pure water contains a small quantity (1.0* 10^-7 moldm^-1) of ions, H₃O⁺ and OH^-, because it self-ionises. Therefore it does conduct electricity and can still potentially damage delicate components. Of course, the conductivity is much lower than if it is not distilled, and a keyboard is probably the least delicate part of a computer, so it's still a good idea.

 

Sorry, had to let out the Chemistry geek inside me for that one.