Beer Spill.

[Bruce]

One of our customers has had an unfortunate beer spill on his Filco with Cherry Browns.
Has anyone here had a similar accident? And what would you recomend to get the switches nice and smooth again.
I'd normally recomend a squirt of WD40 but would be interested to hear any alternative remedies.

[Bruce]

Hi Ripster

Thanks for this. He reported it was working but very sticky on several keys - I don't think he'd done anything to clean it up. We told him give a good dose of WD40 only on the basis it is pretty well ruined anyway so nothing to lose. And we got lucky - it worked and he's Mr Happy Filco experience all over.

We use WD40 a lot. But I must stress this is not officially approved way to treat your keyboard.
You're dead right. We get a heap of spills and membranes NEVER survive. We sell many washable keyboards, one you can put in the dish washer, so any serial sinners have to use those.

On a related note. Have you seen this?
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1277711/Is-keyboard-health-hazard-Dirty-consoles-attracting-rodents.html
Yuck!!

[bitflipper]

On a related note. Have you seen this?
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1277711/Is-keyboard-health-hazard-Dirty-consoles-attracting-rodents.html
Yuck!!

I'm not feeling well - going home. I've got QWERTY tummy! Ya think my boss will buy it?

I want silver plated anti-microbial key caps.

[itlnstln]

This is one of the reasons I got Silestone countertops.  The problem is, the stone pattern and the color make it very hard to see messes, so you never really know when you have it clean.  It's a good thing it's anti-bacterial.

[Nonmouse]

A good thorough cleaning with a terpene-based cleaner, preferably one designed for circuit board cleaning.  Thorough rinse with distilled or, preferably, de-ionized or reverse-osmosis water (this avoids the corrosion issues)  An optional, but recommended, rinse with high-percentage iso-propyl alcohol or acetone (NOT nail polish remover) to drive out the water and speed drying time.

The EPA has a booklet on semi-aqueous cleaning methods that may help.

[Rajagra]

On a related note. Have you seen this?
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1277711/Is-keyboard-health-hazard-Dirty-consoles-attracting-rodents.html
Yuck!!

Ewww.
Time for some words of comfort...

[Input Nirvana]

What beer was it?

[ch_123]

Yuck!!

My thoughts exactly when I realized it was the Daily Mail =P

[hyperlinked]

This is one of the reasons I got Silestone countertops.  The problem is, the stone pattern and the color make it very hard to see messes, so you never really know when you have it clean.  It's a good thing it's anti-bacterial.

Do they make shirts made out of that stuff?

[Megaweapon]

Aren't you supposed to avoid using WD40 as a lubricant on anything you plan on keeping?

Something about it gumming up and causing damage, I thought...

[itlnstln]

That's why I use butter.  KY is pretty good, too; it's water-based.

[Rajagra]

Aren't you supposed to avoid using WD40 as a lubricant on anything you plan on keeping?

Something about it gumming up and causing damage, I thought...

WD40 is mostly solvent with a miniscule amount of lubricant. If you use it on anything that was greased before, the grease will be washed away and it will end up being far less lubricated that it was before. WD40 is great as a Water Dispersant and cleaner and to some extent as a rust preventative. But as a pure lubricant it is one of the worst choices.

That's why I use butter.

"I'll drink to that!"

[itlnstln]

One of the best all-purpose, spray-on lubricants I have used is something marketed as "garage door lubricant."  It is sold in DIY stores in the garage door section (duh), and I believe it's silicone-based.  Rajagra's right, though, WD-40 helps make things move not so much through lubrication but by using a solvent to clean out the crap that's preventing the motion.  WD-40 works best in applications where something like a hinge has rusted stiff and the rust needs to be dissolved to free the hinge; something that pure lubrication really doesn't do well.

[Infinite north]

If it were me and the whole keyboard was drenched I think I would get a big enough container to put the keyboard in upside down and fill it with rubbing alcohol enough to reach the switches. spend some time actuating the keys, pull it out and give it a day to dry. if the contacts are greased this might not work so well though.

[itlnstln]

You know what I would do?  I would call myself a "dumbass,"  save up for a few weeks, and buy a new keyboard.  The other thing I would do is never drink beer by my keyboard ever again.  That's one reason why I like to have a very uncluttered desk.  I keep drinks far away out of the normal movement paths for my hands and arms.

[Rajagra]

Curry powder is good for soaking up beer. At least when it is in an Indian takeaway.

[Nonmouse]

Curry powder is good for soaking up beer. At least when it is in an Indian takeaway.

So you're saying Bruce should take his keyboard to an Indian take-out restaurant and ask them to dunk it in the curry chicken pot?

Hey- is this why all those "beige" mechanical boards from the 80s and 90s are yellowish- unsticking beer-spilled keys?

[aegrotatio]

I have washed, or more correctly, "rinsed," many membrane keyboards and once I let them dry out completely they all have worked.

More than once I've come downstairs after a bender to find a keyboard filled with old booze, presumably spilled into it.  One time it was a $100 Kensington trackball.  The keyboard survived (and I still use it) but the trackball did not.