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geekhack Community => Keyboards => Topic started by: Zealex on Tue, 28 February 2023, 14:03:59
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Hello,
I took my keycaps off my realforce topre 55g TKL and tried to give it a proper cleaning. The keys I just soaked in water with dish soap, and that was fine.
However, the problem is the actual keyboard... I've tried a qtip with rubbing alcohol, tried removing the gunk with my fingernails and it doesn't come off. I don't know what it is - I don't eat over my keyboard, and only drink water and it's a year old...
I feel I may have to just ignore it, but figured I'd share some photos, any advice?:
https://imgur.com/a/Jlh0Qx9
EDIT - My other keyboard, a ducky one, has no issues being cleaned. Those white spots you see are HARD, no idea what caused them.
Thank you.
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Did you try isopropyl alcohol? 70% is very safe on plastics in my experience, and it evaporates fast, in case you get it inside the board. If it is something gummy/sticky, you could try soaking those spots with goo gone, but you really don't want that stuff getting inside the board at all if you can help it, and it should be cleaned off completely with isopropyl when you're done. It is very oily.
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That looks like it might be corrosion on the steel plate. Topre doesn't seem to use very good paint. I've seen way too many Realforce keyboards with rusty or corroded plates. Some of their older ones weren't even painted, and those rust pretty quickly if they got the least bit wet. If you're really ambitious, the entire keyboard could be disassembled, the plate sanded, and then repainted with some black automotive trim paint. I did that on a Realforce once. It was quite a bit of work, but the plate looked amazingly good afterwards.
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Not going to lie, I was concerned it was rust too. I don't have time to do that atm(job hunting) but perhaps I will do it later this month if things slow down... I am worried rust could render the entire keyboard useless if it progresses enough.
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Did you try isopropyl alcohol? 70% is very safe on plastics in my experience, and it evaporates fast, in case you get it inside the board. If it is something gummy/sticky, you could try soaking those spots with goo gone, but you really don't want that stuff getting inside the board at all if you can help it, and it should be cleaned off completely with isopropyl when you're done. It is very oily.
I just used rubbing alch, I can try to see if I have that specific one or buy if needed and will report back.
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Ok, so, this something no one here knows about.
Go to Dollar Tree, get a bottle of concentrated LA's Totally awesome.
put all of the parts you want to clean in a container.
Add, by volume, 1:1 awesome to water.
let it sit over night.
gunk just falls off, without scrubbing.
I have cleaned all of my keyboards this way. I may make a post about it when my Zenith comes in the post.
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Based on the photos you provided, it looks like there may be some type of residue or buildup on the keys and keyboard. Rubbing alcohol is typically a good solution for cleaning keyboards, but if it's not working, you could try using a cleaning solution specifically designed for electronics.