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geekhack Community => Keyboards => Topic started by: muchadoaboutnothing on Tue, 14 December 2010, 22:27:26
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I immediately unplugged it, turned it upside down (keycaps facing down) on a towel, and popped all the keycaps off.
Any more I can do?
How likely is it I killed the board? Obviously I'm not typing on it right now - I switched back to my Filco.
It was just tap water. No sugar or anything else. Plain old water.
Also, a reminder to not be an idiot and place a glass of water on the desk right above your keyboard tray. I accept that this is entirely my fault. :pout:
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Not sure what the chances of the board being dead but I have dropped old cellphones in water and have been able to fix them by doing the following:
Immediately after getting it wet I blow dry it, not too much heat... Get most of the water out of the little cracks. Then have left the phone in a bag of rice for several hours.
Hope your board is okay.
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warranty? send it back!
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Maybe put it in a bag of rice? It supposedly works on cell phones, so you just need to scale up.
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warranty? send it back!
Wouldn't it be typical to have stickers on the inside for water damage?
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Wouldn't it be typical to have stickers on the inside for water damage?
Didn't think that applied to keyboards...I know cell phones are notorious for that.
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I have a feeling you'll be OK. Once the controller circuitry is dry you can plug it in even if a switch is affected without harming anything.
I'm not sure it ever got wet. The numpad was unscathed. Most of the water was on the right side of the home row and the row above/below.
And it wasn't a ton. No sloshing or anything. The towel is barely wet.
I'll tell you how I fared in the morning (or maybe I should wait a full 24 hours...). I think it'll work fine, I was just wondering if there was any more I could do.
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My suggestion is to put the keyboard it a air-tight bag/box together with a disposable dehumidifier like shown below:
(http://img1.topfreebiz.com/o2010-10/cache/Dehumidifier-600ml-Disposal--29175346785.jpg)
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take off all your caps. and use hair blower to blow it. blow it from far, and lower temperature.
just to make it dry.
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Immediately after getting it wet I blow dry it, not too much heat... Get most of the water out of the little cracks.
Whatever you do, don't blow dry it or use any kind of fan. The air movement can push water droplets further into cracks and crevices and move it around the board. The heat from the dryer can also turn small amounts of water droplets into vapour, which can then creep even further into the board.
Best bet is to remove the key caps like you did, get all major droplets out with a small towel/tissue twisted into a point (or a bunch of Q-Tips), and then follow up by leaving it in a bag of rice for a day or two. Desiccant pellets work better, but most people (apart from scuba-photographers like my uncle and I) won't have these in large quantities (we put our camera equipment in cases with these pellets to make sure they aren't damaged by stray water vapour).
You will probably want to bag the board in a dry bag, such as a paper or thin-cloth bag, before putting it in the rice sack. You don't want the tiny bits of rice dust (tiny particles come off from the rice grains rubbing together) in your switches.
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The rice sack idea sounds promising. I'm pretty sure you'll be fine, after all it's a keyboard - there aren't too many places where high currents could run, so you probably won't damage it by plugging in if it isn't perfectly dry; the worst thing that can happen with any probability is you might lose functionality on some keys, but I guess there are enough offers for replacement switches.
However, if it was my board, meaning that the owner didn't care about losing warranty at all and was a lot less worried about damaging his expensive stuff right now than having to order and wait for comparatively cheap new parts later, I'd try the following:
Remove all keycaps, open it up and carefully but thoroughly wipe it dry, using paper towels and q-tips. If it looked like water might have entered the mechanics, I'd flush it all in pure alcohol (don't use any diluted stuff, it may leave a residue when dried) or, even better, isopropanol. The alcohol will absorb the water and obviously it will dry off a lot better; also it doesn't corrode the metal parts. However, it might damage some rubbery parts, so be warned - I'd still risk it unless some gurus here warned me not to because they've tried it on the exact type of switch and faced problems.
Then let the disassembled parts sleep in a warm and dry place for a night or two - the inside of a rice sack on top of a heater sounds ideal for that purpose, but if you flushed it with alcohol, any dry place will probably do. Check for any remaining wet spots in places you can't get to (if needs be, let it dry some more) and reassemble.
Chris
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just open it all up and give it a couple of days to dry. As long as the water did not short out anything before you unplugged it, it should be fine. People can and still do clean up dirty/dusty circuit boards using distilled water.
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I'm still letting it dry out, but I'm happy to report that the water amount must not have been that great because I plugged in the keyboard briefly and every switch works properly. Unplugged and letting it dry for another 48 hours or so.
Cautious optimism.
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I'm still letting it dry out, but I'm happy to report that the water amount must not have been that great because I plugged in the keyboard briefly and every switch works properly. Unplugged and letting it dry for another 48 hours or so.
Cautious optimism.
Grats! Now be sure to keep that water away :P
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I'm still letting it dry out, but I'm happy to report that the water amount must not have been that great because I plugged in the keyboard briefly and every switch works properly. Unplugged and letting it dry for another 48 hours or so.
Cautious optimism.
Just hope that the switch spring doesn't rust :(
after that you'r fine :)
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i spilled water into a model m mini... killed it due to corrosion of the membranes.
you won't have that problem :)
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Alright so some people are going to think I am very crazy here so just bare with me. I have put electronics into the dishwasher. Namely laptops that have had fluids spilled on to them. This will avoid corrosion. For a laptop, I generally dissemble the entire machine, then it goes in the machine. DO NOT PUT THE FOLLOWING COMPONENTS IN THE MACHINE: LCD screen (This does not include the inverter), Hard drive, CMOS Battery and Laptop Battery... EVERYTHING ELSE IS DISHWASHER SAFE. Run it on normal cycle, no soap, normal dry. When they get out of the dishwasher, I spend about an hour or two making sure everything is perfectly dry with a blowdryer. (Don't forget chips on a board can often hold water underneath them, make sure to get this.) Then let it sit in dry area with a bed of rice overnight. Make sure everything is dry the next day and re-assemble. TADA you have a laptop that is not going to be corroded in 2-6 months...
Now... If it were I, (And yes I also own an RK-9000) I would dissemble it and then put it in the dishwasher, silicon and all. (You might want to make sure to take apart your switches so that water doesn't stay inside them and rust out your springs and whatnots)
This way, I could much better protect myself from corrosion in the future.
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Alright so some people are going to think I am very crazy here so just bare with me. I have put electronics into the dishwasher. Namely laptops that have had fluids spilled on to them. This will avoid corrosion. For a laptop, I generally dissemble the entire machine, then it goes in the machine. DO NOT PUT THE FOLLOWING COMPONENTS IN THE MACHINE: LCD screen (This does not include the inverter), Hard drive, CMOS Battery and Laptop Battery... EVERYTHING ELSE IS DISHWASHER SAFE. Run it on normal cycle, no soap, normal dry. When they get out of the dishwasher, I spend about an hour or two making sure everything is perfectly dry with a blowdryer. (Don't forget chips on a board can often hold water underneath them, make sure to get this.) Then let it sit in dry area with a bed of rice overnight. Make sure everything is dry the next day and re-assemble. TADA you have a laptop that is not going to be corroded in 2-6 months...
Now... If it were I, (And yes I also own an RK-9000) I would dissemble it and then put it in the dishwasher, silicon and all. (You might want to make sure to take apart your switches so that water doesn't stay inside them and rust out your springs and whatnots)
This way, I could much better protect myself from corrosion in the future.
Taking a switch out a plate mounted mechanical keyboard is PITA.
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Taking a switch out a plate mounted mechanical keyboard is PITA.
I don't think you would need to take the plate off, just wash it so it is horizontal and water gets in between the board and the plate. I would assume this would take extra time to dry using my technique but I would still do it.
That's nice. You are a braver man than I.
Thank You. I've been doing it for a while now. (I work in IT at a small/medium sized company, Can't afford to buy a new laptop for everyone that spills their coffee on their Latitudes) I wash a laptop almost once every two months or so... The trick is getting it washed within 48 hours within the spill...
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I'm still letting it dry out, but I'm happy to report that the water amount must not have been that great because I plugged in the keyboard briefly and every switch works properly. Unplugged and letting it dry for another 48 hours or so.
Cautious optimism.
Glad it's looking positive. Sorry I'm so late to reply here, been pretty busy lately.
Depending on what the device is, it might benefit to prop it up vertically at least part of the time so moisture which might be trapped by a given position has a chance to drain.
Again depending on the device you might consider putting it in the sun or mild oven to allow heat to turn water into vapor.
Finally silica, or rice if you don't have silica, will absorb moisture and effectively pull it out of devices.
These can all be combined of course. Usually though in my experience a good long drying does the trick.
It really all depends though. You might be boned if there is something that suffers immediate water damage or traps water and gets long term damage as a result, or if the device is powered and something shorts out.
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I've washed a cheapo Logitech membrane keyboard and IBM model M in the bathtub...no problemz!~
Probably not the best way to go, though, lol
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I bet you could do that with a Ducky!
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Just to clarify, I was not in the bathtub at the same time.
Maybe next time!
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I bet you could do that with a Ducky!
Good idea! I'm gonna play with my Ducky in the tub next time.
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Oblig.
I got 1 infraction point at OCN for this. They don't like black people.
Wasn't Little Richard identified as actually being an alien in "Men in Black"? If not, he should have been, :wink:.
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I just emptied a 1/3 litre mug of tea into my new G80-1800. I immediately turned it key-down and let it sit there while I turned off the PC, then angled it so the tea would pour out at one corner. It's seriously drenched, blowing into every MX switch made it apparent that they were wet inside as well. I think I've got most of it out, and now it's gonna sit on the windowsill face down for a few days while I scrub the keycaps and enjoy my rubber dome. Maybe I'll lay it face down on a sheet of rice, but that seems pretty futile and possibly messy.
On the upside.. afterwards, it'll smell like elder with honey and not chain-smoker.
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From what I understand (from reading about electronics in general when I was doing some research into repairing my Sony Trinitron) wet electronics isn't a bad thing as long they are not ON at the time. The damage comes from components being shorted by the conductive water, not from being wetted per se as they are generally non-porous anyway. Once the water is gone, so is the threat. Generally if the short hasn't happened right when you spill on it before you get it unplugged, the prognosis is generally good for recovery provided that there isn't any sticky residue. But even a sugary spill can be remedied by a good cleaning with some fast drying solution or alcohol (it can be done with distilled water provided that the thing is allowed sufficient drying before powering up again.) They even make some commercially available electronics cleaner sprays that are supposed to aid drying.
As to corroded traces on the membranes, or even pcbs, these can also be repaired with a circuit writer pen from Radio Shack which cost anywhere from $6-$13. And if you do use a dishwasher be cautious about the heated dry cycle as it can melt stuff if hot enough.
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did you fix your trinitron?
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No. In fact its still sitting across the room with the back off taking up considerable space doing nothing but drawing dust. But my problem was just the crt dying, not moisture related, but I picked up quite an education in the process of seeking aid for it I guess. I got a replacement for $100 bucks used eventually Considering I paid quite a premium for mine in 97 with the expectation that it would live at least til '07 I'm very disappointed in Sony since it quit on me in late '04 or early '05. Next Tv is one of the Samsung LED beauties. I actually like the picture on those better than anything else I've seen including the top model stuff from Sony (who in my mind, had previously reigned supreme in terms of picture quality...)
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well it was worth an effort. trinitron is a fine piece of technology :)
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I believe there is also a spray that adds a "protective coating" to prevent same. Maybe even WD-40 might work?
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So guys. Can I put a drop of Ethanol in each switch to eliminate the water?
I was never good at Chemistry but I know it attracts water. I also know mixing the two is exothermic. So does my keyboard explode?
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I used denatured Ethanol, put a few drops into every switch with a syringe and then drained a 1/4 cup over the PCB. When I came home tonight it was all gone (except for the sticker on the back where it didn't evaporate funnily enough). I blowdried it and am now writing on it as we speak. It worked beautifully and while I can't say how it affected the plastic (plastic still looks the same), from now on this'll be my solution for electronics + water.
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I soaked some of my rubber dome keyboards in booze by accident and after a good rinsing and at least a week's drying they work perfectly fine.
These were rubber dome beaters. I haven't tried this on a mechanical keyboard yet.