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geekhack Community => Keyboards => Topic started by: Welsige on Sat, 11 May 2013, 07:10:50

Title: WASD spilled. Thoughts?
Post by: Welsige on Sat, 11 May 2013, 07:10:50

Hi,

I just had an accident with coke zero and a small portion of that spilled on my keyboard.

I took some keys off and dried it, and it seemed really  that nothing had happened.

I connected the keyboard (mistake...) and it was working, then went blank and seemed to have been switched off. After disconecting and reconecting, All leds went on and It was like frozen and windows could not intall it.

I then disconected it and dissasembled it, and noticed some of the spill had went to the bottom of the case and spread. Some got to the small pcb that is behind the big key plate, and I noticed it has a small ammount of liquid behind it, and that at one part of that small cirtuit has a white goo, alsmos transparent, that i am not sure if its normal or if some component had a leak due to a short circuit or something.

I dried all the parts with absorvent paper, and plced it all under a fan.

I wonder if theres still hope for it? Could it be that just that small pcb got defective, since i assume the reason wondows didnt recognized the kb is because of that small pcb being in short cirtuit?

I really am hating myself now for not letting it rest for like a week imediately after the spill.


This is the pcb that had the white goo, between those 2 large components that has a transparent plastic band across it:

http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6133/6010103286_5dc3549158.jpg

Title: Re: WASD spilled. Thoughts?
Post by: mich on Sat, 11 May 2013, 08:47:39

It's amazing how manufacturers still fail at problems solved twenty years ago.
(http://i.imgur.com/n1OCp.gif)

If coke got to the microcontroller and it stopped working and doesn't work after cleaning and drying up, it's probably dead for good and you will need to replace this PCB.

Title: Re: WASD spilled. Thoughts?
Post by: SmallFry on Sat, 11 May 2013, 09:05:06

You've likely killed the controller in your keyboard. Is this a WASD keyboard, or am I misunderstanding?

Title: Re: WASD spilled. Thoughts?
Post by: Paspie on Sun, 12 May 2013, 14:22:41

I can't offer any suggestions but...you really should have stopped using it and disassembled it as soon after the coke spilled on it, in order to get any potential liquid away from the PCBs. The switches can only do so much unfortunately, and this is the only area where membrane keyboards have an advantage.

Anyway, you're most likely going to have to clean both PCBs (plus the keys while you're at it) and replace any components that may have been contaminated as a result. Do it soon though, as its going to get harder the longer you leave it.

Title: Re: WASD spilled. Thoughts?
Post by: daerid on Sun, 12 May 2013, 14:25:33

You could try contacting WASD and see if they could sell you just the PCB/Controller. It'd be a bit of a DIY project as you'd have to transfer/solder all the switches over, but it would probably be cheaper than buying an entire new board.

Title: Re: WASD spilled. Thoughts?
Post by: FoxWolf1 on Sun, 12 May 2013, 15:25:47

Quote from: mich on Sat, 11 May 2013, 08:47:39

It's amazing how manufacturers still fail at problems solved twenty years ago.

Show Image

(http://i.imgur.com/n1OCp.gif)

If coke got to the microcontroller and it stopped working and doesn't work after cleaning and drying up, it's probably dead for good and you will need to replace this PCB.

I've always found it odd how few mechanical keyboards even try to enhance their protection from liquids:
(http://benchmarkreviews.com/images/reviews/input_devices/KB577U/AZiO-KB577U-Keyboard-17.jpg)
(http://hk2.image4.pushauction.com/direct/ba/ba219cb0-fddb-43bd-a255-941d2c4b49b7/5e/5e2c714c-1887-472d-b43f-ea5761a6cda0.jpg)

Anyway, best case scenario is that there's some kind of residue screwing stuff up. If that's the case, it might come back to life if you disassemble it, wash everything thoroughly, and then let it dry (give it a week or more so that it can really get completely dry). I've had some luck with this method, but of course, it'll only work in the best case scenario that this is just a residue issue. Less-than-best-case scenario, you've killed one or more components, in which case, a cleaning won't save it.