Spilled some Chocolate milk on 6gv2

[Raoul]

Hi, new here but been lurking around for a while. Got a 6gv2 on special for 60 bucks back in september, and its been great so far. But today I accidentally whacked (but saved it before it fell over completely) a large and tall mug of chocolate milk sending about a cup flying on my monitor, and about half a cup on the numpad of the keyboard. I disconnected it pretty quick and flipped it over, took apart the plastic shell and cleaned around the switches as best as I could and left it to dry. A few hours later maybe 3 of the switches feel gummy (the rest seem fine), so I'm wondering what to do.

Looking around the best solution seems to be a dunk and shake in distilled water, which I am going to get right after I post this. However I am wondering how will this mess with the lubrication of the keys? I wouldn't mind having to relube them, but would mind if that meant having to desolder/resolder switches to do it. Since the chocolate milk seems to have infiltrated the inner part of the switch, would the lubricant be able to as well from the outside? I also read that it would be good to give it a rinse in alcohol/acetone after. Don't have enough alcohol to wash it down, but would methanol work? I have about a gallon of it.

Thanks.

[Infinite north]

As far as I know no one has tried to fully submerge a keyboard yet.  I would love to try it but I keep my drinks out of spill range and I don't want to waste a perfectly good board just to help others in your situation. I have seen some pictures of nasty corroded switches, I can't remember the context but I felt like it was due to spillage of some kind. the only saving grace I could think of here would be that your milk would be basic and not acidic so it shouldn't be too harsh on the internals I would hope. sugar is no fun though.

[Raoul]

As far as I know no one has tried to fully submerge a keyboard yet.  I would love to try it but I keep my drinks out of spill range and I don't want to waste a perfectly good board just to help others in your situation. I have seen some pictures of nasty corroded switches, I can't remember the context but I felt like it was due to spillage of some kind. the only saving grace I could think of here would be that your milk would be basic and not acidic so it shouldn't be too harsh on the internals I would hope. sugar is no fun though.

I didnt mean a full dunk. It only spilled on the numpad area which is seperated enough from the arrow keys and everything else above so that it got on those switches. Even if those get borked it just means I'm out a numpad which isn't too bad.

[kps]

As far as I know no one has tried to fully submerge a keyboard yet.

Sure, my 12-year-old Kinesis (Cherry brown) has had a dishwasher run every couple years.

I didnt mean a full dunk. It only spilled on the numpad area which is seperated enough from the arrow keys and everything else above so that it got on those switches.

Take the keycaps off. Run each key under a strong tap for a while, pushing the stem down repeatedly to make sure the sticky sugary stuff gets thoroughly washed out. Rinse with distilled water, likewise pushing each key. Final rinse with 99% isopropanol (rubbing alcohol), likewise.

[Raoul]

Take the keycaps off. Run each key under a strong tap for a while, pushing the stem down repeatedly to make sure the sticky sugary stuff gets thoroughly washed out. Rinse with distilled water, likewise pushing each key. Final rinse with 99% isopropanol (rubbing alcohol), likewise.

Ill try this again, I basically did the same thing last night (or early morning) but fully submerged the numpad part of the keyboard. All these little threads of dried up milk started appearing, was pretty nasty. It's dry this morning and a couple of the keys are still sticking a bit (most are fine), so I'll target those.

I'd go with 99% Isopropyl at least.  And DeOxit would even be better.

Would 99% methanol work? I can get some 99% alcohol but I have about a gallon of methanol so if that works it would be good. To my understanding this is to help get rid of the water in the switches right? I'm pretty sure methanol wont dissolve plastic like acetone would, you think it would work?

[Zen]

I'd go with 99% Isopropyl at least.

Agreed, just make sure there isn't any 'old electricity' stored in the
circuit (like in capacitors) and you will be fine.
You will probably have to re-grease the switches if you submerge the board in isopropylic alcohol as it will de-solve the grease .
Ventilation is essential, this stuff KILLS braincells !!!!!

[Raoul]

Agreed, just make sure there isn't any 'old electricity' stored in the
circuit (like in capacitors) and you will be fine.
You will probably have to re-grease the switches if you submerge the board in isopropylic alcohol as it will de-solve the grease .
Ventilation is essential, this stuff KILLS braincells !!!!!

How would I go about doing that (discharging the capacitors)? Also, for regreasing what kind of grease would I use and would I need to take apart the switches to apply it? If the chocolate milk got in so easily couldn't the grease as well?

[Raoul]

Methanol is bad news on black keys.

But would this ruin the switches themselves? I got all the numpad keys in a little bowl infront of me, they wouldn't be getting anywhere near the methanol.

[Raoul]

Just got back from night class, keyboard appears to be functioning perfectly. Keys do not feel sticky at all, and are functioning properly. Thanks for the advice, I think if I had not got the distilled water at 3 in the morning things would not be the same. The methanol rinse appears to have had no effect on the switches (visually and by feel), if it did I cannot see or feel it. Anyways thanks again, good to know it can survive something that has sugar + fat in it.

[Konrad]

Drugstore isopropyl can be full of perfumes and other additives which leave (bad) conductive residue on electronics.  Pure anhydrous isopropyl is preferred, though it might cost a few bucks more.
 
Scrubbing with Q-tips, toothbrushes, and compressed air blasts can help get more stubborn stickies out of the circuitry.  DeoxIt (or other electronic contact cleaners/lubricants) is always good, though not really designed for sustained mechanical wear and abrasion.  Ultrasonic/vibration cleaning can work too, though it'll rattle the keyswitches quite a bit.
 
The electronics must be absolutely dry before powered, less critical on keyswitches than PCB logic.

[CodeChef]

Pure anhydrous isopropyl is preferred, though it might cost a few bucks more.

I doubt submerging a keyboard in alcohol powder would help at all.

[Raoul]

I used 99.9% (thought it was just 99%) methanol. The main problem seemed to be that chocolate milk had managed to get into the switches. More specifically that rectangular part under the cross that the keycap stays on. It was basically gumming up like drying chocolate milk does, so I had to soak it in distilled water and repeatedly press it to loosen it all up. Rinsed with the methanol, left it to dry ontop of a cupboard with a heater going full blast came back a few hours later and it was functioning perfectly.

[Konrad]

Anhydrous isopropyl is not a powder; it's a liquid that contains no water. Well, very little (<1% or whatever). The distinction is made to assure the isopropyl isn't diluted to something closer to the typical ~30% water content.  Basically, another kind of alcohol is used as the solvent instead of water.  Designed for electronic applications.

[CodeChef]

Anhydrous isopropyl is not a powder; it's a liquid that contains no water. Well, very little (<1% or whatever). The distinction is made to assure the isopropyl isn't diluted to something closer to the typical ~30% water content.  Basically, another kind of alcohol is used as the solvent instead of water.  Designed for electronic applications.

Hahaha, derp on my part, I was thinking anhydrous as in salts, not alcohols (for example, cupric sulfate absorbs water from the air quite readily, as a result you can buy anhydrous cupric sulfate which is (obviously) a powder and devoid of water)

[Konrad]

Agreed - submerging keyboard electronics in corrosive salts wouldn't be the best approach.
 
Don't forget to wash the keycaps themselves, underneath.  Sticky keys (with or without Accessibility) are bloody annoying.

[CodeChef]

He said it's all good, although, can anything ever really be good when you're using Cherry Blacks?