Don't Soak Your Mechanical Keyboard In Windex Overnight

[Alex]

Windex of all things.. This is a good example why you shouldn't believe everything that's written on the internet.

According to the movie My Big Fat Greek Wedding, windex is good for almost everything. But i don't think he mentioned anything about cleaning keyboards.

[False_Dmitry_II]

At this point, if it were me, I'd take it all apart then blast it with water, then blast it with distilled water, then let it dry and hope for the best.

Or buy a new board.

[slueth]

Maybe if your keyboard was made of glass windex might work.

[The Solutor]

I admit I had to use wikipedia to understand what the Windex is.

It's just Glassex :happy:

[ricercar]

Windex will cause the metal traces to peel off from mylar keyboard sheeting. While this specific problem isn't going to affect the Cherry key switches on that guy's DAS, it'll utterly ruin any rubber dome/scissors/buckling spring keyboard on earth.

Not that I'm speaking from experience or anything. Who'd ever be so foolish to wipe Windex onto a laptop keyboard mylar membrane?

(Wow, 8.1 years at [H] and only 3 posts. Guess that shows how I feel about [H].)

[Chobopants]

Oh lord that's rough. What people that don't read GeekHack will do.

[ricercar]

I don't think wiping it with Windex is any big deal.

Neither did I. But a simple wipe with a damp (not soaked) cloth was enough to kill two keyboard membranes in my experience. The metal just lifted off the plastic before I could even get the sheets assembled again.

[godofdeath]

he's a moron for listening to it

[Tennobanzai]

Poor guy. Hopefully he learned his lesson to not believe everything on the net...

[ricercar]

What board?

 
Powerbook Duo 210/230 scissors switch keyboard. Never wanted to test my hypothesis on anything else.

[Brummell]

I thought all the idiots who dump things in their keyboards posted at OCN.  That had to be a cross-post.

[Oqsy]

He did both. You forgot about the fruit cup. How could you forget the fruit cup?

[The Solutor]

ammonia is a no-no for plastic.

 
On what issue of Mikey mouse magazine you read it ?

Ammonia does nothing to most plastics, other than a bit of whitening to the older one.

Does nothing also to copper.

That said is still a dumb idea to dump a whole keyboard in the ammonia or in a solution ot it because it attack aluminum which often is used for the matrix, and for electrolytic capacitors) and can attack some type of glues used on PCBs and keyboard matrix.

Is not a good idea also to clean the monitor screen, (no matter if LCD or CRT), because some of the antireflective coatings can be altered or completely wiped away

[digitalleftovers]

One guy posted benzene.  The Internet is full of trolls (even with Chemistry backgrounds).

 
Actually, they posted "Benzin!".  Their chemistry background should have told them that Benzin[e] (that doesn't exist because "benz-" is a colloquial root) would be cyclo-hexane.

[bpiphany]

Actually, they posted "Benzin!".  Their chemistry background should have told them that Benzin[e] (that doesn't exist because "benz-" is a colloquial root) would be cyclo-hexane.

They might have meant "gasoline" then, it's Benzin in german or bensin in swedish for example. I think some 100% heptane is sold in sweden under the description bensin when it's meant to be used as a solvent.

[digitalleftovers]

that makes more sense.

[The Solutor]

They might have meant "gasoline" then, it's Benzin in german or bensin in swedish for example.

 
Benzina, also in Italian.

Still not a good idea to use it to clean plastics, although some kind of plastics are perfectly compatible with this kind of solvents (PP for example)

[keyb_gr]

I don't even believe Wikipedia.  The USB entry claims Standard USB A/B connectors are to prevent ground loops.

Your interpretation seems to be off. By "electrical loop" they certainly meant a connection from one host port to another and other such obvious nonsense.

[woody]

You can't loop host port back to host port. Kinda like male and female genitalia.

[woody]

Damn, I expected some homo counter-examples.

EDIT: Not sure what you're asking, but since in USB there is strictly master/slave connection, the A/B is so you don't foolishly try to pair master/master or slave/slave. And with the OTG it's even more interesting.

[False_Dmitry_II]

If you get a USB extension cable, and plug it into itself, you have accomplished exactly nothing. Besides making it look like Ouroboros (I can't believe I spelled that right) anyway.

I always thought the B connectors were stupid. In the past it's just meant that i have to have more cords, wheras if they were all like usb extension cables, or even male-male (like HDMI) it would have been much less annoying.

[False_Dmitry_II]

Yeah I dunno. I can't think of a way to plug a device into itself, no matter the shape of the plugs. So I don't see any electrical effects.

I mean, if they wanted a continuous shield or a break in it before the other connecter, they can do that no matter what.

[The Solutor]

Two male connectors IS kinda alternative but still electrically irrelevant.

 
Usb devices were intended to to be connected in a chain, like PC ---> Printer ---> Scanner or PC --->Keyboard ---> Mouse and so on.

Feature that was mostly unused. The chain, unlike Ethernet, must provide also the power line and having two different connectors was a way to made the connection dumb proof.


A connector is the one that provide current, the B one drains it

Thast's all.