What...have I done?

[mrelectric]

Hey guys,

I think I have ruined my Filco, I was eating pizza and had decided to poor some hot sauce on it however I accidentally spilt some hot sauce on the right hand side of the keyboard, now when I try pressing some of the number keys, it acts is if i'm pressing more than one key!, for example, I press "1" and it registers as "12", I press 4 is registers as 45, did the sauce mess up the circuit or something? Maybe I should just wait until it's dry.

[longweight]

I would take it apart immediately to see whether you can remove the sauce before it dried fully.


If you leave it then it will not go back to working properly.

[phoenix1234]

You should open the keyboard and clean the sauce.
I think the sauce caused your controller or the signal malfunction.

[rowdy]

Hey guys,

I think I have ruined my Filco, I was eating pizza and had decided to poor some hot sauce on it however I accidentally spilt some hot sauce on the right hand side of the keyboard, now when I try pressing some of the number keys, it acts is if i'm pressing more than one key!, for example, I press "1" and it registers as "12", I press 4 is registers as 45, did the sauce mess up the circuit or something? Maybe I should just wait until it's dry.

If multiple switches do not activate simultaneously then maybe the sauce is shorting out the PCB underneath.

Was it a thick sauce?

Sticky?

You might have to disassemble the keyboard, thoroughly clean it, maybe even replace a few switches to be sure.

[mrelectric]

Just an update...I have tried disassembling the keyboard however I could not find any hot sauce on the motherboard thing, I can only assume the damage is now permanent, loved that thing..ah well.

[mrelectric]

Last ditch effort: I submerged the keyboard in water, taken it out, I am now going to wait a couple of days before I plug it in and try again, i'll keep you guys posted.

[snoopy]

Last ditch effort: I submerged the keyboard in water, taken it out, I am now going to wait a couple of days before I plug it in and try again, i'll keep you guys posted.

thats a joke?

[mrelectric]

no why?

[Elrick]

Last ditch effort: I submerged the keyboard in water, taken it out, I am now going to wait a couple of days before I plug it in and try again, i'll keep you guys posted.

How long have you had the keyboard?  If it's under a year, RMA the beggar as soon as possible.

If not, I'm sure you can post it for sale here in the Classifieds, because Filco's are always wanted by some who can't afford the original price tag.

Don't forget to mention they get some free Sauce Topping to Go.......  .

[mrelectric]

Who would want to buy a fault keyboard haha!
I still have my HHKB2 to use so all is well.

[Melvang]

Who would want to buy a fault keyboard haha!
I still have my HHKB2 to use so all is well.

People what want the switches and the caps.  Chances are even though you dunked it the switches are still good.  Unless they have corroded from the quick swim.

[mrelectric]

Who would want to buy a fault keyboard haha!
I still have my HHKB2 to use so all is well.

People what want the switches and the caps.  Chances are even though you dunked it the switches are still good.  Unless they have corroded from the quick swim.

Wait, have I done something bad by dunking it in water? I thought that as long as it's not powered until the water evapourates no harm will be made?

[longweight]

You should ONLY use distilled water, I hope that you didn't use tap water!

[Melvang]

You should ONLY use distilled water, I hope that you didn't use tap water!

This.  Because tap water has a lot of minerals in it that can and will conduct electricity, as well as leave deposits on everything.  When I was in the Navy I was riding my bike home (pedal power) and it started raining.  Now those of you from northern FL or southern GA will know how hard and heavy those rains can be.  Well long story short when I got home I shut off my mp3 player (sony) and dumped the water out through the battery compartment.  It did still work after that for about 2 or 3 weeks then the terminals at the battery leads corroded to the point that it was not salvageable.

[mrelectric]

You should ONLY use distilled water, I hope that you didn't use tap water!

Ripster's guide said that it is ok though, damn it I just messed up my keyboard even more.

[Melvang]

You should ONLY use distilled water, I hope that you didn't use tap water!

Ripster's guide said that it is ok though, damn it I just messed up my keyboard even more.

you might get lucky.  If you have it apart (if not take it apart) and give it a good generous spraying with a good strong rubbing alcohol.  It should wash any deposits off the board and it dries with no film or residue.  Use the highest percentage you can get and do NOT go stingy with it.

[mrelectric]

You should ONLY use distilled water, I hope that you didn't use tap water!

Ripster's guide said that it is ok though, damn it I just messed up my keyboard even more.

you might get lucky.  If you have it apart (if not take it apart) and give it a good generous spraying with a good strong rubbing alcohol.  It should wash any deposits off the board and it dries with no film or residue.  Use the highest percentage you can get and do NOT go stingy with it.

Where abouts should I add it?Or on top of the keys or like on the bottom motherboard looking thing (Where you can see the ends of all the solders).

[Melvang]

Around any and all of the solder pads.  This will require the PCB to be removed from the case.  If i can get into a Das Keyboard without breaking any of the tabs anyone can get into a filco

[Melvang]

Around any and all of the solder pads.  This will require the PCB to be removed from the case.  If i can get into a Das Keyboard without breaking any of the tabs anyone can get into a filco

Sorry to double post but need to add something on this.  You are looking to actually flush any deposits off the board not just get the thing wet.  So if you can do this over a large clean mixing bowl you should be able to use the same alcohol a couple times if need be.  If the board is hosed the you can still sell it for people that want to harvest the switches and caps

[mrelectric]

I'll give it a shot, thanks for the advice!

[longweight]

Also take a close look at the controller pins, are any of them shorted together?

[Melvang]

Also take a close look at the controller pins, are any of them shorted together?

I concur on this as well

[mrelectric]

Also take a close look at the controller pins, are any of them shorted together?

I concur on this as well

I apologise for my stupidity, but the controller pins, are they found on the bottom of the board? I also thought that the problem was with something being connected together, perhaps with the hot sauce. Because the real problem is that when I press a key, it registers that key AND another one. I'll start opening it now.

[longweight]

It is located above the arrow keys, take the top case off to see it:

[mrelectric]

It is located above the arrow keys, take the top case off to see it:

Show Image

hmm, I've taken the top off, but I cannot see the controller pins

[longweight]

You can see the controller though?

[mrelectric]

I have found something similar in the top right hand corner of the filco though, it looks exactly the same as your pic.

[mrelectric]

I have found something similar in the top right hand corner of the filco though, it looks exactly the same as your pic.

No I cannot see it in the place you have shown me. One sec I'll take a pic ^^

[mrelectric]

I have found something similar in the top right hand corner of the filco though, it looks exactly the same as your pic.

I've uploaded the images on imgur:
http://imgur.com/a/aVmJk

[longweight]

Ahhh sorry I thought that you had the TKL version.

[mrelectric]

Ahhh sorry I thought that you had the TKL version.

It's ok, I'll come back to it later now, I really should be preparing for my admission test lol.

[BliTzKiN]

It is located above the arrow keys, take the top case off to see it:

Show Image

Hey! That picture was from the build log of my Ergoclear Filco :) I thought it looked familiar. Anyway, like what they said, submerging in water should probably be your last resort since there's a high chance of frying something. You could try putting the PCB together with some rice since they absorb moisture pretty well, might be a chance that it still works.

[dorkvader]

Who would want to buy a fault keyboard haha!
I still have my HHKB2 to use so all is well.

I would want to repair the keyboard. The good part about broken mechs is that they are often easy to fix.

[mrelectric]

Who would want to buy a fault keyboard haha!
I still have my HHKB2 to use so all is well.

I would want to repair the keyboard. The good part about broken mechs is that they are often easy to fix.

Any tips on what to do with mine?

[rowdy]

There's a lot of gunk on that keyboard.  What are the big brown bits?  The sauce??

[mrelectric]

Ok guys, here's the update.

IT'S WORKING, I don't know why or how but after dunking it in water and waiting for like a week it has started working normal again, there are a couple of 'sticky' keys but apart from that all is well.

[noisyturtle]

Now you just need to dip it in Sprite to even out the stickiness.

[rowdy]

Good news!

Now don't eat near your keyboard again

And don't dip in Sprite!