How to safely clean the inside of a cherry switch?

[DuckNorris]

Hello Guys,

I think some coffee may have gotten under one of my switches(don't even ask me how this happened, have no clue) in my Filco keyboard andI was wondering,is there a tutorial or something to safely take a part a cherry switch? I don't mean desolder and stuff( don't think I want to try that yet) but more like take thee top of the switch apart, clean it out etc. What materials should I use, remove stickyness from coffee etc? Thank you.

[SpAmRaY]

You can't take apart a switch on a filco (or any other standard plate mount keyboard) without desoldering the switch and removing it completely.

And if you did choose to desolder, I suggest replacing the switch entirely versus cleaning it.

[atarione]

before desoldering the swtich and replacing it..

if I was you I'd try cleaning the switch out in place.. there are a bunch of threads about it..  I honestly haven't had any spills (/touch wood) yet with a mech keyboard so I haven't had to try any of this yet myself.

but I just looked at one where guy used a straw to put water inside sticky switch and then worked switch a bit /repeat 10~ times and the used straw to put in little bit of 70% alcohol ... then let dry fully

https://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=31125.0 

[scudley]

My niece spilled lemonade on my keyboard and it sat overnight but I was able to get the switches unstickied with the straw trick the other guy mentioned. I didn't mess around with no water since it was so sticky but went straight to 99% isopropyl. Basically just put a drinking straw a little bit into the alcohol, put your thumb over the top hole, put the straw over the switch stem, press down, and release the liquid. Then spam the switch a bunch of times and let dry at least a few hours. After 3 or 4 rounds of this my keyboard worked fine. Next step after that would've been a full bath in the iso but that seemed a little sketchy to me so I tried to avoid going there

[DuckNorris]

Thank you all I tried and rubbed a little alcohol on the switch as suggested here, just the top and it worked well. Why it even ever got some stickiness from coffee there I will never understand but it is back to normal now.