[Mac Guru]

I was cleaning off my desk when I spilled about a 1/4 teaspoon of Carona Beer on the lower right portion of the keyboard. I mopped it off and all seemed fine.

I came back about 20 min later to find my L, O, and 9 keys as well as the right Command Key to be unresponsive. I've popped them off, cleaned them down with a soft rag and tried to q-tip off any extra moisture.

My question is, this was SUCH a small spill, is my keyboard screwed or do these keys shut off till they dry off?

I use my laptop BIG TIME for work and notes, and cannot have my keyboard at 95%.

Any tips to bring back these keys?

Please, this is URGENT.

Thanks
Mac Guru

[redJag]

Originally posted by Mac Guru:
My question is, this was SUCH a small spill, is my keyboard screwed or do these keys shut off till they dry off?

Hate to say this, but I spilled *water* on my Apple Pro Keyboard and it totally ruined it. Some keys don't work, some keep repeating after being struck once. Hosed. Got any AppleCare left on it? I'm sure it's repairable - for a price. But I'd give it a while to see if it clears up on its own.

[Cipher13]

I'm not sure I can help you... but I'd run some warm water over it (just the keycap area, don't get it on the cables or anything), then give it a light blowdry. I don't know how much that'll help though.

They sure don't make keyboards like they used to... I spilled about half a liter of orange juice (with pulp) into my old Apple Extended keyboard. I turned it upside down, took the keys out with pliars, and hosed the damn thing. Works brilliantly to this day.

[pimephalis]

Originally posted by Mac Guru:
I was cleaning off my desk when I spilled about a 1/4 teaspoon of Carona Beer on the lower right portion of the keyboard. I mopped it off and all seemed fine.

I came back about 20 min later to find my L, O, and 9 keys as well as the right Command Key to be unresponsive. I've popped them off, cleaned them down with a soft rag and tried to q-tip off any extra moisture.

My question is, this was SUCH a small spill, is my keyboard screwed or do these keys shut off till they dry off?

I use my laptop BIG TIME for work and notes, and cannot have my keyboard at 95%.

Any tips to bring back these keys?

Please, this is URGENT.

Thanks
Mac Guru

Oooh, do I feel for you. I spilled a gin and tonic on my iBook's keyboard about a month ago. I managed to extract the keyboard and dry off the insides before anything got fried, but the keyboard was gone. By gone, I mean unusable, since all of the keys still worked. However, it was so horribly stiff and sticky that I couldn't type with it for any length of time.

I was astonished to find that a replacement keyboard was only about $85 CDN. If you're having trouble with the keys, replace it. It's not worth your time to hastle with the thing and try to clean it out. Cleaning did not work for me in the least, and I was so relieved when it finally got replaced.

[jtc]

I would remove the keyboard and clean it thoroughly. Run it under water and clean it with soap if you can. Give it a good soaking (contrary to popular belief you won't ruin it), and let it dry - if you can give it a final rinse with ethanol or isopropanol it will dry much faster.
Make it sure it is completely dry before reattaching it to the iBook.

[winjer2k]

I feel for ya.

I spilled a bottle of Coke on my keyboard while at work back in January. It was a 500MHz iBook. As soon as I spilled, I shut it off, removed the affected keys, then wiped down the rubber underneath with wet paper towels. For a while the keys were sticky, but after a while (and maybe after another wipe-down?) the keyboard was back to normal. I'm not sure if it's related, but that's about when my display started getting funky and it would freeze solid (no kernel panic or anything) when touched the wrong way. I kid you not, you had to be very gentle when handling it or it would freeze solid. It also had trouble waking up from sleep.

Notice I'm using the past tense? Just this last weekend, I was dealing with a flaky power supply (frayed cable) and a nice blue spark popped from the fray. Since then, my iBook never awoke from sleep mode sniff sniff...

So, now I'm waiting for my loan for a new 15" Al book.

I took apart my iBook and it looks like none of the internals were affected by the Coke, just the keyboard (I was sure some had seeped in when it happened). So, you could attribute its problems to its rough handling while I was in school.

[Mac Guru]

Well SOME good news...

My new keyboard will be coming soon, just got a new one off eBay for $71.

I'll let you guys know how it goes when the noob is installed.

Mac Guru

[darcybaston]

My ex spilled diet coke on my pro keyboard and I didn't have the tools to open it nor the means to acquire them, so I tossed it in a sink with hot water. And shook it around until any liquid seen through the plastic, was clear and not brown.

I let it dry for about a week and tried it again. Didn't work at all.

I let it dry for a month and tried it: Some keys worked but lots of repeating.

I let it dry for 3 more months and tried it: All keys work fine except for the CD eject key. It's been like that since (year and a half later...).

PHEW!