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You are here: MacNN Forums > Hardware - Troubleshooting and Discussion > Consumer Hardware & Components > Spilled water over keyboard - now what?

Spilled water over keyboard - now what?
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HamSandwich
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May 4, 2017, 04:50 AM
 
Hey,

my dad spilled water over his Apple keyboard (an old one, with cable). Now what? He doesn't dare connecting it again.

He says, somehow, when I was a kid and had spilled hot chocolate over the keyboard, we would have just opened it, cleaned it, dried it on the oven and then we would have reconnected it - now what?

What's true? Any danger? Just let it try and reconnect? Should we open it? (Can you open it, at all?)

Greetings,
Parker
     
reader50
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May 4, 2017, 11:00 AM
 
Let the water fully dry. Put a desk fan on it to speed things up if you have one. After a day or two, reconnect and work as usual.

If it doesn't work, get a new Mac keyboard. Same if keys have gotten sticky or it's just too grungy.
     
andi*pandi
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May 4, 2017, 11:44 AM
 
place it upside down on a towel to dry. If it is old enough to have big chunky keys, you can pry those off with a paperclip to clean underneath... but a) this won't remove water that got inside; b) make sure you know which ones go where; c) be careful with spacebar.
     
subego
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May 6, 2017, 03:16 PM
 
Originally Posted by reader50 View Post
Let the water fully dry. Put a desk fan on it to speed things up if you have one. After a day or two, reconnect and work as usual.

If it doesn't work, get a new Mac keyboard. Same if keys have gotten sticky or it's just too grungy.
I was almost able to save a Bluetooth keyboard which got a Coke spilled on it by running it through the dishwasher (top rack, non-heat setting, let it dry for a week).

It was a total success except for killing the space bar.
     
angelmb
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May 10, 2017, 03:25 PM
 
Originally Posted by subego View Post
I was almost able to save a Bluetooth keyboard which got a Coke spilled on it by running it through the dishwasher (top rack, non-heat setting, let it dry for a week).

It was a total success except for killing the space bar.
On an anecdotal note: I run my old Apple Keyboards (2003) through the dishwasher, they still work. Apple slim keyboards can't cope with it, though.
     
subego
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May 10, 2017, 05:43 PM
 
Yeah. This was a AA battery slim model, but I figured why not because I was going to pitch it anyway. Keys got too sticky.
     
reader50
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May 10, 2017, 08:37 PM
 
If a slim keyboard has a formed membrane under the keys, you would need to take it apart to definitely dry it. Even a week isn't enough since a membrane can trap water against the board under it.
     
   
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