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I have accidentally spilt coffee on my keyboard. I unplugged it and let it dry for half an hour, then I reattached it and it worked perfectly for one hour of continuous use - but then I tried a couple of keys and realized that the Caps Lock key not only activates the Caps Lock, but also types 3. The same happens with the 3 key: it types 3 but also activates Caps Lock.

Something similar happens with another couple of keys on the left hand side of the keyboard. Eventually, I unplugged the keyboard, and I will leave it for a couple of days until I plug it back in and see if it works properly.

Any suggestions? Is it possible to fix it? Is there still moisture inside it? What do you think?

I have to mention that it is a Razer model, so an expensive "mechanical" keyboard.

Tech Guy
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4 Answers4

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Disassemble it. Rinse it in clean water. Dry it thoroughly. Put it back together.

You really should have done this immediately though. Having power on with coffee in it may have corroded the contacting surfaces.

David Schwartz
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    You'll want Deionized/distilled water. – Kruug Feb 19 '13 at 20:48
  • @Kruug As long as it's at least normally clean water and the keyboard is dried thoroughly, why would it matter? – David Feb 19 '13 at 20:51
  • Thanks but you know it worked great for a whole hour and then happened what I described before. So is there still possibility to work again eh? – Tech Guy Feb 19 '13 at 20:52
  • ***It is mechanical keyboard – Tech Guy Feb 19 '13 at 20:56
  • I've never had to repair a mechanical keyboard, so I'm not sure, but what do you have to lose? – David Feb 19 '13 at 21:02
  • If I let it just dry without doing anything of the above, is it possible the keyboard work? I have used a hair dryer for the moisture and as I said it worked properly for a whole hour what happened then? – Tech Guy Feb 19 '13 at 21:04
  • If the PCB has been damaged by the coffee or it left residual contaminants on/inside the electronics, then simply removing the moisture will accomplish nothing. Also, to access the interior in the first place you'd almost certainly need to disassemble the keyboard. It may have worked for a while because the damage wasn't yet that severe, but applying power increased the rate of corrosion. Electronics is delicate (and I sincerely doubt that it's a "mechanical" keyboard; do you by chance refer to something like the buckling spring design of the IBM Model M and friends?). – user Feb 19 '13 at 21:08
  • This is the model of keyboard and it is a mechanical one: http://www.razerzone.com/gaming-keyboards-keypads/razer-blackwidow-2013/ – Tech Guy Feb 19 '13 at 21:11
  • @Jikag There are three general grades of water: tap water, distilled water and deionized (DI) water. In terms of precision cleaning, neither tap water nor distilled water are sufficiently pure to handle the job as both are contaminated, to greater or lesser degrees, with minerals and organics. So if you want to use water, you must jump to DI-water. – Kruug Feb 19 '13 at 21:12
  • @Kruug: I've cleaned keyboards with tap water for decades and never had a keyboard fail. – David Schwartz Feb 19 '13 at 21:13
  • That keyboard is most definitely electronic, although it looks like it uses mechanical key switches. – user Feb 19 '13 at 21:13
  • "Full Mechanical Keys for Superior Tactility and Faster Response" – Tech Guy Feb 19 '13 at 21:13
  • "Fully programmable keys with on-the-fly macro recording" That's not mechanics, that's electronics. – user Feb 19 '13 at 21:14
  • Sorry but the thing is how to repair the keyboard not to define its kind but as it is mentioned belongs to the "mechanical" keyboards – Tech Guy Feb 19 '13 at 21:14
  • mechanical keys – Tech Guy Feb 19 '13 at 21:15
  • not the usual rubber thing under the keys - the contacts are resistors – Tech Guy Feb 19 '13 at 21:17
  • @DavidSchwartz For the components themselves (such as the keys) you'll be fine. When it comes to the electronic contact pads, that's where you'll want to stay away from standard tap water. – Kruug Feb 19 '13 at 21:51
  • @Kruug: As I said, I've never had a problem. – David Schwartz Feb 19 '13 at 22:44
  • I've rinsed and repaired a mobile phone using tap water, and I'm in a very hard water area. I think it depends how careful you are during the rinsing and patient when it comes to waiting for it to dry (I left it in the airing cupboard for a fortnight). – deed02392 Feb 20 '13 at 15:14
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I had the same problem on a 4 year old LG keyboard around 24 Aug 2014. A full cup of instant strong coffee went onto keyboard (with sugar, sweeteners, etc.)

I did following to resolve the problem :

  1. Immediately disengaged keyboard from PC.
  2. Went to sink and slowly poured about 8 liters of water (sourced from the mountains) all over keyboard to give it a thoroughly good rinsing.
  3. Shook all water from keyboard several times during each rinsing.
  4. Waited for about 3 days to make sure ALL water inside the keyboard had evaporated.
  5. Plugged the keyboard into the desktop computer after a few days.

The keyboard seemed to work fine.

Main thing is to remove all coffee from inside of the keyboard, i.e. gums up the moving parts, contacts, electronics etc.

pabouk - Ukraine stay strong
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ian
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Is it a Black Widow or one of the other keyboards? The behavior you describe sounds like the layers of plastic that get pushed together have residue between them. When one key gets depressed, the residue allows multiple circuits to be completed. The best bet is to disassemble the keyboard, remove the cellophane sheets, carefully peel them apart and rinse it down. Generally this can even be done with soapy water as long as you make sure you rinse it clean of all residue. This should prevent the shorts that you are getting. It also may be worth washing the plastic parts in the dish washer while the electronics are removed to get them thoroughly cleaned.

Personally, I've never done it on one of my Black Widows, but I did it on my G15 that I had before the Black Widow.

AJ Henderson
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  • And it worked when you did that? – Tech Guy Feb 19 '13 at 21:52
  • @TechGuy - yeah. The principal behind a keyboard is relatively simple as far as electronics go. You are just actuating a switch which presses two surfaces together which are normally separated. The problem you describe is simply a short. There isn't normally any particularly sensitive electronics on the film the conductors are embedded in, just wires basically. – AJ Henderson Feb 19 '13 at 22:02
  • An update to the current status of my keyboard: – Tech Guy Feb 20 '13 at 11:13
  • I have it off for about half a day without cleaning it, just letting it dry naturally with the keyboard side looking down, I tried to plug it about 20 mins ago and worked perfectly. I have to mention that not much coffee entered the keyboard at the first time of the accident, so I think that keeping it in that way therefore letting it to dry naturally, it will be ok. – Tech Guy Feb 20 '13 at 11:20
  • @TechGuy - cool, glad to hear it – AJ Henderson Feb 20 '13 at 14:27
  • I hope that it will function properly hereafter – Tech Guy Feb 20 '13 at 15:59
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My keyboard acted abruptly the same way.

  1. I opened up the keyboard & removed each & every key.
  2. Cleaned the inside of the keyboard casing with water spray.
  3. Cleaned each & every foam element & key with water.
  4. Cleaned the electronic membrane. (Make sure you handle it with care.) First rubbed it with a rubber & then wiped it with spirit. Then dried it in the sun.
  5. Made sure each & every component was dried.
  6. Fixed everything back & it worked well.
pabouk - Ukraine stay strong
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CrazyFirewall
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