Hardware Laptop Keyboard in a Dishwasher?

I have a laptop here with a faulty keyboard, it has had liquid spillage.
The laptop is fine but keys are wonky - pressing p gets you p and 0, i gets you i and 8 etc.

So there is a short in the membrane or similar. The question is, has anybody successfully washed a keyboard or somehow managed to repair this fault?

A google finds talk of running under the tap and drying thoroughly etc.

I would normally just replace but this one is very hard to find.

Cheers!

SToNER

A couple of minutes in an ultrasonic bath would be better but access to one could prove difficult. If you have access to an airline you could give it a good blowjob roud:
If that doesn't cure it try agitating it in a sink of warm, mildly soapy water. Rinse it under the cold tap and shake it well.

Put the keyboard in a shallow container and cover it with 99% IPA, this will disperse the remaining water. Let it dry naturally or close to a radiator.

I'd be interested to hear how you got on with this, as I had total success a few months ago with a similar approach to the method outlined in chookey's reply.

The first step after the spillage is to get all sources of power off the keyboard - ideally by totally disconnecting it and removing it. The snag with sugary liquids (tea, coffee, beer) is that they leave behind a sticky conductive residue so the second step of rinsing in pure water and, as chookey has suggested, 99% IPA - which in this case is Isopropyl Alcohol not India Pale Ale:Cheers:

The final step of thorough drying is very important before applying power again to avoid stray currents and the risk of electrolytic corrosion. An airing cupboard overnight is usually sufficient, but also the drying/dehydrating effect of an air conditioner can also work pretty quickly.

The honest truth is I didn't attempt it.
I was very lucky to find a scrap laptop with the same keyboard at a shop I do some work for.

I am very keen to try the soapy water method with the next one though!

Laptop keyboards are usually really simple to swap out and replacements don't cost too much.
It usually involves prying off the plastic panel above the keyboard, unscrewing three screws, lift/tilt the keyboard forward and unplug the keyboard flex from the motherboard. Install replacement keyboard in reverse order.
You will need a small plastic pry tool (something like a guitar plectrum or even long finger nails) and a small Philips screwdriver and it will take five to ten minutes to swap out.
You should find keyboard swap or disassembly how to videos for most laptops on Youtube and you should get a used keyboard for about £20 and a new one for about £40 on Ebay.
Good luck.
P.S don't put Keyboard in washing machines.

The previous 2 posters obviously haven't read past the first couple of posts.
Threads like this could benefit from the OP being able to mark the Thread as "Solved", thereby effectively closing the thread.

Hi chokey. I did read the entire post but I disagree that it should be marked as solved until someone said " don't put a keyboard or anything electrical near soapy water or in a dishwasher". Any water other than distilled water will cause shorts and even pure distilled water will cause things to rapidly oxidise.
You cannot fix a keyboard with water. Hot, warm, cold, soapy, clean, distilled or whatever, it can't be done. Water will kill a keyboard.

DivXDemon said:

Hi chokey. I did read the entire post but I disagree that it should be marked as solved until someone said " don't put a keyboard or anything electrical near soapy water or in a dishwasher". Any water other than distilled water will cause shorts and even pure distilled water will cause things to rapidly oxidise.
You cannot fix a keyboard with water. Hot, warm, cold, soapy, clean, distilled or whatever, it can't be done. Water will kill a keyboard.

Click to expand...

Sorry mate, cannot agree with you here. Water (the softer the better) in itself is fine, so long as the item is thoroughly dried before re-applying power. I frequently clean PCB's in warm soapy water. Certainly in the case of a kb it will be harder to know when it is fully dry due to the nature of the membranes, but pretty harmless if dried without too much delay.

** Learnt from experience, not Google! **

Ultrasonic cleaners are used with distilled water and a small amount of cleaning liquid. I put full circuit boards in mine and after cleaning drop it into a shallow bath of IPA. Alcohol disperses most of the water and speeds the drying process.
You included "Good luck" in your post after giving instructions for a keyboard swap even though the OP had already done the job. This and the fact you called it washing machine rather than dishwasher led me to believe you never fully read the thread.

As trevortron points out, your information isn't accurate anyway.