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marshmonkey

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Oct 4, 2006
13
0
I should be getting my macbook back tomorrow or the next day so I will be sure to post an update on wether they fixed the keyboard too
 

PeterC.

macrumors member
Oct 4, 2006
34
0
Denatured Alcohol

What you can do is buy a can of denatured alcohol at Home Depot, pour it in tupperware container big enough for the upper case and let it soak for a few hours. Check to see if the keys are still stuck, if not soak again. Let it dry outside in the sun all day, bring it in and let it dry some more overnight to be safe then reinstall it.

I did this with my apple keyboard when someone spilled coffee on it. It worked fine for me.:D
 

ormandj

macrumors member
Aug 29, 2006
73
0
PeterC. said:
What you can do is buy a can of denatured alcohol at Home Depot, pour it in tupperware container big enough for the upper case and let it soak for a few hours. Check to see if the keys are still stuck, if not soak again. Let it dry outside in the sun all day, bring it in and let it dry some more overnight to be safe then reinstall it.

I did this with my apple keyboard when someone spilled coffee on it. It worked fine for me.:D

That's actually a pretty good idea, and might just work. :) The alcohol should evaporate really quickly, especially out in the sun and won't leave any deposits. Smart person, you are!
 

marshmonkey

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Oct 4, 2006
13
0
ok, I'm posting back on my blackbook and while they replaced a ton of stuff to try and fix my random shutdowns, they didn't replace the keyboard. It feels like they might have cleaned it a little or maybe I am just imagining things though becuase it dosent feel as sticky as it was. Maybe they tried to clean it off a little or something while they had it apart. I'm going to keep on breaking it back in and if if starts feeling bad enough I might try the denatured alcholol idea but right now I'm just happy to have my baby back.
 

AnthonyK

macrumors newbie
Oct 6, 2006
2
0
Uhhh...? Just pry off the keys and use a damp q-tip to wipe up the residue and use the dry end to wipe away the excess water. Then soak the keys in water and the pieces of white plastic that connect the keys to the actual keyboard and dry them off then put the keys back in. This happend to me I spilled ice tea on my keyboard. Just pried up the keys and cleaned it out and now its fine. Just stick your nail under the key and pry up just be careful. :D
 

marshmonkey

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Oct 4, 2006
13
0
AnthonyK said:
Uhhh...? Just pry off the keys and use a damp q-tip to wipe up the residue and use the dry end to wipe away the excess water. Then soak the keys in water and the pieces of white plastic that connect the keys to the actual keyboard and dry them off then put the keys back in. This happend to me I spilled ice tea on my keyboard. Just pried up the keys and cleaned it out and now its fine. Just stick your nail under the key and pry up just be careful. :D

so you had no trouble re-attaching the keys? they come on and off no problem? I am worried about taking off a key and not being able to get it back on.
 

AnthonyK

macrumors newbie
Oct 6, 2006
2
0
No not at all they go back on no problem. Just be careful prying them off just go really slow you hear a clicking noise once it starts to come up. Once you get it off youll see how it works. I'm suprised no one knew you could pull up the keys :confused:
 

generik

macrumors 601
Aug 5, 2005
4,116
1
Minitrue
PeterC. said:
What you can do is buy a can of denatured alcohol at Home Depot, pour it in tupperware container big enough for the upper case and let it soak for a few hours. Check to see if the keys are still stuck, if not soak again. Let it dry outside in the sun all day, bring it in and let it dry some more overnight to be safe then reinstall it.

I did this with my apple keyboard when someone spilled coffee on it. It worked fine for me.:D

Wouldn't the alcohol react adversely to the shiny plastics used in Apple products? Some plastics do melt when in contact with certain alcohols you know...
 

puckyrulz3

macrumors newbie
Feb 26, 2007
1
0
Omg Yes!

okay, so heres my story:

i was eating a juicy tangerine on my bed while browsing the net.. and then all of sudden, when i went to take a part a piece of the tangerine from the others, a wave of juice droplets hit my beautiful white macbook keyboard. i clean as much off as i could, but about five mintues later when a friend messaged me, i realized my "M" key was sticky! *gasp*

so i attempted to take alcohol swabs (surgical type in those little packets) and stuff them under and wipe it around, but that didn't seem to help. i wanted to take the key off.. but i was too scared! then i read the guy's post saying its okay, and that he's done it before, so i attempted!

IT WORKED. there was a huge (okay, big enough to construct the key from working properly) chunk of pulp stuck to the top (under part) of the key. i got it off...and now i'm happily typing my MMMMMMM's!

okay. so how you do it. i'd start with the part of hte key that is closest to you (further away from the screen) and slowly lift that up. you'll hear a clicking sound - the 'bottom' half of it will be up. i didn't take the rest of it off, because of how scared i still was, but that was more than enough to clean up properly. then, after cleaning with a ear swab thing (soaked with probably alcohol) just click it back down.

and Wah-lah!

=)

i was just so excited i didn't ruin this thing i had to post straight away! YEY!
 

aZooZa

macrumors newbie
Sep 4, 2006
4
0
Uhhh...? Just pry off the keys and use a damp q-tip to wipe up the residue and use the dry end to wipe away the excess water. Then soak the keys in water and the pieces of white plastic that connect the keys to the actual keyboard and dry them off then put the keys back in. This happend to me I spilled ice tea on my keyboard. Just pried up the keys and cleaned it out and now its fine. Just stick your nail under the key and pry up just be careful. :D
You are talking about a Macbook keyboard I presume? I thought I'd read that the actual contact mechanism (the electronic part where the keypress is registered) is actually inaccessible and is situated in a film "sandwich". Are you saying that the Macbook key contact point is visible and cleanable after taking off a key?

Thanks!
 

dj420118

macrumors regular
May 17, 2006
186
0
I had a similar spill with the new iMac "macbook like" keyboard. The keys still work but they are just a little stickier than before. Unlike the macbook i dont think i have a way to get under there...just have to live with it.:p
 

varnava

macrumors newbie
Apr 12, 2008
1
0
successful removing of keys

The zero key on my MacBook only works some days. I don't think I spilled anything on it, but decided to try to clean it anyway.

After reading http://www.annelyle.com/blog/2007/05/key_cap_shuffle.html indeed, the easiest way is to pry on the top left corner. The keys just pop off. Under this is the plastic scissor lift. In the center is a plastic nipple.

The plastic scissor lift was a little tricky to come off. I pushed it forward and then pried on the top right. It came out of it's metal clip and the rest followed. This left the plastic nipple.

The plastic nipple appeared to be glued on. I pried it off anyway. Underneath it is a plastic sheet. Under the plastic sheet are the actual contact points.

It did not appear dirty. I couldn't access the contact points anyway because the plastic of the top of the macbook prevents removal of the plastic sheet. So if your keys are not working taking them off does not appear to be an option.

However if your keys are just sticky it appears you can take them off without a problem.

I took off a couple keys for reference and they all work fine now. The zero key still doesn't work though. :(
 

CF1106

macrumors newbie
Sep 5, 2008
1
0
Keys come off fairly easily

I pulled my keys off from the top left corner, cleaned them, and clicked them back on, and all works well. Don't be scared, just don't be too rough.
 

MowingDevil

macrumors 68000
Jul 30, 2008
1,588
7
Vancouver, BC & Sydney, NSW
You could do this one of two ways. you could go the honest route and say a few keys are a bit sticky, or you could just not mention it. im not saying either is better, just advocating all the possibilities

Why even advocate such a thing? Another reason I'll NEVER buy off eBay.
Shouldn't you always go the honest route? I must say I'm a bit shocked at all the suggetions of scamming I'm hearing on this board. We all allegedly LOVE Apple & their products...yet its perfectly ok to scam them on warranties, returns & promotional deals?!? I'm no saint myself...and scamming IBM or Microsoft is one thing but c'mon, Apple??? :apple:
 

MowingDevil

macrumors 68000
Jul 30, 2008
1,588
7
Vancouver, BC & Sydney, NSW
okay, so heres my story:

i was eating a juicy tangerine on my bed while browsing the net.. and then all of sudden, when i went to take a part a piece of the tangerine from the others, a wave of juice droplets hit my beautiful white macbook keyboard. i clean as much off as i could, but about five mintues later when a friend messaged me, i realized my "M" key was sticky! *gasp*

so i attempted to take alcohol swabs (surgical type in those little packets) and stuff them under and wipe it around, but that didn't seem to help. i wanted to take the key off.. but i was too scared! then i read the guy's post saying its okay, and that he's done it before, so i attempted!

IT WORKED. there was a huge (okay, big enough to construct the key from working properly) chunk of pulp stuck to the top (under part) of the key. i got it off...and now i'm happily typing my MMMMMMM's!

okay. so how you do it. i'd start with the part of hte key that is closest to you (further away from the screen) and slowly lift that up. you'll hear a clicking sound - the 'bottom' half of it will be up. i didn't take the rest of it off, because of how scared i still was, but that was more than enough to clean up properly. then, after cleaning with a ear swab thing (soaked with probably alcohol) just click it back down.

and Wah-lah!

=)

i was just so excited i didn't ruin this thing i had to post straight away! YEY!

WOW, I'm really glad this thread got revived. I used to be religious about not eating or drinking on or around my Mac...but must admit I def relaxed over the yrs in this dept. After reading this thread I've had the bajeezus scared out of me w/ the amount of money I've dropped on upgrading all my comp stuff lately. Thats it, no more tea or tangerines in front of the computer esp the laptop! I got lazy eating spaghetti in from of a white iMac and had a hell of a time cleaning tomato sauce drops off the white keys. There's officially a no food or drink rule around my computers once again!
 

rippinblaise

macrumors newbie
May 10, 2009
1
0
it will work

i just took off and back on my 9 key because when i pressed it it always stuck or felt weird and it worked
 

Vanarak19

macrumors 65816
Feb 18, 2008
1,061
32
229$-nonbacklit
299$- Backlit

Either way, may be worth it just to replace the keyboard from ifixit. If you take it to apple, Id consider your laptops warranty void, and they will just charge you probably the same.
 
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