certain keys not working after wine spill - tips on cleaning

[tkjazzer]

Hello,

My girlfriend accidently knocked glass of red wine over on the kitchen table and it landed on my late 2006 model MBP core 2 duo.

I did not get it turned off / flipped over in time and ran around like a chicken with my head cut off for 10 seconds trying to get more towels to soak it up (when I really should have flipped it over and said "screw it" to the carpet).
The computer shorted.

I then proceeded to unassemble the computer. Went to ifixit, etc.

I got the uppercase off, but couldn't get the dang connector unattached for the keyboard. I even broke the Lock mechanism on the connector and BENT 2 of the gold prongs on the connector. I was able to bend them back in to place.

I then decided to stop trying to disconnect the keyboard before I break anything, and that I would wait 4 days and see what works.

Today, I got the machine started and
the trackpad works.

The keys that don't work are:
1-10
e, t, y , p [
d, g, h
c b n /
spc

HOWEVER, I then wonered if my bending the prong had anything to do with the keys.
so I went back in and played with the connector a bit.

When retrying the keys: b, n, and / started working... but only when I hit them in a certain direction / angle.

So I then wondere if the keys weren't connecting on the switch when pressed. So I began popping off the keys and using a Q-tip with rubbing alcohol to remove any red residue (and a bunch of hairs - crazy how many hairs are in there after 4+ years).
I was able to get the keys off and the scissor like mechanism that pops the keys up... but the button looks sealed on there.

What are your thought?
How long should I lets the test keys dry before I retry the system?

Thanks!!!!!

 

[MrBullet]

What can I say? Women.

What can I say? Women.

If my girlfriend spilt wine on my MBP I would go ape ****.

In all honesty, it sounds like you MBP is mashed.

You didn't say in your post how long ago this occurred. Your key board might get better but I doubt it.

A repair could be quite costly so maybe it is worth selling it for parts and buying a new one.

 

[tkjazzer]

In all honesty, it sounds like you MBP is mashed.
...
A repair could be quite costly so maybe it is worth selling it for parts and buying a new one.

I disagree. It only appears that a few keys are messed up and there still might be a little wine moisture under them.

Timeline:
Wednesday - spill - didn't have screwdriver to get the upper case off
Thursday - upper case off, mess around too much with the prongs that connect the keyboard to the uppercase, break the plastic lock mechanism, decide to halt attempting to get to the keyboard at this point and see what happens with just drying.
Sunday- First attempt at start works! trackpad works! HD works! in the OS - but keys above not working... Now I decide to start popping off keys an cleaning the residual wine with rubbing alcohol and Q-tips to see if it is a switch problem in the circuit that is made when the key is pressed.

Remember! the older NON-uniboy MBP are easier to fix than the unibodies... and the keyboard is separate and not part of the uppercase...

 

[Nameci]

Well, it is one of those threads again, laptops and liquids just simply don't mix.

 

[thundersteele]

external keyboard!

You might have damaged the keyboard yourself, but probably it was the wine. The machine is quite old, so probably an expensive repair isn't worth it... I would go with an external keyboard and hope that nothing else was damaged.

 

[sweetbrat]

I agree with thundersteele...use an external keyboard for now. Even if an old non-unibody is easier to fix than a unibody, there's still a chance that major damage will come to light in the not-too-distant future. Wine is nasty and has lots of particulates. There's lots of places inside your computer for it to settle and do damage that might not be apparent at first. I'd use an external keyboard and start saving up for a new MBP.