CanadaRAM said:
If you go tea between the membranes of the keyboard switches, that's all she wrote for that keyboard.
not true. well I can't speak for tea, but I spilled milk over my Apple keyboard a couple days ago. not one of the wireless models, one of the wired ones. you know how you can see through the bottom? well when I held the keyboard up I could see milk pooling in the corner, and there was about a quarter of a glass just there. so I wiped off the key tops and held the keyboard upside down until it stopped dripping, then proceeded to take it all apart (there are 3 x 3/32" hex screws on the bottom, along the spacebar end). wiped everything down with kleenex, including the membranes (and between them, where they weren't glued).
it all worked at first, but as the milk dried it got really sticky and I had problems with my comma key (on Dvorak, corresponds to W on QWERTY) alternating between sticking and not working, without any apparent sticking of the mechanical key itself. also the apostrophe key (beside the comma, corresponds to Q) would always input a comma after. so the next morning I took it all apart again, wiped between the membranes with a wet kleenex and then with a dry one, reassembled and now it works perfectly. for the record I'm going to post instructions for disassembling an Apple keyboard here, not that it's complex but just because I felt like sharing.
I should note that this cleaning is for a last resort, as in I spilled all over my keyboard and now it doesn't work. if you muck it up then, well, you tried. no warranty express or implied, yadda yadda yadda.
tools: 3/32" hex key, flat head screwdriver, large philips screwdriver (if you're disassembling the back), small
magnetic philips screwdriver (if you're disassembling the front)
Disassembly:
1. unplug the keyboard and any USB peripherals plugged into it. well, you never know.
2. if you need to get at the membranes (to clean them), or if you want to clean under the keys (gets quite grimy under there): use a small flat-headed screwdriver to gently pry up each key. be especially careful with the longer keys like the spacebar and the shift keys, easing from both sides. don't worry about keeping track of where each key goes, I've attached a high resolution picture of the keyboard to help with putting it back together.
3. turn the keyboard upside down and use the hex key to remove the three hex screws on the bottom (one in the middle, one in each corner opposite the cable). be careful to put these someplace safe, a film canister is a good bet.
4. turn the keyboard back over. the front will now be able to be removed. it is attached to the back by two membrane sections near where the cable exits, so it should hinge to lie flat against the cable, with the spacebar farthest away from you and with the metal bottom facing up.
5. the front can now be unplugged from the back. the two membrane sections connecting the two are plugged into the underlying circuit board at two long black boxes, so putting one index finger on each side of a box and gently sliding the membrane section towards yourself should suffice to unhook it.
Further Disassembly of the Back:
1. once the front and back and separate, use a philips screwdriver to remove the screws holding the plate over the USB ports in place. these can be found by the circuitboard, on the side of the keyboard. getting at them may require gently moving the keyboard cable out of the way. the plate can now be removed, so slide it back along the keyboard cable a few inches.
2. undo the screws on either side of the circuitboard and lift each corner of the white plastic section. it's the only cheap feeling part in the keyboard, so be especially careful with it. lifting each bottom corner slightly out of the clear casing and gently tugging should suffice to get the section free. once unseated, pull it towards you or the cable will get in the way.
3. clean up and reassemble by following the steps in reverse. be sure to get the cable wrapped properly between the three posts again so that it doesn't pull out of the keyboard or break and solders.
Further Disassembly of the Front:
1. only do this if you absolutely have to. there are many finicky little parts inside and losing one may compromise the usability of your keyboard.
2. see the little screws all over the metal back? yeah, that's where the magnetic screwdriver is useful. losing one or two won't spell disaster, but be careful with them anyway. again film canisters are great for storing the screws so they don't get lost.
3. using the small magnetic philips screwdriver, remove the screws on the back. don't just work from one side to the other, work in such a way that the screws and thus the tension stays evenly distributed all over the plate. so remove one from the left, one from the right, one from the middle. when you remove a couple of them the plastic piece over the arrow keys will fall off, put it aside and remember to reattach it when you put everything back together.
4. it gets worse. once the back plate is off, gently lift it to reveal the membranes and the tiny springs. they are very small and easy to lose but fortunately don't need to be removed. if you're cleaning the membranes, use a soft wet cloth to wipe and then dry both sides and between them. they're glued together near the middle, so don't try to pull them apart there... just wipe around the glue spots. when you're done, wipe the membranes dry. leave them for a bit and feel the inside surface of each membrane, if it's at all sticky repeat the cleaning. these are pressed together whenever you press a key, so if the membranes are sticky it'll do bad things.
5. by this time at least some of the springs will have fallen out. put them back in so that they're evenly seated and so that there's one in every hole. put the membrane on top, making sure it goes the right way up (contacts on the membrane correspond to spring holes) and that the small pegs on the front fit into the holes in the membrane. place the back plate on top with the notches in the corner where the membrane connectors poke out and put the screws back in place, again working evenly to avoid bending or breaking anything. the two bigger holes are for the plastic piece above the arrow keys, so hold that in place and tighten the screws there too.
Reassembly
1. use your thumbs to slide each membrane connector into its corresponding socket, gripping either side of the connector with a thumb and pushing away from yourself.
2. insert the upper part into the lower, sliding the top in first and ensuring that all five tabs along the top edge of the lower section properly catch the upper part. (that sounded confusing so I used "upper part" and "lower part" to make it clearer, hence the stodgy phrasing.)
3. turn the keyboard over and screw it in place with the hex screws.
4. put the key caps back in place, making sure that the wire parts of the longer keys catch on the little hooks on the keyboard properly and that the spacebar is in evenly (hit it a few times with each thumb to make sure it feels normal, if not, pull out and try again). refer to the attached picture for the layout of the keys.
5. plug everything back in and you're good to go (maybe).
wow that was a lot more work than I'd anticipated. in any case, there you have it, hope it helps somebody since it took me about half an hour to write.
