Cleaned my keyboard

[MegaVovaN]

Took my brother's 5 year old keyboard which was something taken out of biohazard zone.

Before
Took apart and cleaned in bucket with soap water.

Drying:
Taken
Apart

Put it back together:
Clean
Keyboard

No need to buy compressed air
Planning to do same with my wireless Logitech keyboard (although it's not THAT dirty).


edit: damn, I messed up order of back/next/play/stop/open buttons...screw it

 

[PottedMeat]

You ate the 'board chow' that you found under the keys right?

 

[MegaVovaN]

Originally posted by: PottedMeat
You ate the 'board chow' that you found under the keys right?

No. Was I supposed to?
http://megavovan.com/files/kb1.jpg

 

[Ika]

I recoiled a bit when I saw the "Before" pic. I've never seen a keyboard that dirty before :shocked:

 

[AmberClad]

Yes, well, this is why we have non-white keyboards these days . Black keys = grime out of sight, out of mind.

One time, I did the whole disassembling the keyboard thing...only to realize that I hadn't memorized QWERTY layout...and that I had just taken apart the only keyboard I had on hand . You try Googling for pictures of keyboards while half the keys on your keyboard are in the wrong place ...

 

[MegaVovaN]

Originally posted by: AmberClad
Yes, well, this is why we have non-white keyboards these days . Black keys = grime out of sight, out of mind.

One time, I did the whole disassembling the keyboard thing...only to realize that I hadn't memorized QWERTY layout...and that I had just taken apart the only keyboard I had on hand . You try Googling for pictures of keyboards while half the keys on your keyboard are in the wrong place ...

heh

Luckily I have 3 other full-size keyboards in the house to assembly it.
Also, Onscreen Keyboard.

edit: my current kb is black and I can see grime between keys. That means it's really bad?
Actually it's gray dust, not grime (BIO HAZARD!!1111)

 

[DangerAardvark]

Just spend $8 and get a new one.

 

[MegaVovaN]

Originally posted by: DangerAardvark
Just spend $8 and get a new one.

I wanted to see if I can do this - take it apart down to guts and put back together. I'm putting it in storage as backup kb.

And as for my current one, it is more than $8 - it is wireless and 3-4 years ago my current kb + logitech mx700 (current mouse, back then it was THE shit) COST $84

So I would rather clean my current one too Plus I love my current kb, new one will take time to adjust to.

For $8, I can buy very basic, wired kb, which I already have (clean now!).

btw, atm I am pimpin with 2 keyboards at the same time.

I have Logitech MX DUo I think...
Text

/Brain dump END

 

[Fardringle]

I used to rebuild and recondition old computers and I occassionally ran dirty keyboards through a wash cycle in my automatic dishwasher. I didn't even bother with the annoyance of popping all of the keys off. If you don't use the washer's heated drying function (try it once if you're bored and don't care about the keyboard and/or your washer ) and make sure the keyboard is completely dry before plugging it in, it actually works quite well.

Having said that, I don't think I would try it with a wireless keyboard. The wireless circuits probably wouldn't respond well to the warm (or hot) water in the washer.


p.s. Your brother's keyboard was nasty. I'm not sure I would have been able to make myself touch it long enough to pull it apart the way you did...

 

[vanderStoep]

I think the trick is to clean the keyboard before it gets too dirty.

I usually hold my keybord upsidedown and spray some cleaningsolution at it. Let it soak a minute and whipe it off and let it dry (still upside down). That is the quick way for resonable results.

 

[MegaVovaN]

Fardringle - keyboard in a dishwasher? Too bad ours doesn't really work (we never use it, washing dishes manually) And I think wireless circuits won't react well to any water, hot or cold.

vanderStoep - the surface of each key on my wireless keyboard is clean, it is dust on the sides of keys and some dirt under the keys (on the "backplate" that you see when you pop keys off). I do not think your method will work in this case (probably my keyboard is already too dirty for it )

 

[corkyg]

And if you need an illustration for reassembling a QWERTY (Sholes-1874)layout, go here and click on the image:

Layout

 

[MegaVovaN]

On-Screen keyboard (windows)