My Corsair K70 RGB + coffee = Death of a legend...?

[CGurrell]

Hello all,

 

Today I look to be saying goodbye to my Corsair K70 RGB with Brown switches. It's my own fault, I was getting my second coffee of the day ready for work at home and spilt it all over my cheap work keyboard (RIP Random membrane KB too). Unluckily for me, my K70 was behind that keyboard and took some splash damage.

 

I immediately tried to dry her out, followed by frantically opening her up (not the first time a drinks related incident has happened to this keyboard) and cleaning anything I could see with Isopropyl Alcohol. After that, I left her alone for a few hours whilst I finished my work day.

 

I'm back with her now, plugged her into my old laptop that I keep around for troubleshooting purposes, and she starts going beserk. Before I know it, my display is upside down and at 1600x zoom. Panic ensures and I unplug her. After a little more cleaning, I plugged her back in again, and to my surprise things seem normal, at first...

 

I open up a keyboard tester and immediately there's an issue. Shift is not only being pressed, but constantly pressed and depressed. I'm not sure which switch key it is, but I would assume the right one given that the switch has a coffee brown hue to it now. 

 

Sadly, this is where I think her journey is coming to an end. I've had her for nearly 5 years, and she was always good to me, giving me satisfying typing and gaming experiences right to the end.

 

Unless anybody here can help me, I think her time has come. RIP K70 RGB, you will be sorely missed...

[dizmo]

As someone who had one briefly, I can safely say that it's a mixed blessing; there are much nicer boards out there

 

[CGurrell]

7 minutes ago, dizmo said:

As someone who had one briefly, I can safely say that it's a mixed blessing; there are much nicer boards out there

 

I get you, just had it for so long that it's almost like losing a friend at this point

[GuiltySpark_]

Dishwasher. 

[AndreiArgeanu]

If you have the tools you could maybe desolder the switch and take it apart and clean it or replace it fully but it might be easier to just replace the keyboard entirely.

[da na]

Might be worth doing the whole keyboard test thing again then desoldering and soldering in new switches of the broken ones

[minibois]

If you can open up the keyboard to the PCB level, you can use a multimeter to figure out which key(s) are acting up and with a little luck you can clean the pins on the underside and it's fixed. Worst case scenario it's a deeper issue, inside the switches itself. Some alcohol on a straw and pressing the switch a couple times could get rid of an issue on the inside, or more work might need to be done.

It all depends on how deep the issue lies with this keyboard.

 

It's highly likely salvageable, but may require quite a bit of work to get fully operational again.

27 minutes ago, rickeo said:

Dishwasher. 

If you're recommending this based on the LinusTechTips video from 2 years ago, keep in mind recently in the "Fixing my wife's keyboard for $1 video" Colin mentioned some of the dishwasher keyboard died. Likely due to corrosion, possible by salt which was added to the water by the dishwasher, possibly just due to the water getting in places that can't dry on their own.

[GuiltySpark_]

Just now, minibois said:

 

If you're recommending this based on the LinusTechTips video from 2 years ago, keep in mind recently in the "Fixing my wife's keyboard for $1 video" Colin mentioned some of the dishwasher keyboard died. Likely due to corrosion, possible by salt which was added to the water by the dishwasher, possibly just due to the water getting in places that can't dry on their own.

I wasn't, actually. Its just been something I've seen people do for years and have success, especially if the alternative is the trash bin. 

[jaslion]

21 minutes ago, rickeo said:

I wasn't, actually. Its just been something I've seen people do for years and have success, especially if the alternative is the trash bin. 

It is fine to do with a clean dishwasher, no additives, preferably deminiralized water and if you open the keyboard afterwards and really let it dry for a long long time moving it around often.

 

I've done it that way quite often and most are still going strong. But it's basically a last resort or a idc about these keyboards option.

[CGurrell]

Thanks for the suggestions everyone!

 

In a weird twist, I did nothing with the keyboard, had a hunch to try it this morning, and it seems to be working as normal again I'm probably still going to look at replacements as I don't really trust it to last much longer given the damage liquid can cause, but she lives!!!!

[Daethz]

On 12/22/2021 at 6:47 AM, CGurrell said:

Thanks for the suggestions everyone!

 

In a weird twist, I did nothing with the keyboard, had a hunch to try it this morning, and it seems to be working as normal again I'm probably still going to look at replacements as I don't really trust it to last much longer given the damage liquid can cause, but she lives!!!!

I spilled a glass of water on my K70 lux rgb years ago, it continued working perfectly for multiple years after the incident, if your coffee had sticky sugar and stuff in it that might be the cause.

But k70's are old and relatively cheap now, i'd get a apex pro tkl if i needed a new keyboard.