NEED HELP TO SAVE MY KEYBOARD! - Lemonade in my K95 RGB

[gurnben]

Hey guys, I hate to say it, but I've done the unthinkable and spilled lemonade in my brand new corsair k95 with cherry mx brown keyswitches...

I know its a terrible sin and its actually the first piece of tech that I've potentially killed by accident, but I'm hoping you can help me save it. I have tried all of the methods listed on paul's hardware's guide. I cleaned it and then used the straw trick to put water in the switches but they are still sticky. I have not tried lubricants, etc. I was wondering if there are any other methods I should try like mineral oil in the affected keyswitches (only like 10-20 are affected), etc. Any suggestions? My only issue is the RGB part meaning that the leds are actually in the keyswitches, I already have about 5 of the switches appearing green when they should be red... Any suggestions short of buying a new one?

Thanks!

[Pugs501]

http://imgur.com/a/9sHx7

This should help

[TheSLSAMG]

http://imgur.com/a/9sHx7

This should help

Long story short, try putting your $200 keyboard in the dishwasher. It can do wonders

[gurnben]

http://imgur.com/a/9sHx7

This should help

Yeah, I've been using that, but will I need to re-lubricate after the alcohol?

[Pugs501]

Long story short, try putting your $200 keyboard in the dishwasher. It can do wonders

I think you might need to read!

Don't listen to krazy keyboard forum trolls and stick MECHANICAL keyboards in the dishwasher!!!

[Pugs501]

Yeah, I've been using that, but will I need to re-lubricate after the alcohol?

If you think it's causing issues?

[gurnben]

If you think it's causing issues?

ok, so I guess I will go for some isopropal alcohol, unless mineral oil would work better? I'm really not sure?

Also, thanks for the help!

[Syntaxvgm]

Here's waht I said in response to the 2nd wet laptop recovery video here on lmg, it's not about keyboards, but a lot fo the stuff still applies.

@LinussTech

I used to repair laptops for a living pretty much

 

A couple of quick tips for the future if you do this again and want to increase your chances of success (I know you can't help yourself, you will)

 

-Pull every bit of plastic from the board-you know those black and clear squares of crap, usually there's one below the memory slots for example. They tend to hold water under them, especially if the laptop has gotten hot enough to loosen them over time. Oddly enough, I didn't do this once and saw  memory related bluescreens down the road later, and I found out that heat was causing that plastic to give and water was trapped there. 

 

-Remove the battery and test it separately, it may need repaired or replaced. remember, some laptops wont boot without the battery. Check documentation if it even covers this (traditionally, I've found dell's to be pretty good, but for laptops that have non-removable batteries, it's more common and less documented)

 

-Remove and replace the CMOS battery. 

 

-There are quick drying solutions I have used to literally dip the board in  the past. In a server case though, I'd just recommend spraying it with 99.8% isopropyl alcohol. not that 91% pussy shit you get at the pharmacy, 99.8%. The "I looked away form the open bottle and it evaporated" shit. You can also use Dielectric electronic contact cleaner. I have a custom solution I used to make, but I forget it's written down somewhere. 

-Part of the reason you saw success is how long you left it. In the future, aside from the screen maybe, take everything completely out of the housing and separate it. The fan in the cabinet is ok, but if the air is humid or you have the option readily available, I recommend using desiccant packets in a closed container, yah know, something you would feel safe storing food in that seals decently. I recommend leaving it for a week, not joking. Like 3 days is the bare minimum. 

 

-Before drying, if you find corrosion in spots, take a new toothbrush and dip it in that 99.8% isopropyl alcohol you already have and scrub spots that look bad and everything that's a chip with some kind of close together pins. In particularly bad cases, you can scrub the connectors of ribbon cables, but be very careful and you might want to use a different, less abrasive scrubbing tool. Do this before leaving it to dry. 

 

-In a few cases I've used soap and distilled water. I know some people are already angrily typing at me for this, but this is in the "this should never work again in a million years" category with very aggressive corrosion. Distilled water is not conductive until it adsorbs stuff, and while the soap solution is probably slightly conductive, sometimes that corrosion is so bad, something more aggressive than the alcohol is needed. After, you need to scrub those same areas with the alcohol just in case. 

 

-Remove the memory and test it elsewhere after treating it. Remember anything with water damage could potentially short out and cause damage to the host device. This is not very likely except for in cases of extreme corrosion where it may be possible, but be careful what laptop you use to test it.

 

-remove the hard drive (if any) before testing it. Solid state drives should be tested elsewhere first after checking for corrosion on the connections, but they are less likely to be penetrated with water. If you do think it has been, take it apart and use the above techniques to clean it. With a mechanical drive, test it and cry if you need to, because I've seen even steam from a nearby hot shower kill it. If you want to increase the chances of this not happening, put it in a food container with the desiccant packets I mentioned before for a week with the rest of the stuff before spinning it up. It might actually survive some direct water given it was not on at the time of exposure. 

 

- I wouldn't use heat to speed the process. I don't know why really, but I've been told by others that it can makes things worse while it's still wet and it's worked for me taking this advice. Better safe the sorry. 

 

This isn't everything but just a few tips for you and anyone else reading. I love watching people fix shit that shouldn't work, and I look forward to you soaking the next dell xps you get, if Dell will even talk to you

[Skrizzles]

DON'T USE WATER!!

 

Large deep roasting pan, or any tub shaped receptacle big enough to hold your keyboard. Isopropyl rubbing alcohol - enough to submerge plus one bottle to rinse with(squirt cap if available). Submerge keyboard in alcohol. Let it soak for 5 mins. It will dissolve the sugars and sticky stuff. Swish it around in there, and let it soak some more. Remove keyboard from Alcohol and test keys - if they are still sticking, let it soak some more. When they stop sticking, pull it out and rinse with alcohol. Do this by turning it on its end and Make sure to let alcohol flow behind the keys until it all runs out the bottom. Place under a fan to dry.

 

Rubbing alcohol has almost NO water(ppm) and evaporates and dries much faster than water. Also dissolves sugars faster than water.