if possible, it's always best to take the keyboard apart, but not essential. i've got one of the clear apple keyboards which are a pain to take apart and have just rinsed it. obviously if there are crumbs or large pieces of debri you probably want to take it apart to shake those out. it shouldn't hurt any keyboard or for that matter any other low voltage electronics (i've done the same with most of our remote controls, sometimes taking them apart sometimes not). the only warning would be that you do want to remove any batteries, which i don't think any of the keyboards have. with this keyboard, i usually just put it in the sink and pour the water in on top, swish it around and tip the keyboard to drain most of it and repeat usually one more time. i usually do let it soak for a while in the first rinse water to give things time to dissolve and let the water penetrate.
i usually drain as much water as possible and then set it on edge by one of our hot water baseboards, most heat vents should work as well but i'd avoid electric baseboards that might get too hot. a heat source is needed to evaporate the water in a reasonable amount of time, here in dry, dry wyoming it usually takes a day or two with it by the heat vent, in a humid area i'd suggest putting it near something warm and looking for fogging or other signs it's still damp. if you are in a hurry, everclear (95% ethanol for drinking by fools) or 99 isopropanol from the drug store can be used as a final rinse and will make it dry much, much faster as the alcohol/water mix that results has a lower boiling point and higher vapor pressure which makes it evaporate much faster and also helps get water out of crevices (i always use the alcohol when i wash logic boards to help dry under chips and inside connectors). i prefer everclear because of it's lower toxicity and cleanliness, most isopropanol will leave some residue, it shouldn't cause a problem but just doesn't look as good, but it is a lot cheaper!. if it's really bad warm tap water and dish soap work well, though you have to rinse thoroughly to get the soap out and then do some distilled water rinses to get the city water out and avoid water spots etc. i've washed many keyboards and mice this way, as well as logic boards after removing the battery. don't try it with the power supply or analog boards on compact macs without making sure it's dry as there would be a risk of the line voltage getting into the mac and frying it or other problems. on compact mac analog boards i've done it very, very carefully avoiding the flyback transformer which is very, very sensitive to moisture because of the high voltage. residual moisture in a power supply or flyback coil is likely to be very exciting and damaging, and possibly even dangerous. in the case of power supplies i have done it a few times, carefully removing the cases and using a couple good alcohol rinses followed by allowing extra drying time. with low voltage stuff residual moisture won't cause problems, just temporary malfunction until it dries, with the high voltage stuff damage is a very real possibility if it's not completely dry. note that on mice you usually just need to scrub the ball (the added texture from a tooth brush or the scrub pad just makes it grip and work better) and de-fiber the rollers after de-gunking them, q-tips with isopropanol (70% so you dissolve water soluble and alcohol soluble gunk), though they may need a little oil afterwards, but not WD-40, it's a dust magnet! with the optical mice, particularly the apple one that doesn't come apart without damage, soaking, draining, and optional alcohol rinsing works great, i've done it at least twice (though the semi sealed mouse is hard to dry out!) when i finally set up a web site i'll definately have to put all these tips on it! p.s., as i've said, most modern electronics are cleaned at the factory with water, the industry is using water soluble soldering fluxes so they can reduce the use of solvents and the associated disposal and handling cost. just don't do it while it's on and your fine, removing batteries mostly keeps them from being drained while wet but also avoids stray currents that just might cause a problem. i really should get a cover for my keyboard, as i always have a glass of soda next to it, and the desk shows spots of the little splatters of soda from bubbles rising and popping, but it's more of a problem with the mouse which i just have to clean occasionally since no on makes condoms for mice and the good keyboard condoms aren't cheap, although they are pleasant to type on. Begin forwarded message: > From: Eric J. Leopold <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Date: Fri Jan 24, 2003 3:40:16 PM America/Denver >> --------- > > Hi Philip, > I have an Apple keyboard (USB) that came with my B&W G3. I used to > obsessively put it in a plastic bag to keep the dirt out after I turned > off the machine. But alas my obsessiveness somehow changed to laziness > and I stopped doing this. After a while the keyboard had to be > replaced from sticky keys, etc. > > Are there keyboards that this shouldn't be used on? To clean it in the > DW, do you take it apart for a pre-cleaning to get rid of cookie crumbs > and other junk or just put the keyboard in intact? After the the wash > and rinse, is the keyboard taken apart to air dry or is the intact > board just put aside for several days to "drip dry"? I assume all this > is best done behind the wife's back lest she think you've finally lost > it. Thanks very much. > Eric > ------------------ -- G-List is sponsored by <http://lowendmac.com/> and... Small Dog Electronics http://www.smalldog.com | Refurbished Drives | -- We have Apple Refurbished Monitors in stock! | & CDRWs on Sale! | Support Low End Mac <http://lowendmac.com/lists/support.html> G-List list info: <http://lowendmac.com/lists/g-list.shtml> --> AOL users, remove "mailto:"; Send list messages to: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To unsubscribe, email: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> For digest mode, email: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subscription questions: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Archive: <http://www.mail-archive.com/g-list%40mail.maclaunch.com/> Using a Mac? Free email & more at Applelinks! http://www.applelinks.com
