I’ve cleaned hundreds of older pre-“Chiclet” Apple keyboards over the years, including the A1048, which is what I think yours is.
First, use a plastic spudger to pop off all the keys. Be careful, some have metal positioning pieces clipped underneath. Put all the keys in a tall CD spindle cover or similar container, add some liquid dish soap and warm water. Stir then let soak for a while. Stir some more, then dump the soapy water, refill with clean warm water and repeat until you’re happy. Be careful you don’t lose keys down the drain. Drain the water, then dump the keys onto a towel and dry them one by one. Keep some isopropyl alcohol handy in case there’s some greasy grime that needs special attention. There will be some water trapped in the hollow pegs that snap into the keyboard, so I usually tap each key on a hard surface to get rid of it. Second, dismantle the keyboard if there’s junk inside the clear plastic bottom cover. There are three tiny Phillips screws that hold the key “tray” to the bottom case. Remove them. On the bottom of the keyboard case are three more teeny Allen head screws that hold the bottom to the innards. Remove them. Third, flip over the keyboard and the innards should come loose from the clear plastic base. You’ll see more screws that hold the USB wiring to the case as well as the USB wiring cover to the back. Remove them. Fourth, be very careful not to get any liquids on the Mylar sheets that sandwich the printed circuits sheet; that moisture will ruin the fragile circuits. (If you do, it’s possible to use an automotive rear window defogger repair kit to renew the circuits. Been there, had to do that.) You can leave the Mylar sheets in place and carefully clean the usually filthy top side of the white plastic board the keys pop into, or you can totally disassemble that assembly. NOTE: If the clear plastic bottom is clean and junk-free, I usually leave the keyless assembly as Apple first put it together, but carefully use Q-tips dampened with isopropyl alcohol and a toothbrush to get all the dust, crumbs, hair, coffee/soda spills and whatnot out exposed by removing the keys. Sometimes I even remove that little white piece around the left/right, up/down keys if I can’t clean under it. But if there’s all kind of junk inside the clear bottom, a full disassembly is in order. Fifth. carefully reinstall everything in the right order. Keep another Apple keyboard around so you get the keys back in the correct places. (Another hard-learned lesson.) If you disassemble the bottom part, be very careful to get the USB cable securely back in place. Sometimes it might be necessary to put more of the sheathed cable inside the case in order to re-cover the tiny little wires exposed by *someone* pulling on the cable too hard. CAUTION: Other Apple keyboards can be disassembled and cleaned basically the same way, except for the newer “Chiclet” keyboards with a flimsy metal top frame glued to a white plastic bottom. It’s impossible to take those apart without melting keys or distorting the aluminum. I know, I’ve tried and failed. More than once. Talk about throw-away technology! What I do with “Chiclet” keyboards to keep them clean is to remove batteries or turn them off and wipe them down with a microfiber cloth dampened with isopropyl alcohol. Note the use of “dampened”. You don’t want to use too much isopropyl alcohol, which usually has 10-30 percent water content, and short out the keyboard. I also regularly turn off/remove batteries from “Chiclet” keyboards and tap them lightly on the desktop while holding them upside down, between total wipe-downs. Amazing how much stuff gets inside them. Whatever you do, do not put your keyboard in the dishwasher. It will come out clean, sort of, and it will be ruined. Good luck. Jim Scott Eureka, CA > On Apr 27, 2020, at 7:25 PM, Sky King <[email protected]> wrote: > > I am in need of suggestions as to how to clean years of accumulated gunk from > between the keys of an Apple keyboard, model A1049. I've heard or read that > keyboards can be put in the top rack of a dishwasher, but that doesn't sound > so good to me, as this model has a permanently attached USB cord. > > -- > -- > You received this message because you are a member of G-Group, a group for > those using G3, G4, and G5 desktop Macs - with a particular focus on Power > Macs. > The list FAQ is at http://lowendmac.com/lists/g-list.shtml and our netiquette > guide is at http://www.lowendmac.com/lists/netiquette.shtml > To post to this group, send email to [email protected] > For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/g3-5-list > > --- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "G-Group" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > To view this discussion on the web visit > https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/g3-5-list/6e9cdc11-ce7b-4f7d-8a5e-7e08432cfa48%40googlegroups.com. -- -- You received this message because you are a member of G-Group, a group for those using G3, G4, and G5 desktop Macs - with a particular focus on Power Macs. The list FAQ is at http://lowendmac.com/lists/g-list.shtml and our netiquette guide is at http://www.lowendmac.com/lists/netiquette.shtml To post to this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/g3-5-list --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "G-Group" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/g3-5-list/E4C33EBC-53E6-474B-8738-D238DB280304%40gmail.com.
