[ShiggyMiyamoto]

Hey all. This is my first post in a long time. I have a slight problem... Earlier this year, not too long after New Years, while helping my mom get songs onto her iPod (legally might I add ) I accidentally and carelessly spilled most of a glass of milk on my white iBook G3's keyboard, that had recently (like 2-3 months before that) been replaced from the original OEM keyboard it had. When it happened, my brother and I quickly shut the machine down, and dried up what we could of the milk. We did it in time so none of the liquid made it to the computer's innards, such as the heat sink, Airport card, etc.

While it still works, the keyboard damage has dramatically had an effect on my typing, cutting my typing speed basically in half. On top of that, it's become very dusty underneath the keys. I bought a pair of needlenose tweezers to pull out any accumulated filth in that, and while that's helped some, it's never been the same since the milk entered the equation, so to speak. The keyboard sorta feels uneven, even though I've tried to realign it countless times, and it doesn't seem to help.

My iBook is a G3 600 Mhz from 2001 (the April 2001 series), running Mac OS X 10.4.1, with 640 MB of RAM, a 14 GB internal HD (that needs replacing as well, since it's become very noisy; my guess is that the reader heads or whatever your call them got worn out, because when I run the comp off of another HD and this drive spins down it's quiet as anything), 12" screen, Firewire 400, USB 1.1, 56k modem, who knows what speed ethernet 8 MB of video RAM, and the list goes on. I know the specs weren't necessary in order to get advice for my keyboard problem, but I thought it'd be good to know so you could familiarize yourself with the model. This was all off of the top of my head, so I could be somewhat off. I'm not a Mac newbie mind you though... First used a Mac+ at age 4 in 1988.

So.... What I wanna know is, has anyone here suffered something similar? If so, short of getting a new keyboard (which I've already considering getting when my credit card bill's been payed off for this month) what can I do to get my keyboard working as it was? Oh and before I forget, the warranty is dead, kaput, no longer with us, as I didn't get AppleCare after the initial 1 year care expired.

Thanks in advance,
Shiggy

[Franz Josef]

Sorry to hear your bad luck Shiggy - I'm afraid I have no advice but I hope you get that keyboard sorted out.

FJ

[alcimedes]

One thing you might want to consider is just putting the keyboard in the dishwasher, and not using a dry cycle. After it's done washing it, rince it with deionized water and let it sit for a day or two to dry. Odds are there's all sorts of crap in there hosing it up. That shouldn't kill anything doing it that way though.

[ShiggyMiyamoto]

Alc: Are you sure that'd work? I feel sorta weary doing that... Wouldn't that f*ck over the keyboard even more? Also, my comp'd look sorta odd with no keyboard... even though I have an external one... plus.. my dad'd get pissed, since he basically bought the initial replacement in that 2-3 months before the accident/incident...

Ya Franz. Thanks for the good wishes. ^_^ It's been over 6 months since and I'm still sorta bummed over it...

[ast3r3x]

Don't try over spilt milk

[ShiggyMiyamoto]

Originally Posted by ast3r3x Don't try over spilt milk

WTF.. lol I missed this place. lol. Glad to be back.

[Meltedbutter421]

wat about taking all the keys off and rinsing it... also soak the keys in water

[alcimedes]

Washing it in the dishwasher shouldn't do any damage, especially if you rinse it with deionized water. Electronic components are destroyed by water unless they have elecricity running through them. Just use the DI water to make sure you don't get calcium build up or anything afterwards.

Just don't do the hot dry.

[Franz Josef]

Any update on this Shiggy - how did it pan out?

[murbot]

I spilled a cup of tea (with milk and sugar) into my PowerBook years ago. I took the keyboard off and held it under running water for a good 5 minutes. Let it dry on a sunny shelf for the day, and overnight, and it was fine the next day.

Of course if you destroy yours doing this, I take no responsibility. But it *should* be peachy.



EDIT: I just realized this is a bumped, older topic... oh well, I'll leave my post as-is anyway. How'd it go, shigster?

[sunrain]

Originally Posted by alcimedes Washing it in the dishwasher shouldn't do any damage, especially if you rinse it with deionized water. Electronic components are destroyed by water unless they have elecricity running through them. Just use the DI water to make sure you don't get calcium build up or anything afterwards. Just don't do the hot dry.

Maybe this is a dumb question, but where do you get deionized water? Is this something you make yourself?

[murbot]

Duh, use a deionizer.

[alcimedes]

sorry, at my work we have piles of deionized water. otherwise you can usually buy it at the grocery store.

and that should be aren't in the above statement, not are. d'oh.