Re: Dirty IIc keyboard

[mjmahon@aol.com (Michael J. Mahon)]

Mark wrote:

>what Michael says with the keycaps, but I would NOT recommend soaking the
>switches in water, although distilled may be OK, I have never tried it. I
>have however used tap water preiously and totally ruined the keyboard.

Yes, tap water (in most locales) is a no-no.  Distilled water is guaranteed
safe for all components, providing that the total length of exposure is
controlled (wouldn't want to rust steel springs, if any).

The problem with alcohol is that it may not effectively remove sugar
residue from soft drinks or coffee, although all common alcohols have
several percent water.

Compressed air is good for drying most things, but beware of using
it around bonded materials or elastomers--you may wind up separating
things that you didn't intend.

The real problem is that the innards of the keyswitches are not sealed
well enough to keep liquids out completely, but are sealed enough to
make removing the cleaning liquid difficult.  Getting the switch "shaft"
clean will make the switch operate smoothly from a mechanical point
of view, but the contacts inside should also be clean to make it work
electrically well.

-michael

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