Re: Cleaning keyboards

[cstadbg@csv.warwick.ac.uk (Mr M J Brown)]

In article <1143.2B6F60F0@gisatl.FIDONET.ORG> jonathan.deitch@p7.f411.n133.z1.FIDONET.ORG (Jonathan Deitch) writes:

>
>Please note this :
>
>Do not *ever* use electronic cleaner on a keyboard !

Why ?
>
>Spraying cleaning fluid on the keyboard causes the keyswitches to short out
>and they are *no longer usable* !

This is a bit of a generalisation.....however I have never found a cleaning
fluid designed for use on switches etc. which shorts out keyboards. True, some
of them contain nasty solvents which can soften plastics, but they won't
short keyboards.
>
>This, of course, requires complete replacement of the keyboard.

Hmmmm....

replacement of the faulty switches maybe, but not the whole keyboard. What
*did* you clean it with ??? (Brand Name and contents please.....maybe we can
avoid using this stuff ... )

>
>Note that this is contrary to Apple's own service doctrines ... I cleaned my
>keyboard in this manner after my local service tech told me that this was the
>preferred way ... (I know this guy, he was not stinging me ...) and I had to
>order a new one.  I ordered it from Shreve systems, though ...

I wonder if you were either (a) ... using the wrong sort of cleaner, or (b)
if you tried to use it while it was still "wet" as it were.

My Apple II required a clean a while back. Like with most keyboards on 
computers of mine, I flood the switches with an aerosol cleaner and then
operate them frantically. This usually cleans up most of them. Never had
any problems since, except one key which failed mechanically and had to be 
replaced. This was not the cleaner though, but metal fatigue in the contacts.

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    _/_/  _/_/   _/   _/_/     _/          |         Michael Brown
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  _/      _/   _/   _/_/     _/            |   cstadbg@csv.warwick.ac.uk
 _/      _/   _/   _/  _/   _/_/_/_/  _/   |     mjb@dcs.warwick.ac.uk
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