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Washing keyboards

Amon - Nov 24, 2008

		Amon		Nov 24, 2008
			As dumb as this sounds you can wash your keyboard in a dishwasher. I did it with my dreamcast keyboard and it works fine. I washed the whole thing, yes the WHOLE keyboard. The smarter thing would of been to have unscrewed the top and washed the key housing. Just make sure to wash it TOP SHELF, NO HEAT, NO SOAP!!!!! LET IT DRY. ENSURE IT IS DRY! FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THAT IS SEGA MAKE SURE IT IS DRY!!!! This is no joke and it works well if you dont mind the drying time.

		mtxblau		Dec 10, 2008
			My first thought: what the hell? My second thought: well, it is a lot better than disassembling the whole thing and cleaning each key... I think I'll have to try it.

		Kuta		Dec 12, 2008
			Ultra-sonic cleaners are the best for cleaning electronic components. It consists of a stainless steel bath filled with soapy solution and vibrates the water when turned on. It'll get any kind of dirt, grit or carbon off pretty well.

		gravitone		May 17, 2010
			Using a dishwasher is really not the best thing for electronics. If you have a basic understanding of chemistry you know that contact between copper, iron, etc. and water will catalyse corrosion and oxidation. Since the keyboard internals are not waterproof, the circuit board and flexible plastic sheets that hold the traces for the keys will eventually succumb to this treatment. Given it might take a while, you have set in motion the destruction of your keyboard. It's much better to just take it apart, remove the pcb and plastic sheets, and wash the rest. After a thorough drying process you can reassemble, and it will be as good as new.

		Amon		Jul 1, 2010
			For the last few keyboards I have washed I have just removed the top section with the keys and washed that in the dishwasher. Let that dry and put it back with the rest.