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Reading your comment, I thought either "nobody is going to believe this guy" or "people are going to think he's nuts". Actually, I thought it sooner than that,
by mdip 7y ago
Reading your comment, I thought either "nobody is going to believe this guy" or "people are going to think he's nuts". Actually, I thought it sooner than that, because I almost shared a story about how I used to clean up my Northgate Omnikey and decided not to because I didn't want to be judged. :) And yet, here you are, with an equally insane, similar but much better approach.
My method for cleaning my Omnikey was to fill the kitchen sink with water and clean it like one cleans a dish. After a quick towel-dry, I'd toss it in the oven for 12-or-so hours at the lowest temperature (I think about 150-200 degrees American). I did this at least 10 times during the decade and a half that I used this board (and it was sold in perfect, working condition).
I'm sure I did some damage, somewhere. There's got to be parts in that keyboard that corrode, but it always came out "like new". I haven't owned a keyboard like it since and I expect the one I use day-to-day wouldn't survive a strong gust of wind. I'm not completely, nuts, though. The first time I performed this all-day, insane, cleaning routine was after I had lost all hope of resurrecting my keyboard due to an unfortunate encounter with a full glass of Mountain Dew.
At no point did I ever consider putting it in the dish washer. That would have saved me hours!
- kevin_thibedeau 7y agoI've put model M keycaps and the top shell (no decals there) in the dishwasher. Keycaps came out great. The shell warped slightly from the heat but it was not enough to ruin the keyboard.
- ianai 7y agoI’ve cleaned key caps with dishsoap in a plastic container and snug lid. A psyllium husk container worked really well. Could go nuts with agitation then leave them on a towel to dry. This was for a white mac keyboard though so I had to clean the body with qtips and paper towels. its kind of funny how odd cleaning a keyboard can feel. They’re not designed for it, but should be!
- paulgerhardt 7y agoDishwashers are common on smaller PCB-fab lines. Especially around Milpitas/San Jose. Helps if the board isn’t yet assembled.
- mdip 7y agoI guess I shouldn't be too surprised[0], we used to clean our sneakers in the dishwasher. And about a decade ago I had a crab dinner served at a friend's house. The guy knew how to cook -- easily the best crab legs I've had (helped by the fact that he knew where to get good product). After we finished the meal, he explained that he cooked them in the dishwasher. I think part of me was grossed out, but it lasted only a few seconds ... they were extraordinary. [0] I am, but I probably shouldn't be.
- slumos 7y agoSent my Apple Pro keyboard through my dishwasher last week! Hadn’t been cleaned in probably 8 years so in addition to looking almost brand new, it now types significantly better. When I worked for a CS department long ago, I took all the Sun Type 4 keyboards home in batches of 6 to run through my dishwasher. I would never do it to a board unless I was really sure it was completely unpowered when disconnected, and waited days for it to dry. There are lots of other caveats depending on the exact keyboard and exact dishwasher model.
- mdip 7y agoI wouldn't dream of using my current dishwasher. The heating element cannot be turned off and it outright melts some less expensive (barely dishwasher safe) plastic-ware. Probably good for cooking crab legs, but would likely warp the plastic on a typical keyboard.