Cooking + MacBook = Cock Up

April 8, 2007 3:10 PM

While I was cooking, I accidenally spilled double ceam on my MacBook, and now 2 of he mos useful keys ae not woking so well.

I have aleady emoved he keys in quesion, and cleaned undeneah wih q-ips, but as you can plainly see I am sill having some poblems. Do I need a whole new MacBook keyboad, o is here a magic cleaning mehod? I cannot eally figue out how he keypess mechanism works. Hank you for you advice.

posted by roofus to computers & internet (16 comments total)

I really think you could have answered your question with a simmple google of macbook keyboard clean.
posted by MonkeySaltedNuts at 3:27 PM on April 8, 2007

The OP obviously can't search for keyboaRd. But the link might prove mighty helpful!
posted by nursegracer at 3:40 PM on April 8, 2007

Actually, even googling for macbook keyboad clean works. Yay google corrections.
posted by patr1ck at 3:40 PM on April 8, 2007

MonkeySaledNus is you "M" key boken? I aleady did Google, bu found nohing helpful.
posted by roofus at 3:42 PM on April 8, 2007

an hour of need, impressive. to answer your question, (im on a macbook) ive never been able to fix a keyboard after one of my cooking sessions gone wrong, and they cost about 100 to replace. if you're really insistent, one thing to try and do is turn off, dry as much as possible, and leave it for one, two days and come back and see if it works.
posted by phaedon at 4:10 PM on April 8, 2007

I would pull out the keyboard, run it under hot water for a while, let it dry for a day (make very sure it is dry) and reinstall it.. You've got nothing to loose....
posted by HuronBob at 4:35 PM on April 8, 2007

Until you can do that, cut and paste the letters you can't type. But, seriously... good luck. Cream contains sugars, and sugars do bad things to circuit boards.
posted by jeversol at 4:38 PM on April 8, 2007

If you don't happen to have it enabled, System Preferences/International and check the "Show input menu in menu bar".

It will give you a small, floating keyboard onscreen that you can access via mouseclicks.

As for the physical keyboard, I haven't had much luck rescuing them from sticky drinks.
posted by jamaro at 5:20 PM on April 8, 2007 [1 favorite]

Take the keyboard out of the machine and run it in your dishwasher without detergent. Shake the hell out of it to get rid of as much water as possible, then leave it somewhere warm to dry for a couple of days before putting it all back together.
posted by flabdablet at 5:51 PM on April 8, 2007

I flagged your post because I think it is being deliberately cute, which I believe violates guidelines for the site; nonetheless, here's a torrent for a MacBook service manual.

If you need to save money, you may be able to purchase a replacement keyboard from a local Mac vendor, and then you would use the service manual to learn how to replace the keyboard.

Enabling the Input Menu per jamaro's instructions is a good intermediate until you can get up and running again. Alternatively, you can edit the keyboard mapping to reenable dead keys.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 5:57 PM on April 8, 2007

Blazecock Pileon:
Wait a second... you flag his post to be deleted, then you try to answer his question? *shakes head*

As for the actual question, the only thing I recommend is replacing the keyboard. I've never had any luck with the methods mentioned. Sorry.
posted by drleary at 7:16 PM on April 8, 2007

here's what saved my old laptop (two laptops ago) after i spilled a beer on the keyboard and some keys stuck: just type the stuck keys about 1000 times (machine doesn't have to be on when you do this). when i turned it back on, it was as good as new.
posted by bruce at 9:27 PM on April 8, 2007

WD-40.
posted by humblepigeon at 3:44 AM on April 9, 2007

I'm sorry, I love this thread. I love the idea of not being able to type a couple of letters in your plea for how to fix your keyboard.

Can I just say DON'T used WD-40? Penetrating oil + laptop = more trouble.

I've done the "I just read a really funny post with a mouthful of hot chocolate" spew more times than I can count. I just turn of the computer, pull the battery, and start pulling the keys. Use warm water, with a VERY VERY small amount of dishsoap, and wring the cloth you use very very well. Afterwards, leave the keys off for about 4 hours (or overnight), and wash the keys individually. After drying, simply replace.

The keys are very delicate - make sure that you're careful, but if you do hose a key, eBay will have your back on getting a new one.
posted by plaidrabbit at 4:14 AM on April 9, 2007

there is a problem with all the suggestions of removing the keys. On a MacBook the keyboard is built into the top case.
A new top case will run you about $125 and then whatever the person replacing the top case charges you (shouldnt be much its not that hard).
That would be the best solution...oh and hope like hell it didnt run down into the case
posted by ShawnString at 6:28 AM on April 9, 2007

@Shawn - while that's true, the keys are still removable. Simple do a Google on "removing macbook keys" and you'll get a couple of articles that will explain how to do it.

Its not easy - but better than getting someone to replace the top case. For $125 plus labor, its worth a shot.
posted by plaidrabbit at 8:13 AM on April 9, 2007