17 replies to this topic

[aeharding]

OK, you've had your EEE for a wile, and it's starting to collect dust. Additionally, maybe you spilled liquid on your keyboard. In this guidebook, I will show you how to clean your keyboard to be the way it was when it was new:
[DISCLAMER: If you follow along and do not use too harsh soap, this trick will work with success. However, I will NOT be held responsible for any damage to your EEE, your keyboard, or anything else.]

NOTE:::
Where I live, we drink mountain water. This water is clean and not as full of salts as groundwater, so if you want to be careful because your water is groundwater or otherwise full of salts and minerals, use distilled water!

BTW, this does not violate the warranty unless doing this procedure kills your EEE. Your warranty will be intact for future problems that are completely unrelated to this! :)

OK, let's get started:


1. Close your EEE, remove any USB, monitor, networking, external speakers/micorophones, basically everything.

2. Remove the battery.

3. Using this guide [link], remove the keyboard. If removing for the first time, it might be harder to remove.


4. Obtain liquid dish washing soap (NOT dishwasher!) Dawn is used in this guide.


5. Put a squirt of concentrated soap into a sink plugged up (or a bit more into a bathtub).

6. Every 15 minutes, press the affected keys and slosh keyboard around.


7. After an hour to an hour and a half, remove keyboard. Clear sink, and thoroughly rinse by means of running water through every possible part, and pressing affected keys.

8. After 15-25 minutes of rinsing, take of exes water with towel, and then put keyboard in well ventalated area.

9. If you use a fan (NOT hairdryer) the EEE keyboard should be ready for use in 24 hours. If it is just in a well ventalated area, about 3 days. REMEMBER: if it feels wet or there is ANY dew whatsoever, DO NOT plug it in. Wait a bit longer.

10. Reassemble keyboard into EEE by plugging in wire and securing via tabs on the side. Put back of keyboard in first, then front until it snaps into place.

I'm still working on the guide, but that's the basic procedure!

Congratulations, you are done! Have a fun time with your newly cleaned keyboard!

EDIT:: LOL, my 200th post! And I didn't even realize...

If it does not work fully, just rinse it more. More soap is less! This guide is for people who have problems with their keyboard and would eventually end up buring a new one anyways. If yours is fine, than it's not recommended.

Edited by aeharding, 20 November 2008 - 05:16 AM.

[mshapiro]

Don't let me kill my wife's eee!

Is this actually a safe thing to do? It seems pretty scary to me.

My daughter spilled water on the eee keyboard many months ago. At that time, I had no idea how to remove the keyboard. We dried the surface of the keyboard and placed it upside down on a towel to draw out the water. I think I also used a hair drier on LOW setting. It took a few days, but the eee MOSTLY came back. It boots. It runs. All but 4 keys seem to work fine. My wife has continued to use her eee. She loves it. But it is sometimes difficult to use without <ESC>, <DEL>, <~>, and <2> especially since <SHIFT><2> is the '@' key. To enter new e-mail addresses she has to copy an '@' from somewhere else and then paste it in where she needs it.

Can I actually put the entire keyboard in soapy water safely and is this likely to resolve my problem?

[gtisingh]

Quote

Don't let me kill my wife's eee!

Is this actually a safe thing to do? It seems pretty scary to me.

My daughter spilled water on the eee keyboard many months ago. At that time, I had no idea how to remove the keyboard. We dried the surface of the keyboard and placed it upside down on a towel to draw out the water. I think I also used a hair drier on LOW setting. It took a few days, but the eee MOSTLY came back. It boots. It runs. All but 4 keys seem to work fine. My wife has continued to use her eee. She loves it. But it is sometimes difficult to use without <ESC>, <DEL>, <~>, and <2> especially since <SHIFT><2> is the '@' key. To enter new e-mail addresses she has to copy an '@' from somewhere else and then paste it in where she needs it.

Can I actually put the entire keyboard in soapy water safely and is this likely to resolve my problem?

You sure can !
Ive done it with my PC keyboard and eeepcs keyboard.
You just have to leave it to dry for a good 2 days in a warm area.

Once the waters all evaporated theres no chance of anything shorting out.

I prefer to put mine in the dishwasher though ;)

Shift + 2 change produces an @ symbol ... sounds like its changed it self to the US format keyboard.
You'll find that the Shift + [the key to the left of the Enter key] is now '@'

Go to Regional and Language options in the Cont Panel and change the Settings
-

Edited by gtisingh, 03 February 2009 - 02:51 PM.

[mshapiro]

Quote

Quote

Can I actually put the entire keyboard in soapy water safely and is this likely to resolve my problem?

You sure can !
Ive done it with my PC keyboard and eeepcs keyboard.
You just have to leave it to dry for a good 2 days in a warm area.

Once the waters all evaporated theres no chance of anything shorting out.

I prefer to put mine in the dishwasher though ;)

Shift + 2 change produces an @ symbol ... sounds like its changed it self to the US format keyboard.
You'll find that the Shift + [the key to the left of the Enter key] is now '@'

Go to Regional and Language options in the Cont Panel and change the Settings
- http://support.argog...settings[1].JPG

Since we are in the US it is not surprising that we have a US keyboard layout.

I'm going to take the keyboard out, again, and hit it with compressed air. If that doesn't solve the problem then I'll see what my wife says about soaking the whole thing. I'm not sure if she can go for two days without her eee and not go into withdrawal!

[aeharding]

Can't hurt too much; besides, the keyboards new only cost 20 dollars tops. And, it doesn't void the warranty.

[gtisingh]

Quote

Quote

Quote

Can I actually put the entire keyboard in soapy water safely and is this likely to resolve my problem?

You sure can !
Ive done it with my PC keyboard and eeepcs keyboard.
You just have to leave it to dry for a good 2 days in a warm area.

Once the waters all evaporated theres no chance of anything shorting out.

I prefer to put mine in the dishwasher though ;)

Shift + 2 change produces an @ symbol ... sounds like its changed it self to the US format keyboard.
You'll find that the Shift + [the key to the left of the Enter key] is now '@'

Go to Regional and Language options in the Cont Panel and change the Settings
- http://support.argog...settings[1].JPG

Since we are in the US it is not surprising that we have a US keyboard layout.

I'm going to take the keyboard out, again, and hit it with compressed air. If that doesn't solve the problem then I'll see what my wife says about soaking the whole thing. I'm not sure if she can go for two days without her eee and not go into withdrawal!

Oh I see, I see ... i thought your @ key had moved its function to a different key, turns out the 2 doesnt work therefor you cant type an @.
Im in the UK, Shift + ' give me an @.

[gtisingh]

Quote

Can't hurt too much; besides, the keyboards new only cost 20 dollars tops. And, it doesn't void the warranty.

Ebay - EEEPC keyboard - $6.00 inc shipping, cant go wrong ;)
http://shop.ebay.com...fromZR40QQ_mdoZ

[DanBeale]

That image shows MUCH TOO MUCH soap has been used.

You only need a tiny amount in the water for it to work.

This *does* violate warranty. It's -probably- not detectable, so you could say "it just broke" when you send it back.

Dishwashers can sometimes be a bit harsh on PCBs, causing delamination. Go careful if you try that.

[aeharding]

I know I used too much soap -- but I corrected myself and said a small squirt when creating the guide.

You DON'T want to overdo it at all.

I was basically the test rabbit in this experiment, so I screwed up. But it worked; and I fixed the parts I was a little bit flawed in. :)

[traderking]

Quote

OK, you've had your EEE for a wile, and it's starting to collect dust. Additionally, maybe you spilled liquid on your keyboard. In this guidebook, I will show you how to clean your keyboard to be the way it was when it was new:
[DISCLAMER: If you follow along and do not use too harsh soap, this trick will work with success. However, I will NOT be held responsible for any damage to your EEE, your keyboard, or anything else.]

NOTE:::
Where I live, we drink mountain water. This water is clean and not as full of salts as groundwater, so if you want to be careful because your water is groundwater or otherwise full of salts and minerals, use distilled water!

BTW, this does not violate the warranty unless doing this procedure kills your EEE. Your warranty will be intact for future problems that are completely unrelated to this! :)

OK, let's get started:


1. Close your EEE, remove any USB, monitor, networking, external speakers/micorophones, basically everything.

2. Remove the battery.

3. Using this guide [link], remove the keyboard. If removing for the first time, it might be harder to remove.
http://appcookie.com...tn_DSCN5728.JPG

4. Obtain liquid dish washing soap (NOT dishwasher!) Dawn is used in this guide.
http://appcookie.com...tn_DSCN5726.JPG

5. Put a squirt of concentrated soap into a sink plugged up (or a bit more into a bathtub).

6. Every 15 minutes, press the affected keys and slosh keyboard around.
http://appcookie.com...tn_DSCN5727.JPG

7. After an hour to an hour and a half, remove keyboard. Clear sink, and thoroughly rinse by means of running water through every possible part, and pressing affected keys.

8. After 15-25 minutes of rinsing, take of exes water with towel, and then put keyboard in well ventalated area.

9. If you use a fan (NOT hairdryer) the EEE keyboard should be ready for use in 24 hours. If it is just in a well ventalated area, about 3 days. REMEMBER: if it feels wet or there is ANY dew whatsoever, DO NOT plug it in. Wait a bit longer.

10. Reassemble keyboard into EEE by plugging in wire and securing via tabs on the side. Put back of keyboard in first, then front until it snaps into place.

I'm still working on the guide, but that's the basic procedure!

Congratulations, you are done! Have a fun time with your newly cleaned keyboard!

EDIT:: LOL, my 200th post! And I didn't even realize...

If it does not work fully, just rinse it more. More soap is less! This guide is for people who have problems with their keyboard and would eventually end up buring a new one anyways. If yours is fine, than it's not recommended.

yes it is ok to wash keyboard likes that, even for desktop keyboards. Just need to make sure that the keyboards are very very dry, or the keys won't work for awhile until they are dry.

[amheck]

hey guys, was just doing a little searching and came across this......

My son spilled juice on the counter where the EEE was sitting. Apparently, a little got sucked up into the vents from the underside (I'm guessing).

First day, it wouldn't even turn on, but after a day, it did boot up. Most everything works, except the right mouse, the Fn keys, and quite a few of the keys are real sticky and hard to push.

Is it possible this procedure will fix the right mouse button not working?

[milesfromnowhere]

To get your right-mouse button to work, you'll probably have to tear the computer apart a little further until you can get at the little micro-switch on the motherboard that controls the right-click button. You'll need to unstick this somehow. I'd probably drip rubbing alcohol onto it, then work it a few times until it frees up.

Once the switch is actually moving, you can test it by either using a multimeter (a cheep $4 one will do) or by just turning your computer on for a short period of time and testing it. I've heard that you shouldn't turn your eee on with anything more than the keyboard removed because it can overheat, so you might want to reassemble it.

Finding instructions on how to tear your computer apart is pretty easy, google it.

[sgosnell]

I just buy a silicone keyboard cover from DealExtreme. It costs 3 dollars, shipped, and protects the keyboard very well, from dirt, wear, liquids, whatever. It's very cheap insurance, and many times cheaper than buying a new keyboard.

Edited by sgosnell, 05 October 2009 - 04:35 AM.

[bottleofbeans]

Just wanted to post a note to say thank you to aeharding for this thread!

I'm currently travelling and have just met up with my girlfriend to find the EEE Pc lent her no longer had a working keyboard!! After seeing this link I've managed to get it working again, which I'm so chuffed about!

Just incase anyone is interested, it was caked in Mango juice, rock solid, I soaked it in a luke warm water over a couple of hours, pressing the keys as advised and dried it in a warm room (heated floor) for just over a day. The only problem I have is with the function keys, when I press F1, it activates F1 and F2. Is there a work around for this or should I just thank myself lucky that 99.5% of my keys now work?

Thanks!

Edited by bottleofbeans, 19 November 2009 - 06:55 AM.

[shengchieh]

My wild guess is check the wiring for the F1 and F2 keys - maybe you need to clean that area - I don't know how (air gun???).
Also check if the keyboard is correctly over the F1 and F2 keys (probably is).

Sheng-Chieh

[sgosnell]

Perhaps there is still water under the F1/F2 keys. Try blowing it out better. Compressed air can help with this.

[P_G]

Not quite done.......

The above is a good guide to get started, but not finished in the best and quickest manor. After following the above procedure follow by; 1. flushing keyboard with distilled water, then 2. flush keyboard with isopropyl alcohol 90% (This can be found at most any drugstore for about $1. Make sure it is at least 90% not the more common and slightly less expensive 70% because the remaining 30% is water). The reasoning for this is that the distilled water flushes any conducting impurities from the tap water, and then the alcohol flushes the water and evaporates much quicker than water, rendering the keyboard usable in much less time. Following these steps also increases the chance of cleaning out all the keys rather than leaving some only partially cleaned and inoperable.

Edited by P_G, 01 April 2010 - 05:58 PM.

[kixs]

I had some sticky keys (around Enter key) on my 1000HG. I removed the keyboard and sprayed over and under the problem keys with LCD cleaner (it says its non-alcoholic but it evaporates really fast). After an hour or so, I reinstalled the keyboard, booted and the keyboard is DEAD!? Not even one key works. After that I found this page and did it as is described in the 1st post. I put the keyboard to dry on the heated radiator (is not really that hot). After some 24hr I reinstalled the keyboard and it is still dead - no improvements.

As I have one other 1000HG I replaced the keyboard from the other one and it works just fine. So its not hardware related. Is my clean keyboard really finished? Does someone have any idea what to do?

Trackpad works but I noticed some lag with the mouse cursor on the screen. Somehow this has to be related to the non working keyboard.

Edited by kixs, 09 December 2010 - 10:28 AM.