Mac Forum / General / Hardware / October 2004

You didn't clean/dry it well enough. Look particularly at the command
key area, which probably has a droplet of coffee (or perhaps some sort
of crud washed in by the coffee)

By now, it *MAY* be too late to save the keyboard, depending on its
type.

What type is it? That'll make a difference - Some, like the old
AppleDesign (My favorite, "feel-wise" of all Apple-built keyboards, not
counting the "second generation" Apple //e keyboards) are nothing more
than a sandwich of plastic sheets with printed conductors on the "toward
each other" sides of the top and bottom sheets, and a third sheet
between them with cutouts to allow the top and bottom sheets to be
pressed together through the holes, with an array of "pokers" located
strategically - Hit a key, the corresponding "poker" mashes the correct
location to connect the traces on the top and bottom sheets of plastic,
generating a keyhit. Those are the easiest to save from just about
anything short of physical damage.

Others are an array of individual switches (much like the //e keyboard),
and are much harder to clean/repair effectively.

I'm typing this at you on an AppleDesign keyboard that's been rescued
from several (at least half a dozen, one a FULL "Super Gulp") liquid
spills over the years by simply opening it up and literally sticking the
plastic sheets in a warm (not hot - might deform the sheets, and not
cold - may be enough to make them brittle enough to crack) shower, then
carefully drying and reassembling.