Keyboard in dishwasher

A

alexthebored

Weaksauce
Joined
Feb 4, 2008
Messages
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I have a Logitech Media Keyboard, and it's pretty dirty. I keep reading mixed things about putting a keyboard in the dishwasher to clean it (obviously taking it out before the dry cycle). Has anyone tried this?
 
Never did this myself but if you put the keyboard on the top rack, do not use soap, and take the heat dry function off. Still a little uneasy about trying this, though, and would like to find out if others have done this. Drying time will be 3-5 days depending on your climate. Don't try it with your laptop.

Another way is to clean the keyboard with q-tips and a damp cloth and some windex or just buy a new one.
 
I just popped all the keys out and cleaned with Q-tips and rubbing alcohol. Takes a bit longer, but doesnt put you're keyboard out of comission for 5 days.
 
I would highly recommend you don't do this. The inherent problem you will come across is that some time down the line, your keyboard will fail for some probable liquid damage. When water gets on metal (such as in electronics) and then evaporates , the evaporation creates a reaction in the metal that starts to deteriorate the structural integrity of the metal. Now here, the metal could be traces, perhapses part of the key matrix itself or even your solder connections. If any of the pad is exposed, it could succumb to the same deal.

So knowing this, do you still want to use the dishwasher? ;)
 
Hehe damn, sounds like a need to set some time aside with a can of compressed air some damp Q-Tips
 
I've never met a keyboard that likes dishwashers. Compressed air will do you just fine.
 
^^take apart your keyboard some day. it will blow your mind what compressed air misses. its a good maintenance tool though.

I'd bet get money it would still work just fine provided you DRY the traces afterwards BUT I would recommend just removing the controller pcb and even the flexible pcb backing as well. this would allow you to clean just the plastic shell (the dirty part)
 
1) Remove keys
2) Compressed air to blow out dirt/hair, etc.
3) Rubbing alcohol and cotton/qtip
4) Reassemble
5) Profit!
 
This is my version:

-Pry off every key on the keyboard
-Put all the loose keys in to a zip-loc bag
-Fill the bag with hot water and dish soap (Or whatever cleaning solvent you want). Make sure you have some air in the bag so there's room for the keys to shake around.
-Vigorously shake the bag for as long as you think is necessary
-Before putting the keys back in, vacuum out and clean the keyboard itself
-Dry the keys real quick and put them back on. This is the fun part -- test your keyboard knowledge.
 
Good advice, thanks guys.

Also because I don't want to start a new topic:

I have a Logitech MX518 mouse that is over a year and a half old, and the scroll just recently stopped working. I've tried drivers and no go. I'm imaging it is the mouse itself, as sometimes, rarely, the scroll works for a really quick second and then stops. I've heard Logitech is good with returns; could I get it exchanged? Or is there no point, and I should open it up to clean it, voiding my warranty.
 
Considering you have had ot a year and a half, I dont think there will be much of a warranty left. Then again, I don't know how their warranties go. You could always take the mouse apart and clean the roller connectors that send the scroll signal when you use the scroll wheel. Again, alcohol and a q-tip ;)
 
You probably could spend less than $25 on a new keyboard that's better than your old Logitech. At least you'd have a backup ready in case your dishwasher experiment doesn't go well.
 
I've tossed more than one keyboard in the dishwasher for cleaning. In the case of my IBM Model M, I just tossed the damn thing in there and even let it heat dry. They knew how to make keyboards back then so I'm not worried about it.

I've also tossed a couple of the MS Natural Elite keyboards in the dishwasher. In the case of these keyboards, I opened it up to remove the cable, the PCB as well as the contact membrane. I then put the keyboard back together and washed it with the hot air dry cycle. I still had to let it dry a bit more as there was water trapped inside but after about an hour or so it was ready to go. I just put the stuff back in it and went along my merry way. I will warn you that doing this might cause the plastic on the keyboard to discolor a bit. I know the keyboard came out of the dishwasher and it had a yellow tint to it. It was my work keyboard so I don't really care, besides it worked better than before.

 
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