this post was submitted on 06 Aug 2023
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Mechanical Keyboards

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A few days back my keyboard went haywire with most key presses inputting garbage. This was after I spilled a glass of water on my desk. I didn't think any got on the keyboard, but the two issues happened too close together to not be connected.

After a little while most of the keys returned to normal apart from a few, that have constantly been inputting bad characters. The B and V key inputs BV, the N and M key inputs NM, and so on for the rest of the right adjacent keys. Then the NumPad - and * enter *-.

I've opened up the keyboard and cleaned it of the usual dust using cotton swabs, tooth brush and 99% ISO alcohol, to no effect.

I can't get into the front side of the keyboard so can't be 100% that I've removed anything caught in there.

I'm wondering what next steps I might be able to take on this. I'm guessing there's some bridge between the affected keys causing this, though I don't really know as I've no experience in this.

Any tips?

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[โ€“] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

It's possible that you fried some diodes on that side of the board matrix, but it could also be that there's still some moisture in there. Compressed air to the back of the PCB can make sure it's dry.

It's possible to get to the back of the board and replace the diodes if you are comfortable soldering. You can see the back of a K70 here: https://youtu.be/ZeIqMQ2WDaY?t=340

I'd maybe consider this an opportunity to get a more disassembly-friendly mech, though...

[โ€“] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

I'll try the compressed air route, Looking into the gap between the face and the board I can see dust in there still so I'll try and remove that. Hopefully that gets results before I venture down the soldering route.