Sticky key on my keyboard

[Lord Torath]

What's the recommended fix for a sticky key on a computer (not laptop) keyboard?

The "4" key (above Qwerty, not the keypad "4") on my desktop has started sticking. It's not a mechanical keyboard, just a relatively cheap "regular" keyboard.

Thanks in advance!

[Rogar Demonblud]

You can use a pipecleaner lightly dipped in rubbing alcohol to clean under the keys. You probably have a drop of soda or such in there.

[Brother Oni]

As it's the '4' key and not something like the space bar, you should also be able to get a screw driver and just pop the key cap off to get access.

[LordEntrails]

Take it apart, clean it with rubbing alcohol and if that doesn't fix it, replace it.

[halfeye]

Use the 4 key on the numeric keypad?

Or replace the whole thing. Once one key goes it's typically not long until the next one fails, and once half a dozen keys are playing up it's no fun at all. I don't think that bubble keys are fixable, I suspect they just wear out (if anyone knows differently, I'd be very interested).

How long have you had the keyboard? I had one that lasted several years, and was still mostly okay until I spilt wine into it (wine seems to be especially destructive of bubble keyboards), another a more recent model from the same brand died on it's end with about half of the keys sticking down within six months, which is exceptionally bad in my experience.


Take it apart, clean it with rubbing alcohol and if that doesn't fix it, replace it.

As I understand it, this is a bubble/membrane keyboard, and they don't like alcohol at all, unlike mechanical/spring keyboards.

[Lord Torath]

I've had the computer for about 2 years now. I've been careful about keeping food and drink away from it, so I'm pretty sure it's not a spilled soda. It's a Dell. I'll see if I can pop the key off and see if there's an obvious cause.

[LordEntrails]

As I understand it, this is a bubble/membrane keyboard, and they don't like alcohol at all, unlike mechanical/spring keyboards.
Rubbing alcohol (IPA), not wine *G* is what is used to clean electronics during and after manufacturing of electronics. If you get pure enough IPA, (96 or 98% can usually be gotten at your drug store) and is good enough if used properly (i.e. without power running through it).

You do have to worry about is dissolving/softening any glues used, but not the electronic components. For instance, I've recovered multiple smart phones that have been immersed in liquid by taking them out of the cases and rinsing and even submerging in 98% IPA.

Wiping a membrane keyboard with IPA ... I can't imagine that doing anything bad. Submersing it? Sure, you might cause it to de-laminate.

[halfeye]

Rubbing alcohol (IPA), not wine *G* is what is used to clean electronics during and after manufacturing of electronics. If you get pure enough IPA, (96 or 98% can usually be gotten at your drug store) and is good enough if used properly (i.e. without power running through it).

You do have to worry about is dissolving/softening any glues used, but not the electronic components. For instance, I've recovered multiple smart phones that have been immersed in liquid by taking them out of the cases and rinsing and even submerging in 98% IPA.

Wiping a membrane keyboard with IPA ... I can't imagine that doing anything bad. Submersing it? Sure, you might cause it to de-laminate.

Well I've destroyed good keyboards twice with wine, by accident, it's definitely bad for them. I had a look at the first one, the actual keyboard bit of it consisted of a piece of metal (iron? steel? that sort of weight) with markings on the surface, and bubbles with keys pressing them down, and it didn't work any more after the wine, even though the wine was fairly thoroughly cleaned off. Wine contains two solvents, alcohol and water, which disolved something critical I don't know, but something wasn't working after. Iso-propyl-alcohol may not harm stuff, but I wouldn't trust it, it's a solvent, that's why you use it for cleaning things, and some of the things you clean away could be necessary.

[snowblizz]

Well I've destroyed good keyboards twice with wine, by accident, it's definitely bad for them. I had a look at the first one, the actual keyboard bit of it consisted of a piece of metal (iron? steel? that sort of weight) with markings on the surface, and bubbles with keys pressing them down, and it didn't work any more after the wine, even though the wine was fairly thoroughly cleaned off. Wine contains two solvents, alcohol and water, which disolved something critical I don't know, but something wasn't working after. Iso-propyl-alcohol may not harm stuff, but I wouldn't trust it, it's a solvent, that's why you use it for cleaning things, and some of the things you clean away could be necessary.

It's not the alcohol of wine, it's the water (although I guess anythin in the wine that lets the circuitry short is tehcnically a problem). If you get water into a cheapo keyboard it shorts the circuitry (it consist of two[maybe more I forget] thin sheets of plastic with circitry printed on. I've done it with the condensation off a tub of icecream once. Took out the region around the space key. This construction is also why you cannot press too many keys at the same time and have them register. There's a limit to the number of unique electric signals you can create at once.

Needless to say, anything you pour into a keyboard while it's hooked up and got power is going to do funny stuff.

[halfeye]

It's not the alcohol of wine, it's the water (although I guess anythin in the wine that lets the circuitry short is tehcnically a problem). If you get water into a cheapo keyboard it shorts the circuitry (it consist of two[maybe more I forget] thin sheets of plastic with circitry printed on. I've done it with the condensation off a tub of icecream once. Took out the region around the space key. This construction is also why you cannot press too many keys at the same time and have them register. There's a limit to the number of unique electric signals you can create at once.

Needless to say, anything you pour into a keyboard while it's hooked up and got power is going to do funny stuff.

Yeah, all of that is probably true, except that it took the keyboard a quarter of an hour or so to die. That's not shorting out.

I definitively recommend not pouring anything into your keyboard (there is probably some technically proved safe solution, such as air temperature air, but generally: Don't).

However, I do believe that sometimes there are things in non-switch type keyboards that can be aversely affected by solvents due to dissolving stuff, as well as shorting stuff out.

[LordEntrails]

Yeah, all of that is probably true, except that it took the keyboard a quarter of an hour or so to die. That's not shorting out.

I definitively recommend not pouring anything into your keyboard (there is probably some technically proved safe solution, such as air temperature air, but generally: Don't).

However, I do believe that sometimes there are things in non-switch type keyboards that can be aversely affected by solvents due to dissolving stuff, as well as shorting stuff out.
Just because it took 15 minutes for something to happen, doesn't mean it did not short out. A short is when an electrical connection is completed between two components of differing electrical potentials. With your keyboard, it just happened to take 15 minutes for the water in your wine to penetrate the parts and get into a place it could short.

It also goes to show you that if you had taken the correct prompt action, you could have saved it.

As an example, I spilled about 40 ounces of chocolate milk into the keyboard of a laptop once. I immediately powered it off, pulled the battery and took it apart. After I "drained it and wiped out what I could, I poured IPA over most of the components and let it air dry for 24 hours. Worked perfectly fine after I put it back together. But had I let the milk (and its water) "dry" it would have never worked again.

IPA will bind to water, and increase the waters evaporation rate. Hence it helps "pull" the water out of the small places where it "sticks" (i.e. due to surface tension).

Finally, you should note I said to take the keyboard apart and "wipe" it with IPA. The alcohol applied with a wipe will evaporate before it can dissolve anything (i.e. in a minute or less).

But, you are right, don't accidentally pour any liquid into or onto electronics. But, IPA will not hurt electronics if they are not energized and not submerged and they are allowed to quickly dry.

Again, IPA in something you should only do when you have to, not for "fun". Appropriate times are when you spill wine or milk or water, and when you have taken the components apart and they are not energized.