Coffee and computers don't mix

[Guitar John]

Short version. Spilled some coffee near my laptop. Some splashed onto the keyboard. Very quickly shut down and pulled the battery. Then I blew everything out with canned air.

I waited about an hour and then fired it back up. Everything else worked except for the left mouse button. I shut it back down, pulled the battery, and let it set overnight to dry out.

Everything works as it should. Disaster averted. =D>

[joepie91]

Short version. Spilled some coffee near my laptop. Some splashed onto the keyboard. Very quickly shut down and pulled the battery. Then I blew everything out with canned air.

I waited about an hour and then fired it back up. Everything else worked except for the left mouse button. I shut it back down, pulled the battery, and let it set overnight to dry out.

Everything works as it should. Disaster averted. =D>

They do, in fact, mix. Only the end result isn't always the drink you'd prefer.

[CharlesA]

I suppose it depends on how much sugar you have in said coffee. :P

Soda is a mess to get cleaned out of a keyboard, for sure.

[kaldor]

I dropped an entire mug of coffee on my mother's favourite sofa a year back or so. Nice, big black/brown puddle. Great :)

Upon Googling I found that Coffee stains aren't really too hard to remove. A solution I found was vinegar... worked well.

Slightly off topic, but maybe it might help some of you avert disasters ;)

[Spice Weasel]

Yoghurt and computers definitely don't mix. Especially if said yoghurt is dropped on the power supply fan.

I got it working again in the end, several electric shocks later. :p

[Oxwivi]

I suppose it depends on how much sugar you have in said coffee. :P

Soda is a mess to get cleaned out of a keyboard, for sure.
Speaking of sugar, wonder if organic solvents will remove them.

[CharlesA]

Speaking of sugar, wonder if organic solvents will remove them.

That's a good question, that I don't know the answer to.

[johntaylor1887]

I've ruined 3 or 4 keyboards over the years because of spilled drinks.

[cariboo]

I've had good luck soaking laptop keyboards in a tub of plain water. One of my nephews friends spilled a fruity rum based drink in my nephews laptop. I din't get it until 10 days later, but after soaking the keyboard for 24 hours and letting it dry for the same amount of time all the keys work the way they should.

I learned the trick from my dad many years ago when he was still working as a tv repair technician

[CharlesA]

That's very handy cariboo907. :)

If I need to clean a keyboard, I'll run it thru the dishwasher (with no heat).

[Oxwivi]

That's very handy cariboo907. :)

If I need to clean a keyboard, I'll run it thru the dishwasher (with no heat).
I advise you against it. If your dishwasher uses water jets, it's bound to damage the minute, fragile parts.

[CharlesA]

I advise you against it. If your dishwasher uses water jets, it's bound to damage the minute, fragile parts.
The keys?

[Oxwivi]

Ah, oops, I was talking in terms of internal hardware. But if it's an old and battered keyboard, the keys can come off too.

[v1ad]

Mentos and Pepsi don't mix :-s

[nlsthzn]

Coffee is a necessity for anybody hacking out code in the wee morning hours... just refrain from giving any to your hardware cause caffeine isn't good for them ;)

[cariboo]

That's very handy cariboo907. :)

If I need to clean a keyboard, I'll run it thru the dishwasher (with no heat).

I've done the same with my old Microsoft ergonomic keyboard, I usually take it apart and remove the electronics before putting it in the dishwasher.

[CharlesA]

I've done the same with my old Microsoft ergonomic keyboard, I usually take it apart and remove the electronics before putting it in the dishwasher.

Ah gotcha.

[handy]

Short version. Spilled some coffee near my laptop. Some splashed onto the keyboard. Very quickly shut down and pulled the battery. Then I blew everything out with canned air.

I waited about an hour and then fired it back up. Everything else worked except for the left mouse button. I shut it back down, pulled the battery, and let it set overnight to dry out.

Everything works as it should. Disaster averted. =D>

I have found that a hair dryer is very effective in these kinds of circumstances.

I'm glad it seems to have worked out ok for you.

[edit:] I just read the rest of the thread & it reminded me of a time when I was called to someone's house to fix their computer. The graphics card had failed.

I opened up the mini tower case & noticed that there was mouse droppings on the bottom of the case. Some of the case's card slots didn't have their little plates on them so a mouse had found a nice warm place to live it would seem.

I pulled out the graphics card & it was obvious that the mouse had been there (in more ways than one) so I took the card outside & scrubbed it under a tap with a nail brush. Dried it off, let it sit in the sun for a little while, put it back in the machine & the graphics card worked fine after that. :)

[Austin25]

If your're washing electronics, couldn't you have some problems with electrolytic capacitors dissolving?

[handy]

If your're washing electronics, couldn't you have some problems with electrolytic capacitors dissolving?

Not from my experience. :)

[wilee-nilee]

I dropped an entire mug of coffee on my mother's favourite sofa a year back or so. Nice, big black/brown puddle. Great :)

Upon Googling I found that Coffee stains aren't really too hard to remove. A solution I found was vinegar... worked well.

Slightly off topic, but maybe it might help some of you avert disasters ;)

+1 on the vinegar basically. I own a carpet and Upholstery cleaning business we use a acid rinse always to clean out the alkaline soaps, the rinse is a commercial form of vinegar for just this use without the vinegar smell.

With carpets and any commercially dyed fabric the dye is set with a acid, so in actuality rinsing to 5pH is a standard of practice that keeps the fabrics cleaner longer and and softer, and is where the fabrics are to begin with when purchased.

Good business when I was doing it all the time 100$ per hour was the standard income. this with a portable extractor, and a owner operator, no college degree required.

[cariboo]

If your're washing electronics, couldn't you have some problems with electrolytic capacitors dissolving?

I haven't seen a wax+ paper capacitor in years, today most capacitors are in a tin can, or are smc (surface mount component) devices.

[Guitar John]

I suppose it depends on how much sugar you have in said coffee. :P

Soda is a mess to get cleaned out of a keyboard, for sure.

Fortunately, I drink my coffee black, no sugar. That would have been much worse.

[Rachel_Eliason]

My son spilled cream soda on my asus Ee PC. they didn't mix well either, the keyboard got all sticky and well, stuck. I decided that Karma was the best punishment and made him help fix the thing. We replaced the keyboard and it worked fine. the only problem was that I had a ten year old that thought he knew how to fix computers. :P