Tuesday, October 04, 2005

DIY Projects :: Save Some Cash, Restore Your Own Keyboard!

It's about time you took a good hard look at that biological hotzone you call a keyboard. I don't care who you are, you've got schmutz on them keys! What's schmutz, and how do you get rid of it? Well read on!How many times have you looked down at that keyboard you've been using for the last few years, and went "ewww, what the hell is all that schmutz on and in between the keys?"
That, my friend, is a conglomeration of dust, finger oils and dead skin. Eww, indeed. If you have a white/beige keyboard, this buildup can make itself apparent in just a few months of heavy use. Black/grey keyboards don't show the schmutziness as quickly, but by the time you DO notice, (letters on the keys getting hard to see?) things are pretty well gunked all to crap.

Hey! Don't throw that thing out yet! Why spend another chunk of change on a new keyboard, when the one you have now works perfectly well! Look, our society might be infatuated with the concept of disposable technology, but did you really buy that keyboard with the intent of simply throwing it out later on? Why?! It just needs a cleaning, right? It's not at all as hard as you might be thinking. Most keyboards three years old or newer are designed to be easy and quick to build, which makes them that much easier for YOU to take apart, clean, and put back together again! It's a snap, I tell you! Oh, before you whip out the screwdriver and go to town, I want to advise you that this guide is going to cover only wired keyboards, not the wireless ones making the scene today. I haven't gotten my mitts on one to break it open and peer inside, so I'm not going to be imparting any semi-intelligence regarding them.

Incidentally, you're going to learn a thing or two about how keyboards actually work during this process, so remember well what you are about to do, and what you see in there. It will help you to better understand why it really is a bad idea to let Junior drink Coke around the computer.

First, a small tutorial about how keyboards actually work:
When you press a key, the key presses down on a rubber membrane or cup, which has a little teeny nub on the underside.
A keyboard springcup
This nub in turn presses down on a thin plastic sheet with contacts embedded in it. For many keyboards, that's where it ends. For others, underneath that plastic sheet is another blank sheet, with holes directly underneath the contacts. Under THAT sheet is one more plastic sheet, with another set of matching contacts. When the rubber nub presses the first contact down, it presses through the hole of the second sheet, and touches the third sheet contact, thus completing a single circuit.
Those little contacts create a circuit on a little chip inside the keyboard, called the keyboard controller. The keyboard controller sees this connection on a certain set of contacts, and knows that this connection is supposed to represent a special number, which it sends down the wire to your computer. Your computer, in turn, sees this number, and knows that you are pressing a specific key.

Sounds complex, doesn't it? It really isn't. Basically, each key is a switch that sends a number to the computer, and the computer translates that number into whatever character you pressed on the keyboard. Now why did I take you through that mumbo jumbo? Well, because, the better you understand HOW it works, the better you will understand how to maintain or even fix it!

Now, let's get to it!

Most keyboards are the standard 101/104-key variety, with the regular old layout that we've come to know and expect. Others add enhanced features, like shortcut keys and such, that you would think would make them more complex internally, but really, they're not so bad either. For today, I'm going to walk you through cleaning a standard Dell keyboard.

The good old American QWERTY keyboard

The process should be similar for just about any other keyboard of similar design.

First thing's first: TURN OFF THE COMPUTER. You do not want to be unplugging the keyboard from a live system if you can help it, and you certainly don't want to be working on it while it's still plugged in! Turn that bugger off. Now you can unplug that keyboard and get to the cleaning.

1. Disassembly
Flip the keyboard on it's face, so you are looking at the backside. You should be seeing a bunch of little screws.
Your keyboard's screw positions may be different, but they will be there just the same

Make sure your work area has enough open space, and start pulling those screws. Keep them in a safe spot where they won't roll amok and get lost. Also, be sure to keep track of any that are of a different length, and remember where they went in the layout of the screw holes. Usually, if there are differently-sized screws, there will only be two sizes to worry about. Put a little mark next to the holes for one of the sizes to help you put it back together smoothly.

Gently, GENTLY lift the back of the keyboard up. Now here is where it gets a little hairy sometimes. Most current-day keyboards use a solid, one-piece membrane underneath the keys. This membrane is what gives the keys their springiness. Other, older keyboards use individual little rubber springcups for each key. They can make the job look daunting, but it really isn't. This is the point where you need to determine how the actual keys themselves are attached in the grand scheme of the keyboard design. Peek underneath there and see which side the plastic sheets and controller chip are mounted to. If they are attached to the front side, over the backs of the keys themselves, great! Carefully lift the back away and put it aside.
This keyboard's membrane and controller are attached to the keys side (top side)

If the membrane assembly is attached to the back that you are lifting. Push the keyboard case back together, flip the keyboard back right-side-up, and pull the top half off.

So now you're either looking at a completely freed key assembly, or you have pulled the back off and are looking at the underside of the plastic contact membrane sheet(s) or, in this case, the backing assembly that holds the membranes against the springcups and keys. If you have a free key assembly, skip to step 2. For you others, don't panic, just read on.

You should see a small controller board near the top of the case housing, which is holding down an edge of the contact membrane sheet(s), or the sheet(s) are being held onto the board with a tension plate.
The controller, the brain of the keyboard, has the contact membrane held against it by this plate

Locate the screws holding the controller board or tension plate down, and remove them. Gently pull the controller board out, taking note of how the sheets made contact with the board. The controller board should be able to pull completely free of the keyboard casing at this point.
NOTE: If the controller board is underneath the contact sheet, don't pull it out yet. In this case, the controller is going to stay for now.
- Carefully lift the plastic membrane sheets (careful, there may three layers of them) up off of the alignment pins holding them in position, taking careful note of the springcups underneath.

If the springcups are embedded as one solid membrane, once again, great! Lift the plastic sheets off and set them aside. Lift the rubber membrane off as well, and you now have a free key assembly remaining.

- If you peer underneath the plastic sheets and find a mess of scattered springcups, don't panic if they come up with the sheet or pop off and fall loosely about. They are easy to put into place later on, trust me.
By the way, you see how some of them stick to the contact membrane, as in the photo above? That's evidence as to what might have been causing some keys to repeat when you tap them.
Lift the plastic sheets free, and set them aside. Then collect the little rubber springcups, and keep them in a safe clean place, like a clean cup or bowl.
Look at all those little fellas!

Now, remove the keyboard controller from the casing.
Look ma! Brain surgery! Not...

Now YOU should have a completely freed key assembly.
Whoa. Maybe someone should put it back...
2. Cleaning
Take the key assembly to the sink, and run some warm water. Cold water works, but remember you're dealing with skin oils here. Warm water is best, hot water is overkill, and could possibly damage something crucial. Grab a soft brush or cloth, and add a bit of dish soap. Shampoo works, too!
Remember, we're trying to wash off the same stuff that gets onto your body every day, so the same products will work fine. Not only that, but your keyboard will come away with that shower fresh smell! :)
Duck the key assembly under the water to get it wet, then give the keys a good working-over with the cloth or brush.
Those markings on the keys? You want THOSE, so don't rub too hard!

Don't be too agressive. You don't want to accidentally pop a key out of its socket. I mean, you *could* pull all the keys out of the assembly and send them through the dishwasher, but, again, that's overkill, unless you have a serious sticky soda spill problem. If that's the case, make sure to take a picture or draw a map of which key goes where, carefully pop them out of the housing, and give 'em the Electrosol treatment in the dishwasher. OR, soak them in a bowl of water with a dab of detergent.

So now you've given the keys and shell a good cleaning. Rinse that baby out thoroughly. Give the key assembly some gentle shakes as you run the water over it, and keep doing so until you can see that the water coming out of it is clear and free of suds, indicating the soap is rinsed out. Turn off the faucet and give the assembly a couple of good shakes to release the bulk of the water lingering in there. Place the assembly aside on a towel for now.

Time to give those springcups a lesson in cleanliness.

  • For solid springcup membrane: Fill the sink partially with water, drop in a bit of detergent, and give the membrane a gentle manual working-over in the soapy water. Let soak for a couple minutes while the rest of us do it the hard way.

  • For individual springcups: Hopefully you heeded my advice earlier, and put them into a clean bowl. Turn on the tap and fill the bowl of springcups with water just enough to allow them to float around freely. We're talking stew consistency here. Drop a couple dabs of dishwashing detergent into the water. You're not aiming to work up a massive suds war, so don't add more than is absolutely needed to get things clean.
Clean the springcups to avoid sticking keys.

Now's the time to mix things up a bit, literally. Stick a hand in the bowl and work the springcups in the soapy water for a short time.
Hey Madge! We soaked in it!

If you didn't go nuts with the detergent, things should stay manageable. If you decided to lay on the cleaning power and unload half the bottle into the bowl, we're telling your mom.

Time to rinse the springcups! Make sure the sink is clean for this step. We just got rid of the schmutz for heaven's sake! You wanna get more of it on them now?

  • For solid springcup membrane: Rinse the membrane off with the warm water. Be sure to rinse off all traces of soap (no slippery sections).

  • For individual springcups: At this point, I would recommend using a strainer or colander to rinse the springcups, because they can and WILL weasel their way down the drain. If you feel like living dangerously, feel free to follow my example and use a drain strainer to do the job instead.
Living dangerously there fella...

Once the springcups are rinsed off completely, lay them out onto a towel. I highly recommend a colored towel over a simple paper towel because, first, the cups are white, the paper towel's white, BIG chance to lose some of the buggers. Second, paper towels can leave fibers on the contact nubs of the cups, causing them to become completely useless in the keyboard.
Dry them well, but avoid the blowdryer. They're like little rubber parachutes!

Lightly pinch random springcups between your fingers to feel for any soapy remnants. If there's still any soap there, rinse them again. Soap residue can also cause the springcups to stick to the contact membrane, and leave you with a string of aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa... ah, crap.

Grab that key assembly that's been (hopefully) sitting on another towel, air drying. Take that bugger outside or into the bathtub and shake it repeatedly but gently downward, with wide arcing motions, like you were lightly snapping a towel. Turn the assembly over and do it some more. Repeat this process until you are reasonably sure there is very little moisture remaining in the nooks and crannies of the assembly on both sides. You can use a hairdryer if you like, but don't get things too hot. Plastic has a nasty habit of getting all soft and melty when it gets too hot.
Go back to the springcups and fold the towel over them. Rub them in the towel for a little bit, using extremely gentle pressure. They might be rubber, but they can be pretty thin, making them easy to rip, ruining their springiness. You DO want your keys to stay springy, right?

3.
Reassembly (Springcup installation)
Everything's clean and dry, time for reassembly!
Flip the key assembly upside down, and prop it up on your work area so that it doesn't rest on the keys. The goal here is to let the keys hang down as much as possible so we can get the springcups back in their proper positions without much fuss. I propped mine up with one of those folding yardsticks on one side, and a book on the other. Just make sure none of the keys are being pressed inward.
Nice balancing act, but the keys are fully extended now.

Now comes the (only slightly) tedious part, unless you have a single one-piece springcup membrane.

  • For solid springcup membrane: For you folks, simply align the membrane back over the keys and set it down carefully, so as to avoid knocking down your prop rig. Now sit back and watch the rest of us do some real work for a moment. Slackers.

  • For individual springcups: For you poor suckers... er... other people who have individual springcups, rinse and dry your springcup bowl and put the springcups back into it. Take them to your work area and begin putting them back into their proper positions over the keys, inverted like little bowls themselves. Center them in their slots so there are no problems with key movement later on.
They almost seem to fall right into place, don't they?

Don't get careless when putting the springcups back into place. One stray bump against the key assembly could cause it to slide off of your props, and knock the springcups all over creation. Not a fun time.
Umm... whoops?

Uh oh. The example above shows why you should NEVER use a sink strainer to rinse your springcups off. Looks like one made it down the drain to freedom after all! Luckily, this keyboard isn't my main one, and I can simply leave it out from the right Windows key, which I never use. You might not be so lucky. You could easily lose more than one, or worse, what if you use every key on the keyboard? NOW what?!

From this point on, you will be reversing the procedure you followed to disassemble the keyboard. If the keyboard controller was the last thing you removed, it should now be the first thing to be put back. That's how it was in my case, at least.

Lay the contact membrane over the springcups. If there are multiple layers, make sure that the holes in them are lined up properly (or you simply line up all the edges). Place the membrane over the alignment pegs, which should fit through some of the holes in the contact membrane to keep it in position.
Be careful not to slide the membrane over the springcups. They like to grab on for a free ride.

If you haven't mounted the controller at this point, now would be the time to get it back into place. Don't forget the ground strap for the controller. Can't have random static charges flying around the chip, now can we? I'm gonna say no.
You're grounded, son! Yeah, I know. Bad joke.

Continue on to assemble the rest of the keyboard. At this point, you can see why a missing springcup is not a good thing. See that key that's dropped down? That's where the missing one should have gone. That key is now useless and completely non-functional.
Aww, Windows key fall down...

So there you have it! A squeaky-clean keyboard that feels as good as it looks! Once you've cleaned it one time, you shouldn't have a problem doing it again sometime in the future. If you really love your keyboard, and would like to keep it as long as possible, be sure to keep it clean and free of debris, and, most of all, spilling liquids.

It's a thing of beauty, but don't get carried away over it...

Junior, you get that Coke back into the kitchen!

- Deadweasel never got around to huffing keyboard cleaner, but everyone thinks he did anyway


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