The Notebook Review forums were hosted by TechTarget, who shut down them down on January 31, 2022. This static read-only archive was pulled by NBR forum users between January 20 and January 31, 2022, in an effort to make sure that the valuable technical information that had been posted on the forums is preserved. For current discussions, many NBR forum users moved over to NotebookTalk.net after the shutdown.
Problems? See this thread at archive.org.

    Removing a keyboard key

    Discussion in 'Alienware M11x' started by flavourshaker, Nov 11, 2010.

  1. flavourshaker

    flavourshaker Notebook Guru

    Reputations:
    14
    Messages:
    64
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    15
    Accidently spilt some orange juice near my m11x and a tiny bit got around the keys on the far right of the keyboard. Mopped up around the keys as best i could but its made them abit sticky at times esp if the computers been on for a while and is heated up, however they still work fine and the backlight hasnt been affected.
    Can anyone advise me on how to remove some of the keys and try to have a proper clean around them?
    Cheers
     
  2. moral hazard

    moral hazard Notebook Nobel Laureate

    Reputations:
    2,779
    Messages:
    7,957
    Likes Received:
    87
    Trophy Points:
    216
    There are vids on youtube about that.
     
  3. DrGoodvibes

    DrGoodvibes Notebook Deity

    Reputations:
    389
    Messages:
    973
    Likes Received:
    1
    Trophy Points:
    31
    The keys are on a pretty tricky plastic cross lever arrangment within the keyborad 'tray'.
    It may be easier to remove the keyboard, give it a bit of a clean and dry and then reassemble.

    Keyboard Documentation
     
  4. kent1146

    kent1146 Notebook Prophet

    Reputations:
    2,354
    Messages:
    4,449
    Likes Received:
    476
    Trophy Points:
    151
    I would follow DrGoodVibes' recommendation.

    For spills that can cause stickiness, it is usually easier to remove the entire keyboard, wash with warm soapy water, and let the whole keyboard air dry for 48 to 72 hours. Soap and water will not cause further damage to a keyboard, as long as it is not powered on, and is allowed to completely air dry before use.
     
  5. slickie88

    slickie88 Master of Puppets

    Reputations:
    973
    Messages:
    2,566
    Likes Received:
    7
    Trophy Points:
    56
    Having spilled half a bottle of green tea on my keyboard already I can tell you that a rinse in the sink with water works like a charm. Shake all of the excess water out, stand it on end next to a small fan in order to accelerate evaporation and 8 -12 hours of air drying is all you'll need.
     
  6. dyriax

    dyriax Notebook Enthusiast

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    46
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    15
    I also spilled juice. Keys is better not to shoot - a big risk to break the legs. Promotional keyboard module under water, dried, and everything will be fine. Checked :)
     
  7. DR650SE

    DR650SE The Whiskey Barracuda

    Reputations:
    7,383
    Messages:
    8,222
    Likes Received:
    182
    Trophy Points:
    231
    Like DrGoodVibes and others stated, just remove the keyboard. My fiance had an older toshiba, and she spilled an entire Dr Pepper on it, and all the keys were sticky. It was like that for a while, to the point that keys took several seconds to spring back up. Removed the keyboard, washed it in the sink under hot water, and then let it dry out. Works like a charm now. All I need to do is load Win 7 on it and it's off to grannys house so she can facebook and send me chain letters :rolleyes:
     
  8. unreal25

    unreal25 Capt. Obvious

    Reputations:
    1,102
    Messages:
    2,373
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    55
    LOL! :D

    But I know I about sticky keys. I had sticky left Shift on my old Dell XPS m1330. MOst of the sentences would start like this. :D