Cleaning Apple Extended Ketboard II

[larsove]

sooo.. I got a few _VERY_ dirty AEKII. What are peoples opinion on cleaning between the PCB and black plate by putting in luke warm soapy water and flushing out with IPA after a good rinse?
That was the tip I got when I asked what to do with my Amiga500 mechanical keyboard... I've even heard people putting them in the dish washer on a low temp cycle...

 

[joshc]

I would be concerned about liquids getting trapped, as there are multiple layers/parts in-between the top and bottom of the keyboard.

My way of cleaning these is to remove all the keycaps, use a cotton swab and brush to clean out between the key switches, soak the keycaps in soapy hot water, scrub each one, rinse them, dry, put the keycaps back.

 

[zigzagjoe]

I wouldn't immerse the entire PCB unless you wanted to take the switches off the board first. Otherwise you'd fill them full of water (they aren't sealed) which likely wouldn't end well.

Concur with Josh suggestion of mechanical cleaning is best. If you have an air gun attachment for an air compressor, that's a good starting point too. Canned air is fine too albeit expensive.

 

[larsove]

Thanks! That was my concern as well.
Cleaning the keycaps is no problem. Its getting the dust and grit between the PCB and also in the alps key them selves. I guess I'll open up the switches that are bugging me individually. Desoldering all of them is way to much work at the moment.

 

[shadedream]

Submersing board is a poor idea as others have said. You'd trap water inside the alps switches and corrode the contacts and have a very much less useful keyboard. I do hear about people doing this sort of thing (and recommending it) but IMO it's a horrible idea.

If it's just normal dust and crud, it's likely just the key caps and the top of the plate that's dirty anyway. The only way it'd be dirty (to a point it mattered anyway) between the plate and PCB is if liquids were involved. q-tips, isopropyl alcohol and a bunch of time scrubbing the plate between the switches after you remove the major debris with a vacuum and/or a brush.

How do the switches feel? If they've gotten dirty inside you can always open the switches and clean the inside out gently with a brush/vacuum (once you've removed the leaf, stem and spring). You don't need to desolder to do this with alps switches, but it can be pretty tedious and you need to be careful not to bend/damage leafs/springs/contact plates. You'll want to be gentle opening the housings as well since they can be brittle due to age. It's pretty easy to do with a pair of toothpicks.