Author Topic: I guess I won't do that again  (Read 296 times)

Hawkmoon

  • friend
  • Senior Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 27,197
I guess I won't do that again
« on: March 25, 2023, 03:27:48 PM »
Some time ago I bought a membrane keyboard protector for my home office computer, to keep dust and cookie crumbs out of the keyboard. It worked for that purpose, but for a while I have noticed that the membrane seemed to be sticking to the key caps so today I pulled it off to see what's going on.

UGLY!

There was a sticky, gooey slime on the tops of all they keys, and migrating down the sides of many of them (this keyboard has real keys, it's not an "island" keyboard). I've just spent two hours with rubbing alcohol, toothpicks, and Q-Tips, cleaning up the key caps. I haven't decided whether to try washing the membrane and putting it aside, or if I should just toss it.

The only thing I can think of is that the membrane has been off-gassing plasticizer, and combined with finger oils or whatever might have been on the keys to create a mega-mess.
- - - - - - - - - - - - -
100% Politically Incorrect by Design

K Frame

  • friend
  • Senior Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 44,007
  • I Am Inimical
Re: I guess I won't do that again
« Reply #1 on: March 25, 2023, 04:58:10 PM »
Seen that before, and I think you're correct.

The only time I ever used one of those was to mandate that one of my coworkers at American Rifleman use one. Part of my duties there was to keep the IT stuff up and running -- basic maintenance and trouble shooting -- and this clown had a nasty habit of dumping Dr. Pepper into his keyboards.

I got tired of flushing the soda and sugar out of them and finally got a keyboard condom for him.

6 months later, what you described happened.

Worse mess than the soda.
Carbon Monoxide, sucking the life out of idiots, 'tards, and fools since man tamed fire.

230RN

  • It's like swimming to shore in an ebb tide.
  • friend
  • Senior Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 18,825
  • Pushing back. Help me out, here...
Re: I guess I won't do that again
« Reply #2 on: March 25, 2023, 05:23:01 PM »
I kind of regard keyboards and mouses as consumable items anyway.

I don't use the keyboard on my laptop at all, so I just laid a piece of cardboard over it and I now use it as sort of an extra horizontal surface to augment my desk area.

I understand, but cannot confirm, that most modern electronic devices can be washed, rinshed and dried thoroughly.  Heard a story about a toilet bowl, meet telephone, and thoroghy rinsing and drying the phone to full utility.  Anecdotal, but all science is based on anecdotes anyway.

Terry, 230RN

Tuco

  • Fastest non-sequitur in the West.
  • friends
  • Senior Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 3,070
  • If you miss you had better miss very well
Re: I guess I won't do that again
« Reply #3 on: March 25, 2023, 07:09:15 PM »
Thanks for taking that one for the team.
7-11 was a part time job.

Boomhauer

  • Former Moderator, fired for embezzlement and abuse of power
  • friends
  • Senior Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 14,274
Re: I guess I won't do that again
« Reply #4 on: March 25, 2023, 08:22:56 PM »
I can’t stand the feel of the covers

I blow my keyboard at work out with air, a can of air duster for the home office would do as well

Quote from: Ben
Holy hell. It's like giving a loaded gun to a chimpanzee...

Quote from: bluestarlizzard
the last thing you need is rabies. You're already angry enough as it is.

OTOH, there wouldn't be a tweeker left in Georgia...

Quote from: Balog
BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD! SKULLS FOR THE SKULL THRONE! AND THROW SOME STEAK ON THE GRILL!

Cliffh

  • friend
  • Senior Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 2,225
Re: I guess I won't do that again
« Reply #5 on: March 25, 2023, 08:27:21 PM »
I've had a similar problem with telephones & remotes.  After a while the keys stop working properly. 

As you thought, it turned out to be out-gassing from the rubber covers.  Cleaning with alcohol (temporarily*) fixed the problem.

*The items worked about as long as they originally did, then crapped out again.

K Frame

  • friend
  • Senior Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 44,007
  • I Am Inimical
Re: I guess I won't do that again
« Reply #6 on: March 25, 2023, 08:30:50 PM »
"I understand, but cannot confirm, that most modern electronic devices can be washed, rinshed and dried thoroughly."

That's what I did with the keyboards when Joe dumped Dr. Pepper in them. I flushed them out with distilled water and then used contact cleaner on them to get the last of the water out.

New membrane keyboards, though, are a different story. They are a sheet of plastic, folded in half, and printed. The keys push the plastic membrane together to type the character. If you dump anything into them, even water, it can etch the printing and kill the keyboard. I found that out the hard way when I dumped water into mine. By the time I got it open the printing was etched and the keyboard was toast.
Carbon Monoxide, sucking the life out of idiots, 'tards, and fools since man tamed fire.

Hawkmoon

  • friend
  • Senior Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 27,197
Re: I guess I won't do that again
« Reply #7 on: March 25, 2023, 09:20:53 PM »
Keyboard has been cleaned and seems to be working, but perhaps time to think about a spare. I don't like "chiclet" or "island" keyboards. This is an OEM Dell keyboard with actual keys, that have to be pressed to register. Amazon sells the same keyboard -- for $75.
https://www.amazon.com/Dell-Genuine-104-key-Keyboard-SK-8115/dp/B0037H8AB4/ref=sr_1_10?crid=1NYDUHXDI2RWE&keywords=dell+keyboard&qid=1679793517&refinements=p_89%3ADell&rnid=2528832011&s=electronics&sprefix=dell+keyboard%2Caps%2C95&sr=1-10&ufe=app_do%3Aamzn1.fos.006c50ae-5d4c-4777-9bc0-4513d670b6bc


And then they have this one, which looks like it uses the same keys but which also has a card reader to control access to the computer. This is the keyboard the VA uses throughout the VA hospital where I go. It's only $25. Can the keyboards with the card reader be used with no card, or do they have to have a card inserted to function?

https://www.amazon.com/Dell-KB813-English-Keyboard-Reader-3WPNC/dp/B01MV1SVX2/ref=sr_1_9?crid=1NYDUHXDI2RWE&keywords=dell+keyboard&qid=1679793291&refinements=p_89%3ADell&rnid=2528832011&s=electronics&sprefix=dell+keyboard%2Caps%2C95&sr=1-9
- - - - - - - - - - - - -
100% Politically Incorrect by Design

K Frame

  • friend
  • Senior Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 44,007
  • I Am Inimical
Re: I guess I won't do that again
« Reply #8 on: March 26, 2023, 07:37:48 AM »
"Can the keyboards with the card reader be used with no card"

Yes. You need something on the computer asking for a card; it's not something that they keyboard requires. Otherwise, it's just a keyboard.

When I worked at State Department we needed CAC cards to log into the networks. It was a stand-alone card reader, though. Just a little box that plugged into the USB port.
Carbon Monoxide, sucking the life out of idiots, 'tards, and fools since man tamed fire.

HankB

  • friend
  • Senior Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 16,564
Re: I guess I won't do that again
« Reply #9 on: March 26, 2023, 07:56:39 AM »
I've found that there seem to be more and more "plastic" items on the market that, over time, exude a sticky substance. Some things begin to feel as if they were wrapped in tape, with the adhesive side out. It's hard to clean them up without resorting to more aggressive solvents that may attack the base material.

It didn't used to be this way.

I wonder if this comes from the push to use "recycled" materials all over the place.
Trump won in 2016. Democrats haven't been so offended since Republicans came along and freed their slaves.
Sometimes I wonder if the world is being run by smart people who are putting us on, or by imbeciles who really mean it. - Mark Twain
Government is a broker in pillage, and every election is a sort of advance auction in stolen goods. - H.L. Mencken
Patriotism is supporting your country all the time, and your government when it deserves it. - Mark Twain

Cliffh

  • friend
  • Senior Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 2,225
Re: I guess I won't do that again
« Reply #10 on: March 26, 2023, 12:36:41 PM »
I've found that there seem to be more and more "plastic" items on the market that, over time, exude a sticky substance. Some things begin to feel as if they were wrapped in tape, with the adhesive side out. It's hard to clean them up without resorting to more aggressive solvents that may attack the base material.

It didn't used to be this way.

I wonder if this comes from the push to use "recycled" materials all over the place.

That, and having the parts manufactured by the lowest bidder.