coffee kills keys [RESOLVED]

thedawnhorse · 05-03-2007, 11:51 AM

hi, so i did the moronic deed of spilling coffee on my sony vaio pcg-872l laptop running windows 2000. the coffee got under the keys on the extreme left side of the keyboard. For a while certain keys like "a" wouldn't work. it seems to have mainly effected the shift key. "a" works now but it seems my computer thinks shift is down all the time. the number keys are shifted unless i hold down one of the function keys like f1 or f2. if i keep f1 down or f2 or f3 or various function keys down then shift seems to be normal but sometimes when i press "a" it closes a window or highlights everything or some other window pops up or it deletes what i'm typing. the right-shift key doesn't seem to work even though it didn't get hit with the coffee, if i press right-shift and a key nothing gets typed at all. i was getting the message that filter keys had been activated, i tried to turn it off but i can't tell if it worked. certain programs don't load correctly unless i hold f1 while loading as well. how can i fix this? !Oh yeah shift seems to currently produce a "!" when i type it alone. i'm considering getting some compressed air and spraying under the keyboard. is there a way to reset my keyboard or disable certain keys!? any help is appreciated greatly.

**Terrister** · 05-03-2007, 12:46 PM

The compressed air will not do any harm, but is unlikely to fix this. In most cases the keyboard has to be replaced.

Laptop keyboards are not as tough as desktop keyboard and are very easy to damage. You can remove the keyboard and see if you can get it cleaned.

Was the power on when this happened?

Ebay is a good place to find laptop parts.

thedawnhorse · 05-08-2007, 03:48 PM

i was able to fix it! Don't necessarily try this at home but I just wanted to give a little hope to anyone who needs it. I figured what do I have to lose? If I have to buy a new keyboard then I might as well try something first...
It would have been better if i knew how to remove the keyboard from the computer but I didn't, so I (not responsible for anything you try at home) disconnected the power chord and took out the battery, popped off a all of the keys on the left third of my keyboard, peeled up the plastic cover underneath the keys which did result in a little wear and tear on the plastic cover, then found the circuits that ran to the keys that seem to be adhered to a large piece of transparent film, i saw that they were stained dark brown with coffee, so I put some keils blue astringent which is to remove dirt and oil from your pours (rubbing alcohol and other ingredients, simple rubbing alcohol is probably fine or better) and carefully removed the coffee from the circuits, dried it with a hair drier on cool setting, popped the keys back on and they all work now. they are a slight bit looser however because i did bend the plastic cover but it worked, like i said if i could have completely removed the keyboard first it would have been smooth sailing.

Scream · 05-11-2007, 08:53 AM

Haha. I could almost picture the whole scenario. Made me laugh, seems like something I would do...

05-03-2007, 11:51 AM	#1 (permalink)
thedawnhorse Registered User Join Date: May 2007 Posts: 2 OS: windows 2000	coffee kills keys [RESOLVED] hi, so i did the moronic deed of spilling coffee on my sony vaio pcg-872l laptop running windows 2000. the coffee got under the keys on the extreme left side of the keyboard. For a while certain keys like "a" wouldn't work. it seems to have mainly effected the shift key. "a" works now but it seems my computer thinks shift is down all the time. the number keys are shifted unless i hold down one of the function keys like f1 or f2. if i keep f1 down or f2 or f3 or various function keys down then shift seems to be normal but sometimes when i press "a" it closes a window or highlights everything or some other window pops up or it deletes what i'm typing. the right-shift key doesn't seem to work even though it didn't get hit with the coffee, if i press right-shift and a key nothing gets typed at all. i was getting the message that filter keys had been activated, i tried to turn it off but i can't tell if it worked. certain programs don't load correctly unless i hold f1 while loading as well. how can i fix this? !Oh yeah shift seems to currently produce a "!" when i type it alone. i'm considering getting some compressed air and spraying under the keyboard. is there a way to reset my keyboard or disable certain keys!? any help is appreciated greatly. Last edited by thedawnhorse; 05-03-2007 at 11:52 AM.

05-03-2007, 12:46 PM	#2 (permalink)
Terrister Moderator Hardware Forum Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: West Georgia, USA Posts: 7,098 OS: Xp	Re: coffee kills keys The compressed air will not do any harm, but is unlikely to fix this. In most cases the keyboard has to be replaced. Laptop keyboards are not as tough as desktop keyboard and are very easy to damage. You can remove the keyboard and see if you can get it cleaned. Was the power on when this happened? Ebay is a good place to find laptop parts. __________________ Last edited by Terrister; 05-03-2007 at 12:48 PM.

05-08-2007, 03:48 PM	#3 (permalink)
thedawnhorse Registered User Join Date: May 2007 Posts: 2 OS: windows 2000	Re: coffee kills keys i was able to fix it! Don't necessarily try this at home but I just wanted to give a little hope to anyone who needs it. I figured what do I have to lose? If I have to buy a new keyboard then I might as well try something first... It would have been better if i knew how to remove the keyboard from the computer but I didn't, so I (not responsible for anything you try at home) disconnected the power chord and took out the battery, popped off a all of the keys on the left third of my keyboard, peeled up the plastic cover underneath the keys which did result in a little wear and tear on the plastic cover, then found the circuits that ran to the keys that seem to be adhered to a large piece of transparent film, i saw that they were stained dark brown with coffee, so I put some keils blue astringent which is to remove dirt and oil from your pours (rubbing alcohol and other ingredients, simple rubbing alcohol is probably fine or better) and carefully removed the coffee from the circuits, dried it with a hair drier on cool setting, popped the keys back on and they all work now. they are a slight bit looser however because i did bend the plastic cover but it worked, like i said if i could have completely removed the keyboard first it would have been smooth sailing.

05-11-2007, 08:53 AM	#4 (permalink)
Scream Registered User Join Date: Nov 2006 Posts: 31 OS: XP	Re: coffee kills keys [RESOLVED] Haha. I could almost picture the whole scenario. Made me laugh, seems like something I would do...