Wine on the keyboard

My dear wife spilled white wine on the keyboard of my Toshiba A100 notebook. Naturally it was running at the time and it froze. I turned it off and took it apart to discover that nothing got through to the inside of the computer. To check to see if there might have been internal damage I plugged in a USB kbd (after disconnecting the notebook's board), to which the machine started normally and has worked for a week now without problem but it isn't as portable as it used to be

I did some searching and found that if I submerge the board in soapy water for a while and then dry it completely it might be salvageable. I did this using a hair dryer on the low setting and then set it on a heating pad for 48 hours. Alas, when I plugged it back in, the machine won't start.

One other thing of note is that it is a Canadian English/French keyboard.

My questions are:
1 - as the machine works perfectly with an external keyboard will it likely work if I replace the damaged one?
2 - if I replace it with a US keyboard will it work or will I have to reinstall windows?

Any thoughts would be appreciated and yes... we are still together

 

If you think the keyboard is a "goner" as it is, there is possibly still some wine remnants in there. There might be sticky sugars still around. Could you try soaking it with a "drying" fluid, like a pure form of alcohol. I suggest Contact Cleaner.

If the new keyboard/keypad is the correct one for that model of laptop (model, not series), it should just be a matter of resetting the regional and keyboard settings in Windows.

I would expect so if the damage has not extended past the keyboard itself.

Matt

 

If she doesn't stop flailing her arms when the grand kids come up on the screen saver I just might put her on the wagon altogether....

I shall try both suggestions and report back. Thanks!!

 

Update:

I cleaned the keyboard by soaking it in rubbing alcohol for a few minutes then rinsed it with water. I then repeated the process then dried it thoroughly.

Now with the board back in the machine Windows will start (where it wouldn't before). The keys however don't seem to produce anything other than the odd clunking beep. I opened a Word doc and started hitting keys without success until I got to the = sign key whereupon it acted like it was stuck and kept repeating. Closed the window but it wouldn't stop.

It appears in device manager without any issues and I uninstalled and reinstalled it but it didn't change matters. I am wondering if ... is this a good sign re: replacing the board and having it work or might I try reinstalling Windows (which is no big deal) to see if it will work again?

Thanks for the opinions

 

Rubbing alcohol is not actually a good choice. It leaves residual oils, pure alcohol will leave no residue.

Test the keyboard by (trying) to go into the BIOS/startup configuration settings. Use the arrow, Enter and other keys there. If they don't work in the BIOS, they won't work by reinstalling Windows.

You got an improvement by using the alcohol, whether it would return to normal functionality if you used say, Contact Cleaner, might be possible. It would suggest a new keyboard would return it to normal.

Keep trying to clean it or buy a new keyboard, I will leave that decision to you.

Matt

 

Cheers Matt, didn't realize that about rubbing alcohol.

I shall try the BIOS check and, if there seems to be life buy some contact cleaner and give it one more try before breaking down and replacing it.

I'm not desperate as I have several other machines to use... mind you th ewife might get ****** if I leave her with this unit for much longer.

Thanks

 

Hi cspgsl from a fellow Canuk...

If you going to get a replacement keyboard I can recommend Impact Computers...I've bought Toshiba Keyboards from them as well as other Laptop parts (Dell)...Cost is not to bad.

I gave an example below for one of the Toshiba Satillite Pro A100-988
http://impactcomputers.com/v000061890.html

You will need the full model number A100-XXX...
http://impactcomputers.com/toshiba-satellite-pro-a100-series-parts.html