Re: [SLE] Keyboard test

On Thursday 14 September 2006 20:11, Paul Abrahams wrote:
It could be but it seems unlikely that just that one mysterious key would
malfunction.   If a key is going to malfunction, why would it be just that
one?  
     Well, it depends--- what did you mean by bath?
     Several folks talked about "washing" the keyboard... I'm sure they are
all pulling our collective legs... and washing is a very bad plan.
Dishwasher, car-wash, etc.... very bad plan.
     Most keyboards these days have a small circuit board with a couple of
chips that you definitely do not want to get wet, or heat. Most keyboards
these days also use some kind of a bubble dome rubber mat that is actuated by
a plastic keytop that is removeable. In fact, the entire top is removeable
keys and all. Under the top is a rubber bubble dome mat and under that are
several (three or four) layers of mylar. Usually the layers can be pulled up
one by one and cleaned if necessary; however, usually the only parts that
need cleaning are the plastic keytops (fresh clean water only, no soap, no
gunk, etc). Each keytop that is sticky should be individually cleaned and
then the entire top should be allowed to thoroughly air dry.
     Here is the rub.... if you got water between the layers of mylar under
the keytops the keyboard will not work. If you got one single drop of water
between the layers you might have an entire row of keys not work, or you
might have just one little key (Fn) not working. If you put water to the
keyboard in any way, I would recommend disassembling it (carefully) and
drying it out (air dry).  Make sure to separate the mylar sheets so that
water is not trapped between them.
     There are some other keyboard designs... and none of them should get
wet--- ever.  The capacitive toggle switches will not work properly if there
is even a single tiny drop of water caught between the flipper and the board.
Some bubble dome rubber keyboards use a carbonized button... if even a tiny
drop of water gets trapped under that bubble dome that key (Fn) will not
work.  
     If your keyboard is silent (mostly) and you can feel a soft squishy
depression when you press the key, your keyboard is probably a bubble dome
keyboard.  The cool thing about these keyboards is that a small water spill
of a few drops from the top doesn't hurt anything as long as the water
remains in the center of the keyboard... because the rubber mat is
waterproof.  However, if the water runs to the edge... and it will... then it
will wick up under the rubber mat and between the mylar layers... most of the
keyboards are not sealed to prevent this.
     My guess is that you have some water trapped in the keyboard... dry it
out and the problem should go away.
     Where did you get the Dynapoint?  How old is it?
Kind regards,

M Harris <><

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