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I accidentally spilled some rubbing alcohol on my laptop's keyboard. It worked fine except some of the keys(for example when I typed "p" it showed "p]").I thought disconnecting the charger and powering off overnight should help, but in the morning, those keys started not working at all. Can I do anything else?
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Hi,
What is the model number of the laptop as shown on the information label on the bottom of the laptop?
The problem with rubbing alcohol or any liquid for that matter, except distilled water, is that the impurities in the liquid conduct electricity and can leave conductive residues. Some can even cause corrosion to begin on the metal parts of the electronic components.
Here's a link that shows what to look for that may help. Electronics Water Damage
It is the same, be it for water or any liquid that comes into contact with electronics and it is worse if there is power still connected to the device. The problem with laptops is that there is always power on the motherboard somewhere, even when it is turned off. The power button is not a power isolating button.
To try and salvage the keyboard you will have to remove it from the laptop and open it as best you can and try to clean away all the corrosion and residues from the rubbing alcohol, using Isopropyl Alcohol 99%+ (available from electronics parts stores).
The good thing about IPA 99%+ is its purity in that when it has evaporated it leaves no residues. Rubbing Alcohol on the other hand is usually only 70% IPA or less and can contain additives which will leave residues. Check the label on the bottle for the ingredients to see what it contains.
Normally though keyboards are hard to repair and most repairers simply replace them as you can cause more problems than you originally had when trying to fix them.
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I have what appears to be this exact issue after cleaning my laptop's keys with 99.9% alcohol. No visible corrosion or damage around the key traces, but it's (1) bouncing and repeating itself on a light touch and (2) not tracking at all with the shift key held down. Any ideas?
How wet was the cloth when cleaning with the alcohol?
Normally IPA 99.9% won't conduct electricity although it is still advisable to allow it to fully dry before applying power or turning on a device.
Was wondering perhaps if there was too much liquid used whether it may have "washed" some debris onto the key contacts.
Does a USB keyboard connected to the laptop work OK?
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