Cleaning a dirty A3000 keyboard.

[x56h34]

I've got an A3000 keyboard in good condition, however it's dirty underneath the keys (you can see the grime).

Some keys don't work as well as they should due to this. Normally, I would simply use a compressed air blower and blow out the dust, however there's a lot of sticky stuff underneath, and I think I'll need to remove all the keys and put them back after cleaning is done. :pissed:

Can you remove the keys rather easily? Are they meant to be removed at all? :-) I wonder what tool to use to successfully pull them all out, without damaging or breaking anything.

[patrik]

@x56h34:

You can use two forks to lever up the keys. The forks should be rather sturdy and not be much wider than a key.

Insert the forks, one from each side of the key and when they both are slightly under the key, make sure that the key you are removing is not pressed down and the two adjacent keys you are supporting the forks on are pressed down, then be careful and apply even gentle force to lever it up.

Once you have removed one key on a row, the rest of the row will be much easier as removing a key which has had its left or right neighbour removed is significantly easier to remove because you only have to support one of the forks on another key and the other fork can be put much longer under the key to remove.

From my own experience, removing the first key on a row on a A1200 or A4000 keyboard is a bit easier than on a A2000 keyboard as the A1200 and A4000 keyboard has a bit more "wobbly" keys which makes it easier to insert the forks.

It should not be necessary with the amount of force involved, but you could always put some tape or similar on the underside of the forks as an extra insurance of not making any marks on the keys used as "fork support". It cant hurt atleast .


/Patrik

[x56h34]

Sounds good Patrik.

I shall give it a try this weekend.


Thanks.

[patrik]

@x56h34:

Forgot to mention atleast one detail :=). Under the keys there are metal springs in the A1200 and A4000 keyboard and rubber thingies in the A2000 keyboard to keep the keys in the up position when not pressed. The risk of damaging those are minimal as they are so elastic, especially the metal springs which allows objects (such as forks) to pass through them. Although you should keep in mind that they are there and thus you should preferably not insert the fork all the way until it stops against the center pin the key is attached to as it would in the A2000 case jam the rubber thing between the fork end and center pin. I dont know what type usually is in the A3000 keyboard, but you will ofcouse notice after removing the first key and when removing the first key, it is practically impossible to insert the forks much at all.

Good luck!


/Patrik

[blobrana]

Hummmm,
i unfortunately thought i`ld use a hover to clean out my key board - it worked too well - sucking off a few buttons as well.

Ended up having to sift through the dust bag...

[patrik]

@blobrana:

Maybe sucking them loose with a hover would be the easiest solution, just making sure a new bag is fitted in the hover first ;=).


/Patrik

[doctorq]

What I always do when I clean my keyboards is to take a plain screwdriver, and then put it under the key that needs to be taken off, and then push the screwdriver upwards. The key comes of nice and easy. I have done this to both A500, A600, A1200 and A4000 keyboards, and no broken keys so far.