i book + lrg glass of ginger ale, arggg

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

That’s right. (I am generally very carefull with beverages around my computer, never putting them on the desk, only on the slide out shelf, just in case such a thing should happen.)

It happened 3 days ago, I was at my computer, in my home office a very tight spot (large desk, tiny room).

The cat was on the chair beside me, the dog curled up on the floor behind my chair. I got up to refill my glass of ginger ale, carefully stepping over the sleeping dog.

As I came back into the room and stepped over the dog I must have moved too quickly or something. Anyway the cat got spooked and shot of the chair which sent the dog scrambling which knocked me and the sad truth is that the entire full glass of ginger ale went sailing over the chair and landing full onto the ibook keyboard.

There was screaming, and shouting, and scrambling for paper towels and, I’m embarassed to admit, tears followed directly by heartfelt prayers.

Oh what a horror. I immediately flipped the whole machine over so it would drip out and not into the guts of the thing. I used paper towels to dry it all off as quickly as was humanly possible. I unplugged everything, and lifted out the keyboard to see it was all dry beneath.

After I stopped shaking I called my computer tech friend and he pretty much wished me a lot of luck, and recommended prayer as his best advice.

My hubby called just after this all happened and I was too depressed to tell him. I guess I didn’t sound too good so he came home to see what was up. I was more composed by then, or so I thought. I started to tell him how it had happened and then I just burst into tears!

He was a very good fellow about it all, I must say. He said he could understand I was upset but really didn’t think I should be shedding tears over a ‘thing’. He said if it was the dog, he’d understand, but it’s just a thing. He just had a big laugh because he said, ‘and you call yourself a good Buddhist!’

Not a bad attitude considering he bought me the ibook last year and for xmas got me a digital camera to go with it!

It’s been three days and I am very happy to say it is working really well, nothing has actually gone wrong.

The thing is, as you can imagine the keys are all sticky and typing this message has been quite trying.

My question is should I try to clean the keys, it’s underneath (the part I can’t get to) that seems to be sticking. Or am I risking making it worse? Should I just wait and see if it gets better? What would you do? (Besides NEVER spilling ginger ale on your ibook).

2

Oooooh. I have no helpful advice, but I can sorta empathize. My friend spilled an entire JUG of Kool-Aid on his laptop and brought it to me to see if I could “fix it for him”. Heh. When he turned it on, all it did was beep.

So count yourself lucky! And good luck with it.

3

Use those wash and dry alcohol saturated wipers to cut the sugar off of the surfaces. Work carefully and avoid using water or another harsher solvents. Avoid any pads that have detergent or moisturizers in them.

You can use rubbing alcohol to save money, you just need to work slowly. Never soak the cleaning rag, it should only be damp. That way you will not introduce any more liquids into the device. It will take longer but you will take less risks.

Use a toothpick to wedge the rag between the keys and work it back and forth. Never having seen your particular device I can only guess at its configuration.

4

Email me if you want. As the proud momma of an ibook myself, I can only imagine what you’re goining through. I got the applecare plan, and for the amount of money I paid, I’d be glad to email tech support for you and pretend I spilled ginger ale on my ibook. (knock on adorable white plastic casing…)

5

You should be able to pop off the keys to clean it better (at least you can on a PC) and then reattach them. But check with a MAC person first to make sure this is ok.

6

i have an ibook as well and you can pop the keys off to get under them. be really careful and do them one at a time. i had to pop the “n” key a bit ago due to a cat/chocolate accident. you can always call apple support and have someone talk you through it if you don’t want to do it alone.

7

…for the sympathy, empathy and kind advice.

Swimming, thanks for the offer, but I’d hate for you too really have a concern one day, and have them say, 'well, you did spill ginger ale on it.

Your kind words have given me the confidence to attempt to remove the sticky keys and give them a wipe.

Any suggestions for the power on switch?

I know I am damned lucky that it isn’t worse, but, oh how I miss the lovely sounds my keyboard used to make!

I’ll let you know how it goes.

Thanks again to everyone who contributed.

8

Rocking chair, you, well, rock!

Your words gave me the confidence I needed to tug a little bit harder on the keys and sure enough, they popped right off.

I cleaned each, carefully, with anti static wipes, then snapped then back into place. And it worked. I had to go back and re clean a couple of the stickier ones, and the power on switch is still a little sticky.

But I can type with speed, and relatively free of frustration.

After going to the apple discussion pages and reading the tragedies that have befallen many others I am feeling mighty lucky indeed.

It’s been almost a week, no crashes, no curious behaviour, everthing in working order.

I think I’ll go buy some lottery tickets now.

Thanks again for all your kind thoughts and words.

Everybody–Happy Dance !!!

9

I have no idea what you weigh and please don’t look at this as judgemental, but perhaps it’s time to start drinking diet pop. When you spill it on your keyboard you only have to dry things off and you’re back in business. No sticky stuff.

New keyboards are a whiz to clean. A boss once spilled a cup of coffee (double cream, triple sugar–basically, caffeinated candy) on the keyboard of this old HP terminal I used. I had to clean each key, spring, switch, and I can’t remember what else to get it working again (integrated keyboard).

10

I don’t think so, have you ever tasted diet ginger ale? Yuk.

Diet items are strictly forbidden in this household.

Diet products suck huge. People who must consume them have my deepest sympathies.

Weight is not an issue for me, or I might have a different opinion.

Clearly water would be even better, but hey, what can I say, I like ginger ale.