Thinkpads Forum

I knew it was a dumb idea, but I was playing with acetone and got some on the sapcebar. When I went to wipe it off ... it kinda took off the top later of the spacebar and now I have a space bar with lines melted into it.

Is there a way I can take off the spacebar (without taking the laptop apart) and wetsand the spacebar back to normal? I have quite a bit of 2000grit sandpaper for minor body work I was doing on the car.

i have a brand new english keyboard for a t60p.
i just got the laptop a few days ago, and replaced the keyboard immediately with a foreign keyboard so i have a brand spankin new t60p keyboard never used. removed it when i got the new laptop.

let me know if you're interested.

Some people under your circumstances might consider calling Lenovo support and telling them that the spacebar is not working properly and have them send a replacement keyboard under warrantee.

I got to looking at the contract and I have an accidental damage plan on the laptop. Got it fixed without anyone asking why I was playing with acetone around the keyboard.

Miller88 wrote:I got to looking at the contract and I have an accidental damage plan on the laptop. Got it fixed without anyone asking why I was playing with acetone around the keyboard.

Acetone is wonderful stuff, but sometimes you have to be careful with it. It does attack some plastics. It's one of the best solvents. It will remove things other solvents won't. That can be a hazard as well as a benefit. As noted, acetone + spacebars don't mix. However, acetone and water do.

Acetone is also what Acetylene is dissolved in for storage. Acetylene is stored in metal cylinders filled with a porous mass and Acetone. Acetylene must be maintained at 15 psi or less to be safely stored, otherwise it can decompose explosively with the slightest shock. So what this means is: these cylinders are filled with a kind of soda pop.

FYI, Acetylene was originally used in miners lamps (which in this case was made by dripping water onto Calcium Carbide). The Acetylene in one of these lamps burns with a bright white light. You can still find these lamps in antique shops and old mining town souvenir shops. Today, one of the primary uses of Acetylene (aside from the chemical industry) is in Oxygen/Acetylene torches for cutting steel. This torch burns with a flame temperature of 3300 °C (6000 °F). Steel does burn if heated to a high enough temperature in the presence of enough Oxygen. Oxygen/Acetylene torches also used for gas welding and brazing. Acetylene torches that use air instead of pure Oxygen are used by plumbers for soldering copper pipes.

The link below is about the technological achievements necessary to light light houses and light bouys with a bright light for ship navigation.
http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/phys ... press.html

-----------------------------------
Stainless steel will not burn like regular steel, so to cut stainless steel (and other non-burnable substances) a plasma torch is used. This is where things really get interesting. A plasma torch achieves temperatures of 16,649 °C (30,000 °F)!

HowStuffWorks wrote: "As the inert gas passes through the channel, the spark heats the gas until it reaches the fourth state of matter. This reaction creates a stream of directed plasma, approximately 30,000 F (16,649 C) and moving at 20,000 feet per second (6,096 m/sec), that reduces metal to molten slag."

http://science.howstuffworks.com/plasma-cutter4.htm

Kinda hard to top that last reply.....We'll nickname you Bill Nye...no slam intended......

For what it's worth, most of the desktops I've played with in the past, a good cleaning solvent is lighter fluid. This doesn't seem to attack the plastics like other solvents do. But on the same note, the IBM laptops being mostly black don't seem to show as much grunge as the pewter/gray plastices.

Annnnddddd.........I also found a neat super glue. Its Loctite brand super glue for plastic. Item number 01-34925-01, (on the back). It's got an activator, (or primer) and the glue. The glue isn't runny but it isn't a gel either. The drying time seems to be exceptionally long for being a super glue. I'm currently trying it out on a T23 palm rest so I'll post back with results. I got one side glued but the other side is going to need some JB weld or similar item to fill a gap/missing piece.

As far as "spiffing" them up, Mothers Back-To-Black has been one of my favorites.

Sorry....didn't mean to hiack the post.....

Mother's Back-to-Black is a new one on me. Hardware store?

Lighter fluid is just naptha. Naptha, near as I can make out is kind of like paint thinner. It is, however, more expensive. It makes a pretty good solvent and isn't as dangerous as acetone in terms of the possibility of screwing things up. I think there are actually more than one kind of naptha, or so I have deduced by reading labels.

It's available at most automotive stores. It was originally designed to restore exterior items on cars that were factory black. Mirrors, moldings, bumper inserts. It will give just a wee bit more gloss than whats on a thinkpad to begin with, (I'd call it satin). I put it on a soft cloth and wipe it on then rub off the excess with a clean side. It feels a little slick for a couple of days but that wears off. I wouldn't do the keyboard but I do do the palmrests. All it says on the back of the bottle is that it ....."contains alcohols". Notice the plural ending. The website is: mothers.com

This is a bump ... but I haven't got around to wetsanding the keyboard.

As far as what I'm using acetone for - I'm running it in the gas of my car.

I use rubbing alcohol (70%) at least once a week to scrub down the keyboard and that didn't have any bad effects.

Miller88 wrote:This is a bump ... but I haven't got around to wetsanding the keyboard.

As far as what I'm using acetone for - I'm running it in the gas of my car.

I use rubbing alcohol (70%) at least once a week to scrub down the keyboard and that didn't have any bad effects.

Ugh, you do know that acetone kills rubber and plastic? All those orings from your fuel tank to your injectors.

Getting slightly OT:

I've read some of the information about using acetone as a gasoline additive. It's mostly done at such a small overall percentage (couple of ounces per tankfull) that there doesn't seem to be that much danger to the rubber and plastic in the fuel system.

However, all of the scientific studies (in other words, controlled laboratory experiments) that I could find have "busted" the myth of using acetone to obtain any substantial increase in fuel economy. Much like the use of magnets to improve your gas mileage.

I've heard about using it for fuel economy. I use it to cure minor spark knock and rough idle ... which it did.

I've had a keyboard replaced due an object falling on the keyboard, knocking off a key. No problem, got a fresh new keyboard the next day, they didn't ask for the old one back.