Thinkpads Forum

Hi,

The other night my T60 drank half a glass of red wine - I made sure to unplug it, shut it down and remove the battery.
Luckily, most of the liquids were drained through the keyboard so the rest of the hardware was unharmed.

Efter letting the T60 dry, I assembled it. Everything works fine except the left trackpoint key, which is annoying since I use the trackpoint constantly.

Thinking that the button is malfunctioning due to some residue, I'm tempted to simply rinse the keyboard in water - having heard that some are getting results this way without damaging the keyboard.

Is this true?

Generally, it shouldn't harm it. You can probably even run it through the dishwasher, and it will be fine, as long as you let it dry really well. I've heard of people doing it to motherboards, so a keyboard shouldn't be a problem.

Ethanol might be better. You've got some sticky wine residue in there - water would be best for the wine but not for the keyboard! I'd try the ethanol first.

sktn77a wrote:Ethanol might be better. You've got some sticky wine residue in there - water would be best for the wine but not for the keyboard! I'd try the ethanol first.

Excellent idea! Combat alcohol with alcohol! It's the #1 advice for people hung over.

Just thought it was funny, not saying it is bad advice. I'll use alcohol to clean many things before I'll use water. But it is easier to rinse things in water than in alcohol, unless you have an alcohol tap in your house, in which case I envy you.

Hi guys, thanks alot for the advice!

Sadly, we don't have Ethanol on tap here in Denmark, but I might have a bottle of isopropyl around. I think I will give it a shot (no pun intended)!

Unfortunately, isopropanol is not as good at getting the sugary, sticky, contents off as ethanol. Check with your local pharmacy - they frequently have ethanol with some methanol added (to prevent consumption!) which would be ideal for this. Methanol/methlated spirits might be available.