Cleaning Model M Spill - Advice on cleaning membrane?

[Pastenseolith]

Hi everyone,

Earlier today I was at my desk in my office and a coworker walked by, and knocked my glass of kombucha onto my desk, and poured a substantial amount (like a sixth of the glass) into my Model M keyboard. I quickly unplugged it, drained the fluid, and then for my lunch break ran to the hardware store and got 99% isopropyl, the necessary tools to undo the keyboard, and some Q-tips and a microfiber cloth. At home I have all of this stuff but I'm away on an internship so unfortunately had to buy everything.

At home, I undid everything, the key caps are washing, and I unplugged and wiped down the controller and the plate. Now, I am back at work but am curious what exactly I should do to clean the inside of the plate? I bought this keyboard already bolt modded, I just don't know how I should go about unscrewing the bolts and accessing the membrane. Any advice on how I should clean everything? Should I try my best to keep the switches inside of the barrels, or should I remove everything and give it a good wipe with the isopropyl just to make sure there isn't any stickies and everything can dry properly? If so, how would you go about this, and is there a guide out there showing how to deep clean an IBM Model M, a complete deconstruction and cleaning?

Thanks in advance!

[fohat]

The easy answer is to set it aside for a couple of days and see if it dries out acceptably on its own. Summer sun might help speed that up.

Taking it completely apart for a thorough cleaning is daunting, but if it is already bolt modded you have a big headstart.

If I were you, I would unscrew all the bolts, peel the inner layers apart, and wipe down the plates and membranes (pay attention to the order of the layers!). But I have done several bolt-mods so that is old hat to me, it is probably intimidating if you have never done it before.

Also, it is much easier to drill out the plastic "rivets" and run screws into them without actually dis-assembling the internal assembly. Some people call that a "bolt mod" but that is not what I would say, and I would call that a "screw repair" but that's just me. It will take more work and nail-biting to get it all apart (and back together) if that is what was done.

[Pastenseolith]

The easy answer is to set it aside for a couple of days and see if it dries out acceptably on its own. Summer sun might help speed that up.

Taking it completely apart for a thorough cleaning is daunting, but if it is already bolt modded you have a big headstart.

If I were you, I would unscrew all the bolts, peel the inner layers apart, and wipe down the plates and membranes (pay attention to the order of the layers!). But I have done several bolt-mods so that is old hat to me, it is probably intimidating if you have never done it before.

Also, it is much easier to drill out the plastic "rivets" and run screws into them without actually dis-assembling the internal assembly. Some people call that a "bolt mod" but that is not what I would say, and I would call that a "screw repair" but that's just me. It will take more work and nail-biting to get it all apart (and back together) if that is what was done.

Thanks for the response. I took the entire thing apart, and it was fairly easy. The membrane does not appear to want to come apart, and part of me thinks it's been glued (?) as it is really stuck together. That being said, it is completely dry, it didn't smell like the kombucha and there was no signs of any fluid at all. Still gave it a wipe with isopropyl though. Everything has been thoroughly washed and tonight I am going to investigate if any of the switches got wet, but it seems like they also stayed dry.

This was in fact screw modded, do you have any advice on putting it back together? Taking it apart was fairly trivial, but I've also disassembled a Model F before and am familiar with how these things kind of fit together. I am thinking once everything dries, which I'll leave it in the sun for a couple days, I'm going to put the rubber back into the barrel plate, then the membrane and metal backing on top, and then screw the screws back in from the outside in. That way the barrel plate can more easily conform to the metal backing. Does that seem sane? Any reservations? Thanks!

[fohat]

Sounds promising. If I found the clear mylar sheets stuck together I would be suspicious that it was not glue but rather dried drink. I have never done it but maybe dunk them in water briefly to get them apart? Alcohol is a solvent and I would be wary of it softening up the printed traces. If all the parts are separated then they should dry in minutes.

As long as the "rivet mushroom heads" were shaved off flush it should all go back together without much drama. The hard part is keeping all the parts in place without rattling them too much. I have always done it with screws in through the front and nuts on the back.

[Pastenseolith]

It seems that they are too uniformly stuck together to be any liquid. Plus, I got it all apart within 6 hours of the spill, and the scale of the uniformness would suggest it was drenched in a ton of sugar, but it was dry then, and it had no smell. Here is a video to show what I'm talking about, it was dry when I undid everything, including the rubber mat that the switches sit on. All around, very dry there. I think I might have gotten very lucky.

https://youtu.be/GhvKFDKXlGs

I don't know if they do this over there, but I bought this from clickykeyboards.com and it hasn't been opened since now, very much stuck together.

[fohat]

The barrel plate of the Model M does give quite a bit of protection from spills, "liquid flows downhill" is a law of nature.

Are there any current problems? Or have you simply not put it back together yet?