Comments on: Apple Pro Keyboard Repair

By: Nighthawk

Nighthawk — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 17:17:46 +0000

Nice, very handy – my keyboard still works fine tho I have given some flakey ‘boards a bath in the past: mixed results, As to the throwaway mindset these days; is disgusts me at times – since I was a kid the “no user serviceable parts inside” label was a joke or a challenge to me… I still have a few things around that Ive kept working – some still useful – some just too obsolete ;-)

By: Peter Frishauf

Peter Frishauf — Thu, 01 Jan 2009 22:03:46 +0000

Excellent tutorial. Now all we need is similar instructions for the newer Mac chiclet keyboard.

By: oyik

oyik — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 08:30:00 +0000

Thanks dude,…

By: Bobbyrae

Bobbyrae — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 03:03:18 +0000

I am really glad to find how-to’s like this. I just cleaned one of these keyboards out yesterday. The problem I had was with those 5 “security” screws that some think are Torx (T5). I am convinced that mine are hex, but cannot figure out what size. My best guess right now 1.25mm. The other tutorial says they are .050″, but I have one of those and it is too big! I have been thinking it was some weird special tool you had to buy from Apple, but now I am thinking that maybe my particular keyboard was made with defective screws! Or Maybe my .050″ hex key was machined wrong (because it is Craftsman made in China stuff).

By: sofiaa

sofiaa — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 06:44:06 +0000

[...]Any chance of an RSS feed for this blog?
http://www.rushpcb.co.uk/
[...]

By: Jdurham

Jdurham — Fri, 23 Nov 2007 04:45:42 +0000

Thanks for the article; i’m hoping I can save my coffee soaked and semi-functional keyboard.

By: Stephanie Guertin

Stephanie Guertin — Tue, 21 Aug 2007 00:27:25 +0000

To everyone who noted how much of my employer’s time I took to do this: as I noted, this was the only keyboard that we had with the Final Cut shortcuts on it. I may have spent more than the 29$ the keyboard is worth – but less than the $100+ it costs to get a keyboard with those shortcuts these days.
(Plus, I just like taking things apart and fixing them. :) )

By: Geoff Hone

Geoff Hone — Mon, 06 Aug 2007 09:41:57 +0000

An alternative to the dishwasher trick is a can of WD40. Lay the KB flat, hose it down well (use the little plastic straw so that the spray gets under the keys)then stand it on end on some newspaper to drain. I set things so that the keys are just downward, and the draining is all toward the number pad “Enter” key. When it stops draining, use a hair dryer to finish the drying. This is good for coffee or coke spills, since the WD40 is a water dispersant.

By: BuzWeaver

BuzWeaver — Sun, 05 Aug 2007 12:10:07 +0000

Unless people like to tinker or have the time to tinker we find ourselves moving away from ‘fixing’ things to simply having parts replaced. You can see this across the board with products, appliances and cars. We either replace a part or buy something new.

By: Serenak

Serenak — Sun, 05 Aug 2007 12:01:03 +0000

I have attempted to fix the Apple Pro Mouse before now and unfortunately I have to say it is not worth the effort… They are in part glued/welded together – it can be done, and there are how-tos available, but unlike a keyboard the results are generally unsightly and unreliable – in this particular case just go buy a new mouse, be it an Apple one or a $5 usb one from the Kwik-E-Mart. I personally like to fix anything fixable rather than replacing it but in this case I should say don’t bother

By: CG Hughes

CG Hughes — Sat, 04 Aug 2007 18:44:58 +0000

The keyboard is laborious but relatively straightforward. The Pro mouse and the other hand remains a mystery to me at least and they are much more prone to fatalities than the keyboards. Do you know how to recondition a Pro Mouse?

By: Smontare la tastiera del Macquesto : Il Blog di Shift Srl

Smontare la tastiera del Macquesto : Il Blog di Shift Srl — Sat, 04 Aug 2007 16:15:01 +0000

[...] di aprire la tastiera del vostro Macintosh per pulirla ma non sapete come fare ad aprirla, allora questo articolo (in inglese) fa sicuramente per voi e vi aiuterà passo [...]

By: Bill Brown

Bill Brown — Sat, 04 Aug 2007 15:06:11 +0000

I go with BuzWeaver and others and say USE THE DISHWASHER. Those who fear it need to get over their fear and TRY IT. For the last seven years, I’ve been using the cafeteria dishwasher to clean many, many dysfunctional keyboards that were headed for the dumpster. Recovery rate is two out of three. And all are still in service years later. The dishwasher I use is a commercial institutional one that uses 195 F water for 1.5 minutes with never a problem. This dishwasher has an automatic soap dispenser over which I have no control. So whatever horrible soap it uses gets used here too with no problems. I’ve even run “dead” motherboards and other items getting the occasional one restored to life. They were headed for the dumpster, so why not run it through the dishwasher. It works well for me and the cafeteria staff are glad (and amused) to help. Be sure to fully disassemble the keyboard as much as possible. Bye the waye, the dishwasher is great for cleaning case parts too. Bill

By: Adam Nelson

Adam Nelson — Fri, 03 Aug 2007 21:19:37 +0000

@Steve: Quite true. I do appreciate products that are built to last, and to be maintained to extend their life. My 1960 Gillette adjustable shaving razor is 47 years old (21 more than me), and still works like a champion. Compare that with today’s Gillette products which are purposely planned to wear quickly and replaced, and it’s just disgusting.

Although, if I were an employer, and found an employee of mine spending four and a half hours working on a relatively cheap keyboard, I don’t think I’d be particularly happy. Almost all electronics are disposable these days, but this is also how you can buy a sub $200 laser printer that’s faster than a $2,500 one from 10 years.

By: Steve

Steve — Fri, 03 Aug 2007 21:03:55 +0000

@Adam Nelson: That’s a big problem with corporate America; too much waste. And I’m not talking about wasted time and money, but of wasted natural resources. I’m not a tree-hugging hippy, but jeez, any time someone can take the time to clean or repair something instead of throwing it into the trash is time well spent. Everything is way too disposable these days; printers, cell phones, etc.

By: Daniel

Daniel — Thu, 02 Aug 2007 00:15:05 +0000

I have to say, that I could not agree with you in 100% regarding o.us poetry, but it’s just my opinion, which could be wrong :)

By: NightWriter927

NightWriter927 — Tue, 31 Jul 2007 20:15:14 +0000

Hey Josh, I said nothing about the article not being warranted or helpful. The author said it took over 4 hours to do the keyboard cleaning. May have saved some time by checking for existing websites’ instructions, which is all I was saying.

Not sure why you read otherwise, that’s not at all what I wrote.

By: Josh Pigford

Josh Pigford — Tue, 31 Jul 2007 19:06:51 +0000

@NightWriter: Ah, the ole “somebody already wrote something on this topic so you shouldn’t ever write about it again” mindset. Just because someone has already written about a topic doesn’t mean other people don’t have different perspectives or thoughts on something. Lighten up my friend.

By: BuzWeaver

BuzWeaver — Tue, 31 Jul 2007 18:29:47 +0000

The reason I mentioned just placing one in the dishwasher was to save time and additional damage by taking the keyboard apart. Unless you just like taking things apart and or have time to take them apart, juts go buy another one. There are exceptions of course, but for a standard keyboard its not worth the effort, plus a new one will be clean.

By: NightWriter927

NightWriter927 — Tue, 31 Jul 2007 18:05:45 +0000

Too bad you didn’t think to do a websearch on this process… you would have saved yourself a lot of time. There are several websites describing this process in detail, including a plethora of step-by-step photos.

Here is one among several:

http://www.technology.niagarac.on.ca/staff/bgracey/prokeyboardrepair.html