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laptop keyboard behaving weirdly

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Hello. I have a Gateway tablet pc model CX2618 that is about two years old. Today, a small amount of water was spilled on the right side of the keyboard, affecting numbers eight, nine, zero, the enter key, question mark key, and letters p and u. Every other key seems to work but these. It is strange..when I press the letter u here is what comes up: u’/ and when I press the letter p 0p comes up but is moved to the front of the line. When I press number eight, nine or zero, -98 comes up. Anyone know what this is about? Is it fixable? Thanks!!

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Clarifications

In reply to laptop keyboard behaving weirdly

Clarifications

It really depends on the type of liquid…

In reply to laptop keyboard behaving weirdly

The space below a laptop keyboard, AND for that matter – a desktop keyboard also, consists of layers of translucent plastic, held apart by a layer of similar plastic with holes punched in it corresponding to the placement of each key.

The top layer has a printed circuit on its lower face, the bottom layer has a printed circuit on its upper face. The actions of the keys push little nipples into their respective holes making a momentary contact between the upper and lower printed circuits.

Consequently any spillage of water – no matter how small you may think it to be, will spread between these layers of plastic to varying degrees, causing ‘shorts’ and ‘burns’ wherever the contacts got wet.

Removal of the keyboard from the laptop is usually the best bet. Placement in a warm area like an airing cupboard might work over a couple of days. However, these printed circuits terminate in a single chip that reads the input from the keyboard and if it has shorted out, the keyboard is usually beyond repair.

If there was anything sticky in the liquid, like sugar, the damage is even worse – you might be able to dry it out but the sticky stuff will remain between the plastic layers.

When you are experiencing odd letter combinations as you type, that is due to other data lines in the circuit plastic making contact due to water intrusion.

I wish you the best of luck in drying it out, but water and keyboards really don’t mix.

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